Old Oak
What is Old Oak?
Four hundred years ago the area of the Old Oak was a part of the forest Brokilon. However, the human expanse from the south saw the forest slowly retreat under the harvesting axes of lumberjacks, and one such harvest clearing became a meadow on the bank of the Uaine Scamall, the Greenmist Swamp. It is unclear why the Old Oak, the mightiest tree of the local forest was left standing: some say it was due to intervention of the dryads, but there are as many tales as there are tongues. What is certain however, is that not long after the first settler came, a man known as Jacek, by then middle-aged, built himself a shack under the tree to spend the rest of his life in seclusion from humans. How successful this attempt was is in question, because the tale of a wise hermit able to help with ailments or curses spread through surrounding villages over time and before he died, two more houses were standing next to his. Needless to say the place on the edge of a swamp is not exactly well-placed for business, so over the three hundred years of its existence it never expanded much. Now, it is a small rural settlement that supplies a large portion of Garren Mill's production, and it is said that the spirit of Jacek is watching over the place, as never in three hundred years was there known a bad harvest.
The Society of Old Oak
The society of the Old Oak looks as one could expect of such a small settlement: It is tight-knit, closed off, and not very trusting of outsiders. It is a small enclosed universe within a universe. As remote as it is, with the nearest garrison of Verden's soldiers at the River Crossing tower, the village falls under direct supervision of the Verden king's administrative and tax collection.
While technically the jurisdiction over the village belongs to the king, and therefore is passed down to officers of his army, the village is perhaps too remote for actual King's justice to reach it - and so the justice is handed out in a system of traditions. The village is traditionally lead by the village elder, an impersonation of the legendary Jacek and his wisdom, and each house has the head of a family as a part of the gathering. Most things are actually decided through gatherings under the Oak, where other celebrations such as marriages take place, in Melitele's rite.
In fact, the villagers have a long tradition of worship of Melitele, or rather a local mutation of the cult. Where as in more civilized parts Melitele is typically portrayed as three women: the Maid, the Pregnant woman and the Crone, the villagers of Old Oak see her represented in the Old Oak tree and if that isn't odd enough, they treat even men, the first of which was Jacek, as priests to the feminine goddess. The faith runs so deep in the village that should it be challenged by King's authority against Melitele, the villagers would likely pick Melitele and the Old Oak, as they have been giving to them for centuries now, protecting and guarding them.
While the people of the village all have some experience with the tools of farming and hunt, the actual martial might of the village is relatively low. Contrary to Garren's Mill however, the local population seems a little more accepting of settled non-humans other than the dryads, who they dislike with a passion. The dryads block their way to the best hunting grounds and expanse across the swamps. More than one inhabitant of the village has died by arrow tips across the centuries. However the dryads have never once attacked the village itself.
The Village taxes
The taxes in the Old Oak are handed out in a simple fashion.
- The Protection Tax, paid weekly to the soldiers stationed at the River Crossing tower are paid in food supplies, paid each week with a weeks worth of food.
- The Royal Tax, paid once a year after the harvest, paid in a share of the harvest to the royal tax collector, consisting of 1/10th of the harvest, or its equal worth in coin.
Faith
The faith in Melitele is strong in the village, however it has some regional oddities. That the altar is the Old Oak itself is one, that the priests being either man or woman without discrimination is another. The local twist is far closer to nature's aspects than usual Melitele worship in the larger towns and more civilized areas, tied closely to the fertile land feeding the local people - which is also attributed to favor of the three faced goddess and her favor due to the village's strong faith.
Birth
Newborn children are by convention not named in their first two months of life. Life can be cruel in these lands and many infants are not given the strength to survive. Once they reach two months of age, the infant is brought under the tree and named. Other children of the village bring the child some of the Old Oak's acorns, one per child and decoratively painted. Each of them is considered the newborn's blessing for life, and they tend to be kept through their whole life as a most valued treasure.
Marriage
When two decide to marry and are given their family's blessings, they join their life under the Old Oak. Traditionally the two are required to bring a gift to their loved one; the bride is expected to bring a long decorative scarf, while the groom is expected to bring something symbolic from the tools of his trade to decorate his wife with. The scarf and the tool are often decorated by the acorn blessing the two possess from their naming, to trade them as a symbol they are willing to give everything for the other. The scarf stands for wife's promise of loving care, tool stands as a promise that the groom provide for the family and keep them well fed. After the hands of the two are bound together by the scarf under the tree, the villager elder cuts a fresh branch off from the Oak with a silver scythe and intertwines it it between their bound hands. From then on they are considered married.
Burial
The swampy soil under the Old Oak was never a good burial ground. Maybe that was the reason why the original burial custom of burying into ground evolved into different direction. When a villager dies, they are cleaned and dressed in burial garb in their home and kept on the death's bed for two days for mourning. During this time anyone can come visit to bid farewell, and then the body is wrapped in skins and blankets and weighted by stones, then sunken down into the swamp by the entrance of the village. In this way they are claimed back by Melitele's blessed land. Any remaining acorns are either kept by the widow or are put into the ground around the village for a new young Oak to grow from, if that is the goddess's wish.
The cycle of the year
The villagers abide by the set of customs through the year, marking its stages and its connection to the cycle of life.
The Crone's End
This is the first celebration of the year, marking the end of the winter. On the day when sun starts to warm up the land and first buds start to show on the leaves of the Old Oak, the new year for the village begins. The Crone, Melitele's aspect of the death and winter, is made out of branches and rags, decorated and put on a stick. The effigy is carried through the fields with singing and music, taunted by the crowd, escorted to the edge of the swamp where it is weighted by stones and cast into the swamp. The death of the Crone gives way to the Maiden aspect, reborn from the death, and she begins the spring.
The Wreathing
The second celebration of the year, in the sign of Melitele's maiden form, comes when the buds open into leaves and blooms start decorating the countryside, celebrating spring. Young girls and maidens weave wreathes made of flowers to decorate their heads and dress to impress in colorful clothing. Each young woman wishing for a marriage spends the day decorating last years acorns with colors. In the evening two large bonfires are set at the entrance of the village and all of the livestock is chased between the flames to be cleansed, blessing the village with good milk, meat, or wool. This is the wildest celebration of the year, typically involving much alcohol. The villagers sit by the fire until morning sharing tales or dancing, young men playing games with young women. The next day, those wishing to be married take their wreaths, put their decorated acorns on them, and send the wreaths down the river in hopes that their future husband will pick it up and find them. Maybe this tradition has some merit to it, after all most marriages strangely happen shortly after this celebration... and many children are born exactly nine months from then.
The Harvest
The third celebration comes with the end of the harvest, signifying the end of the farmer's hard year before the fields are laid to rest. When everything is collected and harvested, the village comes together under the Oak and picks the Queen of the Harvest. The queen is chosen from the mothers of the village, after all, it is celebration in the aspect of Melitele's pregnant fertile woman. The Queen of the Harvest gets dressed into a dress made of the harvest bounty: fruits and vegetables, but also meat. After, she is brought to the Old Oak and is symbolically re-married to her husband who is tasked with gathering the supplies for the Harvest garb, in a symbol of the symbiosis between Melitele's aspect and local faithful people. This act initiates the Harvest Feast.
The Window Closing
The fourth and the last celebration of the year is a grim one, reminding people of the endless cycle of death and rebirth. This time of year gives reign to the Crone, the aspect of winter and death, but also wisdom and memory. It is believed on this night all creatures of the dark crawl into the world in the gaps of time, and it is the time of year people fear the Wild Hunt will appear the most. All the windows of all houses get barred, and each house lights a candle inside to be kept lit all night long to protect them from the fairies who would steal them from their homes. By the evening the villagers tend to gather in their homes, share memories of their lost and passed ones, trade scary stories and generally recall the past. From then, winter reigns until the Crone's end.
Four hundred years ago the area of the Old Oak was a part of the forest Brokilon. However, the human expanse from the south saw the forest slowly retreat under the harvesting axes of lumberjacks, and one such harvest clearing became a meadow on the bank of the Uaine Scamall, the Greenmist Swamp. It is unclear why the Old Oak, the mightiest tree of the local forest was left standing: some say it was due to intervention of the dryads, but there are as many tales as there are tongues. What is certain however, is that not long after the first settler came, a man known as Jacek, by then middle-aged, built himself a shack under the tree to spend the rest of his life in seclusion from humans. How successful this attempt was is in question, because the tale of a wise hermit able to help with ailments or curses spread through surrounding villages over time and before he died, two more houses were standing next to his. Needless to say the place on the edge of a swamp is not exactly well-placed for business, so over the three hundred years of its existence it never expanded much. Now, it is a small rural settlement that supplies a large portion of Garren Mill's production, and it is said that the spirit of Jacek is watching over the place, as never in three hundred years was there known a bad harvest.
The Society of Old Oak
The society of the Old Oak looks as one could expect of such a small settlement: It is tight-knit, closed off, and not very trusting of outsiders. It is a small enclosed universe within a universe. As remote as it is, with the nearest garrison of Verden's soldiers at the River Crossing tower, the village falls under direct supervision of the Verden king's administrative and tax collection.
While technically the jurisdiction over the village belongs to the king, and therefore is passed down to officers of his army, the village is perhaps too remote for actual King's justice to reach it - and so the justice is handed out in a system of traditions. The village is traditionally lead by the village elder, an impersonation of the legendary Jacek and his wisdom, and each house has the head of a family as a part of the gathering. Most things are actually decided through gatherings under the Oak, where other celebrations such as marriages take place, in Melitele's rite.
In fact, the villagers have a long tradition of worship of Melitele, or rather a local mutation of the cult. Where as in more civilized parts Melitele is typically portrayed as three women: the Maid, the Pregnant woman and the Crone, the villagers of Old Oak see her represented in the Old Oak tree and if that isn't odd enough, they treat even men, the first of which was Jacek, as priests to the feminine goddess. The faith runs so deep in the village that should it be challenged by King's authority against Melitele, the villagers would likely pick Melitele and the Old Oak, as they have been giving to them for centuries now, protecting and guarding them.
While the people of the village all have some experience with the tools of farming and hunt, the actual martial might of the village is relatively low. Contrary to Garren's Mill however, the local population seems a little more accepting of settled non-humans other than the dryads, who they dislike with a passion. The dryads block their way to the best hunting grounds and expanse across the swamps. More than one inhabitant of the village has died by arrow tips across the centuries. However the dryads have never once attacked the village itself.
The Village taxes
The taxes in the Old Oak are handed out in a simple fashion.
- The Protection Tax, paid weekly to the soldiers stationed at the River Crossing tower are paid in food supplies, paid each week with a weeks worth of food.
- The Royal Tax, paid once a year after the harvest, paid in a share of the harvest to the royal tax collector, consisting of 1/10th of the harvest, or its equal worth in coin.
Faith
The faith in Melitele is strong in the village, however it has some regional oddities. That the altar is the Old Oak itself is one, that the priests being either man or woman without discrimination is another. The local twist is far closer to nature's aspects than usual Melitele worship in the larger towns and more civilized areas, tied closely to the fertile land feeding the local people - which is also attributed to favor of the three faced goddess and her favor due to the village's strong faith.
Birth
Newborn children are by convention not named in their first two months of life. Life can be cruel in these lands and many infants are not given the strength to survive. Once they reach two months of age, the infant is brought under the tree and named. Other children of the village bring the child some of the Old Oak's acorns, one per child and decoratively painted. Each of them is considered the newborn's blessing for life, and they tend to be kept through their whole life as a most valued treasure.
Marriage
When two decide to marry and are given their family's blessings, they join their life under the Old Oak. Traditionally the two are required to bring a gift to their loved one; the bride is expected to bring a long decorative scarf, while the groom is expected to bring something symbolic from the tools of his trade to decorate his wife with. The scarf and the tool are often decorated by the acorn blessing the two possess from their naming, to trade them as a symbol they are willing to give everything for the other. The scarf stands for wife's promise of loving care, tool stands as a promise that the groom provide for the family and keep them well fed. After the hands of the two are bound together by the scarf under the tree, the villager elder cuts a fresh branch off from the Oak with a silver scythe and intertwines it it between their bound hands. From then on they are considered married.
Burial
The swampy soil under the Old Oak was never a good burial ground. Maybe that was the reason why the original burial custom of burying into ground evolved into different direction. When a villager dies, they are cleaned and dressed in burial garb in their home and kept on the death's bed for two days for mourning. During this time anyone can come visit to bid farewell, and then the body is wrapped in skins and blankets and weighted by stones, then sunken down into the swamp by the entrance of the village. In this way they are claimed back by Melitele's blessed land. Any remaining acorns are either kept by the widow or are put into the ground around the village for a new young Oak to grow from, if that is the goddess's wish.
The cycle of the year
The villagers abide by the set of customs through the year, marking its stages and its connection to the cycle of life.
The Crone's End
This is the first celebration of the year, marking the end of the winter. On the day when sun starts to warm up the land and first buds start to show on the leaves of the Old Oak, the new year for the village begins. The Crone, Melitele's aspect of the death and winter, is made out of branches and rags, decorated and put on a stick. The effigy is carried through the fields with singing and music, taunted by the crowd, escorted to the edge of the swamp where it is weighted by stones and cast into the swamp. The death of the Crone gives way to the Maiden aspect, reborn from the death, and she begins the spring.
The Wreathing
The second celebration of the year, in the sign of Melitele's maiden form, comes when the buds open into leaves and blooms start decorating the countryside, celebrating spring. Young girls and maidens weave wreathes made of flowers to decorate their heads and dress to impress in colorful clothing. Each young woman wishing for a marriage spends the day decorating last years acorns with colors. In the evening two large bonfires are set at the entrance of the village and all of the livestock is chased between the flames to be cleansed, blessing the village with good milk, meat, or wool. This is the wildest celebration of the year, typically involving much alcohol. The villagers sit by the fire until morning sharing tales or dancing, young men playing games with young women. The next day, those wishing to be married take their wreaths, put their decorated acorns on them, and send the wreaths down the river in hopes that their future husband will pick it up and find them. Maybe this tradition has some merit to it, after all most marriages strangely happen shortly after this celebration... and many children are born exactly nine months from then.
The Harvest
The third celebration comes with the end of the harvest, signifying the end of the farmer's hard year before the fields are laid to rest. When everything is collected and harvested, the village comes together under the Oak and picks the Queen of the Harvest. The queen is chosen from the mothers of the village, after all, it is celebration in the aspect of Melitele's pregnant fertile woman. The Queen of the Harvest gets dressed into a dress made of the harvest bounty: fruits and vegetables, but also meat. After, she is brought to the Old Oak and is symbolically re-married to her husband who is tasked with gathering the supplies for the Harvest garb, in a symbol of the symbiosis between Melitele's aspect and local faithful people. This act initiates the Harvest Feast.
The Window Closing
The fourth and the last celebration of the year is a grim one, reminding people of the endless cycle of death and rebirth. This time of year gives reign to the Crone, the aspect of winter and death, but also wisdom and memory. It is believed on this night all creatures of the dark crawl into the world in the gaps of time, and it is the time of year people fear the Wild Hunt will appear the most. All the windows of all houses get barred, and each house lights a candle inside to be kept lit all night long to protect them from the fairies who would steal them from their homes. By the evening the villagers tend to gather in their homes, share memories of their lost and passed ones, trade scary stories and generally recall the past. From then, winter reigns until the Crone's end.