Glorantha: Cult of Aldrya 
Cult of Aldrya
originally published in Cults of Prax and Elder Secrets

This document is Copyright  1998 Issaries, Inc. It may be freely linked to, and 
one copy may be printed for personal use, but any other reproduction by 
photographic, electronic, or other methods of retrieval, is prohibited.
Table of Contents
  Mythos and History 
  Other Notes 
Mythos and History
The tale of this goddess starts early in godtime, with the meeting of the tender 
and gentle portions of the elements upon the edges of their worlds. There was, 
in those times, a kind god of light who shyly met a tender goddess of wetness, 
and one lay upon the other like the sunlight on the sea. Where they met they 
mingled and made something new, and this something was born to be a god called 
Flamal.
Flamal was a god of bright potentials bursting within him. He is called by many 
names, and known by many races, but for the beings who rule in the forests he is 
the Father of Seeds. Among those he knew his most beloved was Ernalda, who was 
turned bountiful by the meeting with him. They had a child, and her name was 
Aldrya.
Aldrya was loved by two jealous gods, each of whom threatened to destroy her if 
she loved the other. She sought refuge among the greater gods of the Celestial 
Court, and they gave her a place to remain forever upon the slopes of their 
citadel called the Spike. Thus was the first tree planted upon the cosmic 
mountain.
She bore wondrous fruit there, and others took these fruit and planted them far 
and wide. Each of these was born to be a Great Tree, and each of these was 
called Aldrya. The Great Trees bore fruit in their turn and covered the earth 
with vegetation according to the needs and capacities of the place. Thus, 
despite differences in local variation, all children of Aldrya know they are one 
kin. The vast and peaceful Green Age spread across the earth.
Aldrya took for herself a husband who is named Shanasse, who was a son of the 
goddess of Love. His presence added new depth and expression within the goddess, 
and together they brought forth the souls and spirits of the forest. From the 
trees came the beings known as the Dryads, who were the spirits of the trees, 
free to move but ever bound to the woody groves. From smaller plants, brush and 
wild shrubbery, came the Runners. They are less subtle and intelligent than 
their larger kin. Even in the Green Age these beings filled the woods.
When it was fashionable among the gods to do so Aldrya took the being called 
Man, first of his race, and they made a race like him for her. These were the 
People of the Woods, also known as Elves, who are also counted among the 
Aldryami.
The pixies have a different origin. They are said to have been fashioned by 
Shanasse for his wife out of some spare magic left over from the creation of the 
world. He gave them to her in a small turn of phrase and a jest to make her 
smile.
The Green Age filled itself with more life as the gods made more and more 
creatures. There was no problem when the woods and fields filled with beasts, 
but the Aldryami did not recognize the inherent dangers to come when beast began 
devouring beast. The ancient woods slowly reacted to the growing disaster of the 
Gods War, and more often such innocent bystanders were bruised and broken by the 
greater war.
During the fighting of the Gods Age, the new Power, Death, came into the hands 
of the elves through a wager by the Trickster. They took the Power and enchanted 
it upon the edge of their sacred earth tool, the Axe. With this they slew many 
Dwarf foes, and thus turned cold all the world's stone forever.
Zorak Zoran, a troll god, then stole the weapon from the elves and, as he 
escaped, slew Flamal, father of Aldrya and beloved of all the gods. Thus the axe 
then became the bane of elves. In her grief the goddess Ernalda commanded all of 
her children to withhold their bounty from the world until Flamal was returned 
to life. Aldrya obeyed and slept the unending sleep, and her children began to 
die, one by one, in the cold darkness.
The liberation of Flamal is sometimes called the "Secret Quest" of the 
Lightbringers, or the Greater Bonus by some. However, even his return to life 
would have had far less meaning without the long struggle of the Protectors on 
earth to save the sleeping form of their wards.
The Protectors were led by High King Elf, the leader of his race from among the 
undying Green Elves. He led a beleaguered band of elves through the whole of the 
Darkness, ever struggling to protect the empty bodies of the forest from their 
foes. In this he was aided by the gods Arroin and Yelmalio, another wounded 
survivor, but he hated the god Oakfed, the Wildfire deity who devoured the 
once-magnificent forests of Prax and slew almost all there.
High King Elf was among those beings present in Dragon Pass for the I Fought We 
Won Battle where chaos was turned back upon itself.
Thus when the Dawn came and the spirits of the living returned again to the 
world there was a prepared place for the Aldryami, who returned to their old 
places, inside of Time.
The activities of Aldrya, as manifest by her cult, are usually proclaimed to be 
the affairs of the elven races when reported by human chronicles. This is only 
partially true, but the elves were usually the most noticeable part of the 
Aldryami and were the usual agents sent out by the Great Forest to carry word to 
the world.
During the Dawn Ages the Aldryami were one of the more powerful races of the 
world. Their woods covered much of what was otherwise empty land. In their 
interiors there was never knowledge that any other inhabitants existed in the 
world.
On the fringes, though, elf armies mingled in the political affairs of other 
peoples. In Dragon Pass they sat on the councils of the wise. At the end of the 
Dawn Age they fought against the chaos god Gbaji and, like the rest of the 
peoples who resisted, suffered heavily for it.
The Second Age was one of worsening Aldryami affairs. Where humans lived they 
turned back the wild forests for their fields, and while some of the wars which 
followed were elf victories, the woods rarely grew back. Where there were no 
men, as through most of Peloria, the Elder Races of trolls, dwarves, and elves 
engaged in long and exhausting wars over grudges left from Godtime. When men 
moved into these Elder regions, they found lands emptied by wars, and they 
populated the lands quickly. If the Elder races caused trouble, they were driven 
into their utmost refuges.
The Third Age found a subtle Aldryami comeback. The first few hundred years saw 
more and more of their vast forests razed, but at the same time there appeared 
exquisite gardens growing in old sacred territory. This time, though, the native 
Aldryami were under the protection of the local humans. Examples of this 
phenomena are the Gardens of Carresh, in the Lunar Empire, and in Old Pavis, 
where The Garden eventually outgrew its old beds when the city fell to ruin.
Throughout all this 1600 years of change the religion of the Aldryami has 
undergone little change. Like most divinities Aldrya depends most firmly on the 
oldest friends. Events of history have only widened the gap between men and 
elves.
Even with the great human efforts made at The Gardens, this cult is not the 
usual farmer's crop cult.
All Aldryami believe in successive births and rebirths through many lives in a 
long organic growth process which will lead towards the glory and unification of 
their consciousness with that of their goddess. They believe that adhering to 
the right worship will speed that process, and most rituals and magics of the 
race will intensify and prove these feelings. Simply said, most elves are 
believers.
As might be expected from a race which comes from the earth, the Aldryami bury 
their dead. They sing gentle songs, and then the priests accompany the newly 
dead to the Other Side.
The cult of Aldrya focuses primarily on the Rune of Plant, modified by the 
Elemental rune of Earth and the Power Rune of Fertility.
Other Notes
Rootless Elves and Renegades
Elves who, for any reason, reject or are rejected by their cult, are called 
Rootless Elves. This almost never happens to dryads or runners.
Rootless Elves are officially exiled from their religion, but most choose to 
remain within elvish society. They may still live in their community and come to 
the aid of their woods, but they have no official part of the religion unless 
they join an acceptable cult and work their way to importance in it. This is an 
acceptable choice for Rootless Elves.
It is possible for Rootless Elves to remain content inhabitants of the forest. 
Many even glory in their foreign cults and set up small shrines where they can 
live and teach their new skills to their fellows. This way, Rootless Elves serve 
their community and some elf leaders favor such cooperation. Enemy cults are 
forbidden, of course.
Renegade elves are those which have turned their backs on both Aldrya and their 
people. These elves sometimes form bands or colonies. Many turn to outright 
hatred of their kinsfolk, and tales are still told of Saw-Tooth Korvan, a 
meat-eating elf who terrorized the Stinking Forest by helping trolls during 
Dragon Pass's Inhuman Occupation between 1200 and 1250 S.T.
Elf Senses
Elf senses include all the human ones. Their night vision is better than human 
(especially in the case of green elves), but they lack true darksense and are 
blinded by total darkness. They possess an "Elfsense." This sense permits the 
elf, by touch, to detect the health and emotional state of the target and 
whether or not it is stressed or in pain. It also gives the elf details about 
soil -- the soil's nutrient, moisture, and overall quality.


See also:
The Travels of Biturian Varosh: The People of the Woods
Non-Human Races: Aldryami
Gods in Prax: Non-Human Deities
A Personal View of Elf Culture
Wisdom of the Woodwife


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