Old Spirits

The Old Spirits are a collection of minor deities that have existed across Mervona since the Archaic Era. Unlike other deities, who usually exist on the Outer Planes, exhibit distinct personalities and represent more defined concepts, the Old Spirits live on Mervona and usually represent more primal and abstract concepts such as base emotions.

Despite their names, the Old Spirits are not necessarily old. In fact, Old Spirits can be thought of as infant deities.

Old Spirits usually take the form of animals, but can take the form of people, plants or inanimate objects (such as weapons, mountains or books).

History
The Old Spirits were worshiped by the Protohumanoids in the Archaic Era. Their worship continued during the Aberrant Era by the Aberrant Era Culture. Following the Great Tearing, many Post-Collapse cultures worshiped them, although their worship was gradually being replaced by that of newer deities.

Origins
While new gods usually are born out of great effort by communities, Old Spirits arise far more organically.

Take, for example, a small farming village. The village may worship a deity that is responsible for rain, good harvests, good weather, etc. But suppose now that the village is beset by wolves. Prayer to the deity is unlikely to stem the attacks, as the deity resides in the Outer Planes and can do little to interfere with the Universe. In desperation, the villagers may begin to place offerings, hold sacrifices or other rituals or erect shrines or monuments to appeal to the wolves themselves. This communal worship creates an Old Spirit, likely a personified wolf, who does not wield very much power but, by residing on Mervona, has enough influence to stop the attacks. The wolf spirit may gain enough popularity and formal worship that it becomes an actual deity, perhaps a god of protection that takes the form of a wolf or a wolf-headed man, but now that spirit, having ascended to true divinity, has lost its connection with Mervona and now cannot exert its influence on the wolves.