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When the mighty Storm Bull came to the land with his peoples the goddess Eiritha gave up all her old paramours and married the god. But their bliss was short lived as the War of the Gods rushed upon them, and Death stalked the world.
Death came for Eiritha one day, but was baffled when he could not find her. A hero named Orani, a son of the Storm Bull, had fought with Death and delayed the god, though he paid with his own life. During that time the super-hero Tada, who was a wiley god, led his people to dig a great pit and hide their goddess within the womb of the earth again. Death was fooled, but since that time Eiritha may never again walk freely upon Prax.
During the Great Darkness all of the children of Eiritha suffered, as did all mortals, slowly learning the meaning of death. During this time Waha was born, a son of the Storm Bull and Eiritha, who salvaged pieces of his parents' magics, and taught them to the surviving peoples. Neither parent god could return to the place where Waha taught. Instead people learned the worship of the daughters of Eiritha, called the Herd Protectresses, and of Waha, who knew the secrets of the Founding Spirits of the tribes.
The worship of Eiritha as practiced in Prax was spread to other parts of Glorantha during the Dawn Ages, when the animal nomads fought for the First Council . Those places still revere her in their distant lands. Several other regions also worshipped Eiritha as a subcult, but had no formal relations with Prax.
In Prax the worship of the goddess was divided into two types, both generally the same but with some specific differences.
The first is called Herd Eiritha, although tribal worshippers prefer to prefix her name with the name of their own favored beast. Thus she is called Sable Eiritha, Impala Eiritha, and so on. In this form she is worshipped by the nomads.
The Paps is a pre-darkness site where the sorry remnants of the once-great Ernalda Cult of earth deities cling to survival by their associations with the beast-goddess. Here she is called Eiritha of the Paps, or simply Paps Eiritha. Any specific differences imposed by this separation will be mentioned later. These are mainly in inter-temple and inter-tribal organizations and associated cult spells available.
Although the goddess is the great unifying factor on the Plains she has no absolute command or unity among the tribes, and is generally incapable of forcing unification upon the many divergent tribes. Thus the cult has had little influence upon the course of history.
The cult of Eiritha promises to its members that there will be a continued life after death, and that worshippers who are respectful and observant of her practices will receive recognition by her in the afterlife. The cult believes in the cyclical reincarnation of souls, and promises that priests, Rune masters, and selected Initiates will be able to spend some time in a blissful paradise between lives. Heroes of the cult retain their identity even after death, and are removed from the cycle to remain with their goddess in the afterlife to aid her.
Human members of this cult are always buried after they die, but if they are animals only their tails need be buried. When burying a priestess, the Waha warriors chant the prayers of the Peaceful Cut over the grave, and priestesses do earth rites by sacrificing herd-beasts and letting the blood flow upon the grave.
The goddess Eiritha is associated with the runes of Beast and Fertility.
The Most Respected Elder at the Paps is the high priestess of the Eiritha religion. She never leaves the sacred precincts of the Paps, and rules absolutely over the Sacred Ground which surrounds the temple.
There are ten priestesses associated with the animals who report directly to the Most Respected Elder. Five of these are the Respected Elders of the Great Tribes: the Sable, High Llama, Impala, Morocanth, and Bison Tribes. The other five are priestesses of the lost, hidden, or minor tribes: the Rhino, Plains Elk, Nose-horn, Long-nose, and Zebra Tribes. Some of these have high priestesses of their own among the minor clans on the plains, some are remainders of extinct herds, and one, the Zebra Mother, is new to the cult, haveng been "invented" by magics of peoples since Time began.
In addition to these beast-aspects of the goddess, there are also several subcults which remain attached to the Paps and are under the control of the goddes Eiritha. Each of them has a ruling high priestess, and one or more priestesses. There may also be a priestess of these subcults among the tribes, and these report to their tribal high priestess unless instructed to do otherwise by the high priestess at the Paps. (For this reason these subcults are not popular among the tribes, who see the priestesses as a possible source of betrayal of the tribal priorities.)
These subcults at the Paps include the 3-Bean Circus, Ronance, the Good Shepherd, the 48 Old Ones, the Earth Mother, and Aldrya.
Each tribe or clan has its own high priestess as well, for there are few occasions when the entire Nation will act in concert and be under the guidance of the Respected Elder, and yet the peoples still need major contact with their goddess between those rare occasions. Thus, it is possible for a Nation to have several high priestesses, but only one will be Respected Elder.