Burning Holly

The Burning of Holly is a practice started by the Dorsillian under Count Haralt the Forester. Used as a means to keep back the advances of the fey and their trickery, it has become a method used by villages, thorps, churchs and even cities alike.

History

In 1412, utilizing his grandfather's journals of research, Count Haralt de Hue of Dorsill began a series of experiments in effort to find a means to combat the fey within his lands. After a series of failures left him blind, he created a competition for local alchemists to create such a material.
Over five years, many alchemists, rangers, and charlatans attempted to create some form of fey prevention agent but with no avail. Growing impatient, Count de Hue turned to the church officials of his land to see if they possessed any holy knowledge. They were shocked with a Sible Gregory made the claim that the fey had never bothered their small country church and, in fact, actively avoided their small church. Intrigued, Count de Hue sent a small group of alchemists and rangers to test the soil, church, and what grew in the area.
Immediately, they noticed the large green flame in the tower. Gregory informed them that, because of the poor roads in the area, they could not obtain the holy annointing oils used by other churchs and had resorted to the burning of local trees, which larged consisted of Holly. The alchemical teams quickly summised a theory and tested it.
Over the next year, the alchemical team discovered that the scent of burning Holly created an incense-like aura that kept the fey at bay. Immediately, Count de Hue began operations to grant land to the churchs throughout Dorsill and allowing them to grow Holly trees on their land, as well as spreading Holly to major towns and cities.

Primary Related Location

Lands of Dorsill

Related Organizations

• Order of the Glades

Related Ethnicities

• Dorsillian

Church in Dorsill

The burning of Holly is an act commonly performed by clergy of the Church of Divine Light in Dorsill, as their structures are built to handle and control large bonfires. Because of this, churchs often sell Holly and tinderboxes in town and city markets to help promote the practice, promoting the practice as a means to fight back the Darkness.