User:Xolotl100/sandbox

= Druidism =

Druidism (Gaulish - Ar Grethon, lit. - the following), is a European, polygnostic religion native to the Celtic peoples of Western Europe. It is the largest religion in Europe by number of followers, and the 4th largest in the world (behind Hinduism, Christism, Baalism and Buddhism). Its history dates back to the 1st millennium BC, arising from the native folk and aminist beliefs of the ancient Celtic peoples, eventually by the time of the First Empire becoming a written tradition with a common theology consistent across the various Celtic nations.

Local variants of Druidism exist in Albion, Erin and Astur, with significant followings in the Avalonian nations, all falling under the central authority of the Dundoa, the highest council and official church of the faith, led by the Guilix, the high priest. The current Guilix is Dassanomer. The holy scripture of Druidism is The Books of the High, a Dundoa sanctioned collection of sacred texts, prophecies, prayers, advice, legends and medicine. Druidism has had a large influence on the development of not just Celtic Europe, but the European continent as a whole, especially in the areas of language, art, law and culture.

= Gaul =

Gaul, officially the Empire of Gaul (Gaulish - Budrulh Gaulech), is a large monarchial state in Western Europe, bordered by Euskal and Talnir to the south, Germany to the east and Albion to the north, with the Atlantic Ocean on its western flank. It is one of the most powerful and oldest states in the world, and has been a center of the Celtic civilization for over 2,000 years and is home of the Celtic Druidism religion.

Gaul was first said to be settled by the ariosaher, a legendary ancestral race of the Celts, around 2000 BC, and saw many Iron Age archeological cultures, such the Hallstatt throughout its pre-historic era. As time progressed, society became more complex and hillforts, roads, long distance trade grew into proto-civilizations. Contact with the Grekoi and Carthage brought increased knowledge and technology, and by 100 BC, the first verified kingdoms and royal dynasties emerged across Gaul. The first large kingdom was the Belgae, led by Belrix, the kingdom by 100 AD had united all of Gaul between the Rhine and the Central Massif, as well as expanding into southern Albion. This kingdom would eventually unify with the southern polities and bring the First Empire, and the beginning of the Celtic civilization. Wars with the Huns and the Germanic peoples, as well as economic disruption caused by the fall of Carthage in 370 AD, caused the First Empire to collapse, and in its place arose several princedoms and tribal confederations. Eventually by 700 AD, the Second Empire was born from Ruaris the Great, and united the continental Gauls up to the Elbe River, integreating many Germanic tribes which greatly influenced Celtic culture. However the Northmen invasions and subsequent wars with the Iberians caused the decline of the second empire, and the establishment of Norse states in Badavi and Armorica. Following the second empire, the Gauls would not be reunited for another 700 years, in a time known as the princely states, which saw the rise of capitalism as we know it and the discovery of Avalon. The Third Empire was born in 1500, and became a global power, at one point being the strongest state in the world militarily and economically. Gaulish became a global lingua franca, and together with Albion, the Celtic faith and custom spread to Africa, the New World, Arabia, India and East Asia. After the Global War, in which a coalition of Gaul, Albion, Italion, Avalonia and Japan defeated a coalition of Muscovy, Persia and Sinica, Gaul retained its position as one of the foremost economies on earth and is today very based.