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Brynnalyn

History

In the long peace of the Bloom Age, a group of Aos Sí departed Anterra and settled the Evergreen Isle. There they established a society that mirrored the high culture of their ancestors, centered on the city of Killan. For thousands of years they were ruled directly by their Queen (An Banrigh), also known as The Goddess (An Bandia), a deity native to the island.

The widespread decay of the Blood Age manifested on the isle not as open war, but from the decay of magic itself. When Aetheric Saturation began to rise, the first of the island's dead started to rise with it. Not long after, their Queen-Goddess vanished, leaving a vacuum of power and purpose that severed the society from its divine anchor. Throughout the remainder of the Blood Age, the Daoine Sí, desperate and alone, protected their home from this scourge even as they mourned the loss of their beloved goddess.

During the Blight Age, this curse became a siege. In their use of magic to defend themselves and their homes, they increased the saturation of magical energies that fed the armies of the dead. Finally the Daoine Sí were driven behind the walls of Killan, their capital and the last bastion. Refusing to abandon their home and the throne of their queen, they defended their last sanctuary.

Today, the Daoine Sí are the custodians of this necropolis. They are bound to the myth of a goddess none now living have seen, fighting a war that they themselves fuel. The society has fractured; without a monarch, self-proclaimed Stewards contend for control over a people subsisting on the legends of a golden age beyond their ken. Though the seaways remain open to them, they remain trapped by their own devotion to a place preserved in their cultural memory they cannot escape.

Government

The Daoine Sí lack a formal, centralized government; the disappearance of their goddess-queen, An Banrigh, resulted in a total collapse of the previous theocratic monarchy. In the current age, Killan exists in a state of fractured anarchy where political power is contested by four primary, independent bodies: An Dáil (The Assembly), An Garda (The Guard), An Fáidh (The Prophet), and An Cheàird (The Guild).

Legislative authority is nominally held by An Dáil, a body composed of the heads of the great fíne (kin-groups) who attempt to govern based on ancient legal traditions. However, this power is purely symbolic, as An Dáil possesses no executive arm to enforce its edicts. True executive and judicial power is wielded exclusively by An Garda, the city's standing military. Under the absolute command of their Taoiseach, An Garda operates independently, enforcing a brutal martial law that supersedes any of the assembly's traditional decrees.

Day-to-day administration is non-existent. There is no unified legal system; justice is situational, dispensed either by the Maors of An Dáil in clan-controlled districts or through summary judgment by An Garda for security offenses. The city's economy and infrastructure are not managed by a state body but are under the monopolistic control of An Cheàird. This gives the officially neutral guild a practical veto over the other factions, as none can function without its essential services.

This fractured system is further kept in check by the social power of An Fáidh, a popular religious movement that can mobilize the commoners to disrupt the plans of any other body. The result is a state of perpetual political stalemate. No single faction can assert full control, rendering long-term planning impossible and ensuring the city remains locked in a state of managed decline, unable to address the existential threat that besieges it.

Brynnalyn Assessment

Subject: Brynnalyn [BRIN-ah-lin]

Capital: Killan [KILL-an]

Status: Isolated; Besieged

Power Structure: Fractured Fallen Monarchy; An Dáil, An Garda, An Fáidh, An Cheàird

Assets: Possible access to Celtumpra: An Cheàird and others?

Liabilities: Reliant on external sea trade. Multiple factions to leverage against each other.

Opportunity Analysis: An Cheàird is the only viable vector for infiltration. Primary opportunity to study a Celtumpra enclave directly.

Recommendation

Infiltrate and Analyze:

  • Phase 1: Authorize operation to establish trade relationship with An Cheàird.
  • Phase 2: Use relationship to place an agent within An Cheàird's ranks to gather intelligence.
  • Outcome: Determine definitive existence of Celtumpra network.

~The Osprey Intelligence Dossier

Gilbert's Travels

Of all the impositions a traveler must endure, being confined to a city's port district is surely the most tiresome. Such was our predicament in Killan, the capital of Brynnalyn, a place I can only describe as a rather damp and gloomy seaport with pretensions of being a city. The locals, a pale and singularly somber people, have a rule that foreigners are not permitted beyond the port walls on account of some dreary, ongoing security concern.

I made several attempts to explain my station to the grim-faced guardsmen of their "An Garda," but they were decidedly unmovable. One gets the sense they are not accustomed to dealing with persons of quality. Boudreaux, for once, seemed quite content with the arrangement and showed a distinct lack of enthusiasm for my proposed excursions into the city proper. They are a people entirely consumed by their own dour legends: endless, dreary talk of a lost queen and some tiresome trouble with the local graveyards. In the end, it makes for a frightfully dull social scene. We departed after only two days.

~Gilbert Auguste Germain Rivet

Interesting Facts

  • A persistent superstition among the followers of An Fáidh holds that An Banrigh will not return until the Lus an Airgid (Silver Tear blossom), a flower driven to extinction by the blight, blooms once more. This belief fuels desperate and often fatal expeditions into the island's most dangerous regions, with hopeful zealots searching for a single surviving flower they believe holds the key to their salvation.

  • Due to the undead curse, the Daoine Sí cannot bury their dead lest they rise again. Instead, all deceased are cremated. Before the cremation, a lock of the deceased's hair is taken. This, along with their name and a summary of their deeds, is woven into the Cuimhne (The Memory), the great historical tapestry of their people. This ensures that while the body is gone, the person's essence becomes a permanent verse in the final draft of their civilization's story.

  • The great magical wards protecting Killan are maintained by An Cheàird. The enclave's magic-users discovered that the ancient wards are a major source of Aetheric Saturation. They now keep the wards just strong enough to repel the greatest threats while allowing them to "wither," a constant balancing act to slow their eventual extinction.

Current Challenges

  • The Undead Siege. The perpetual war against the undead that besieges Killan has bled their population dry and exhausted their resources. Worse, the Aetheric Saturation of the island continues to rise, ensuring that the ranks of their enemy are eternally replenished with their own fallen, making any conventional victory a logistical and metaphysical impossibility.

  • The War of the Stewards. The political stalemate between the factions has devolved into a cold war that threatens to turn hot. An Dáil and An Fáidh are locked in an ideological struggle for the city's soul, while the military power of An Garda acts with increasing autonomy. Factions now openly hoard resources, sabotage rivals, and engage in street brawls, and the city is one major crisis away from a full-blown civil war within its own walls.

  • The Reavers of the Coast. Killan's isolation has made it a tempting target for Navrow pirates and slavers from the Long Deep. These reavers prey on the city's few supply ships and have begun to test its sea defenses. They are a secondary, but highly intelligent and unpredictable, external threat that the Daoine Sí, who are entirely focused on the undead, are ill-equipped to handle.

Daoine Sí Characters

As you create a Daoine Sí character or NPC, consider the following:

Factioned Identity. With the collapse of their monarchy, a Daoine Sí's personal philosophy is now almost entirely defined by their factional allegiance. Consider how this shapes their perspective: are you a traditionalist of An Dáil, who believes legitimacy is found only in the ancient bloodlines? A soldier of An Garda, bound in brotherhood, prepared to fight until the end? A follower of An Fáidh, who is willing to make any sacrifice to see An Bandia again? Or a detached member of An Cheàird, who has realized that purpose can always be bought with profit?

The Technological Heresy. A controversial idea is spreading through Killan: adopting the technology of other peoples to fight the undead. To most, using black powder and steam power is an unthinkable betrayal of their magical traditions. Do you believe that relying on such tools is a betrayal of your traditions? Do you believe that whatever costs technology imposes, it is worth the price of survival? Do you fight to eliminate technology from Killan or secretly seek to acquire it?

The Question of the Vigil. The most fundamental question for any Daoine Sí is whether to stay in a dying city for a goddess they have never known. Is your loyalty to your home and your people's memory absolute, believing that to abandon Killan is to abandon the soul of your people? Or have you come to believe that the fight is a pointless suicide pact, and that the only way to honor your people is to ensure some of them survive? Does the outside world terrify you more than the undead at your walls, or have you seen enough horrors to brave the lands beyond the Long Deep?

Religious Practices

The religious life of the Daoine Sí revolves around their absent supreme deity, An Banrigh. While they once observed multiple deities on Brynnalyn, the blight on the island has corrupted most of these into Tatarigami, such as Bodach na Coille. Few uncorrupted deities are believed to remain, and the people's faith is now focused entirely on the empty throne of their lost goddess.

In the absence of a unified priesthood, religious authority is contested between two main factions. The Maors of An Dáil maintain the traditional faith, performing the ancient, formal ceremonies in Ard-Suí. In contrast, An Fáidh leads a popular prophetic movement among the commoners, conducting new rites based on the Seer's visions, which often involve public acts of sacrifice.

Cities and Sites of Interest

The Evergreen Isle of Brynnalyn was once a lush sanctuary, but its forests are now petrified and its lands are poisoned by a rising Aetheric Saturation. The only remaining bastion of civilization is the capital city of Killan, a sprawling necropolis where the last of the Daoine Sí wage an endless war against the dead.

Killan

The capital and last remaining city of the Daoine Sí, located on the northern coast of Brynnalyn. Its elegant, ancient architecture crumbles under the pressure of a ceaseless siege, its silent avenues and grand plazas now the stage for the persistent political conflict between the factions vying for control over their people's final days. The city is the only significant pocket of organized society left on the island.

Lios na Mara

A ruined port city on the southern coast of Brynnalyn. Once a major center for trade, it was abandoned centuries ago during the early stages of the undead curse. Its harbor is now a graveyard of scuttled ships, and its salt-crusted ruins are infested with the dead, making any attempt at salvage or resettlement impossible.

Tor na Soilse

A Celtumpra tower in the interior of Brynnalyn, Tor na Soilse is the domain of the ancient Daoine Sí, Fionn Mac Faolán. The tower is the epicenter of a blighted zone, its environs saturated with centuries of overlapping and decaying magical wards. The site is protected by layered, automated magical defenses that have kept it completely isolated for generations.

Factions of Killan

Lacking a central monarch, political power in Killan is held by several competing factions that have risen to fill the vacuum left by the disappearance of An Banrigh.

An Dáil

The Council is the remnant of the old aristocracy, a council of the great fíne (kin-groups) who claim the right to rule through lineage. They are not a unified body but self-proclaimed Maors (Stewards) of An Banrigh.

  • Fine Ó Corraidh. Led by Maor Eoin, this is the oldest bloodline. They believe in adhering to the last known edicts of An Banrigh, hoarding resources to preserve their own clan's purity above all else.

  • Fine Ó Ríogh. One of the most enduring enclaves of Old Celtumpra, this cadre of magic users is led by Maor Úna. They claim that only magic can save the city, their people, and return An Bandia to them again.

An Fáidh

An Fáidh (The Prophet) Colm, a mystic of low birth who claims to be a living vessel for An Bandia's spirit. He preaches that their suffering is a divine trial that must culminate in a final, glorious sacrifice. His followers, drawn from the desperate commoners who have lost faith in the squabbling nobles, see him as their only source of hope.

An Garda

The Black Wardens are the city's standing military force, radicalized by generations of hopeless warfare. Led by Taoiseach (Commander) Artur, An Garda have abandoned all hope of victory and focus solely on triage containment. Believing the Daoine Sí are afflicted with a magical plague that must not escape the isle, they are the jailers of their own people, enforcing martial law where any attempt to flee the city is a capital crime.

An Cheàird

The Guild is a Celtumpra enclave composed of the descendants from the lost port city of Lios na Mara. Led by Luminary Ailbhe, they are publicly neutral to the city's political struggles. However, their control of the magical wards that protect Killan have resulted in a monopoly on trade in and out of the city. This power and neutrality has positioned them in a place where all roads must pass through them at whatever price they demand.