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Older History

Page history last edited by Chris 13 years, 9 months ago

WARNING: This article contained dangerous knowledge, this knowledge has been redacted for the safety and sanity of the reader.

 

Approximate 35,000 years ago the first true culture of the Shard world later known as Faerie arose.
They were called the Alfar, and were split into two races, the Liosalfar and Svaralfar. The Liosalfar
("light elves") lived above ground in the forests. The Svaralfar ("dark elves") lived below ground in
tunnels and caverns.


The Svarlafar found a TEXT REDACTED deep below TEXT REDACTED which they
believed to be some sort of TEXT REDACTED. In their curiosity they TEXT REDACTED the
TEXT REDACTED, discovering it to be TEXT REDACTED. The TEXT REDACTED was sealed
and the Svaralfar TEXT REDACTED. Upon doing so they discovered that rather than a TEXT REDACTED,

the TEXT REDACTED was a TEXT REDACTED, and they had TEXT REDACTED.

It is not known how long they had been TEXT REDACTED or truly where they had
TEXT REDACTED.

 

In the last days of the TEXT REDACTED between the TEXT REDACTED and the Alfar, the TEXT REDACTED
found the need to TEXT REDACTED unto the Alfar for they were close to TEXT REDACTED,
so instead of TEXT REDACTED the Alfar whose TEXT REDACTED caused them to TEXT REDACTED,
making them TEXT REDACTED. TEXT REDACTED them into TEXT REDACTED but always in TEXT

REDACTED of their TEXT REDACTED. Their most terrifying ability, though, was that any Alfar
TEXT REDACTED. Within days TEXT REDACTED swarmed every known Shard threatening
to TEXT REDACTED the Alfar once and for all. The Alfar had gone from TEXT REDACTED within the
blink of an eye. To the Alfar these creatures were known as TEXT REDACTED.


Thirteen champions were chosen, one from each clan of the Liosalfar, and they were given powers
TEXT REDACTED to TEXT REDACTED that washed over the Shards. These warriors bound together
forged a spearhead, TEXT REDACTED. But within the Liosalfar treachery emerged. One jealous of the power held by
the thirteen TEXT REDACTED and ascended to powers even beyond those held by the thirteen. In
return, he waged war on his brothers destroying them one by one until none remained.


The Alfar needed to act fast, they gathered their wisest together and through their arcane magic’s
and archaic science they TEXT REDACTED, creatures of pure rage, invulnerable to fire and steel.
These were known as TEXT REDACTED and they were set forth to do battle.

 

This brought the Alfar precious time in order to finally TEXT REDACTED. Upon each Shard they
placed a shard (a stone of great magical power), created by the sacrifice of uncountable Alfar lives,
to act as TEXT REDACTED. Should the shard be removed from the Shard it protects TEXT

REDACTED that Shard in full force. Until that happens, or until someone finds another way to
TEXT REDACTED, they cannot TEXT REDACTED. However, TEXT REDACTED can use a
strong TEXT REDACTED to coalesce on, allowing them some power and influence TEXT

REDACTED.

 

The war between TEXT REDACTED and TEXT REDACTED was a bloody affair lasting long
after the defeat of TEXT REDACTED. But eventually TEXT REDACTED gained the upper hand
and TEXT REDACTED away into the shadows.


Time passed, civilizations rose and fell. TEXT REDACTED made their home on the Shard of
TEXT REDACTED and with the threat of TEXT REDACTED gone became TEXT REDACTED
and as time passed they TEXT REDACTED of today. Few TEXT REDACTED remain who know
the truth of their origin – TEXT REDACTED was the only remaining TEXT REDACTED from the
very beginning – and those that do keep it a closely guarded secret lest their talk TEXT

REDACTED.


But what of the TEXT REDACTED Well they stayed in the shadows making TEXT REDACTED
their main home. As time passed they too TEXT REDACTED of today, forming their own society
now known as TEXT REDACTED. Again few TEXT REDACTED remain who remember their
true humble origins as TEXT REDACTED and this too is kept a secret.

 

As for the Alfar, what was left of them evolved into the current Fey. The divide between the Liosalfar and the Svaralfar is believed to be the basis of the forming of the two courts.

 

The spirits of the Thirteen lived on too strong to be forgotten and in times of great need they awaken once more to reunite and face their most ancient enemy. Most of them are re-incarnated into new bodies, with new personalities. However, when Fionn "dies" he is, in fact, carried off to the Cave of Crystals in Faerie to await the next time of need.

 

The Thirteen have been through innumerable incarnations over the thousands of years since they were created, but the most recent three are outlined below.

 

The Fenian Cycle - 269 AD

 

Fionn Mac Cumhail – Fionn

Grainne – Lou

Bran – Kelly

Diarmuid – Queoshi

??? – Witch Sniffer

Taliesin – Dalreyan

Fer Doirich (The Dark Druid) – Kuan Ti

 

(The Fenian cycle is huge, and there are more tales related to it than you can shake a stick at, so here is a brief outline of some of the main events. If you want to know more, take a look at the references at the end.)

 

Erin (i.e. ancient Ireland) is having Vampire problems, so Fionn goes and finds the High King of Erin, Cormac Mac Art, and using his spear defeats a nocturnal "demon" (Aillen, son of Midhna, actually a vampire) who would appear every year at Samhain and put everyone to sleep using mind control. Then when all were sleeping, he would burn the High King’s palace and generally cause havoc. Fionn is able to stay awake and kill the Vampire, and in return the High King gives him leadership of the Fianna (or Fennians) – Erin’s main fighting force composed of squabbling clans who ally when necessary to repel invaders. Fionn awakens the 13, and they join with the Fianna.

 

There follow innumerable adventures of the Fianna lead by Fionn throughout Erin, involving hunting, fighting, sorcery and so on. His two best and most faithful warriors (his "hounds") are Bran and Sceolan. One day while out hunting with them he comes across a fawn. The fawn follows them home, and it turns out she is really a woman called Sadb (pron. Sav) who has been bewitched by Fer Doirich (pron. Fer (rolled r) Doirich (ch as in loch)), the Dark Druid. While inside Fionn's house she is safe from his sorcery and can resume her human form. She settles down with Fionn, and he devotes all his time to her, until eventually he has to go off fighting. He goes away for a week, and while he is gone the Dark Druid appears in his form and coaxes Sadb out of the house, where he again turns her into a fawn. Fionn is devastated to find her gone when he returns and spends years searching for her. He doesn't find her, but does find a naked boy who had been raised by a fawn. He recognises the boy as his son by Sadb, and calls him Oisin ("little fawn"). Many years later Fionn does find Sadb once more, still in her fawn form, and is forced to kill Bran to stop him from killing her by mistake.

 

More various adventures follow, culminating in a large battle against Daire Donn (King of the World), who was being manipulated by a number of Dark Druids who were actually Vampires. The Fianna are victorious, and the Vampires are driven back.

 

Once the main Vampire threat has been dealt with, Fionn becomes betrothed to Grainne (pron. Gronya), daughter of Cormac Mac Art. However, at the feast on the night before the wedding Grainne decides she actually fancies Diarmuid (pron. Dermot), the fairest of all the Fianna. She concocts a sleeping draught which puts everyone except him to sleep, and tries to convince him to elope with her. He’s not keen as he doesn’t want to upset Fionn, so she places him under an irresistible geis forcing him to comply. In the morning Fionn’s understandably miffed to find them gone, and he and the rest of the Fianna chase Diarmuid and Grainne for many years. To start with Diarmuid treats Grainne like a sister, and tries to let Fionn know this by leaving subtle hints – unbroken bread and uncooked salmon – for Fionn to find. Eventually, however, he is seduced by Grainne. This chase continues for 16 years, during which time the Fianna are distracted from hunting Vampires, giving them and the Traitor time to regroup. The pursuit finally ends when Diarmuid’s foster father, Aonghus Og, intervenes and persuades them all to forgive each other. Then Diarmuid and Grainne settle down to live together.

 

In order to show their forgiveness for one another, Grainne insists Fionn joins her and Diarmuid for a feast. He does so, but when he, Diarmuid and the rest of the Fianna go hunting at the end of the feast, Diarmuid is wounded by an enchanted boar. Fionn could save Diarmuid by giving him some of his blood (which has regenerative healing powers), but stalls until Diarmuid dies, using the fact that technically it is against the rules of the brotherhood for Fionn to let others drink his blood as it’s likely to drive them somewhat insane. When Grainne hears of this she swears vengeance on Fionn, once again turning the 13 against each other and giving the Traitor the chance he needs to pick them off one by one, so destroying the Fianna.

 

References:

A dictionary of Irish Mythology, by Peter Berresfore Ellis (ISBN: 0-09-467540-6)

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/gafm/index.htm - the whole of Book II.

 

 

The Arthurian Saga - 495 AD

 

Arthur – Fionn

Guinevere – Lou

Gawaine – Kelly

Lancelot – Queoshi

Percival – Witch Sniffer

Galahad – Dalreyan

Mordred – Kuan Ti

 

Britton is threatened by Vampires, and Fionn awakens the 13 once more. They become the Knights of the Round Table, and with help from Merlin, a sorcerer from Faerie, have innumerable adventures as per the Arthurian myths, hunting down Vampires, (Arthur using his spear, as usual), and are very successful at it. A time of peace and prosperity follows (the golden age of Camelot), and Britton heads for an age of high enlightenment. Morgan le Fey, a powerful enchantress from Faerie and mother of Gawain, takes a liking to Arthur and seduces him by appearing to him as Guinevere. Arthur sleeps with her but is horrified when he discovers who she truly is and refuses to have anything to do with her. Enraged by his refusal to leave Guin for her, Morgana adopts Mordred and aids him against the brotherhood.

 

Mordred creates a place (known as the Blood Cup, or Grail), as a final refuge for the last Vampires. The 13 are just off to deal with this final problem (hence the Grail quest myths) when Lord Lupine gets bored with the lack of Vampires to hunt, and decides he wants something else fun to pick on. He allies with the Siax (pron. c-aye-s, i.e. the Saxons), and leads them and the other Werewolves (this is the origin of the Saxon Berserker myths) against Arthur and co. Merlin gives Arthur a sword, Caladval (translates as "hard lightening", and the basis for the Excalibur myth), to use to kill the Werewolves.

 

All is set to repel the Siax, but then Lancelot and Guinevere have an affair. They’re being appropriately secretive about it until Mordred, aided by Morgan, arranges for the two of them to be found together by the rest of the brotherhood. Lancelot manages to fight his way to freedom, killing Agravain, one of Gawain’s brothers, in the process, even though he is unarmed, but Guinevere is trapped there. Mordred demands that Arthur pass sentence on Guinevere, and so Arthur has no choice but to order her burned. The alternative is to step down as King, which would play into Mordred’s hands. However, unbeknownst to the others Arthur makes it possible for Lancelot to rescue Guinevere at the last moment and carry her off, in the process killing Gaheris and Gareth, Gawain’s remaining brothers. Gawain becomes violently opposed to Lancelot over the whole affair and sides with Arthur against him - then everyone else starts taking sides, and once again the 13 begin to fight amongst themselves. Arthur’s plans are disrupted sufficiently by this for Mordred to kill off the Eternal Warriors one by one, and for the Siax to overrun Briton, so plunging Britton into a dark age. Oops!

 

References:

The Winter King Trilogy (by Bernard Cornwall) for setting

Excalibur (The Movie) for look and feel

 

 

Robin Hood - 1189 AD

 

Robin of Loxley – Fionn

Marion – Lou

Will Scarlet – Kelly

Alan a-Dale – Queoshi

Much – Witch Sniffer

Edward of Wycombe – Dalreyan

The Baron de Beleme – Kuan Ti

 

Prince John is actually a Vampire who, aided by Beleme, is attempting to take control of England. Fionn awakens the 13 and bands them together as the "Merry Men", and they wage war against Prince John and his nest using Blood Oak arrows. They are aided by Hern the Hunter, another friendly chap from Faerie.

 

Will, who is quite fed up with everything going pear-shaped, insists that everyone stays friends and no-one has an affair with anyone they shouldn’t. Robin makes it possible Alan to marry Mildred (against the wishes of her father) so he settles for her instead of Marion. This averts the usual catastrophe with Marion and Alan, and for once the 13 get organised enough to defeat Beleme. In doing so they recover a magical silver arrow, one of the few things that can kill Lupine outright, and hence save him from being assassinated. They are also very successful against Prince John and the Vampires, and manage to restore King Richard to the throne.

 

However, in spite of this success there is a large amount of angst caused by the Robin/Marion/Alan triangle and everyone pretending they’re happy with the situation when they’re not. Consequently everyone, especially those three, have a thoroughly miserable incarnation!

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