The Contested Isle Ch 8

Chapter 9: The Province of Munster

Munster, or Mumhan (MOO-wan), is Mythic Ireland's southern province. Originally split into Desmond (South Munster), Thomond (North Munster), and Ormond (East Munster), much of the province has been renamed and distributed to English lords. Irish kings keep English knights to the east, retaining native privileges in their ancestral cantreds, while English lords impose English law on their subjugated Irish vassals. The foreigners and Ostmen of the three Munster cities are ostensibly ruled by the English, yet act according to their own desires. Outlaw bands live in the forests, finding easy pickings from both Irish and English homes.

The Peoples of Munster

Munster was the first province officially claimed by the Sons of Míl. The fertile province was given to Éibhear Fionn mac Míl, whose descendents divided into several túatha.

Eoghanachta

Named after Eoghan Mór, the Eoghanachta (OWE-kho-nokh-tuh) were the strongest Munster clan for several hundred years. Over the centuries, the Eoghanachta separated into several clans. The most powerful are the Eoghanachta Caisail, centered around Cashel; the Eoghanachta Áine, centered around Cnoc Áine; and the Eoghanachta Locha Lein, centered around the Lakes of Killarny.

Mac Cárthaigh

The most powerful Eoghanachta Caisail clan is mac Cárthaigh (moc CAWR-hay), the current kings of Desmond. Once kings of Cashel, they were driven west of the River Blackwater by the Dál gCais. The English invaders pushed the mac Cárthaigh clan even further west, past the River Bandon estuary and the English town of Kinsale.

The mac Cárthaigh clan detests the Uí Briain and the Uí Súilleabhán of Kerry much more than it does the English. The Uí Briain clan is too strong to attack, but the Uí Súilleabháin clan is not. In 1214, at a peace negotiation feast in the village of Raheen, the mac Cárthaighs slew several of the Uí Súilleabháin nobility. This victory failed to last, because within the year the two most powerful mac Cárthaigh brothers, Diarmait and Cormac Fionn, were warring over Desmond's leadership.

Uí Súilleabháin

Another branch of the Eoghanachta Caisail, the Uí Súilleabháins (OO-ee SOOL-yav-awn) are descendents of a seventh century king of Munster. The family's most famous king, Fedelmid mac Crimthainn, was both king of Munster and abbot of Cork and Clonfert abbey. Continually warring with the mac Cárthaighs, the Uí Súilleabháin have recently suffered a crippling setback from the massacre of Raheen. They are still strong enough to mount resistance against the English.

Story Seed: Returning the King According to most histories Conn of the Hundred Battles killed Eoghan Mór at Magh Léana. The Red Book of Cloyne, however, says that a mortally wounded Eoghan Mór staggered from the battle to a nearby river. A faerie woman, Éadaoin, magically carried him inside an invisible yew tree. Healed from his wounds, Eoghan Mór still lives with Éadaoin. She tells the king that he won the battle, his people are safe, and he has only been with her for a few days. The legend says that the yew tree's reflection can be seen in the stream, but efforts to find the Faerie regio have failed. As their fortunes fail, various Eoghanachta kings ask magi to find the regio and return Eoghan Mór.

Dál gCais

Originally from southeast Munster, the Dál gCais (DAWL GOSH), or "tribe of Cas," moved north as they grew in power. They settled east of Limerick before continuing north up the River Shannon. Eventually this area, and the lands between the Rivers Shannon and Fergus and the southern shores of Lough Derg, would be called the kingdom of Thomond.

The Dál gCais attribute their success both to St Patrick and to Aoibheall, a faerie land-goddess living on the shores of Lough Derg. During their first northern migration the tribe was visited by Patrick on his mission through Munster. The clan built a stone church, Singeal (Irish for "chancel"), on the site where they met Patrick, who often visits his favorite clan now that he is a saint. This divine father is complimented by a faerie mother, whose mound, Craig Liath, is located on the western shores of Lough Derg. Every king marries Aoibheall in a public ceremony. If he is a good king and the clan prospers, she provides foresight, wisdom, and prophecies of the future. Aoibheall does not spent much time with her temporary husband, who usually has a mundane queen as well as his faerie wife.

In 1220, both of the Dal gCais' sacred sites, Singeal and Craig Liath, are held by others. Singeal has fallen under control of the English and Ostmen of Limerick, and Craig Liath was recently raided by Connachtmen.

Uí Briain

While named after Brian Bóramha, high-king from 1002 to 1014, the Uí Briain fortunes first started to rise with Brian's brother, Mathgamain mac Cennétig, and his successful conquests of Cashel and Limerick. Subjugating all rivals, the brothers waged continuous warfare throughout their lives. Methgamain was slain in 975, making Brian the sole rí cóicid. Continuing his military successes, he eventually grew so powerful that the current Uí Neill high-king abdicated the position to Brian.

The Dál gCais rí cóicid is expected to marry Aoibheall. As king of the most powerful Dál gCais tribe and candidate for the kingship, Brian married the faerie without hesitation. Some speculate that his marriage to this supernatural matron accounts for his rise to power, and that without Aoibheall's powers of future-sight Brian would never have become ard rí. Her divination ability was so accurate that many caller her bahfháidh Uí mBriain: "prophetess of the Uí Briains." According to legend, she visited Brian on the eve of the Battle of Clontarf and told the aging king that we would not survive the battle.

Déise

A collection of clans living west of the River Nore in the area north of Waterford, the Déise (DEY-shuh) were once vassal tribes of the Eoghanachta. Originally living near Tara, they were evicted by High-King Cormac mac Airt when their founder, Aonghus Gaífhuileach ("bloody spear"), quarreled with one of Cormac's sons over a woman. When the English invaded, the southern Déise joined forces with the Ostmen to protect Waterford. But even their combined might failed. Surrounded by powerful neighbors, the Déise clans content themselves with re-spectfully serving their English overlords by day and causing as much mischief as possible by night.

The English in Munster

In 1210, King John gave his favorites lands in Munster, but retained Waterford, Limerick, and Cork. The lands north of Waterford were given to Robert le Poer; Thomond to Philip de Braose; and Desmond to Robert FitzStephen and Milo de Cogans. None of those men were able to claim the lands given to them, and in 1220 their sons have limited control over Munster. Hostile neighbors and a lack of large-scale military successes have kept their ambitions in check.

The English offer military assistance to the factious Irish clans in their fights with each other. Both Desmond and Thomond have recently undergone succession wars, and every faction hired English mercenaries. Confusion and violence allowed the English to encroach into Desmond land. These advances are slow. Like their Irish neighbors, the English readily fight each other; land is land to an English knight. The cities are not much safer, as the Ostmen continually rail against their lords. Cork and Limerick cannot control the Ostman population, and the English allow them to keep raiding the countryside, indiscriminately plundering whoever they can.

Kingdom of Desmond

The political boundaries of Deas-Mhumhain, "southern Munster," are shrinking. Since the English invasion, royal land grants have pushed Desmond's border west of the newly created Liberty of Cork. Ruled by the mac Cárthaigh clan, Desmond vies with Thomond for the title of the strongest Irish kingdom in Munster. But where Thomond is usually at odds with its Connacht neighbors, Desmond suffers from the aftermath of a succession war. Five years ago, Cormac revolted against his brother Diarmait. Cormac failed to dethrone his brother and patched together a peace accord once they noticed the English advancing into the border.

Small castles surround Desmond, both those hastily built by English knights and protective structures build by the Desmond nobility. Donagh Uí Mathghamhna has build a string of 12 castles along the southern coast of the kingdom, preventing enemies from landing on the Atlantic coast. Every noble family has castles, which they use for staging raids and as protective defenses. Desmond warriors are active every summer, staging annual assaults against either of the Ostmen cities of Youghal and Cork.

Story Seed: The Midnight Builder The Uí Mathghamhna castles have gone up so fast that several magi think magical means were used. Unlike the hastily built motte and bailey castles of the English, these castles are all fortified stone. Is a magus aiding the túath by magically creating castles overnight? The covenant of Cliffheart, known Irish sympathizers, is not far from Uí Mathghamhna lands.

Magh nAla

Deprived of the city of Cork, the ruling mac Cárthaigh has made Magh nAla (MOKH NOL-uh), "the plain of swans," his home. A royal ráth hidden deep in the Blackwater River valley, Magh nAla is the meeting place for the mac Cárthaigh hostings. Surrounded by forests, it is difficult to find. During the winter months Magh nAla is a typical ráth, with a few hundred permanent residents and a thousand head of cattle. Each spring Diarmait summons every freeman and warrior in Desmond to war, and hundreds of men file out of the forest heeding his call.

Story Seed: Seeking the Plain of Swans As it is hidden in a dense forest, visitors must follow one of the few roads that wind through the woods, hoping that it leads to Magh nAla and not elsewhere. One of these roads is the highway of the Coitse Bodhar, or Silent Wagon, a two-wheeled chariot driven by an evil faerie woman who likes to run down travelers. Those knocked from the road are thrown into a wooded faerie regio, doomed to wander the immense faerie forest unless magical help arrives. Characters might be asked to find those initially seeking Mag nAla but forced off the road by the Coitse Bodhar.

Cork

Sitting at the mouth of the River Lee, Cork was a small monastic community, home to Saints Finbarr and Nessan. In 1020 marauding Ostmen used it for a winter camp. Unlike other Irish cities, the Ostmen were ejected from Cork. A combined Uí Briain and mac Cárthaigh force stormed the walls while their druids blasted the earthen works with bolts of lightning. Cork did not stay under Irish control, and was recaptured by Ostmen from Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford. During the interim, the Uí Briain túath translated St Finbarr's relics from Cork to Killaloe. Although the city fell back into Ostmen hands, the king of Desmond was so strong that the Ostmen leaders submitted to his rule.

Because of the successes of the English invaders, the Desmond king offered Cork to King Henry II as tribute. Henry quickly installed an English governor and garrison. Two years later mac Cárthaigh took the city back. Four years after that, King Henry II granted the city to Robert FitzStephen and Milo de Cogan, who then took the city by force. Desmond regularly besieged the city, unsuccessfully, and finally gave up in 1199.

Chroniclers describe Cork as "an evil place." The English and Ostmen inside the walls barely get along, and none dare step foot outside the walls into territory firmly controlled by Desmond and Déise. The harbor provides the sole access from the city to the rest of the island and Mythic Europe. Despite this single point of entry, Cork is a very busy city, second only to Dublin in trade.

Story Seed: The Siege of Shandon Castle Sitting on a precipice overlooking the harbor, Shandon Castle is the keystone to Cork's defenses. Its squat, stone tower effectively protects the city from invasion. Cork's enemies know this, and Diarmait mac Cárthaigh has instructed his hedge magicians to destroy the castle. Capable of hurling lightning bolts, these men present a severe threat. If they are successful, the defeated might assume the wizards are members of the Order of Hermes, the most famous wizards in Ireland. Should the magi stop the hedge magicians?

Tech Dairbhre

Tech Dairbhre sits just off the Munster coast, connected to the mainland by a slim isthmus. The faerie Mug Ruith lives on the island, the self-proclaimed "most famous druid in Éire," and court wizard to King Mobd, leader of the Munster Tuatha Dé. Mug Ruith owns a flying machine, the roth rámach or "oared wheel," and wears a bull hide and bird mask when piloting his machine. Mug Ruith owns a collection of enchanted items, including a gleaming chariot, a magical shield, and a stone that can change into a poisonous eel. Mug Ruith regularly visits his daughter, Tlachtga, who lives on the Hill of Tlachtga (see Chapter 7.

Kingdom of Thomond

From the Irish Tuadhmhumhain, meaning "northern Munster," The Kingdom of Thomond is the traditional lands of the Dal gCais and the Uí Briain. Thomond is a buffer state between Connacht and the Liberties of Limerick and Tipperary, all of which have been recently targeted by Uí Briain raids.

Donnchadh Cairbre Uí Briain is the King of Thomond in 1220. He is more concerned with the expansion of Connacht, his traditional enemy, than with English colonists, and is more than willing to hire English mercenaries from Tipperary and the de Burgo family. The Shannon is a natural boundary to the kingdom and prevents English encroachment, stopping them from building castles as the FitzStephens are doing in Desmond.

Story Seed: The Stealer of Secrets Following an old pagan tradition and foregoing Christian rites, some Uí Briain warriors are buried vertically, weapon in hand, facing north toward Connacht. Nearly a hundred burial mounds line Thormond's northern border. Recently, a hedge wizard has learned how to speak to these interned dead, and has begun raiding their memories for military secrets. The ghosts of those so plundered wail at the affront, causing a terrible din and upsetting local residents. The magi are approached for a solution, ideally to find and stop the hedge wizard, or at the least lay the wailing ghosts to rest.

The River Shannon

The river Shannon (Irish: Abha na Sionainne) is the longest river in Mythic Ireland, traveling almost 250 miles from its source in the Dartry Mountains to its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean. A natural barrier between east and west, the River Shannon forms most of the border between Connacht and Ulster. The river is named after the goddess Sionainn. Originally a mortal woman, she found a faerie well that granted the drinker knowledge. Removing the well's capstone, the rushing water overwhelmed her, drowning her and forming the River Shannon. Transformed through the process, faerie Sionainn travels the river in a small, hide-covered boat, overseeing the river's comings and goings.

The entire river has a Faerie aura of 1. In remote areas along the river the aura increases, and some pools and secret eddies contain faerie regiones. Faeries are more dangerous to the west of the Shannon. Malevolent solitary faeries are common, and many of the ravages blamed on kings are actually the depradations of trooping faeries.

Story Seed: The Fish Wife In one of the deeper river bends of the River Shannon lives a bandraoi, an evil sea-witch who can change shape into any type of fish. She can also appear as a beautiful woman, and in this guise lures fisherman to her embrace. Just as her paramour is puckering his lips to kiss her, she changes into a large pike, clamps her jaws down on his face, and drags him into her pool. Characters can either be victims of her trap or rescuers who free others from a marital drowning.

Killaloe

Killaloe is the capitol of Thomond and center of power of the Uí Briain. Situated near the Thomond-Limerick-Tipperary border, Killaloe safeguards one of the few bridges that crosses the River Shannon. Originally a monastic community, its strategic importance prompted a Uí Briain king to built a palace in Killaloe. The palace, Kincora, still houses the rí ruirech.

Killaloe was recently burned by an Uí Conchobhair raid, and while much damage was done the raid did not reduce Uí Briain power. Donnchadh plans a counterstrike into Connacht and is currently enlisting mercenaries.

Story Seed: The King's Treasure Fearful after the recent raid, King Donnchadh buried his most valuable possessions in an undisclosed spot. His most faithful warrior bragged that he would defend the treasure even in death. Thinking this a good idea, Donnchadh killed him. The warrior's ghost lingers over the spot waiting to kill any treasure seekers. Forgetting where he buried it, and embarrassed about its guardian, King Donnchadh asks the characters to find the treasure without mentioning its protector.

The Church of St Flannan

Flannan was a seventh century abbot of the Killaloe monastery and nephew to the Uí Briain king. Possessed of holy powers of divination, Flannan led his community to happiness and prosperity. He was quickly canonized after his death and the people of Thomond still travel to his grave to seek guidance. A cathedral was begun in 1185 to honor the saint, and the foreman claims that the saint visits him at night with helpful instructions. Next to St Flannan's relics sit St Finbar's relics, relocated from Cork. In 1220, the cathedral is nearing completion.

A few yards from the cathedral's foundation rests the Ogham Stone. Waist-high, the message "A Blessing on Thorgrimr" is carved in Ogham on the stone's face, while on the stone's back a signature, "Thorgrimr carved this cross," is carved in Nordic runes. The stone is two hundred years old, at least, and no-one in the area now knows more than the inscriptions say, many of them not even that. It is magic, but its proximity to the cathedral has prevented anyone from taking it and studying it. It presents a mysterious connection between ancient druids, Norse wizards, and Christianity.

Story Seed: The Faerie Saint Flannan Famous as a preacher and holy seer, Flannan's sole power of divination allowed him to foresee when someone was going to die. The false story that he could presage any event has grown so large that a social faerie has adopted the role. The faerie visits the cathedral's architect at night, and inspires the man. The current abbot is concerned and asks the magi for help, pointing out that the cathedral is starting to look a little crooked, decorated with overt pagan images, and that the saint only visits the architect in his home, not at the cathedral.

The Burren

The Burren is a large, rocky plateau on the coast of northwest Thomond. Essentially one giant piece of limestone approximately 100 square miles in area, it is crisscrossed with cracks, called "grikes," which divide the rock into thousands of smaller pavements. While the pavements are barren and devote of plant life, the grikes abound with long-bladed grasses and wild flowers, making the Burren a popular place to graze cattle and sheep. Dotted with nearly a hundred stone tombs and cairns, many faeries call the Burren home. The area and its faeries are frequently disturbed by cattle raiders.

The Liberty of Tipperary

Formerly the Kingdom of Ormond, Tipperary is a border kingdom between Desmond and Thomond to the west, and Ossory to the east (see Chapter 6). Thick with Eoghanachta septs, the clans suffered when the Dal gCais cut down their sacred yew tree, transferring prestige and power from the Eoghanachta to the Dál gCais and more specifically the Uí Briain family. Already weakened, the English found the area an easy target. King John made Theobald Walter the Chief Butler of Ireland, a hereditary title, and awarded him lands in the north. William de Burgh gained the midlands, between Cashel and the town of Tipperary, centered at his castles at Kilfearkle and Athassel. Philip de Worcester gained the southern lands, including Cahir castle, which was build in 1142 by Conchovor Uí Briain.

English possessions dot Tipperary like islands on a turbulent sea. Life can be peaceful, even enjoyable, in the English-created towns such as Nenagh and Clonmel, and the English-controlled towns of Athassel and Cahir. But the roads are dangerous and travel between defended towns is either infrequent or well-guarded. The native Déisi and Eoghanachta clans happily waylay wanderers.

Sídh Femen

Bodh Derg, son of the Dagda and ruler of the Munster Tuatha Dé, sits in his palace at Sídh Femen (the Mound of Femen). A vast underground complex, Sídh Femen has all the trappings of a royal Irish court, including faerie minstrels, courtiers, swineherds, warriors, and royal wives. Bodh Derg is a famous judge and interpreter of dreams, and other Tuatha Dé faeries regularly visit his court. His smith, Lén, makes enchanted items for the Munster Tuatha Dé. At the end of the day he throws his anvil to a nearby hill and when it lands the sparks from the anvil change into pearls. Normally these pearls disappear when Léns retrieves his anvil, but one night a year they remain and can be collected for Ignem vis.

Cashel

In the late 10th century Conall Corc founded Cashel, (Irish: Caisel), which became the home of the Eoghanachta kings. St Patrick crowned one of the Eoghanachta kings on the site, before blessing the rock with various miracles. With the rise of Dál gCais and the victories of Brian Bóramha, the Eoghanachta were ousted from Cashel. The site was given to the bishop of Limerick, forever removing it from lay hands and preventing the Eoghanachta from ever regaining their ancestral capital.

Built on the Rock of Cashel, a large outcropping of stone that rises abruptly from the Golden Vale plains, Cashel is collection of stone buildings and churches. The ecclesiastical center of Munster, Cashel was fortified before being turned over to the Church. Several kings have paid for buildings, mostly churches, oratories, chapter houses, and cathedrals. Some of the older buildings have fallen to ruin, but careful maintenance have kept the more recent buildings in good repair. The main cathedral, Cormac's Chapel, has a Divine aura of 5 and the whole Rock has a Divine aura of 2.

A famous center of learning, Cashel teaches all those who can afford instruction. While not manufacturers of books, Cashel has quite a collection. The Redcap Gopstan once pretended to be an uneducated prince's son and lived with the monks for a year, merely to gain access to their library. At year's end, the headmaster asked Gopstan to give his regards to the Redcap's parens, the first sign that he had discovered Gopstan's ruse.

Story Seed: The Sacred Yew Before Christianity, the Eoghanachta worshiped the yew tree, and planted a sacred yew in the center of Cashel. During the Dál gCais raids Brian's brother, Muircheartach, cut the tree down. Eoghanachta hedge wizards claim that their clan won't regain its former might until a new tree is planted, and there is a wizard from the Uí Cerbaill túath who can make a yew seed grow overnight into a full-sized tree. The monks of Cashel cut the tree down, but the Uí Cerbaill sorcerer is persistent. A Cashel representative looks for a member of the Order of Hermes to help stop the Uí Cerbaill wizard.

The Silvermine Mountains

Sitting in north Tipperary, part of the border with Thomond, the Silvermine Mountains are a circular cluster of wooded mountains separated by valleys. The highest peak, Keeper Hill, from Sliabh Coimeálta meaning "mountain of fosterage," towers over the others. According to legend, Sadhbh, a daughter of a Connacht king, married a Munster king and bore him two children. Spurned by her husband, Sadhbh hid on Keeper Hill and asked the local Tuatha Dé to raise the children, a twin boy and girl. Their fate is unknown.

Keeper Hill provides a commanding view of the area and the Silvermine Mountains could easily hide an army among their hazel, hawthorn, and rowan trees. Magic auras are scarce, which could be why a covenant hasn't been founded within the easily defensible mountains. A thorough search might turn up a favorable site.

The Liberty of Waterford

Former called South Déisi by the Irish and rechristened the Liberty of Waterford, this was the first Munster territory to fall to the English. Close to Leinster, the province most firmly controlled by the English, this liberty is the safest in Munster. The boundary follows the River Suir north and west to Clonmel, runs west to the abbey town of Lismore, then south along the River Blackwater to Youghal and the coast.

Story Seed: The Secret Army Pockets of Irish resistance exist in the Liberty of Waterford. Déisi warriors occasionally muster and raid English towns and castles. Unlike the Wicklow Mountains in Leinster, Waterford does not have a specific location that hides the Irish resistance, and local English lords are baffled as to where this army hides. While certainly made up of local free and bondsmen living in the many Irish ráths, the leaders and elite warriors have to be full-time soldiers. Is their stronghold magically hidden, perhaps in the thick woods that line the liberty's interior regions? The magi of Ashenrise have taken an interest in this possibility and are asking redcaps what they might know.

Waterford City

Another Irish fishing spot fortified by Viking raiders, Waterford was founded in the early 10th century. Like other towns, it has a concentration of Ostmen and foreigners. While there had been no love lost between the Waterford Ostmen and the neighboring Déisi, the two banded together to protect the city once the English arrived. The combined force withstood Strongbow's siege for a day but surrendered once a shabbily constructed tower was pulled down by the besiegers. Magnanimously, Strongbow spared the town, slaying only the two Ostmen leaders. He then quickly married Diarmaid Mac Murchadha's daughter, Aoife, laying the groundwork to forever change Irish politics.

Waterford is the "city of wines," and daily imports wine from Bordeaux. Waterford is the regular landing point for the English king. King John spent considerable money expanding Waterford's walls, which are three times as long as the former city walls and nearly finished. The Marshal of Waterford, Thomas FitzAnthony, lives with his family in Reginald's Tower, the oldest stone tower in the city and former residence of the Ostman city leaders.

Unlike Limerick, with its restless Ostmen and Irish, and Cork, surrounded by the ready and violent warriors of Desmond, Waterford is relatively peaceful. A minority of Déisi live inside its stone walls, but the majority of the inhabitants are Ostmen and English. While FitzAnthony might not be able to show much authority outside the walls, inside he is masterful sheriff.

Story Seed: The Ruinous Toad Before the English landed, a toad was discovered swimming in a puddle on a Waterford quay. Noteworthy because toads and their ilk were unknown in Mythic Ireland, seers announced that this ill portent heralded an evil time, and months later the English landed. Since then, more and more toads can be found and a French merchant is said to have successfully imported a poisonous snake. Have the English changed something in the supernatural fabric of Mythic Ireland that now allows poisonous creatures on the island?

The Liberty of Limerick

Before the English, the area of western Thomond and eastern Ormond belonged to the Uí Fidgenti clan, a subgroup of the Eoghanachta. Though often raided, the clan maintained its holding because Irish princes don't take land, only cattle, and both mac Cárthaigh and Uí Briain clans regularly used the Uí Fidgenti in their hostings. The English do take land, and have forced the Uí Fidgenti from their traditional holdings. Dubbed the Liberty of Limerick by King John, the territory is barely controlled by its English lords. The Uí Súilleabháin family offers persistent resistance from their castles in Kerry and west Cork.

Croc Áine

The two hills of Croc Áine overlook the plains of Munster and the nearby Lough Gur. Home to the land-goddess Áine, Croc Áine serves as the wedding site for all royal Munster marriages. Every year on the summer solstice, the nearby people travel to Croc Áine and light a bonfire on both summits. They then light "clairs," homemade straw bundles tied to wooden poles, and carry the lit clairs throughout their cultivated lands and herds. Correctly performing this ceremony grants all the participants a beneficial +1 aging modifier to Aging Rolls.

Croc Áine is partitioned into four parts, one for each of Ireland's provinces (excluding Meath), with each parcel belonging to the faerie leader of the province. Every Tuatha Dé and social faerie attends this ceremony, standing invisibly among the crowd until midnight, at which point they enter Áine's sídh and commence their celebratory feast. The people know it is bad luck to see this, and hurry running the clairs so as to be done by midnight. Magi seeking an audience with any particular faerie in Munster will find him at Croc Áine on the solstice.

Lough Gur

Several miles northwest of Croc Áine sits Lough Gur. The lake has a Faerie aura of 5 and an evil reputation. Every seven years it disappears entirely for the night, leaving a bank of impenetrable fog in its absence. The lake is surrounded by cairns and protected by sí gaoith, faerie whirlwinds that pull intruders into the lake and drown them. Áine sometimes meets her husband Manannán in the lake, but its most notorious occupant is a large faerie eel. A dangerous solitary faerie, the eel leaps from the lake at night and attacks visitors. Since no sane person would wander the shoreline at night, most nocturnal visitors are magi, collecting the faerie lake foam that collects on the shores. Under the full moon a night's collection is worth five pawns of Faerie-tainted Aquam vis.

One of the larger cairns is a Bed of Dermot and Grainne, one of the 365 beds that can be found in Mythic Ireland. According to legend, the warrior Dermot eloped with the princes Grainne and hid throughout the island. Fionn mac Cumhaill reluctantly chased after them, but because the pair built secret hiding places each night, it took him a year to find them. The old druids claimed that a man could use the beds of Dermot and Grainne to gain supernatural powers, by following a complicated year-long initiation that includes finding all the beds and sleeping in them in the correct order.

Limerick

Originally a small Irish community, Limerick is another settlement created by wintering Ostmen. The last powerful Viking lord was slain by Brian Bóramha, who took Limerick as Thomond's capitol. Since then, the city has repeatedly changed hands through the dynastic struggles of the Uí Briain. Domnall Mór Uí Briain burned the city down in 1174 rather than let it fall to the English invaders. The entire area — the city and surrounding countryside — was heavily disputed until Domnall Mór's death in 1194, after which the English took the city and most of the surrounding lands. Limerick received its charter in 1197 and was given to Philip de Braose. King John's Castle, paid for and named after the king, was built in 1200 on King's Island, a small island off the Shannon estuary and part of Limerick.

Limerick is unofficially divided into "English Town," the walled castle and buildings on King's Island, and "Irish Town," the walled structures on the banks of the Shannon that house the Ostmen and Irish. Because of its history as a royal Thomond residence, Limerick is one of the few cities with Irish inhabitants. Nighttime murders are frequent, and foreigners easily disappear into the harbor's depths. The de Braose lord spends so much time keeping the peace within Limerick that he is forced to let the surrounding countryside revert to its Irish ways.

Dún Eochair

A ruin set along the River Maigue, Dún Eochair was the capital of the Uí Fidgenti before the clan was ousted from the area by the mac Cárthaighs. With the English colonists nearby, the site was abandoned by both clans. Hidden within a regio that occupies the old palace grounds is the palace of Cú Roí, the Munster king of the Ulster Cycle. A famous magician, warrior, and shape-changer, the faerie-hero Cú Roí sorely misses the people that used to live at Dún Eochair. His most frequent role in stories is as a judge, with a reputation for sound and fair decisions. Cú Roí can decide who is the better warrior, or poet, but he can also decide which is the better choice of actions for a person.

Kerry

Carruidhe, anglicized as "Kerry," is named after the Ciarraige clan, descendents of Ciar, the son of the Ulster exile Fergus mac Róich and Queen Medb of Connacht. Pressure from stronger túatha forced half of the clan to move north, to the Thomond-Connacht border. Those that remained became the Uá Conchobhair, named after Conchobar Cair, and until the English invasion the land was called the Kingdom of Ceir and the inhabitants were vassals of the Desmond king. King Henry II gave Kerry to Robert FitzStephen and Milo do Cogan, and King John made the territory a shire in 1210.

Kerry consists of mountains and peninsulas. The slopes of Slieve Mish swoop down to the shoreline of the Dingle Peninsula. Remote and dangerous, its most powerful túath is the Uí Súilleabháin, followed by the Uí Cinnéide and Uí Donnchadha túatha. Although recently weakened by the mac Cárthaigh clan, the Uí Súilleabháin clan is still large enough to keep the English lords in check, keeping them penned in their fortresses and ruling in name only.

Tralee

Kerry's largest town, Tralee (Irish: Trá Lí) is a harbor and market town ruled by the Uí Súilleabháin clan. Sitting on Sleive Mish's northern edge, an ancient trail leads into the mountains and bypasses Scota's Grave, marked by a circle of tall stones hidden away in a small valley grove. Scota was an Egyptian princess and sorceress, wife to Gaedheal Glas and mother to the race of Gaels. Living in Egypt and nearly 2,000 years old, a mystery that still defies explanation, Scota traveled to Mythic Ireland to avenge the death of two of her sons, slain in the Milesians' initial war with the Tuatha Dé. Although she killed her sons' killers, she was later slain by Munster faeries. Buried where she fell, the grove has a Magic aura of five.

Skellig Michael

Skellig Michael (Irish: Sceilig Mhichíl, meaning "Michael's Rock") is a rocky island nine miles from the coast. Steep and barren, it was a monastery for six hundred years before being abandoned in the 11th century. The monks left because of repeated Viking raids, but their stone huts remain, perched on the peak of the island's 750-foot-high cliffs. The entire island has a Divine aura of 3.

Circulus Ruber

Symbol: A hastily drawn red circle
Season: Autumn
Cathach: A Magic Cauldron

The first covenant in Ireland, Circulus Ruber has the largest membership and the most vocal, self-appreciating members. Traditionalists, Circulus Ruber isn't interested in changing its time-honored methods. It appreciates Hermetic scholarship and applauds arcane invention, but it isn't about to reinvent Tribunal rules. Continental magi often feel like they are stepping back in time when visiting Hibernia, and Circulus Ruber goes to great effort to keep it that way.

History

Circulus Ruber was found by two Tytalus and two Merinita magae, who had come looking for the Tuatha Dé Danann's four legendary treasures. They found an island embroiled in endemic warfare and home to thousands of faeries. The former appealed to the Tytalus and the latter to the Merinita. The four created and continued traditions that eventually became the Tribunal's Peripheral Code. The Tytalus members fostered conflict and individuality and the Merinita members emphasized the sustainability of the island's faeries and its mythical past.

After a year living in the Brú na Bóinne the magae moved to the less traveled Burren, a barren, rocky region on the west coast of northern Munster. Magically creating a tower on the Cliffs of Moher, the magae announced their intent to form a home and defend it for a year. Local wizards, bolstered by their mundane relatives, responded to the magae's presence and fiercely sought to remove them. By increasing their membership with allies from the Rhine and Iberia Tribunals, the magi prevailed, and by the end of the decade eight magi made the covenant their permanent home.

Through the centuries Circulus Ruber watched the island's conflicts, ignoring those it could and participating in those thought necessary. Mundane wars and territorial raids were avoided, but sometimes inevitable. Faerie conflicts were more frequent, and local druids and hedge wizards periodically caused trouble. The Ostmen's rune wizards were redoubtable opponents and fought several indecisive skirmishes with the magi. The Fomóir attack during the Schism War left lasting scars on the tower and the surrounding landscape. Throughout, Circulus Ruber has proved a staunch defender of the Irish magi's culture and the Hibernian Tribunal's Peripheral Code. The magi have so far ignored the English invaders, thinking they are ultimately inconsequential, although the magi riding English coattails may not be.

Setting and Physical Description

The covenant is a large, round tower 120 feet high and 60 feet wide. An augmented version of Conjuring the Mystic Tower, the tower easily houses 12 magi and their staff. Each year the newest member paints a red circle running around the tower's waist, halfway between top and bottom. The magi live above the mundane staff, who reside on the lower levels. Traditionalists, Circulus Ruber always fulfills its wealth requirement with cattle.

Circulus Ruber sits atop Hag's Head (Ceann na Cailleach), one of the taller Cliffs of Moher that form the southwestern edge of the Burren. Rising almost 400 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, the cliffs offer a view of the Aran Islands and Galway Bay. The cliffs are haunted by a Cailleach, an evil faerie hag who would love to tear down the magi's stone tower. She is kept at bay by the covenant's Aegis, which doesn't prevent her from molesting travelers on the lonely road that leads to Circulus Ruber. Some people incorrectly think the hag protects the covenant.

The Cathach

Circulus Ruber's cathach is the magic cauldron first discovered by the covenant's founders. It is not the Cauldron of the Dagda, as was originally thought, but is instead the Cauldron of Llasar Llaes Gyfnewid, a notorious giant that lived under a lake. Dagda's Cauldron reportedly supplies unlimited amounts of food and drink. Llasar Llaes Gyfnewid's Cauldron revives dead warriors so that they can fight for one more day. According to legend, this cauldron was traded back and forth between Irish and Welsh kings before being broken in a war between the two countries. Either the legend is wrong and the cauldron survives, or this is a different cauldron mimicking those legendary powers.

Few know the cauldron's real powers, a closely guarded secret kept from the Tribunal. The cauldron will revive a dead warrior, providing that his head and spine are intact. This warrior cannot speak, but will fight for the next 24 hours under the command of the person who placed it in the cauldron. Llasar Llaes Gyfnewid's Cauldron will not revive a corpse a second time.

Culture

Circulus Ruber sees itself as the Tribunal's leader and representative example. Adhering to romanticized notions of the past, the magi refuse to change the Peripheral Code. Instead they emphasize the combative, individual nature of the Tribunal. They encourage magi to form new covenants, and have even offered aid in the past. They patronize the macgnímartha and endorse their attempts to steal other covenants' cathaigh. They push disputing magi into declarations of Wizards War, going so far as to subsidize combatants with loaned enchanted items and magic weapons.

Promoters of violence, the magi are also Hibernian protectors. Members safeguard essential sites, sacred mounds, and other areas that the Tribunal deems important. They support both Mercer Houses, offering hospitality to traveling Redcaps. Tribunal obligation becomes covenant business, and Circulus Ruber's members readily sacrifice personal time for community efforts.

Magi

Circulus Ruber currently houses eight magi, including the praeco and head Quaesitor.

Milvia of House Bonisagus

Age: 164 (apparent age 68)
Personality Traits: Obsessed with details +3, Overly focused +2

Milvia is the praeco of the Hibernia Tribunal. While not the eldest Hibernian magus, the senior magus Conán Derg has abdicated the position. Her passion is political unity, and despite the Tribunal's turbulent nature, Milvia has deftly steered Hibernia through most of the troubles. Milvia has served as praeco for the last four Tribunal meetings and led the Hibernian delegation at the Grand Tribunal of 1195.

As a Bonisagus maga, Milvia respects the original research being done at Cliffheart, despite feeling that its completion is dangerous to Hibernia's sense of unity. She remains neutral in the Irish-English magi debates.

Quaesitor Visioturpis of House Guernicus

Age: 145 (apparent age 56)
Personality Traits: Dour +2, Irritable +2 Ugly, bent-backed, and irritable,

Visioturpis is Hibernia's oldest Quaesitor. His name is a combination of the Latin words visio (face) and turpis (ugly). Scars run down both sides of his long face, and his lank, greasy hair hangs in strands. Cursed with Painful Magic, Visioturpis is reluctant to cast spells. He prefers a single, powerful spell over several minor spells, even though such spells overwhelm Visioturpis with information. With such encompassing magic, the details can often get lost in the wash of information. Visioturpis has changed his decisions in the past, when his initial information was later proven wrong. He is not stupid enough to adhere to a bad decision, but he has a long memory and dislikes being proven wrong.

Conán Derg of House Merinita

Age: 172 (apparent age 29)
Personality Traits: Mysterious +3, Close-mouthed +2

Conán Derg (CUNN-awn JARG) is the oldest magus in Hibernia. He appears robust and hale despite his age, and claims that his strong-faerie blood keeps him young. He served as praeco during the initial problems between Irish and English magi, and remained faithful to the tenets of the Hibernia Peripheral Code. He stubbornly resisted changing the Peripheral Code, insisting that everything the newcomers want is possible under the current rules.

Two months after the Tribunal meeting of 1186, while wandering alone along the Connacht border, Conán Derg was attacked and lost his right arm at the shoulder. While Hermetic magic can grow him a new arm, he refused. Citing the ancient Irish notion that a leader must be whole, he abdicated as praeco and retreated from Hermetic politics. Since that decision Conán Derg has seemed happier than he has been in years.

Cliffheart

Symbol: Three doves flying in a circle
Season: Winter
Cathach: A Diedne magus changed into stone

Cliffheart magi are interested in faeries. Regular interactions with Irish faeries have made the magi paranoid, so they take extreme measures to protect themselves. Staunch traditionalists, Cliffheart refuses to accept English magi and believes that Hibernia should continue its Irish traditions. To further this goal they are inventing a way to cast spells in Irish instead of Latin.

History

Cliffheart was founded by three Merinita magi after their covenant, Cosán Ceolaire (English: "Warbler's Way"), was destroyed in the Schism War. Most Merinita magi didn't participate in the Schism War, but these three fought because of House Diedne's alliance with the Munster Tuatha Dé. After the final confrontation at the Battle of Clontarf, the magi moved to Cape Clear Island, lying just off Ireland's southwest shore.

Cliffheart never discovered why the Tuatha Dé allied with House Diedne. After two hundred years of queries and interviews it remains a mystery. Mindful that it could happen again, especially with Teach Duínn so near and Donn's history, members continue to interact with the Tuath Dé. The original three members have passed, either to death's embrace or Final Twilight, and their filii and filiae continue the work.

Location

Cape Clear Island lies eight miles off Ireland's southern most shore. One mile wide and three miles long, the island is divided by an isthmus. The southern half is inhabited by a small monastic community, and the slightly larger northern half is empty except for the magi and several varieties of birds. A simple ráth surrounding a dozen huts, Cliffheart sits on a steep hill on the northern shore over-looking a small cove. Called the Cove of the Black Stream, the cove and the hill have a Magic aura of 3.

The northern half of Cape Clear Island receives a few mundane wanderers. To avoid detection Cliffheart's ráth is disguised with the spell The Shrouded Glen. Less effective outside a forest, the spell adequately hides Cliffheart. Visitors must make a Perception roll against an Ease Factor of 9 to find the covenant. Inside the palisade, a dozen huts house the magi, their laboratories, the mundane staff, a meeting hall, and the sheepfold.

The Cathach

Three standing stones are found outside Cliffheart, one of which is a Diedne magus turned into a stone obelisk. The obelisk has a hand-sized hole running through it, which, according to the magi, is a fatal wound. Cliffheart magi annually renew the spell, for if it were to end the magus would instantly die. Community members from the monastic village call the stones the Marriage Stones, and think that if a man extends his arm through the hole and grasps a woman's hand the pair will be together forever. The monks prevent couples from doing this, citing the practice as pagan and evil. Both the lovesick couples and the nay-saying monks cause minor problems for Cliffheart.

Culture

Four of Cliffheart's six magi investigate faeries, which includes collecting, combating, interrogating, interviewing, and entertaining the Good Folk. The other two rarely leave the island and their sancta. The magi leave mundane chores and interactions to Maynard, Cliffheart's steward. Unlike other more traditional stewards, Maynard poses as a madman living among the island's birds. He tells people that the standing stones are haunted and should be left alone. Food and other supplies are brought ashore secretly, shipped in at the Cove of the Black Stream. Hermetic visitors either look for the dirt path leading to the standing stones or the anchorite living among the gulls and barnacle geese.

Cliffheart is strongly opposed to changing the Tribunal and pursues every legal method to prevent English magi from founding covenants. Active in Tribunal politics, the magi honor their Oaths and the Peripheral Code. The magi are neurotic and isolationists, but not criminals or purposeful malcontents.

The covenant grounds are an intentional mess. Irish faeries dislike disorder, so clutter and debris are strewn everywhere. Even the library is disorganized and untidy. While the Aegis of the Hearth spell would likely stop all but the most powerful faerie creatures, the paranoid magi take many precautions to prevent faeries from interfering with them.

These include:

• Never cutting one's hair or beard.
• Wearing iron rings on both pinkie fingers.
• Wearing a necklace made of horses' back teeth.
• Completely destroying egg shells so small faeries don't use them as houses.
• Barring cats and dogs from entering Cliffheart.
• Putting a hut's front and back door in line, so if a faerie does enter he keeps moving through and exits the house.
• Never digging holes in the ground inside the ráth.
• Never trimming bushes or trees that grow in the area.
• Sprinkling stale urine on the threshold of every doorway.
• Never starting lab work or a journey on a Friday.

Magi

Four of the six magi are Merinita magi and regularly travel the Tribunal. Besides the leader Faisgia, the other Merinita magi are the Rego specialist Ruaidrí Mór, the Herbam specialist Áine Dhubh (Black Ann), and the combative Coscrach Cam. The Bonisagus Palantus and the Verditius Styrbjórn rarely leave their laboratories.

Faisgia of House Merinita

Age: 157 (apparent age: 98)
Personality Traits: Cranky +3

Filius of one of Cliffheart's founders, Faisgia (FASH-yuh) is the leader of Cliffheart. He spends most of his time wandering Munster looking for faeries who participated in the Schism War. He is in charge of maintaining the cathach, annually casting the spell that keeps the Deidne magus transformed into a stone. He is also responsible for the Rego Terram spells that move the cathath to each Tribunal meeting.

Some magi suspect that Faisgia ambushed Conán Derg and maimed the former praeco, since the assault happened in one of Faisgia's frequent traveling grounds. Conán Derg does not refuse or confirm this information, and Faisgia scoffs when it is mentioned.

Styrbjórn of House Verditius

Age: 109 (apparent age: 55)
Personality Traits: Content when left alone +3, Suspicious of others +2

The Scandinavian Styrbjórn was born in Dublin and trained at Verdi. He returned home to protect his birth-family after hearing about the English invasion. He need not have worried; his family was in no immediate danger. Realizing that he loved his homeland, Styrbjórn petitioned Cliffheart for membership and was accepted. Living at the back of the ráth, Styrbjórn makes magical items for his sodales. He readily accepts commissions from other Irish magi.

Palantus of House Bonisagus

Age: 63 (apparent age: 43)
Personality Traits: Scholarly +3, Absent-minded +2

Palantus is a German magus trained in the Rhine Tribunal. A born linguist, he is researching a method to cast spells in Irish (Ancient Magic, page 29 XXX). To do so, Palantus has designed a spell that forces a faerie to speak in its archaic, more true language rather than using its Faerie Speech Pretense. He records these ramblings and uses them as a basis for his original research. Each interview can be used once. He is always eager to meet a new faerie and talk with it. The problem is that he doesn't feel comfortable outside a laboratory and his sodales don't like faerie visitors. He usually asks if he can use other Hibernia magi's laboratories to conduct his interviews.

Elk's Run

Symbol: A magnificent pair of Giant Elk's antlers
Season: Autumn
Cathach: A pair of Giant Elk's antlers

The covenant of Elk's Run was founded only a few decades ago, but embodies the traditions of learning, hospitality, and scholarship that once made Ireland's covenants great. Yet not everyone is pleased to see this new foundation.

History

One of the most recent of Hibernia's covenants, Elk's Run was founded to embody the best traditions of the golden age of the Order of Hermes in Ireland, and is known as Elk's Run owing to the strange manner in which it was established. When Oswald of Bonisagus and Lugardis of Guernicus arrived in 1159 they had cattle and silver, some vis sources formerly unknown to the Tribunal, and carried the giant elk antlers which were to act as the cathach for the covenant. They claimed the right to found a covenant here in a remote valley, and set about constructing a traditional style round tower.

Soon after their arrival a dispute arose. A number of magi native to the Hibernia Tribunal representing several covenants arrived, and demanded to see the covenant's cathach. While not native to the isle, Oswald was well prepared, and produced the antlers, which he claimed belonged to a true Irish elk, a magnificent creature standing seven foot tall which he had hunted and killed, a feat formerly performed only by the Fir Bolg heroes who hunted them to extinction in Hibernia in ancient times. Oswald claimed to have entered the Faerie realm, performed an ancient story, and brought back this trophy.

As such antlers sometimes turn up in bogs, few of the magi present were convinced. The newcomers had silver, cattle aplenty, and this questionable cathach that radiated magic, but were clearly here to cause trouble. Oswald came from the Stonehenge Tribunal, and his friend Lugardis was clearly a Quaesitor seeking to impose English rule over the Order, as the English had tried to impose their rule on the mundane kings of the island. They were close to the border with Connacht, and could not be trusted not to trespass and break the ancient treaty.

The Irish magi therefore challenged their claim to the vis sources of the region, arguing that by ancient tradition and agreement they belonged to other covenants, even though strictly such a claim has no basis in Hibernian tradition. Members of those covenants came forward, listed their Hermetic lineage, and spoke of the ancient pacts by which they claimed the vis the new covenant was harvesting, and spoke of treaties with supernatural creatures and local magicians that the new covenant's presence supposedly infringed. Without vis they could have no covenant; they must depart.

Oswald was not at all dismayed. A small man, little larger than a boy, with a mop of unruly white hair, he was not physically imposing. He issued a challenge, that all the vis and land he could circle around before sunset should be his. The hour grew late, and the Irish magi laughed, and agreed, thinking this a jest.""But not a spell must be cast" warned one wise maga. Oswald agreed at once, and taking his disputed cathach, threw it to the ground.

And where it landed rose a great elk, taller at the shoulder than the tallest man present, and as it lowered it's head Oswald climbed upon its back, and it tamely allowed him to ride it. The elk thundered off in to the mountains, even as the Irish realized they had been tricked. Trees fell in Oswald's path; the elk jumped them; mountainsides crumbled into scree, and the elk scrambled on, and rivers rose but the mighty beast forded safely. As the last rays of the sun faded away Oswald returned, and jumped to the ground as the elk turned back into antlers. He had his vis sources and lands, and Elk's Run was founded. Many of the Irish were amused, and felt Oswald had shown his right to his new covenant, but some were angry at being tricked. Many have come to raid in their Wandering Years, and some long since passed that stage, but to date none has taken the cathach and held it long enough to end the English covenant, for Oswald still has many tricks.

The Cathach

The covenant's cathach is the antlers of an Irish elk, an extinct beast larger than any found in the world today. Its powers are unknown beyond the fact that Oswald has somehow brought it to life and ridden it on three occasions now, each time in defense of his covenant.

Setting and Physical Description

Nestled in a large, isolated valley in the Slieve Aught mountains to the west of Lough Derg in Munster, Elk's Run stands close to the border of forbidden Connacht to the north. The covenant consists of a group of three traditional towers, a small feasting hall and a good sized stone scriptorium, a small hamlet, pasture and fields, all nestled in the remote valley. Yet while the houses of the covenfolk, the towers, and the small stone building which holds the library are all clustered within the Aegis of the Hearth, the covenant lays claim to vast areas of mountain, lough and forest, and all the vis sources within.

Culture and Traditions

Elk's Run is a covenant dedicated to magical research and in particular to the collection of books. Oswald is known to have spent a great deal of time copying texts from the excellent library of the Archbishop of Armagh, where he learned the Ars Notoria, and trading texts with monasteries all over Hibernia. The Cow and Calf rule is strictly enforced; a copy of a book may be made, but can only be taken from the covenant if traded for a text of equivalent value. The library has a superb library of mundane books, and a fine collection of Laboratory Texts as well as some rare magical volumes. Many books are copied and leave Ireland from Elk's Run, sent to covenants all over Mythic Europe as gifts or in exchange for other books, and Oswald has earned a fine reputation for generosity and scholarship.

In recent years as the English have encroached further across Ireland, however, Elk's Run has faced increasing hostility. While Oswald is increasingly reclusive and involved with running the scriptorium and the acquisition of new books, the other magi have become increasingly belligerent in the face of continued raiding, and have forged increasing links with English nobles. Lugardis has warned her sodales several times that their actions supporting the English may be seen as interfering with mundanes, but the general feeling of the magi is that to survive they must look to the English for assistance.

Magi

There are currently three magi at Elk's Run, and two apprentices, both taught by Oswald. The covenant is increasingly beleaguered, both by raiding Irish clansmen of the local Uí Sheachnasaigh clan and by raiding Irish magi attempting to steal the cathach. There is increasingly little agreement on how to deal with the covenant's problems.

Oswald of Bonisagus

Age: 97 (apparent age: 70)
Personality Traits: Studious +3, Cunning +2, Adventurous +1

Oswald is completely dedicated to the success of his project to bring about a renaissance of learning in Hibernia and to preserve the texts of the island for posterity. He was born in Leinster to an Irish mother, but taken to the Stonehenge Tribunal as a boy and raised there. Once he passed his Gauntlet he set about planning his return to his native isle, and befriended Lugardis of Guernicus, a maga from the Rhine Tribunal who had been tasked by Durenmar with examining the state of the Order in Hibernia.

His youth and the epic adventure that won the cathach are long behind him, and now Oswald is obsessed with his literary projects, collecting books, and copying the texts he has acquired. Gentle Gifted, he has made many contacts with Irish and English nobles and clerics to gain access to books, and has sometimes engaged in acts and gifts of magic to aid them that could clearly be construed as interfering with mundanes. He fails to recognize how he has compromised himself, and relies upon his cunning and trickery to thwart his enemies, many of whom he believes are simply jealous of his great status in House Bonisagus and the Order on the continent. He is no longer interested in such matters anyway, for soon he believes he will have amassed a great enough library of rare texts to gift them to Durenmar for the greater glory of the Order of Hermes and posterity, for every room of his tower is filled with books.

Currently Oswald is teaching two apprentices at once, taking up half his time, and the remainder is dedicated to collecting texts. Once his apprentices are Gauntleted he may well choose to leave Elk's Run, taking the library and leaving Ireland forever, if faced with serious political problems.

Lugardis of Guernicus

Age: 92 (apparent age 64)
Personality Traits: Intimidating +3, Gentle +2, Just +1

Lugardis is a raven haired Italian woman who has served as a Quaesitor in four Tribunals. Hard faced with sharp features and piercing eyes, she intimidates others easily. Her Blatant Gift makes it hard for her to deal with covenfolk or the populace of Ireland, who live in fear of her and cross themselves when she passes. She has long since learned to stay away from the cattle and the dairy and buttery, as her Gift sours milk almost instantly.

Lugardis was sent to Hibernia after repeated issues from the Tribunal were raised at the last Grand Tribunal. A series of letters to Magvillus and Durenmar had followed, many from English magi who claimed to have encountered terrible hostility and strange and barbaric customs in Hibernia from their Irish sodales, and who demanded reform. Despite the hostility faced by Elk's Run, Lugardis has come to realize that Hibernia follows the Code of Hermes, albeit with a rather unusual Peripheral Code, and having studied texts in Oswald's collection is particularly amused by the ironic fears among many Stonehenge magi that Connacht harbors the last of the Diedne. She has sent many letters back to her domus magna and to Durenmar, clarifying local customs and praising the Irish Order, despite their fervent opposition to and deep suspicion of her activities.

Lugardis favors a diplomatic solution to the problems the covenant faces, and it was at her insistence that Oswald took the second, native born, apprentice who was granted to him last Tribunal. She is appalled by the actions of Igneous, and worried by those of Oswald.

Igneous Drake of Flambeau

Age: 87 (apparent age 72)
Personality Traits: Violent +3, Xenophobic +2, Joyful +1.

Igneous is from the Stonehenge Tribunal, and has only been in Hibernia for ten years. He came because he had heard that English magi in this Tribunal faced prejudice and attack, and because the macgnímartha raiders give him a chance to use his magic against those trained in Hermetic magic, more of a challenge than hedge wizards. Igneous is belligerent, violent, and has nothing but scorn for the natives and their customs. Yet he thrives on conflict, and his fire magic has often been employed in defense of his new home to his great joy.

He has developed a spell which creates a Boundary wall of fire, which he uses to encircle the covenant during a raid by its enemies, and he burns those caught inside before he tracks down the fleeing survivors. He wrongly believes that the Hibernia Tribunal has no enforced law among magi, and that his wanton killing of the Wandering Years raiders, Ua Cathail bandits and any hedge magician who irritate him and strays out of Connacht will go forever unpunished. Recently he has grown bored awaiting aggression, and has begun to wage Wizard War against those Irish magi he sees as having slighted his sodales or covenant, and he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Siege of Praesis, spending seasons there training the attacking magi in Ignem spells and a great deal to assist in the fall of the island covenant. He remains a firm supporter of Ballack and friend to the new Praesis.

Covenfolk

The locals are of the clan Cenél Áeda na hEchtge, and that clan are a branch of the Uí Fiachrach Aidhne who were the royal house of Connacht in ancient times. Two great families comprise the clan — the Uí Sheachnasaigh and the Ua Cathail — but it is the Uí Sheachnasaigh who serve as covenfolk here. The Ua Cathail resent the English magi and the aid they bestow upon their Uí Sheachnasaigh rivals, and may soon bring a formal complaint to the Tribunal. The other covenants of Ireland may support this despite Lugardis's best efforts, but it is doubtful; the interference with mundanes is likely to bring ruin upon their sodales and therefore an offense against the Code.

The Mercer House of Leth Moga

Sister to Leth Cuinn, the Mercer House of Leth Moga (LEH MOG-ah) serves the covenants south of the Eiscir Raida. Since its beginning Leth Moga has been interested in preserving the Tribunal's history. While the northern redcaps practice martial feats, the southern redcaps are the eye-witnesses of the Tribunal, keeping detailed journals of their accounts. Like Leth Cuinn, Leth Moga is not a covenant. It does not keep a cathach nor need a wealth requirement. It exists because it serves the Tribunal, and its existence is safeguarded by numerous Hibernia Peripheral Code rulings.

History

Leth Moga and Leth Cuinn were formed in 898, byproducts of Hibernia's first Tribunal meeting as an independent Tribunal. The Redcap Imag, wife of the abbot of the monastery of Cloyne, offered land and leadership and was granted the right to build the southern Mercer House. Her husband, Cian Ua Cathain, led the dozen monks and the monastery staff, and Imag managed the Mercer House. Following the example of monastic chroniclers, Imag recorded the Tribunal's Hermetic history in the Red Book of Cloyne, and subsequent leaders have continued the work.

Initially the Red Book of Cloyne was publicly available. Following the Schism war, Leth Moga's leader Fergal mac Cuircc restricted its viewing. Having dutifully recorded the events of the Schism War in Hibernia, Fergal said that the magi needed to forget their war by literally closing the book on it. He continued the practice of recording history, but only other Redcaps could view the book. In the 12th century some magi complained, saying that the preserved eye-witness records could be useful testimony in legal proceedings. Fergal's son-in-law and successor, Diarmait, agreed that individual Redcaps' testimony should be available, but the Red Book of Cloyne, which he inherited from his father-in-law as personal property, falls under the protection of his sanctum marker. The Tribunal agreed, but several magi dislike this ruling.

Location

Leth Moga is located in the village monastery of Cloyne in the kingdom of Desmond. Wooden houses sit around a stone church and round tower. The monastery is not protected by a wooden palisade or a stone wall, and when threatened the monks and villagers lock themselves inside the stone tower. The Mercer House is a large wooden house and rarely used barn, built on the southern edge of the monastery. Sitting atop a Magic aura of 1, the drafty and cold barn serves is as an adequate laboratory. With no Gifted Merceres in residence, Diarmait allows other magi to rent the laboratory for the paltry sum of one pawn of vis per season. Both building and barn are surrounded by a low level Aegis of the Hearth, annually cast by guest magi.

Naturally formed tunnels and caverns run beneath the village, linking several important caves and underground chambers. The current abbot knows about some of these, and Diarmait knows a great deal more. The more valuable goods of the Mercere House — records, stored vis, and magical items — are kept behind locked doors, to prevent curious monks from stumbling upon them.

Culture

The Redcaps and the monks remain on good terms, even with the recently dictated religious reforms. With a clear separation between the monks and the Redcaps, considerable interaction exits between the Mercer House members and the villagers. All of the Redcaps at Leth Moga are related, linked through the female line of their founder, Imag. Between the abbot, his immediate staff, and married Redcaps' family members, the Mercer House is hardly a secret.

Leth Moga Redcaps frequently attend Hermetic functions, acting as witnesses and recorders. All of the Redcaps have undergone the Mystery Initiation to learn the Art of Memory. While each can accurately remember witnessed events, each is then asked to record their observations in the Red Book of Cloyne. Some Redcaps see this as a chore, but not an especially onerous one.

Magi

None of the current members of the Mercer House are Gifted. Responsible only for the southern half of the Tribunal, the six Redcaps easily cover the area. Their most recent concern is their aging leader. Leth Moga has a tradition of the leader's filius taking over his duties, but that practice is in question. Leadership is not a Tribunal matter and must be decided among the Redcaps.

Besides Diarmait and his filius Gopstan, the other four Redcaps are Ercc Cam and his filius Luathan, and the weepy Rónán and his filia Áine.

Diarmait mac Fergaile

Age: 121 (apparent age: 75)
Personality Traits: Selfish +3, Worried +2

Diarmait mac Fergaile (JAW-motch moc FER-gal-yuh) assumed leadership after his parens, Fergal, died. Unlike his parens, Diarmait thinks sharing The Red Book would increase its appeal. He understands that the book isn't to be copied, but does believe it should be viewed. The other redcaps think Diarmait's choice of successor is a more pressing matter. The choice lies between Gopstan and Luathan.

Gopstan mac Dirmata

Age: 52 (apparent age: 37)
Personality Traits: Eager +2, Entitled +2

Diarmait's filius and son-in-law, Gopstan mac Diarmata (GOP-stun moc JAW-mat-uh) has never left Ireland. His name is a derivation of the Irish slang for "Poor John." Born well-heeled, he made an obvious display of shedding his worldly goods when he passed his gauntlet. Apprenticed late in life, Gopstan is not as experienced in the ways of House Mercere as other Redcaps of similar age. This is a liability when Diarmait thinks about passing on the reigns of leadership. To his credit, though, Gopstan dearly loves The Red Book of Cloyne and has spent many hours recording recent events in the annal.

Luathan

Age: 33 (apparent age: 33)
Personality Traits: Smiling +3, Foolhardy +2

Dashing and handsome, Luathan (LOOAH-han) is the most popular Redcap in the southern half of the Tribunal. Luathan has the temperament for the Cult of Heroes, but an unfortunate geas keeps him from learning any Virtue that would grant him quasi-magical abilities. "Forever mundane or forever lame," says the geas, laid on him by his angry mother when he accepted Redcap Ercc Cam's offer to train his nephew. Barred from the initiations popular at Leth Cuill, Luathan remained below the Esker Riada. Luathan makes good use of magical items. He has a cloak that can change him into an eagle and a harpoon that allows him to breathe underwater.

Story Seed: The Missing Book Leth Moga has few defenses. One morning, Diarmait discovers that the Red Book has been taken from the scriptorium. Knowing that the macgnímartha often steal cathachs, and even though the book isn’t a cathach he immediately imagines that a young magus took the book. He asks the player characters to recover it. A false trail leads to the woods around the Killarny Lakes, but the true culprit is an older magus who would like a certain, inglorious event removed from the text. While the player characters scour the woods for a macgnímartha, the thief hopes to return the book unnoticed.

Attribution

Based on the material for Ars Magica, ©1993-2024, licensed by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games®, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license 4.0 ("CC-BY-SA 4.0). Ars Magica Open License Logo ©2024 Trident, Inc. The Ars Magica Open License Logo, Ars Magica, and Mythic Europe are trademarks of Trident, Inc., and are used with permission. Order of Hermes, Tremere, Doissetep, and Grimgroth are trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB and are used with permission.