The Dreughold Rebellion

Military action

When men seized the threads of destiny and changed the Song of History

Long had the Stone-Fae dwelt in the Dreughold, shaping it, building it, singing it from the bones of the rocks. When men first began to appear in the Isles, they welcomed them first as guests, but soon learned of their ability to glamour them and through a combination of guile and enchantment, they enslaved the men, and used them for labor, for sport, and for amusement. This lasted for years and through generations.   This lasted until Cruithne Cruithson grew close to his coming of age. Somewhere back through the generations, one of his ancestors was of the Fae, although no tale spoke of the nature of the union. There were many of his kind, the Elfen, in Dreughold at the time, but he alone learned to harness the Awen in his blood, becoming the first of the druids, and he learned to unshear the threads of glamour the Dokkalfar had woven about their human thralls, both for himself and for his compatriots.   Over the course of months, he gathered his brethren, freeing them from their enchantments, arming them, and preparing them for his plan. They knew of the Faen vulnerability to iron and prepared themselves with the first iron weapons.   On the night of the winter solstice, when the Dokkalfar feasted and celebrated the turn of seasons, Cruithne led his champions in battle against the drunken Fae, killing all but one and driving the last one out into the snow with the message that never again would humans be the playthings or slaves of the Fae.   Cruithne taught others the secrets of his art as he learned them and even as the Fae assembled a host to take back the Dreughold and punish these rebels, the druids and the bards began to form, honing their art, even as they learned and taught themselves the art of the sword and ironwork.   When the Faen host arrived months later, they found the wooden gates replaced gates wrought of iron, manned by men clad in armor, and armed with iron weapons. At first, the Fae attempted to enchant them, but Cruithne tore the glamour asunder as he would a spider-web. Thrice they attempted such a thing and three times Cruithne dispelled their enchantings.   So they strove to take it by force, but their arrows could not pierce the iron-armor nor could they get close enough to strike with their arms. So it was that they were driven back and forced to swear an oath to never exert power over the fates of humans again. This oath taken, they withdrew and the Dreughold was sworn over to humans, established as the first of the great human kingdoms of Laeonesse.   With that, the Years of the Fae came to an end.