The Clans of Tír na Alba
Nature, in its most primitive beauty
Structure
In truth, the lands could scarcely be considered united, and to this day many tribes and nations fight with one another for various reasons, but in the end, all are united when the lsles themselves are threatened. Tribes are typically ruled by Warrior Kings and Queens, and all tribes have their own councils of elders and various shamans. Outside the tribes, a great order of druids known simply as the Truthseers form a sort of religious like organization that seeks to keep the isles spiritually and magically in balance and harmony. Though they take no sides in conflict officially, it is also believed that they have the sole power to elect a High Queen or King of the Isles in times of crisis, though few have ever proven worthy.
Culture
The culture of the Alba clans is one of kinship, battle, mead, and stories. Many citizens return home from long days of working, drinking merrily and singing of old tales and complaining about trivial matters. The isles breed strong folk, and so all people are strong and stout, for all must be able to fight off invaders or dangerous wildlife. Most people may think of the isles as inhabited by fur clothed barbarians of towering height. While not incorrect, it is unfair to dismiss them as a people in this way, for they are a people that above all love their freedom and way of living. Druids are an important aspect of life amongst the Albans, for the druids help keep the land healthy and safe. Hunting and sport is also a popular pastime of many Albins, for to wear animal hides is considered a sign of strength, so much so many warriors may charge into battle wearing nothing but animal hide or cloaks, for what have they to fear of death if they are so strong. They have many games, such as hitting rubber or stone spheres with great sticks, or kicking spears with their feet to try and send them flying as far as possible.
In battle, they are fierce indeed, and many have told stories of how many fights as if possessed by demons or other strange monsters. They tell of their fondness for collecting heads and shouting their glories into the heavens, and these tales are somewhat true. To take the head of an enemy and string it (or multiple) upon one's horse or body is to tell stories, for at the end of the day that is what the Albins love most of all. They love to tell stories of triumph and tragedy, and the skulls of enemies is a great way to tell the story of a warrior. Some foreign visitors have called them barbaric for this, they sometimes forget the irony of the fact that many have come to pillage and plunder the land, and that skulls are a popular form of fashion for the more religiously inclined across Nilush.
The misty isles are shrouded in some of the most free flowing and intense waves of magic energies in the world, due in large part to the many stone pillars and formations of runic stones that are scattered around the isles. These are places of worship, as it is believed that they were made as a direct result of the copulation of Danu and Daghán. It is believed this was a gift to their children, as Daghán was always fascinated and enthralled by the magic that Danu wielded so easily. Thanks to these runic pillars cared for by the druids, the land is home to magical phenomena abound. Some wizards have reported that some areas feel almost "diffrent" from this world, as if they are worlds beyond, all crammed and smashed together admist the isles. Regardless, for this reason alone, is why spell casters of this land are respected and feared based on reputation rather than their nature as witchborn. Necromancers can roam semi-openly, as long as they are using said magics in ways that do not anger the locals. In truth, necromancy and other forms of magic the Albins have no strong opinion against, perhaps only seeing the magic granted by demonic worship as revolting and degenerate. Due to this, many magical academies or independent wizards make research expeditions to the isles to try and learn ancient and forgotten secrets not of this world.
Life on the isles is harsh indeed. While the mist helped protect the island from invaders, it also brought the many strange creatures of the isles that now inhabit the land. Hunters regularly have to be careful or else they will run into the swamp monsters and strange nature bound creatures of the land. This is all because ever since the isles were touched by the goddess Danu, the wild and chaotic state of nature permeates the misty isles. This harsh living environment, and monsters born from the mother of monsters, is what leads many of the Albins to become hardy adventurers and warriors. However, the land is said to be beautiful like no other, for it is nature in its most untamed, and yet the people have learned how to live in respect of the land rather than conquering and subjugating it. It is a land where one's deeds are the only measure of a person, large or small, and one where friendships and blood ties are stronger than any steel in the world.
History
In some lands, histories are recorded in great and painstaking detail. Other lands, histories are shrouded in mystery and the black nothing of unobtainable knowledge. However, one land above all in this world is tied in both reality and myth. A history lost to the mythic tales of the ancient past, and yet such myths are told fondly to this day. It is a land that people know of, but do not truly know its people, or its ways, or just how beautiful the primal nature of the world truly is. It is the mist shrouded isles of Red Raven's Rock, although the people there know it by another name: Tír na Alba.
The myths of Tír na Alba go back so long, that they start at the literal birth of the world, suggesting they have existed long before even the Ishtar, if the stories are to be believed at least. It is said that the world was made by the many Sidhe and fey creatures of the Wyld Realm, and that the elven goddess Ira, to build a new land for their children. However, Ira grew to dislike what the new elves had become, as they were born of the ancient Sidhe and Eladrin. They were passionate, yes, but prone to arrogance and greed. She would test her children by sending them on a boat to cross onto the mortal realm, but before that she placed a golden tower in the cosmic sea. All but one ship with a single passenger went past the tower, and the rest of the fleet was swallowed whole by the tower as it sunk into the ocean, failing the test of greed and hubris. Seeing this, it is said that Ira separated herself from her body, leaving a small portion of herself to guide the wood elves (who seem to be elves that still held promise to Ira) and became the goddess Danu. She went with this lone man, a Firbolg by the name of Daghán Mac Braoin, and she would guide the ship into the great ocean of the mortal world. It is said that they found a single rock floating admit the ocean, and it is here that Danu and Daghán would sleep with one another, and from this the great trees and misty lands of the isles would emerge. Before they would both ascend to the realm beyond, they shrouded the isles in mist, hiding it and providing a way for people of potential to cross the mists and find the land.
The first people to come were the Firbolg, the same people as the old Daghán. They arrived from the mists as many yet to come, and settled the land, dividing it up into tribes. However, this age of peace lasted little, as the next to come were the Tuath Dé, a race of powerful god like beings that rode in on the clouds of the mists. Tension and then war broke out between the Firbolg and the Tuath Dé, as the great kings and chiefs of their people would war among each other. Both would weaken each other, so much so that when a new force arrived, they were powerless.
They came from the nightmares of giants and from the crushing hells of the ocean, for if one travels deep enough underwater, they arrive in the realm of demons. They were called Formians, worshiping a horrific nightmare god known as Baalar. Furthermore, they would enslave the Firblog and the Tuath Dé for generations, and would enslave any newcomers that arrived to the land, including humans and many other mortal races. This is until a hero is born admist the enslaved clans. A woman whose name is known only as Cú Enid, after it is said she mistakenly killed the hound of a local blacksmith and then pledged to be his hound until he could purchase a new one. Her parents had never been known to her, being raised by the tribal village communally, though it is known she would later go to discover and train under a Tuath Dé warrior woman named Scathach hiding admist the mountains. Cú Enid would later go on to become a famed warrior roaming the isles oppressed by the Formians, having long and detailed exploits of her fighting, copulating, and drinking on a path of destruction of her enemies as she would also discover the power to mutate into a beast like monster when enraged (though this is reported to have tired her out).
However, near the end of her tale, she would inspire freedom fighters to flock to her banner, and so would begin a rebellion. However, her army was struck by a curse of unbearable pain as a previous lover who Cú Enid had spurned was in fact a god like being, and wished to cause her trouble. Finding the act somewhat funny, if annoying, Cú Enid charged fourth and violently fought and slaughtered her way through most of the formian army and their demonic children. It is said though that eventually she was worn down, but even after a blow made it hard to stand and cut open her guts, she then simply tied her guts to a great rock and continued to fight. The fighting continued for days, and eventually none of the demons dared approached for fear of being slain, until a raven landed on her now lifeless bodies shoulder. As the formian king went to claim her head, her arm swung down, a last act of denial, and severed the king's head from his body. With this, the curse subsided, and the warriors of Cú Enid surged forth and drove the formains and their demons back into the depths of the deepest oceans, finally liberating themselves and gaining their freedom.
After this, it is said that the magical balance of the land returned, though the mists had weakened and now opened up to the mortal world. Though the barrier keeping them separated from the mortal world had waned, it was still rich with magic, and to this day the isles remain a part of the world that has some of the strongest tides of magic. The people would give praise to Danu and the many gods of the land, and rule the land as the now numerous tribes of the Alban. To this day, the people of the isles have lived fiercely, but freely. Though many may try to invade the land and subjugate it, none have ever truly broken the land, and all invaders fall in the end. However, the mists begin to stir once more, and the druids of the land fear that the formians and demons may be slowly corrupting the land, preparing it for their return. However, should the demons try to invade once more, they will find that the isles are now teeming with the bellowing cries of some of the bravest and most fearsome warriors in the world.
Demography and Population
The Isles of Tír na Alba are populated by many numerous races. Humans and elves (namely wood elves) are some of the most common races, as well as the Firblog and Centaurs of the land. Dwarves, have become popular as well, and many villages have a small dwarven quarter of smiths and artisans. Many other races that inhabit the land are strange indeed, ranging from spirits risen from death known as Aos Sí, to the rare and elusive Sidhe, and many forms of dryad like beings and others that are like awakened plants and trees, clearly blessings from the great mother Danu. Many other strange creatures such as leprechaun and dozens of sprites and fairies live in these lands, but naming them all would take a lifetime and more.
Religion
The Albins are a deeply spiritual and religious people, and so everyday they pray to the gods for what they need. The goddess of the most worship by the Albin is an Danu (some have argued that this is merely an offshoot of the wood elven goddess Ira, while the Albins claim a far more direct relation, but neither side can seem to agree). Danu is the goddess of the earth and nature itself, while also being a goddess of fertility, war, and also of the moon. The second most popular is Carnun, the Hunter god, depicted as a horned god. Hunters bless him for good catches as they fight to feed and protect their tribes. He is also a very joyous god, who is mainly worshiped through dances and festivals and the many games the Albins play among each other. Some other gods admist their expansive pantheon include: Morrigan the Raven, Aline the Lover, Nullo of the Shepards, Maeve of the Bold Queens, Lugha of the Giants and Ancient Mountains, and countless more. Some numbers place the pantheon as equaling in the hundreds, but that is a story for another scroll.
Foreign Relations
Relations are in interesting topic indeed. Due to the scattered nature of the tribes, outsiders can find it hard to form long term trade deals and alliances with such a nation, but some have managed to negotiate prosperous trade deals with the lands. In truth, the Albins are an insular people, and care little for the outside world, so for the most part most nations are willing to simply let them be, only having to deal with the occasional pirate attacks.
"Hail Freedom! Hail Freedom! Our Freedom! Our Wisdom!"
Maps
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Red Ravens Rock
Type
Geopolitical, Clan
Alternative Names
The Children of Danu, The Alban Clans
Demonym
Albins
Government System
Tribalism
Location
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
