Fir Fáinne (fʲɪɾʲ ˈfˠaːɲə)
"No people feel the ongoing legacy of the Clarati more than the Fir Fáinne."
The Fir Fáinne are the people who live on the island of Oileán Fiáin. Their island is a Wild Place, and the powers of story and narrative are more powerful here than in most other locations. This was what attracted the Clarati sorceress Celestina to the island, and for a thousand years she experimented on the Fir Fáinne and their gods, shaping and transforming them in order to learn how the Egregoric Force truly worked. After her demise during the Age of Warlocks, the Fir Fáinne had to find a path to living with the consequences of her experiments, and still work to maintain the balance between the natural and supernatural elements of their home.
Physical Appearance
The Fir Fáinne are renowned for their striking appearance, with very pale skin, green eyes, and red hair. This does not describe every person on the island, but because of the outsized power of the Egregoric Force on Oileán Fiáin, stereotypical appearances are reinforced and become extremely common. The Fir Fáinne are about as tall as other human ethnicities, with men averaging around five and half feet, and women a little shorter.
Common Dress & Style
Fir Fáinne clothing is often made from natural materials such as wool, linen, and leather. Men typically wear long tunics and trousers, while women wear long dresses and cloaks. The colors and patterns of their clothing are often inspired by the natural world, with earth tones and muted colors being common. Jewelry and other adornments are also important, with necklaces, bracelets, and earrings being popular.
Both men and women may wear their hair long, although it is more common among women to do so. Intricate hairstyles are uncommon, with most Fir Fáinne choosing to either let it hang loose, or binding it back with a simple cord.
Social Structure
The Fir Fáinne have organized themselves into five kingdoms, each led by a hereditary ruler known as the Rí. These kingdoms are allied together under a single High King, or Ard-Rí, who is responsible for international matters, dealing with conflicts between kingdoms, and negotiating with the Fae. Within each kingdom, the Rí's power is absolute, but they defer to the Ard-Rí on any aspect that reaches beyond their borders.
Religion & Folklore
When Celestina transformed the gods of the Fir Fáinne into the Fae, she pulled the heart out of their religious practices and they have never quite recovered. While the Fir Fáinne have many traditions for interacting with the spirits who surround them, they do not worship them, and are overall quite irreverent and prosaic in dealing with their supernatural neighbors.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Main Article: Amhrán
The Fir Fáinne speak Amhrán, a language most closely related to Eileanach. There are several regional dialects of Amhrán spoken on Oileán Fiáin and beyond.Foods & Cuisine
The Fir Bolg
When the Fir Fáinne first arrived on Oileán Fiáin, the island was inhabited by the Vrólg, an ethnic group of Zmei. The Vrólg and the Fir Fáinne began to war with each other almost immediately, and during the Clarati purge of Muria, the Fir Fáinne were victorious. The remaining Vrólg fled from the island into the nearby Dreamlands, using their long experience of the Dream to survive there. But nothing can live in the Dream and not be altered by it. Over the centuries that followed, the Vrólg were reshaped by the Egregoric Force into the Fir Bolg, monstrous creatures that still emerge from the dreamscape to plague Oileán Fiáin to this day.
The Ailleán and the Fae
Before the coming of Celestina and her experiments, the Fir Fáinne believed in a pantheon of spirits and gods known as the Ailleán, cousins to the Ellyll of Ynys. But like all Numina, the Ailleán were highly susceptible to being warped by the Egregoric Force. As Celestina used alien stories drawn from the half-real Dolphin Islands in her experiments with that power, the Ailleán were altered, distorted, and ultimately transformed into an entirely new sub-specied known as the Fae. These new entities bore only passing similarities to the entities they once were, and many refuse to even speak of their former selves at all. The transformation of the Ailleán into the Fae radically altered the world the Fir Fáinne live in, and continues to define it today.
This article was originally written for Spooktober 2024. You can find all of my Spooktober Articles at Spooktober Central.
This article was originally written for Spooktober 2023. You can find all of my Spooktober Articles at Spooktober Central.
Wow, that is one buxom redhead they have there... That being said, I love the Wild Places and the workings of Egregoric Force, and the way both shape these people. Fantastic work!
Yeah - the image generator picked up a bit too much from Ren Fairs for this image. I may change it later, or I may leave it. Thanks! The Egregoric Force is the core of how this world's mechanics function, and it is always fun to explore what they do.