G'day
Just suppose that there is a lawful good but stiflingly nannyish High Elvish World Empire that controls 85% of the Known World.
On the north-west border of the World Empire is a human land called the Gwlad Cenenryth, the Land of the Free People. The Free People are numerous and stroppy enough that the High Elves can't just move in an organise them. But they aren't afflicted with enough internal warfare that the High Elves feel justified in pacifying them by a military operation. And they aren't wicked enough that the Elves feel justified in conquering them to regulate their way of life, either. It is just as well for the Cenenryth that the High Elves are finding their Empire a bit of a handful, and are having trouble on the Orcish Frontier and in the Barbarian Wastes.
A household of the Ceneryth consists of a group of related women together with their daughters, husbands, and unmarried sons. It lives in a typically rambling collection of timber buildings, engages in a little agriculture, and depends largely on its herds of cows and sheep for sustenance. Households are clustered into clans, and clans into tribes. A man has to marry a woman from a different household than he was born in, and he takes his rank from his wife's hereditary status. The leaders of a houshold are its queen, her husband, and her widowed mother (or another widow, as stand-in).
In each clan there is one 'heroic house'. The other households in the clan look after the livestock of the heroic house, so it's men (in particular) lead lives of privilege. Many men therefore wish to marry the women of an heroic house, and the women (or to a considerable extent, their families) are therefore able to choose strong or cunning warriors and other desireable men for their husbands. The men of the heroic house train their sons as best they can to succeed as heroes, equip them as well as they can afford to do, and sent them out to win wealth and reputations as adventurers, so that they will be able to make good marriages in time.
The heroic house is directed by the chieftain of the clan, his wife the queen, and her mother the dowager, advised by the clan druid and the clan's chief bard. He choose one of his sons-in-law to be the captain of the heroic house. When the chieftain dies, is widowed, or is divorced, the captain becomes chieftain, his wife becomes the queen, and her mother (or the senior widow, if her mother is dead) becomes dowager.
In each tribe there is one royal clan. The chieftain of the royal clan is king of the tribe. There is a particular clan of which the chieftain is the high king of the Gwlad Ceneryth. But kings don't have a lot of power, except as war-leaders when required.
The religion of the Ceneryth is druidic. Four times per year, on the cross-quarter days, there is a festival at which much licence prevails. Children that are begotten, or that are held to have been begotten, at these festivals are considered to be in a mystical sense children of Nature itself, and are called 'children of the Oak'. At puberty they are set away to be trained by the order of druids, after which they return to their clans. Some sons of the Oak may then choose to go adventuring with the hope of marrying in to an heroic house. One of the male druids in each village is appointed the Druid of that clan (by the arch-druid of the tribe), an office which he holds for life, and which entails the privilege of living in the clan's druid-house and receiving firstfruits and other specified offering from the clan. Archdruids are appointed from among the clan druids of the tribe by the Council of Grand Druids, and stay in their home villages when that happens: they do not move to the royal village of their tribe.
Children with musical talent may attended the summer schools of the College of Bards. If they pass the final examinations they become members of the College, entitled to perform at the annual eisteddfod and compete for the rank of fellow of the college, which brings the privilege of wearing a red cap. The members of a clan who are members of the college elect one of themselves to become chief bard of their clan when that office falls vacant. It is the duty of the chief bard to memorise the epics and traditions of the clan and to advice the chieftain on custom and precedent.
Given all this, which is to say given that:
1) the religion is druidic;
2) the culture is heavy on bards;
3) young men of the ruling class have to marry outside their clans to continue to enjoy a life of privilege;
4) and that the ruling families choose heroes who have won a reputation in adventuring and have trophies to anchor their claims;
What magical junk ought we to expect will accumulate in the strongrooms of the heroic and royal houses of the Ceneryth? What magical junk and features should we expect to find in the druid-house and the nemeton (the sacred grove)?
Regards,
Agback
Just suppose that there is a lawful good but stiflingly nannyish High Elvish World Empire that controls 85% of the Known World.
On the north-west border of the World Empire is a human land called the Gwlad Cenenryth, the Land of the Free People. The Free People are numerous and stroppy enough that the High Elves can't just move in an organise them. But they aren't afflicted with enough internal warfare that the High Elves feel justified in pacifying them by a military operation. And they aren't wicked enough that the Elves feel justified in conquering them to regulate their way of life, either. It is just as well for the Cenenryth that the High Elves are finding their Empire a bit of a handful, and are having trouble on the Orcish Frontier and in the Barbarian Wastes.
A household of the Ceneryth consists of a group of related women together with their daughters, husbands, and unmarried sons. It lives in a typically rambling collection of timber buildings, engages in a little agriculture, and depends largely on its herds of cows and sheep for sustenance. Households are clustered into clans, and clans into tribes. A man has to marry a woman from a different household than he was born in, and he takes his rank from his wife's hereditary status. The leaders of a houshold are its queen, her husband, and her widowed mother (or another widow, as stand-in).
In each clan there is one 'heroic house'. The other households in the clan look after the livestock of the heroic house, so it's men (in particular) lead lives of privilege. Many men therefore wish to marry the women of an heroic house, and the women (or to a considerable extent, their families) are therefore able to choose strong or cunning warriors and other desireable men for their husbands. The men of the heroic house train their sons as best they can to succeed as heroes, equip them as well as they can afford to do, and sent them out to win wealth and reputations as adventurers, so that they will be able to make good marriages in time.
The heroic house is directed by the chieftain of the clan, his wife the queen, and her mother the dowager, advised by the clan druid and the clan's chief bard. He choose one of his sons-in-law to be the captain of the heroic house. When the chieftain dies, is widowed, or is divorced, the captain becomes chieftain, his wife becomes the queen, and her mother (or the senior widow, if her mother is dead) becomes dowager.
In each tribe there is one royal clan. The chieftain of the royal clan is king of the tribe. There is a particular clan of which the chieftain is the high king of the Gwlad Ceneryth. But kings don't have a lot of power, except as war-leaders when required.
The religion of the Ceneryth is druidic. Four times per year, on the cross-quarter days, there is a festival at which much licence prevails. Children that are begotten, or that are held to have been begotten, at these festivals are considered to be in a mystical sense children of Nature itself, and are called 'children of the Oak'. At puberty they are set away to be trained by the order of druids, after which they return to their clans. Some sons of the Oak may then choose to go adventuring with the hope of marrying in to an heroic house. One of the male druids in each village is appointed the Druid of that clan (by the arch-druid of the tribe), an office which he holds for life, and which entails the privilege of living in the clan's druid-house and receiving firstfruits and other specified offering from the clan. Archdruids are appointed from among the clan druids of the tribe by the Council of Grand Druids, and stay in their home villages when that happens: they do not move to the royal village of their tribe.
Children with musical talent may attended the summer schools of the College of Bards. If they pass the final examinations they become members of the College, entitled to perform at the annual eisteddfod and compete for the rank of fellow of the college, which brings the privilege of wearing a red cap. The members of a clan who are members of the college elect one of themselves to become chief bard of their clan when that office falls vacant. It is the duty of the chief bard to memorise the epics and traditions of the clan and to advice the chieftain on custom and precedent.
Given all this, which is to say given that:
1) the religion is druidic;
2) the culture is heavy on bards;
3) young men of the ruling class have to marry outside their clans to continue to enjoy a life of privilege;
4) and that the ruling families choose heroes who have won a reputation in adventuring and have trophies to anchor their claims;
What magical junk ought we to expect will accumulate in the strongrooms of the heroic and royal houses of the Ceneryth? What magical junk and features should we expect to find in the druid-house and the nemeton (the sacred grove)?
Regards,
Agback
