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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5543488" data-attributes="member: 92305">Part I of the story lived in the first game session. LIFE IN THE MUCK We began the game with the two PCs at age 11, Caelis and Thrallan. They were knee-deep in the muddy ponds near their village doing what is called bog mining. Basically, particles of iron-ore run off the mountain carried by the Diamondrun river. That mountain stream crashes in a waterfall near your village. There is a small pond, then the ground turns to a muddy, swamp-like muck over near where the forest begins. The grass is thick with long roots. Mud collects on the roots, creating these floating island-like patties. The dense roots act as a filter for the iron ore particles, too. Over time, the ore develops into a small pellet. The boys clomp around in this cold muck, pick up and over-turn the patties, then use these sycle like knives to cut and saw through grass roots so that they are able to lift the patty and view the underside. They dig around on the bottom of the patty with their fingers until they hit something hard, which is an iron-ore pellet. This, they drop into the leathern sacks tied to their waists before moving on to the next patty. We learned a lot of stuff in this first scene. I'll bullet point the major stuff here: - They are clansmen of the Blue Fox Clan. The term "Urrogh" is the Cimmerian word for "Blue Fox", and I sometime use that inter-changeably. - Their father is the current clan chieftain. Their family name is Duncohr, but Cimmerians typically don't use family names--only given names--as the clan is always more important than the family. People refer to their father as Finn Elder. - Two decades ago, Finn and his family lead a rebellion agains the Grath clan. This is how the Clan of the Blue Fox began. - Branoc is an NPC out in the muck with them. He is Caelis' older twin. Branoc is smart, but slow to respond and make a decision. He's wise but very cautious. He has a strange way of speaking, always turning a sentence "around" so that which is usually spoken last, he speaks first. "Fast, I can run." - Branoc and Caelis were to be triplets, but their youngest brother was stillborne. Some say that Caelis killed his brother in his mother's womb before either were born, and their mother died as a result of their battle. For this reason, Caelis is called Caelis Redbirth. Branoc shares no part of this because he was born relatively easily, and his mother seemed pleased with him. The trouble started after Branoc's birth. - The mother of Branoc and Caelis was named Lyme. She died not long after childbirth. Before she became unconscious, she named her first born, Branoc, after her father, Branard. She succumbed just as Caelis was being born. This may have contributed to Padran never making it out of the womb alive. - There are seven monolithic stones near the clanholme, and the village takes its name from that landmark: Seven Stones Ridge. It is said that Crom gave the secret of steel to the people on this very spot. Dagda, the high god at that time, sent the Seven Titans to punish Crom for his action. Crom defeated all seven, and the Seven Stones, called the prachaun grul in the Cimmerian tongue, are the headstones that Crom himself laid in the ground to cover the graves of the Titans. Crom took the time to bury his enemies because he respected their never-ceasing will to win even when faced with defeat. For this reason, the Seven Stones are a sacred site for all Cimmerians, and the respect for one's enemy who fights well is still evident in Cimmerian culture. After defeating the Titans, Crom faced Dagda and defeated him as well, allowing Crom to become the god of all gods. - Finn named Caelis for one of the Seven Titans. It is normal for family names to be based on the names of the Seven Titans. Finn's own family name, Duncohr, is based on the mightiest of all Titans, Daollcohr. But, it is always a true honor to have one's given name be one of the Titans. The majority of the time, this is not done, and when it is done, the Cimmerian naming his children is honor bound to have a very good reason for breaking tradition. Finn named Caelis for the Titan because Caelis holds the promise and future of the clan, as Caelis is one of the first to be an Urrogh from birth. Older clan members were of the Grath clan, before the clan of the Blue Fox came into existence. Branoc would have also received a Titan name, but Finn honored his wife's choice of naming Branoc after Lyme's father. - Thrallan was found as a babe on the night of Branoc's and Caelis' birth. He was abandoned by one of the Seven Stones, at the foot of the stone called Thrallan. Finn adopted him as his own, seeing Thrallan as a god-givenreplacement for the stillborne Padran. Thrallan, too, was given a name of the Titans. - Lyme's father, Branard, traded for a wife from Aesir merchants. Lyme was half Aesir. Branoc and Caelis are quarter Aesir. You can't see it as much on Branoc, but Caelis definitley has lighter skin and hair that is lighter than any other in the clan. - The Beltain is the largest, most celebrated festival among the Cimmerians. It is a three-day time of feasting, renewing vows, cementing relationships, marriages, contracts, and the like. It is a celebration of the coming of summer, which is alway important in this cold land. Herds are switched from winter to summer pastures, and as they do so, they are passed through the fire to rid them of demonic influence or possession. This is also the time from which all Cimmerians count their age. Cimmerians do not fiddle with keeping track of actual days. Every time the Beltain rolls around, each Cimmerian is considered a year older. It's not an excat science, but it works for these people. - Cimmerians believe that a day ends as soon as the light fades. The darkness brings with it a new day. When we began this scene, with the PCs in the muck, they are only a few hours away from the start of the Beltain and being considered 12 years of age. - 12 year old males in the Blue Fox Clan run the ras croi, the race of the heart, during the Beltain when they turn 12. This race is designed to be an endurance test for the boys--to sift out those who are physically mature enough to begin warrior training and those who need to wait another year. As the scene begins, the PCs are trepidatious about the coming race on the morrow. Those who finish the race go on into a 3 year warrior training program. If a member of this program after completing the race, the child is considered to be part of the graiis. The winner of the ras croi becomes the leader of the graiis, and he is called the Ar Grais. The first year is focussed on developing muscles that are needed for war. The second year sees the youth matched with a profession and general arms training. The third year focuses the child on specific weapons where the young warrior shows aptitude. One graduates from the graiis sometime after their 14th year and before their 15th year by going on a deasghnath, which is a ritual where the young warrior is sent from the village, alone, out into the wilderness, and expected to make some kind of kill. What the child kills is up to him, but the more dangerous the kill, the more honor is laid upon the child when he returns. Returning successfully from the deasghnath sees the child no longer thought of as a child, but as a warrior for the clan. Everyone in the clan contributes time, effort, or materials to make a long cloak for the warrior who has completed his deasghnath. This is called a mantle. The longer the mantle, the more honor is afforded the warrior. The length of the mantle is decided after the warrior returns with his deasghnath kill. As the sun fell from the sky, Branoc spotted a wagon pulled by two horses coming down the old trail above them on the ridge. It was headed towards the village. "On yonder hill, Olav comes." Branoc says. We get the impression Branoc knows who this is. "What he brings with him, I wonder." The story outline is continued in Part II.</blockquote>

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