Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Maidhc O Casain" data-source="post: 3768552" data-attributes="member: 29558">An Audience w/ the Queen(It is now Mid-Winter’s Eve – the turning of the year in the Domhani calendar – two years to the day since most of you met at the Wickshine’s Last Inn)The group – Béar, Dílis, Gavril, Cerallos, Ruarc (because if he’s out by himself he scares the bejesus out of the horses), Skáth, and Cairn follow the Queen to her private audience chamber.As the last time you were all here, she seats you and serves you herself.Once everyone is comfortably settled, Máthair seats herself as well.  She examines each of you in turn, again taking your weight and measure.  Just before the silence becomes uncomfortable, she begins to speak.“When you were in this room almost two years ago, I told you there were events occurring in Domhan of which I could not give you details.  I would now give you a history of the world that is not what you have been taught previously.Millenia ago, when Humans were far more primitive than their current state, the world was ruled by another race – the CéaDaoine.  They were mighty in magic, but not in stature.  Great studiers of the world, inventors and creators, they were as far above the Humans of the day as we were above ants.  They were naturally long lived, but not particularly hardy.It came to pass that one among them, Cruthaigh, conceived the notion of creating a race to serve the CéaDaoine.  Two attempts he made, because his first did not turn out as he wished.  His first attempt resulted in a race that was completely unpredictable in form and function, but whose members all had one thing in common – they manipulated the magic of the world as naturally as breathing.  However, these Daoine deBith did not have the desire to serve that their creator wished – in fact, their temperament was as unpredictable as their form, and he cast them out, finding them unsuitable.The second attempt to create a servant race resulted in the Laoch, who turned out exactly as he wished.  Strong and hardy, artistic, and best of all bred with the need to serve the CéaDaoine.  In fact, they could not long survive without being bonded in a special ceremony to a member of their creator’s race.  Even if a Laoch chose to die rather than bond, the bond could be forced on them by any CéaDaoine who new the proceedure and had a will strong enough to overcome the resistance of the Laoch.  Additionally, this bond could be used to compel the Laoch to act against their will.When he presented his creations to the rest of his race, however, they deemed him evil for subjecting sentient beings to his will and demanded that he cease.  He would not, and a great war was fought.  This war changed the face of the world, so that when it was finally over and Cruthaigh was defeated it was no longer recognizable as their home.  Cruthaigh somehow escaped the carnage of the last battle, fleeing to a stronghold he had prepared for such an event.  The CéaDaoine found themselves unable to pry him from his refuge, and decided instead to seal him inside for all eternity.After the war, the two new races were treated well.  The Daoine deBith were, of course, allowed their complete freedom.  For the Laoch, the CéaDaoine did what they could.  They granted the Laoch the freedom to choose whom they would to bond, and it was mandated that the bond, the Cuibhreach, not be used to compel them in any way.The CeaDaoine continued to decline, and over the next thousand years gradually disappeared from the face of the world.”Here the Queen pauses for a moment, looks around at those gathered in the room, and then continues.</blockquote>

Verification