Friday, January 4, 2013

Daoine Island, Seat of the Fianna

Daoine Island, a tiny and somewhat isolated island in the middle of the Danna Sea, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world. During the Sojourn, the journey which the ancient elves took across the world's face to learn its every secret, Daoine was a resting point and the site of a temple to Gaia. Abandoned when the fair folk moved to the west to make room for the younger races, it remained a landmark and waypoint for elven druids and mages in their travels. During the Fomorii-Fiannan war, which took place during the Titans' Scouring, the Fiannan people of the region were reduced to a tiny fraction of their population. However, a fortuitous meeting between Illiarus, an elven druid and scout who root-traveled to the highly attuned pines of Daoine and Orima, a scholar of the Fianna led to a grand alliance between elves and men in the region.

After the war ended in defeat for the Sons of Aether, those not slain by other gods were interred beneath the earth in great spires of stone which the elves crafted to hold them in eternal slumber. Places highly attuned to the worship of Gaia were selected by signs and visions across the world, and the temple at Daoine was one such site. Orima, who had been renamed Oghma, which means holder of knowledge, received a vision foretelling that in the far future those of ill intent would try to tap the power of the spires for their own ill gain. As such, when he was named Archdruid he placed his seat of power on the island. It has been the first haven for the druids and a place of immense power since that time.

During the reign of the Eracian Empire, Daoine was never discovered or invaded despite Emperor Martius III's excessive reward for its capture during the Annexation of Fianna, and many sunken ships across the Danna hold scrips of intent to invade the sacred place. Until the spring of 1109, no person not of elven, fae, or Fiannan blood had set foot upon the island's ground; however when a group of adventurers rescued the long-lost Erinn, the elven girl fated to be the next archdruidess, and brought her to the island Erinn dispelled the wards, and they remain dispelled until the time that it becomes necessary to raise them again in defense of Daoine.

Today, after many years of obscurity and separation from both men and elves, Daoine has again taken its place as an important center of magical and political power. From this island, the young Erinn, trained by the spirit of Oghma himself, leads an alliance between men, elves, the fae races, and even dwarves which despite its loose affiliation and recent creation now rivals the effective power of the Eracian Empire. In Summer of 1109, she announced the formation of the Fenians, an organization of mages, warriors and druids who would work to protect the Fiannan people and act as foreign agents, placing most of her inner circle within its ranks. In Autumn, she began casting her Fenians out like leaves on the wind, looking for potential allies, enemies, and interests across the continent.

Daoine itself is ruled by the Archdruidess, and is administrated by a cadre of Elders, ancient elves who have maintained a vigil over the site since before the Nerenean War. Daoine itself is superior to the four great groves of the mainland, though each of the Archdruids and Bards for those groves has a vote in many matters, especially political and religious ones.

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