Fantasy Core Ireland Setting--Personalities Part 1

FANTASY CORE RPG
(c) Jerry Harris, 2012
Published here as Open Game Content.

Index

Fintan Mac Bochra: One of the original settlers of Ireland. He survived the Biblical Flood by turning into a salmon and later other animals. He is a valuable advisor to kings as an historian.

Tuan Mac Sdairn: The only survivor of the ancient Partholonian race. He survived the plague by taking the form of several different animals. Eventually as a salmon, he was caught and eaten by a pregnant woman and was reborn a man. He has been an observer of all of the mythic events of Irish history.

Balor: A powerful Fomorian Cyclops with a death-ray eye. He was killed at the second battle of Mag Tured, but probably has some descendants.

Bres: A Fey leader, but the son of a Fomorian.  Bres was the first dark elf (drow). He was king of the Fey briefly, but was deposed. He later lead the Fomorians to a disastrous defeat against the Fey at the second battle of Mag Tured. He was spared at the end of the battle by giving away his secret knowledge. Bres was a captive of the Fey, but later escaped to the Underworld to father more drow.

Amergin: Druid of the Sons of Mil, whose magic helped them to victory over the Fey. He negotiated the settlement that gave the upperworld to men and the Otherworld to the Fey. There are reports that he is still around in some fashion and is the leader of the druids.

Cuchulain: Nicknamed, The Hound. Fathered by a god, he was the preeminent warrior of Ulster. He owned the Gae Bolga, a magic spear, and an intelligent warrior horse, the Gray of Macha. His single-handed defense of the province is recorded in the epic the Cattle Raid of Cooley. (Cattle raids were a typical means of starting a war between feuding clans. Most were usually over by noon or settled by single combat.)

His death came years later in a revenge killing. After receiving mortal wounds, Cuchulain lashed himself to a pillar that he might die standing and facing his enemies. Sires of his horse and his magic spear are still reportedly around. The place of his death, Knockbridge, County Louth, Ulster, can be used as an entrance to the Otherworld under the right conditions.

Cathbad: A powerful druid and Cuchulain’s grandfather. It is said his spirit still walks the Emerald Isle, sometimes in animal form, and may be inclined to assist heroes in a just cause.

Conall: Foster brother of Cuchulain. After his death, Conall went on a rampage across Ireland, punishing all of Queen Maeve’s allies. His spirit is still seeking out their descendants.

Children of Cailidin: Three sons and three daughters of a warrior killed by Cuchulain during the Cattle Raid. They were sent abroad to study wizardry so that they could get revenge. They are the reason that wizards are not well liked in Ireland. Their spirits (or worse) may still be haunting the land, cursed for having killed a hero.

Queen Maeve: Queen of Connaught. She sent an army into Ulster to capture the famous Brown Bull of Cooley in a fit of pure vanity. Her army was single-handedly held at bay by Cúchulain, who by agreement, dueled with one warrior each day. Beautiful and charismatic, Maeve was possibly a witch and a lycanthrope. Her spirit still guides Irish witches.

Macha: Irish war goddess and a witch. She had cursed the men of Ulster during Queen Maeve’s cattle raid, rendering them unable to fight. She was wont to appear in the form of a carrion-crow. May still be around in that form.

Fergus Mac Roth: Angered at the behavior of his Ulster king, he and 300 other Ulstermen joined Queen Maeve against Ulster in the Cattle Raid of Cooley. He and his men were cursed and in spirit form, still roam the countryside, looking for a fight. Their services can reportedly be enticed with the right motivation.