Tuala Morn - History before the Tualans, Any ideas?

[MPT]

I will be running a Tuala Morn campaign soon and was wondering if anyone has written a history of Tuala Morn before the Tualans arrived.

 

The descriptions of various creatures in the Bestiary refer to 'real life' Irish myths, but the problem here is that the Tualan history does not match this (especially when the Formians arrive) and so these descriptions cannot be used.

 

I am quite happy to write my own history (because my players will ask for it) but would not mind 'borrowing' someone elses work!

 

Particular questions that will be asked are:

• Are the Giants, Ogres, FirBolg and Fey original inhabitants of Tuala Morn or are they immigrants?
• What wars etc. have occurred between these races?
• Do the named gods have particular histories.

 

If this post is not responded to, I may post my own version of the history later.

[NuSoardGraphite]

If it's history mimics irish legend, the fey (and maybe ogres) would be the original inhabitants where the firbolg would be early immigrants.

 

But i havent read tuala morn. i really want to though.

[Markdoc]

Again, I'd take the easy route. Prior to the arrival of the Fir Bolg (who, if we're using Irish legend as a starting point were also invaders) the land was probably mostly bog, heath and woodland, inhabited by the fey folk and various monsters. The fey almost certainly had (and still have) their own conflicts, but as a loose tribal society didn't have country-wide wars or kingdoms for you to worry about. Basically, what happened back then is lost in the mists of prehistory and legend.

 

In Irish legends, the Formorians preceded the Fir Bolg, but there's no real problem with simply switching them round. So you have a situation where various invaders arrived, set up their own kingdoms and expanded. All you really need is a short history (you can swipe a list of Irish kingly names from here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Irish_kings) and to indicate on the maps where their old territories used to be. If you need stories for the history swipe (and mix up) the stories attached to various kingly names. Voila: instant history For example - I just chose one at random - Echu mac Muiredaig was exiled from his kingdom by his brother, went overseas to live with Gabran the Traitor and returned to retake his kingdom. How or why you can yourself decide if it ever become relevant, but in the meantime you have a name and a brief history prepared should a question ever be asked like " Who built this tomb?" and when you tell them, "Who was Echu mac Muiredaig, anyway?"

 

As for the gods,though not exact copies of the Irish ones, they clearly have much in common. I'd swipe the closest appropriate history, mutate it a bit to suit your fancy and call it good. That way you get the desired flavour without having to invest a huge amount of time, and - perhaps more importantly - the gods will feel familiar to your players without actually being nailed down to a specific historic deity.

 

cheers, Mark

[Lord Liaden]

The presence of all these magical races and creatures in Tuala Morn, and the fact that seems exceptional for this part of the world in this era, makes me think that there may be, or have been, a strong connection between this region and the magical dimension of Faerie, which in the Hero Universe is the principal abode of the beings and gods shaped by human imagination. I have to wonder if that was the work of the mysterious Vorrag (see the Tuala Morn source book, p. 111) whom the Tualans believe possess powerful magic. I could see the Vorrag as having been the original masters of Tuala Morn, who either deliberately or accidentally conjured the denizens of Faerie to their land, forcing the Vorrag to retreat to their current island domain, Tir na Vorrag.

[NuSoardGraphite]

In irish legend, didn't the milesians predate both the fir bolg and the fomorians? or were the fomorians fist, the milesians came after, then the fir bolg after them then the tuatha de danan...

 

Edit:

 

I found it. the milesians were the first mortal race of men to settle ireland. when they arrived, the tuatha de were already there then after quite a bit of strife between the two peoples, the tuatha de moved underground (or perhaps the otherworld) and became the sidhe (or to sidhe).

[MPT]

It is because Tuala is not an exact replica of Ireland that made me choose it since it allows me to modify things from 'history' and to hide things from the players.

 

I have read the original mythic history (or at least a summary of it) which is why I knew that the Formians are out of sequence.However, you have all given me something to think about.

[MPT]

This is the history I have come up with, any improvements are welcome.

 

---

 

The Gods have never told how the world and themselves were created, but that they exist is self-evident and the tale is only theirs to tell should they wish it.

 

Our tale of Oileán Teacht [Olan Tart] (Isle of Arriving) must therefore begin with the Faeriefolk whose land coexists with our own and whose history is mostly that of peaceful coexistance. However, even the Faeriefolk are not immune to conflict for in the past the Prince Ciarán asked for the hand of Queen Orlagh [Arr-la] in marriage and was turned down. In his anger he assembled an army to force his wishes on her but the queen’s army was greater and he was defeated. He and the remains of his army were banished from the Faerie realm with a Geas that they can never return. Corrupted by their vile nature, and no longer being able to access the beauty of the Faerie realm, they created an Unseelie court in mockery of the Seelie court of the queen and their bodies became twisted parodies of their former selves revealing their internal uglyness.

 

However the Unseelie were not the first feet on the isle for the first to arrive were the animals and creatures who travelled to the isle according to their natures. The flyers came by air, the swimmers came by sea and the creatures of the land crossed a land bridge that connected Oileán Teacht to Acquitaine.

 

The next to arrive were the Pictoi. When humans were created a cauldron was filled with the water from the spring of knowledge and each couple drank from it. However, when the final couple came to drink there was only a sip left for each of them. This couple were the father and mother of the Pictoi and their decendants have always hated the other humans for drinking more of the water than they required leaving the dregs for themselves, and they hate the gods for not putting more water in the cauldron. They travelled to Oileán Teacht over the land bridge and, finding that no humans resided there, made it their home.

 

The next to arrive were the Ogres and the Giants that were attempting to destroy them. In order that the Ogres could not escape the Giants destroyed the land bridge as they travelled across it. The two races fought and great losses occured between them. In order to avoid mutual destruction an uneasy truce was agreed amongst themselves, the Ogres would not enter the homes and surrounding areas of the Giants and the Giants would no longer seek the death of the Ogres. This truce is to last until "A Giant kills an Ogre, or an Ogre kills a Giant, other than in a formal duel". The Pictoi, however, were not part of this agreement and so, to save themselves, they entered the caves, tunneled into the land and hid in the areas of darkness.

 

The final race to arrive were the Fir Bolg. The Ogres found conditions on the island not to their liking. They called on their god Crom Cruach to help them and sacrificed much blood to him. Crom opened his veins once and his blood caused the crops to grow threfold. He opened his veins a second time and the cows that drank of it gave milk threefold. He then travelled to other isles and tricked the Fir Bolg into travelling to Oileán Teacht for they are great farmers. Once they arrived the Ogres made them slaves.

The Fir Bolg are not warriors so they called on our gods for help. Our gods arrived and in a great battle freed the Fir Bolg from their slavery. This battle was so exhausting that our gods had their first great sleep afterwards making their beds in the hills which the Faerie gave them. This they did in gratitude for what the gods had done for, whilst the Ogres were not their enemy, they did not agree with the slavery they had imposed.

 

This then is the history of the land before we arrived. In our time of need when we left our homeland the gods had already prepared the way and for this we are grateful.