Talk:Kingdom of Emlyn

This page is not a complete culture write up, but rather a collection of ideas combed from other sources and discussions with the local leaders and lore masters. If you have questions or suggestions regarding this page, contact Lara in Discord.

Social Order

A strong sense of honor and the precepts of the code of virtue (Dana & The Seven), is the moral compass for those of Emlyn. Whatever they feel is the right, virtuous path, is not only the one they tread, but the one they feel others should follow as well—even if such steadfast devotion to their sense of right can in turn lead to conflict with others.

Those of Emlyn’s aim, of abiding by what they feel is right is met by a variety of ways.

For example, some may choose to reside in the catacombs of Port Leon and harness the magic of old that derives deep within the vast ancient vaults below the city. None who follow such a path would outright say they are creating and harboring magical weapons of Mass-Destruction, however that is ultimately the result of such pursuits. These individuals would be adept at knowing the elemental focal points within the catacombs (wind, water, fire, earth), though their specialty would likely fall into one domain. They would also likely have studied the ancient texts in the underground library. They would do this attempting to protecting the world against the abuse of magic.

Others may seek fulfillment by keeping the feral evils of the realm at bay. Utilizing skills those of Emlyn are known to have as “masters of the wild,” such as tracking to hunt down rogue ogres, humans and beasts so that they do not infiltrate their territory or overrun the mainland.

No matter the direct path one of Emlyn may take, their sense of righteousness strongly dictates their path in life. They as a people believe themselves to be gatekeepers between the dead and the living. They detest the undead. In fact, it is this very belief which has prompted their custom of burying their dead out at sea—so that the dead may pass and not rise—in turn, becoming something unnatural.

They are so dead set on their ideals and beliefs, they can often come across to others as judgement and rigid. Their unbending nature in actuality can be seen as both a strength and weakness.

Negative Traits

Much like their capital city of Caerleon, the people of Emlyn tend to hide their true selves. They tend to be wary of strangers at first. Most often they are not open-handed with gifts or their gold. While their appearance is rarely shabby, their clothing, homes and personal items do not reflect their personal wealth.

World View

The Celts saw the world as a place on the borders of possibility, as both mysterious and familiar. They accepted magic and the Otherworld as easily as the grass and trees. They accepted won- ders, strange things found in the fields. They loved hearing tales of mysterious places far away and of great heroes long ago. If those great heroes turned up one day out of the mists looking for lodging, they were welcomed. The Celts didn’t expect the world to be completely predictable, nor did they seek an explanation for everything. The Celts accepted this approach to the world, and would find our mechanistic world-view strange – and probably amusing. The how and why of the world was arcane and better left alone. Their attitude to magic and won- ders was, “Druids may meddle with that sort of thing, but while a warrior isn’t surprised by it, he doesn’t ask questions about it either.”

This doesn’t mean that they didn’t care what happened to them. They cared very much for their honor, their clan, and their reputations; everything that was important to the Celt, particularly to the hero, was important personally.

The day-to-day reality of a Celt’s life was very real and more concerned with dealings with other Celts than with the gods, the Sidhe (pronounced shee), or other magical beings. The worst thing that could happen to a Celtic hero was to be thought poorly of by his peers; he would genuinely prefer death. As examples, Ferdiad went to fight Cuchulain, his best friend, knowing he’d be killed, to avoid ridicule; Cuchulain broke a gesa (see p. 9) and ate dogmeat to avoid being thought haughty.

They enjoyed life to the fullest – restraint was not a Celtic virtue. They had the ability to throw themselves into their endeavors, to give all they had to what they were doing. What they had they gave with both hands. Cailte, talk- ing about his leader Finn Mac Cool, could find no higher praise than to say, “If the brown leaves falling in the woods were gold, if the waves of the sea were silver, Finn would have given away the whole of it.”

The Celts loved life, and lived it with the immediacy and vividness of those who know that they could die at any minute. Theirs was not a sanitized world-view: Deirdre discovered the image of her true love in a raven tearing at a bloody carcass in the snow (see p. 34). They found nothing in the natural world disgusting, or shameful. The only shameful things were human behav- iors – attacking a guest, refusing a fair fight, telling lies (as opposed to speak- ing less than the whole truth), et cetera. There were many joys to be found, but even the greatest joys were touched with sadness. While a story might be thigh- slappingly funny in the middle, it often ended on a down-note; the hero could be struck down in his prime, or live to melancholy old age to tell the stories of great days gone by to the next generation.

The greatest wish of a hero was that the story of his deeds would live on; thus storytellers and bards were among the most honored Celts (see sidebar, p. 9). The mood of these stories was one of hiraeth, a Welsh word meaning longing, nostalgia, or homesickness. Hiraeth celebrated what had passed away, or was about to depart, not what was present. The most famous Celtic poem of all began “Maytime is a splendid time” and continued to celebrate Spring before saying that winter’s frosts come all too soon to wither the bright promise. The ability to slip into this mood of pleasant melancholy at any time was typical of Celts. (For examples of these bittersweet tales, see Chapter 3.)