A Traveller's Guide to Kinneigh Sept
Map of Kinneigh Sept, one of the three divisions of Tua D'Inel Aodh Moirnenn. Map by Nimirien (Autumn Getty).
Kinneigh Sept is a division of the Tua D'Inel Aodh Moirnenn, a tribe which controls roughly one third of the area of the island of Oilinane. The sept is located at the southern end of the island. To the east lies the territory of the Dianaimhann; to the west marshland controlled by Moirnenn, but not organized into a sept. North is a branch of Oilinane's eastern forest lands, before it gives way to a chain of hills extending toward northern Oilinane. To the south lies An Farraige Bearg, the sea that forms a strait between Oilinane and the island of the Aos Si further south. The sept occupies a mostly flat and featureless plain between two rivers, the Odheas Bhainne and the Eithne Bhainne.
The main focus of Kinneigh Sept is to establish a center for economic activity for the Moirnenn after the bitter fighting between the Aodh and the other inhabitants of the island that ended twenty years ago. This involves the redevelopment of agriculture, the establishment of villages, and the promotion of Kinneigh Village as a center for trade with merchants from the west coast of Ereba.
The development of an economic center at Kinneigh Village also involves the encouragement of clan mixing to provide continuity into the future. Normally Aodh custom requires gifts of land to clans based on service to the sept, but this results in clan territories and means that a localized would leave many important clans with no stake in it. In Kinneigh Sept the practice is to award traditional clan territories but have the villages belong to all clans.
Travellers often hear a variety of perspectives on Kinneigh Sept, some of which can be read in the sidebar.
The History of Kinneigh Sept, As Told by the Aodh
A hundred years ago our people fled the dread plague that piled up the dead in the north. We sailed to Oilinane, following the path laid out by Noe before The Great Inundation. We landed near Brinny and found a land of giants the like we had not seen before, though in other respects they looked like Tua D'Inel.
I imagine they must have been struck by terror as ship after ship reached the beach, for after a couple of days of watching us the Fathachir attacked. Over the next eighty years we fought them, and their Aos Si allies too, until everything lay in ruins.
Even our most noble warriors lost the temper for war, seeing all we had destroyed for our own survival. We made a pact with them: if they let us have the island, we would honour Fathachir and Aos Si as though they were strangers in our midst. This meant they would have the protection of the Aodh hospitality customs, making it a great crime for anyone to harm them without cause. The pact was made at Maedunum, the
Taoiseach's hill fort in the center of the newly organized Kinneigh Sept.
Around that time the dragon Nathagorm came to Oilinane with her Iyl'thrarim armies, claiming to be hunting some Edneim that had fled from Oilinane through Tirmindomir, one of the Fathachir strongholds that had been destroyed during the war. She thought there was some kind of portal that led to another realm, perhaps the faerie realm. Who knows? Maybe it's true.
We had no strength left to stop her, and neither did anyone else. Most of the Iyl'thrarim went with her, but many stayed behind and established their own villages, or sold themselves out as mercenaries. That's how there comes to be so many of them in Kinneigh Sept.
The last twenty years make for a dull story. The clan nobles set up some villages along the rivers and visited the mainland trying to drum up trade. The clans are fighting for a piece too, and mostly they get it. But things are going good enough that people have time to wonder if we did the right thing coming here.
Characteristics of Kinneigh Sept
Kinneigh Sept is a primarily rural environment whose largest settlement, Kinneigh Village, has a mere 700 inhabitants. The land adjacent to the rivers features more recently settled villages averaging around 250 people. The rest of the land is dotted with farmsteads, unofficial communities, old monuments of the Fathachir, stone circles, towers and several ruins. The greatest of these ruins is Ait Cruinnithe, the destroyed city of the Aos Si. In addition to these, there are a few odd phenomena that visitors to the region should be aware of.
Si Stones
Throughout Oilinane massive stones forming a circle can be found. They are called Si Stones due to the Aodh mistaken belief that they were erected by the Aos Si. In their turn, the Aos Si believed them to have been arranged by the Fathachir, a sensible belief since the Fathachir wrote all over them in their sacred script. In point of fact, no one really knows who built the Si Stones, or why, but the three main species of Oilinane have different uses for them.
The Fathachir faith revolves around meticulous caring for the dead in the physical, faerie and farther realms. They use Si Stones to carry out funerals, as surfaces to inscribe the record of their ancestors, to communicate with the dead in other realms, and to predict which of the faerie houses Oilinane will pass through next.
The Aos Si use the Si Stones to communicate with others of their lineage who may be removed from them in space or time. Many of these ancestors are considered to have ascended to an existence which grants them seemingly divine powers. The Aos Si propitiate these figures in the same way that other peoples worship other kinds of immortals. When the Aos Si speak of faerie, these are the beings they refer to. It is also said the Aos Si know the trick of using the Si Stones to travel to other realms.
The primary use of Si Stones for the Aodh is for the
Tastail, a coming of age ritual performed by the
draoi which involves having teenagers dwell within the stones for three days. They are also used at the solstices for sacred rites and to enhance the abilities of the
draoi.
Faerie Happenings
The Si Stones are not the only method of communicating or travelling to different places and times. Many travellers throughout Oilinane report seeing the air shimmer before them briefly before the landscape around them changes. Trees may disappear or appear, Si feasting halls appear, grasslands turn to marsh or rarely to ice. It is believed, particularly by the Aos Si, that this means a traveller has entered the faerie realm, and may encounter all sorts of outlandish things. It is even believed that the traveller may have entered another time. These temporal and spatial happenings occur at the whim of the faerie propitiated by the Aos Si. Travellers are said to return to their original travels after a set objective has been obtained, but they usually find that time has passed differently for them than it has for those who remained in Oilinane the whole time.
Cattle Raiding and Other Mischief
It is a long tradition among the Aodh and other Tua D'Inel to raid in times of scarcity. This is almost unheard of in the villages, due to their size and the protection of the
taoiseach, but happens occasionally in the interior of the sept. The object of most of these raids is cattle, but sometimes they are carried out for other goods, such as jewelry. Raids are tolerated by the groups who are raided, since they are permitted to raid the offending clan to recover what was lost and whatever else they can carry off. Raids are a quick affair, since neither clan will want to engage in a sustained battle which might cost the lives of some of their clan members. The
taoiseach permits the raiding as long as no one is actually killed, at which point a blood price will be required from the clan whose member did the killing.
In recent years the Iyl'thrarim mercenaries that came with Nathagorm have engaged in similar raids against the Aodh, but they are not treated with the same good will when they do. An Aodh clan will never raid non-Aodh communities, but if they are attacked by this type of community retaliation tends to be more extreme than it is for Aodh clans.
Cattle or other goods lost in raids may also be recovered through other means, including arranged fighting between renowned warriors, chariot races or throwing dice.
Settlements and Other Points of Interest
Villages
Fearnogdun: Named for the alders found in the forest to the north, Fearnogdun relies on products gathered or cut down there. Since this forest is the only significant source of trees in Kinneigh Sept, it has been necessary to quell the more conservationist tendencies of the Aodh in order to build ships to conduct trade from Kinneigh.
Fearuisc: From its position on the edge of the marshlands to the west, Fearuisc is in a good position to trade with Attinkee, the old Fathachir village raised above the bog. Though Attinkee is controlled by the Aodh now, it is still dominated by Fathachir and is their preferred location from which to conduct trade.
Garranull: The village of Garranull is located as far south as the Aodh dared settle, due to their superstition about the Fields of the Bananach and Ait Cruinnithe being full of the restless dead. It is known for its groves of apple trees planted and maintained through cooperation between Aodh and Aos Si. There is a sacred grove outside the village, where only
droai and their guests may go.
Glasbhin: The first Aodh settlement in Kinneigh Sept, Glasbhin was named for the waters of the Odheas Bhainne, which is green in colour due to excessive moss along the inner bank. Fishing is plentiful here, and the moss is collected to make into a salve for wounds.
Kinneigh : The village of Kinneigh was established by the
taoiseach of Kinneigh Sept as a trade hub. Ships come from the mainland to the east and from the homeland of the Aos Si to the south. Kinneigh also has a well-developed agricultural base.
Pollselkie: The southern coast of Kinneigh Sept is a popular haunt for a small species of seal in the winter. The land around the village of Pollselkie is host to many of these seals, and there is a superstition against killing them in this village. Instead, the villagers make nests for them as an act of propitiation toward the giant faerie Cailleach. The Aodh who live here harvest many plants and animals from the sea, some of which are left for the seals.
Pucamaith: The primary village for raising horses was settled here by loosing horses and following them until they stopped running. Wild horses are believed to have shapechanged from their natural faerie forms, known as pucas. After a spate of riding deaths, the Aodh called the village Pucamaith, in hopes that this honour would lead to blessings from this faerie people. It is believed this was successful, since some of the villagers bear the hallmarks of shapechanged pukas, which include animal features of varying kinds.
Riascthoir: Located where the western marshlands drain into the ocean, Riascthoir inhabitants hunt for birds, fish, and collect medicinal plants which are then traded to the other villages for resources not available here. The village itself is built just outside the marsh on solid ground, and forays are made into the marsh. This village also features a strong presence of
draoi.
Skeancloch: Skeancloch is built on a large outcropping of stone that overlooks the ocean. It is rough country with no suitable soil for agriculture. Villagers believe the environment sharpens them the way a stone sharpens the blade of a dagger. They keep cattle, as most Aodh do, but also quarry for the gems that are available beneath the village.
Points of Interest
Ait Cruinnithe: The ruined Aos Si city of Ait Cruinnithe lies here, partly on the surface and the rest fallen into the underground. The buildings are said to have been razed by unimaginable creatures summoned by the
droai in a battle so horrible none who were there will talk about it. There are some rumours that the Aos Si wielded great magics to sink parts of their city below the ground so that the Aodh would not find the secrets hidden there. Ait Cruinnithe is thought to be full of faerie and other supernatural beings, and is avoided by all but the most foolish.
Barrows Hill: Old and new barrows litter the tops and sides of this hill. The dead are a mix of the soldiers of Aos Si and Aodh who fell in battle with each other, as well as the dead from previous generations of Aos Si. It is rumoured that there is an ancient sacred building underneath the barrows, but none have had the nerve to look into it.
Ceoscrin: The shrine at Ceoscrin is an indoor grove devoted to Lir, the personification of the sea. The focus of the rites is on the fog that travels on the sea as a horse travels on land. Ceoscrin is very old, probably established by the Fathachir when they first arrived on Oilinane. The fog is dangerous to those who would travel by sea, but it is also considered a benefit, as it hides the Oilean na Marbh, an island which travels through the planes to ensure the dead reach their rest. In recent times, Manannan has been worshipped here as well, and it is claimed that he is the son of Lir and lives on Oilean na Marbh.
Cliodhna's Tower: The faerie Cliodhna lives in a tower that appears as a pile of stones from the natural world but is a tower in the faerie realm. Even while in the natural world, she can move through it as if she was in the faerie realm. Travellers entering the tower experience different layouts and challenges depending on Cliodhna's willingness to see them. If she is reached, she will heal the sick, or teach others to. She is allied with the
droai and
taoiseach of Kinneigh Sept.
Dumha Siog: A hill near Maedunum is a traditional resting place for the Aos Si, containing many barrows. It is said that many of the Aos Si have disappeared into these barrows rather than stay above ground, leading some Aodh to believe that the barrows connect to some kind of underground complex.
Fields of the Bananach: These fields are the region where the worst of the fighting between the Aodh and Aos Si took place. Aodh avoid them because they are thought to be filled with the restless dead of the Aos Si looking for vengeance on the conquerors of Oilinane.
Maedunum: The hill fort at Maedunum is the site of the
taoiseach's court, chosen for its central position in the sept. The court is made up of warriors,
draoi, and a few outlanders. Maedunum is also home to artisans who support the warriors here with supplies, and many farmers who supply food.
Weather
Kinneigh Sept has a predominantly oceanic climate. Winters range from cool to mild, while summers are warm and relatively drier. Frost occurs annually, but snow is rare, occurring 3-4 times a year. Wind is predominantly from the west.
Flora and Fauna
Large animals in Kinneigh Sept include boar, deer, wolf, fox, bear, and badger. Hare, squirrel, marten, lynx, hornet and praying mantis are among the smaller creatures. Dolphins, lizards, snakes, jellyfish and seals can also be found. Among birds ducks, geese, waterfowl, pheasants, flamingoes, pigeons, doves, and many others can be found.
For a list of herbs, see
Traditional Herbs of Oilinane .
Economy
With the passing of war twenty years ago, much of the
taoiseach's energy has been focused on developing an sustainable economy. The traditional pursuits of the Aodh during their wanderings through Northern Ereba have been raiding, cattle-herding and bronze-working. In times past, when they lived among the Yankogi, they had also practised several other skills, among them agriculture. As they settled in southern Oilinane it became clear they would have to take up these forgotten trades again.
Today, there are people in Kinneigh Sept who practice a wide variety of trades, including fishing, hunting, agriculture, smithing of various metals, gemcrafting, herbalism, logging, and many others. The
taoiseach has developed some of these trades, and his hand can be seen in the fact that many of the trades are limited to particular regions. He has learned to do this from advisors of the mainland, particularly the Yawanis, in order to develop a trade system within the sept itself. It is an added benefit that many of these goods can be shipped elsewhere through the harbour at Kinneigh Sept.
Local Markets
The majority of economic activity in Kinneigh Sept takes place in local markets. This is especially true of livestock and agricultural products, which are generally available throughout the sept. There is some transport of goods from more specialized locales, such as medicinal herbs from Riascthoir or gems from Skeancloch. In addition, goods are obtained from the non-Aodh populations in the region, particularly the Fathachir, Iyl'thrarim and Aos Si, as well as from the mainland.
Through all of this activity strict limits are placed on speculation of goods. Four times a year the
taoiseach meets with merchants at Kinneigh to determine a fair value on the goods sold in Kinneigh. This value includes labor and transport costs, to ensure that it is worthwhile to trade goods between the villages. No one may charge more than 20% over this agreed upon value.
Currency
See
Kinneigh .
