Embedded Files
The Tuatha had many worlds open to them under the collective concept of the Otherworld, which as one can likely glean from the name, are other places, most of them far away, where things are different. In these Otherworlds, do the Tuatha find their Overworld, their Underworld, and many Terra Incognita which only a few of are included. However, it should be noted that there is an issue with the depictions as presented here. We have very few descriptions of the Irish Otherworlds past vague outlines of what makes them different, therefore what has been done here is unfortunately primarily fiction built upon a skeletal structure scrounged from myths. Primarily, the descriptions of Inis Locha come from Lady Gregory's rendition of Tadg in Manannan's Islands.
However, if one wished to stage an entire story sailing around the Otherworldly islands, do not fret, for simple 'island of the week' ideas are actually well represented in Irish literature. One who is interested should investigate The Voyage of Saint Brendon, and The Voyage of Mael Duin. While these are both Christian texts, they appear to be drawing heavily upon pre-existing ideas and concepts. A ripe source for inspiration.
The Underworld - Inis Locha
The Underworld - Inis Locha
Far over wave sits Emain Ablach, the Land of Manannan mac Lir. This land, far over crashing waves and past otherworldly islands, contains many different wondrous countries, and places. Mag Mell, Inis Locha, and Tir Tairngire are just some of these places. To reach Emain Ablach, one must set sail from Ireland, past wonderous lands, for twenty days and twenty nights after losing sight of shore with the intent of reaching Emain Ablach. The most dangerous part of these lands is no beast, but instead that time does not flow normally here. For every day that one spends in Emain Ablach, an entire year passes on Earth (every 4 minutes in Emain Ablach, a day passes if that is more helpful).
Inis Locha is the part of Emain Ablach which houses the dead of Ireland, an island off the coast of the greater landmass of Emain Ablach. There are very little requirements for the dead to reach Inis Locha, only needing being one of the people’s of Ireland, such as the Fir Bolg, the Tuatha de Danann, or the Gael.
Those reaching Inis Locha after twenty days and twenty nights asail find the mouth of a river opening into the sea which to pilot their ship along, and moor it along the shores of silver sand. The shores are covered with sweet smelling trees with crimson branches and purple leaves, the land eternally summer, a sure sign one has reached Inis Locha. The land surrounding the river are rolling green hills, covered in pleasant woods, some made of these sweet smelling trees, but there are other woods. One is made of Oak, Apple, and Hazel, the last two abundant in their produce if any wanderers need to fill their belly.
The Wood of the Shining Birds
While Inis Locha is likely one of the most safe Underworlds, wandering the hilly woods of the island will sometimes leave visitors stumbling into a wood filled with the most strange trees. Green leaved trees with branches hanging low under the strain of purple berries which are larger than a man’s head. These berries are feasted upon by Shining Birds, who have white bodies, purple heads, and golden beaks, who are entirely friendly to Scions. They are still rather dangerous, as they sing a beautiful song that will put any being who is currently sick, or has any point of damage to sleep (the Birds song is a 14 dice + 11 Automatic Success attack against MDV that only affects beings who are sick or currently have at least one point of damage) until they heal by natural healing times. Fortunately, in Inis Locha, there are no wandering predators or even the capacity to die of thirst or hunger, so one is entirely safe while asleep. The problem arises with the abnormal flow of time, sleep for a week, and seven years have passed.
The Great Plain
In the center of Inis Locha, there is a great plain, flat save for three hills, and covered in wildflowers. The three hills on this plain sit three great royal Duns, large hill forts each differentiated from the other for the material of their walls. The first Dun has walls of white marble, the second, walls of gold, and the third, walls of silver. Within these Duns sit the dead of Ireland.
It is likely on The Great Plain that visitors will be greeted by Sidhe servants of Rudach and Dergcroche, sons of Bodb who are the twin kings of this land, under Manannan mac Lir as the High King. As guests to the land, the living will be treated with all the kindness that guests mandate, especially Scions who are technically Princes and Princesses, but they too must be polite and courteous in exchange. The servants of Rudach and Dergcroche will offer the living food and drink, and attempt to help direct them to whomsoever they are looking for. They will further be sure, especially to Scions, to make sure they understand how time works here, the twin Kings of the land really not wishing to deal with a furious Divine parent wondering why they have not seen their child in a decade.
The Marble Dun
The great marble Dun is home to the many mortal kings of Ireland and their families, from Heremon, son of Miled, to Conn of the Hundred Battles. While this may seem exceptionally exclusive, the nature of Irish kings and what counted as family means the entire population of Ireland from these periods sits within the Dun.
As one would expect, the Marble Dun is larger on the inside than outside, housing the population of Ireland for many generations. Inside the great fortress’ walls, the eternally summer sun shines down on a truly colossal city of the dead. Technically dead. One wouldn’t guess it for they laugh, love, live, and quarrel just as if they were living. Houses with thatched roofs and walls made of stone, or clay fill the colossal expanse of hill inside the marble walls. The population feasts on great golden apples plucked with a great apple tree outside the walls of the Dun which the servants of the twin Kings bring inside the walls.
If one is searching for one of the early Kings from this time, the residents of the Marble Dun are sure to be able to direct visitors to one of the many great homes in which the kings dwell, built of tall stone walls, decorated in war trophies and gleaming treasure.
The Golden Dun
Inside the great royal Dun built with walls of gold are the great peoples of Ireland who came before the Gael, including Cesair, Parthalon, and Nemed’s people, along with the Fir Bolg and the dead Tuatha de Danann. Just like the Marble Dun, the area inside the Dun appears to be larger than the exterior. The homes here are greater than those of the Gaelic kings and their families, with the most lowly having stone houses, but the greatest having sprawling homes built from boulders.
The residents of the Golden Dun are powerful beings, who visitors would best not trifle with. They will be protected by hospitality, but it is good to remember many of those dead are Gods. Of the most famed of the Tuatha de Danann, the Golden Dun houses Aengus, Goibniu, Lugh, Nuada, The Dagda, Ogma, Dian Cecht, and Miach. Lugh, in the very least, has left The Golden Dun to return to Ireland before when he fathered CuChulain and when he later healed his son. Manannan’s friendship with the Tuatha may give them this ability to seemingly come and go. However, the land is so wonderful, the slain Tuatha de Danann have little desire to leave, and Manannan isn’t able to evict them from his lands for the sake of hospitality, even if he feels they should return to Ireland and their living family.
As a comment for Storytellers, just who the people of Cesair, Parthalon, and Nemed are is unknown. For ease, it is likely best to have these early people keep to themselves. It would likely be best to leave them as some sort of Lesser Immortal as well. The Fir Bolg are easier to represent, and are definitely some sort of Lesser Immortal.
The Silver Dun
Inside the great Silver Dun are the kings of Ireland and their people who came after Conn of the Hundred Battles. When the line of Irish Kings died, the Dun still filled with the Gael, which has led to a chimerical internal city. The homes of the city range from small clay and thatch huts, to stone hovels, to Edwardian homes, to modern houses all huddling together inside the great silver walls of the third Dun.
Just like inside the other Duns, the people have all of their wants supplied for them, however unlike the others there are cultural issues abound. One thousand eight hundred years of history and culture are stuffed inside the silver walls, leading to the Silver Dun being potentially the least peaceful of all three. Different eras of the Gael hold different values, leading to the neighborhoods of the Duns roughly being divided by era.
The twin Kings of the isle have, in the past, found need to send their Sidhe servants inside the walls to restore peace. But, it is not often for the different eras try to keep to themselves now.
The Hall of the Two Kings
The two kings of Inis Locha do not reside in any of the Duns, or the central plain. Rudach and Dergcroche, the sons of Babd live in a grand Dun by the shore of Inis Locha which has a small harbor close by. It is here that the two kings sail to the mainland of Emain Ablach when Manannan has need of them.
The two Kings themselves are rather mysterious, and do not live with the Tuatha de Danann, either the living or the dead of them, despite being the children of Babd. Just what has led the pair to this path as Kings in Manannan’s land is unknown. The shining halls of their Dun and the harbor with hide curraghs waiting for voyages to the mainland are inhabited by their Sidhe servants.
The Overworld - Underhill
The Overworld - Underhill
With the Coming of the Gael, and the defeat of the remnants of the Tuatha de Danann at the Battle of Tailltin, the still-living members of the Tuath ventured into the Sidhe Mounds that cover Ireland’s surface, resigning the surface of Ireland to the new people's. Not as famed as Mount Olympus, or spectacular as the halls of Asgard, the Tuatha have made the mounds their homes. While many would say they have fallen far from their four shining cities, or wondered why they have not left for the paradisiacal islands, such as Tir na nOg, the Tuatha know that Ireland, even if under the surface of the land, is the greatest home of all.
As the Tuatha de Danann ceded the surface to the Gael, their homes were interconnected through a series of tunnels which are labyrinthine and confusing for all those who do not know their way. Navigating the tunnels interconnecting the island’s many burial mounds requires an Intelligence or Perception + Survival roll with a difficulty of 25 (failure leads one to the wrong house), however any being with Demigod levels of either Earth or Travel can automatically succeed.
Axis Mundi
The entrance to Underhill is perhaps one of the easiest Overworlds to use, and find. In fact, mortals have stumbled into them on several occasions, though have frequently been dismissed as mad afterwards. On Samhain night, one must simply enter one of the Sidhe mounds that fill the island, and find themselves walking not into the neolithic tombs they have been proven to be, but into the house of the God (or Sidhe) who has made their home there.
However, having a door that only opens on a single night of the year is impractical, even for the Tuatha de Danann, and there is another way to access the underground Overworld. Deceptively simple as well. All one needs to do is go to one of the Sidhe mounds, and ask permission to enter. If the owner is present (or a servant), entrance can be granted, entering into the home.
Sidhe Airceltrai
Sidhe Aircltrai is the home of Ogma, and one who enters into the God’s home find a spectacular place. A great smokey hearth roars in the center of the circular home, obscuring the world ever so slightly. The walls of the home, colossal stones dragged into place by Ogma himself, tower high above the height of the hill in reality, and are covered from base to distant tip in Oghamic script detailing the life of Ogma, though the God has left his large lion’s pelt hanging over the first stone which seems to detail events before the arrival in Ireland. A particularly foolhardy visitor may brave a peek and try to see what came before, and possibly why the Tuatha left the Four Cities.
Ogma, however, is not present. The Champion is long dead, slain by Indech at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired as the Tuatha threw off the fomori yoke, but one of his greatest prises sits in the high seat, obviously placed there by some past visitor. Orna, the talking blade which Ogma took from Tethra, a fomori king he slew in the second battle of magh tuireadh waits for Ogma to return from the land of the dead. If asked, the blade may recount the great deeds of Ogma, and all others who wielded it before.
The home of the dead god is watched over by several aged Sidhe, who will offer visitors food, drink, and shelter. They anxiously await the return of their teacher, and are each marked by a single link of a gleaming copper chain attached to their ears. The legendary eloquence of Ogma still lingering in its material form here. They live in several small passages off the central chamber, where there is also a storehouse of food, and the long abandoned sleeping quarters of Ogma.
Sidhe Rodrubai
The home of Lugh is more lived-in than many of the homes of the dead members of the Tuath, the God one of the few who will still occasionally take leave from the realm of the dead to come and meddle. His home is brightly lit by sunlight pouring in through cracks in the stone domed roof which are not visible from the outside. The stone walls are covered in shields and weapons each coated with a thick layer of dust, and a great beautiful hound, Fail Inis, sits at the foot of the throne, waiting for her master to return from the land of the dead.
The house is staffed still by several Sidhe, who live in chambers beneath the central one, and take care to watch over the home, and feed Fail Inis. They are the only ones, save for Lugh, Manannan, and his foster brothers, to know of the vault beneath the giant flagstones upon which the throne sits. In this lower chamber is a great iron pot filled with crimson venom, inside which The Luin is kept incapacitated. While Lugh’s other treasures were moved by Manannan upon his foster son’s death, even Manannan did not want to try to move The Luin without a good reason.
Sons and Daughters of Lugh will find the home of their father exceptionally welcoming to them, with the Sidhe staff knowing who they are, and offering whatever assistance they can to the children of Lugh. The last child of Lugh suffered a terrible fate, which Lugh is interested in never having happen again.
Bruigh na Boinne
An observant Scion will notice that Bruigh na Boinne is not actually a Sidhe mound, it is a collection of several, including Knowth, Dowth, and Newgrange, each of which is exceptionally large. This extravagance is because the complex was not originally the home of Aengus Og, as he in fact stole is from his father The Dagda through a particularly cunning turn of phrase in a promise given by his father.
The home of Aengus is made of these three great hills, passages connecting each together. One is filled with tables, benches, and great hearths to feast entire tribes, another housed The Dagda’s personal living space, including the bed of The Dagda, which is excessively large and more reinforced and braced than a tank. In fact, the main posts of the bed are bronze beams which are sunk into the ceiling above, and deep into the earth below. After breaking so many beds, one can assume The Dagda insisted a bed that could take his activities be constructed. The final hill, however, Aengus sealed off when he took residence. All that is remembered by Scions is that it was called the Hall of the Morrigan, which the name alone suggests Aengus was wise in sealing it off.
However, despite all this pomp and grandeur, Aengus is dead, and it currently has only four residents. Dichu the Steward, his wife, and his son, who served The Dagda and served Aengus as well. The fourth is Caer, a young woman matching Aengus in age, who had previously been a swan. She lives in Aengus’ hall, waiting for her lover to return from the land of the dead.
Knocknarea
The cairn atop Knocknarea is the home of Nuada of the Silver Hand, the greatest King of the Tuatha. The home of Nuada is made of thick granite stones inlaid with swirling designs in silver. The throne of Nuada (not the throne from which he ruled, which was at Tara) is a single hunk of stone, naturally shaped into the form of a large seat. One can guess that this was a gift to Nuada from one of the personifications of the land, maybe Danu herself, due to his role as king giving him a somewhat carnal relationship with the land.
The King’s home is bright, the silver in the stones reflecting sunlight from the exterior of the house into the central chamber. Sidhe still staff the hall, giving a king’s feast to any visitors who come, as even in death Nuada’s greatness as a king and by extension a host is continued. Entire cows appear from some underground cellars and are roasted for guests, who are entertained by a Sidhe bard who additionally eagerly listens to the new tales of Scions.
Possibly the most interesting part of Nuada’s hall however is the silver hand which sits on one of the arms of the grand throne. It sits inert, waiting for someone who needs it to attach it like a glove over a stump-ending arm. When Nuada fell in battle, it was decided he out to go to the isle of the lake without it, as he died whole, a perfect king. So, his prosthetic hand was left in his home as a curiosity until Nuada returns and can decide what to do with it.
The Mound of the Hostages
By the Hill of Tara, the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, sits The Mound of the Hostages, which the The Morrigan made her home upon the Tuatha de Danann’s retreat from the world above. A rather grim place in its mortal reflection, those who enter into the Goddess’ home see a similarly morbid place.
The Morrigan’s home is dark save for the morning of Samhain and Imbloc where sunlight finds its way into the house. In the darkness, as one will most often find the home, one will be assaulted by the smell of gore as they enter the Goddess’ home. The Goddess’ home is a long stretching chamber which has inumerous stone shelves cut in the walls within which sit severed heads in various stages of rot with their eyes picked clean from their sockets. Crows fly along the passage, sometimes landing and huddling in these shelves to pick at the severed heads. The long chamber culminates in a throne made of cattle bones, where the skulls of Finnbhennach and Donn Cuailnge, technically two fellow members of the Tuatha who now rest in Inis Locha. The Morrigan gives their skulls this favored spot on her throne for their (unintentional) role in one of the greatest slaughters, the Cattle Raid of Cooley.
Any brave enough to come visit The Morrigan will find themselves offered the hospitality of food and drink, which are entirely edible mead, and dog flesh, the Goddess finding this still endlessly amusing even centuries past her defeat of CuChulain. Particularly attractive men who brave the darkness should do this with caution, as the penalty for refusing the Goddess is well known.
Tulach na Bela
The home of Goibniu the Smith is part workshop, part feasting hall. The walls of the hall are constructed of torso sized hunks of copper, iron, brass, gold, and silver. The central beam supporting the tall metal ceiling of the hall is a thick oaken beam inlaid with beautiful winding knots of gold. The forge is in the same state Goibniu left it before he was bedridden with the sickness that claimed his life along with Dian Cecht. Dust, rust, and tarnish having slowly been covering the once beautiful forge.
The tables and chairs of the feasting hall of Goibniu is similarly abandoned, with a large copper vat sitting between the tables for ease of serving the potent magical ale the God once served. One of the most powerful tools of a Pantheon who has an excessive amount of powerful tools was Goibniu’s ale which conferred to those who drunk it an inability to die. With the God’s own death, the method has been lost, and can likely be prescribed as one of the primary reasons the Tuath was so decimated by the war with the Gael.
The God’s home has been abandoned for more than two thousand years now, not even any servants live here to watch over the God’s home. Goibniu has not returned from the land of the dead since his death. A Scion who could reunite the smith and his home would reignite the Tuatha’s war machine in moments, as the God could produce his lethal spears and immortality granting ale again. However, a desperate Scion could break into the Smith’s residence and take up one of the half-finished weapons left by the God, though just what it did, who knows. One would be smart not to touch the spear shaft resting by the forge however, as it is one of the Smith’s more gruesome creations, causing someone hit by it to erupt into painful boils.
Kildare Cathedral
Brigid has a home, but it has been long abandoned. The memory of her husband, Bres the Beautiful, and their son who chose to support the fomori rather than the Tuatha, dying attempting to assassinate Goibniu caused the Goddess to abandon her home. Instead, the Goddess’ home sits underneath Kildare Cathedral, which one enters from the outside by wandering the catacombs beneath the house.
Brigid’s home here is the most modern appearing of the Tuatha’s homes, though that really isn’t saying much then the going style is iron age Ireland. Instead, Brigid’s home is cut of grey stone in an style very similar to the early clooniatic monasteries with several specifically Irish twists in the artwork. In the place of windows, water flows down from the walls in natural springs, and where an altar would normally go sits the throne of Brigid, beautiful copper reflecting the torchlight which illuminates the hall.
As Brigid is one of the few living Tuatha, her hall serves as somewhat as an epicenter for the meetings of the still living. Here she feasts guests at such occasions, but more often than not the Goddess is not present in her home, out in the world in one of her guises.
The Others
The Dagda had his grand home stolen from him by Aengus Og, his son, though he seems to have no resentment in his heart for it. Whether this suggests more of Aengus’ charm, or The Dagda’s knowledge he failed to give his son any inheritance as he did his other children, who could say. Either way, The Dagda is dead, and living in the golden dun along with the other Tuatha.
Manannan however has never had a home Underhill, as he has no need for it. The king of a foreign land, albeit a rather close foreign land, Manannan rules from his halls in Mag Mell which will be expanded upon momentarily.
All of the other members of the Tuatha, and a multitude of the Sidhe also have homes scattered all across Ireland.
Otherworlds - Terra Incognita
Otherworlds - Terra Incognita
Tir na nOg
The Land of Youth is a wondrous island off the Western coast of Ireland. Here, age does not touch any of its inhabitants, though time flows at a dangerous pace just like in all of Emain Ablach. It is here that one of the Sidhe Courts rule, with Niamh of the Golden Hair at its head, though the Goddess has lost much of her joy in life after her beloved Oisin died arguing with Saint Patrick after he failed to heed her insistence not to step foot on the shore of Ireland.
Scions who visit Tir na nOg must keep careful track of time, but the isle is most useful for keeping people safe. If a Scion of the Tuatha is truly worried about a mortal friend of theirs, or an ally has fallen terribly ill, Tir na nOg is a wise place to leave them. Though, in doing so they take the risk that Oisin did, and likely will never be able to return to the world.
Four Cities
From whence the Tuatha came was somewhere to the north of Ireland. However, past this little is known asides from their names being great Falias, shining Gorias, Finias, and rich Murias. Within each was a wise man who reportedly taught the populace in youth, Senias in Murias, Arias the fair-haired poet in Finias, Urias of the noble nature in Gorias, and Morias in Falias.
Many Scions may ask their parents, especially those of the older generation of the Tuatha who were present in the initial invasion of Ireland, about these cities. Responses will always be short and somewhat cryptic. Questions of why the Tuatha left such great cities are flatly stonewalled. A particularly brave seafaring Scion might try to find the Four Cities, but who knows what they will find there?
Tech Duinn
The House of Donn is almost part of the Underworld. It is here, in the hall of Donn, one of the Gael who invaded Ireland, sometimes referred to as the progenitor of the people, watches over the dead before sending them on the long voyage across the sea to the Isle of the Lake.
Just what Donn is is not obvious. Maybe a Scion, a God, a Legendary Being, or some sort of unbound Titan. No matter, Donn is a rude, gloomy man who is eternally soaking wet after he was drowned off the coast of Ireland in the attempted landing by the Gael after he cursed Danu. Whether this was chance, or potentially Lir lashing out for the sake of an ancient friend, who knows. Either way, Donn manages and organises the dead being sent away to the afterlife.
Mag Mell
The Pleasant Plain is part of Emain Ablach, and there does Manannan mac Lir make his home. A great open expanse with a single large Dun atop a central hill marks Mag Mell, and here does Manannan keep his horses, his endless treasures, and the children he is fostering. Somehow, of all of Emain Ablach, Mag Mell has time which flows normally.
The western coast of Mag Mell is a great beach, where Manannan mac Lir sets off from in his sailless ship, or races over waves on Embar when he hasn’t been loaned to Lugh or one of his daughters. The fortress itself is filled with Sidhe, from simple workers, to ones as important as Fand, the wife of Manannan, and his sons Sgoith Gleigeil the White Flower, Goitne Gorm-Shuileach the Blue-eyed Spear, Sine Sindearg of the Red Ring, and Donall Donn-Ruadh of the Red-brown Hair.
Manannan mac Lir welcomes visitors here with open arms, especially the children of the Tuatha. But, one must be wise, as Manannan is always plotting something, and while it is never malevolent towards the Tuatha, one may wind up on Tir na nOg with a bow tied to one’s waist to try to raise Niamh from her slump.
Wait, I Remember That.
In Scion Companion, Tir na nOg was presented as the Overworld of the Pantheon. While there are a few mentions of the Tuatha leaving to this island rather than into the Sidhe mounds, it is an intensely problematic Otherworld for two reasons.
Firstly, it contradicts the primary narrative of the Pantheon which 'Ireland is the Most Important'. While there may be fantastic Otherworlds, Ireland is the best, and the Pantheon will not budge short of being killed.
Secondly, Tir na nOg is explicitly mentioned to have the time distortion effect as many of the other Otherworlds. In order for it to be an at all functional Overworld for gameplay, this effect would have to be axed. However, in doing so, Tir na nOg loses one of the most iconic features of the island. Therefore, to preserve Tir na nOg, and give the Irish a functional Overworld, the Sidhe mounds and retreating Underhill was presented instead.
Underhill? Never Heard of It.
Just like how Emain Ablach and Inis Locha are poorly described places of myth, so too is Underhill. In fact, Underhill is never named, all that is ever explained is that the Sidhe mounds were the homes for several of the Tuatha, and those that survived the coming of the Gael went into these mounds. The Overworld of Underhill is constructed around this skeleton as it is the explicitly mentioned place where the living Tuatha retreat after their loss of Ireland.
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