Neasca (Person)

So, if Clothra and Neasca might be the same person, what if Neasca really *was* a twin. And Clothra was her twin sister.

That would make Clothra a lot older than Conchobar then, and she would look like his mother... hmmm, might be too much

**Narrative**

Family

Real name – Issella Ollathair

Mother – Issella Fionnasa

Father - Ruaire Ollathair

Oldest Sister – Moira Ollathair

Twin Sister – Rossella Ollathair

Oldest Brother – Brian Ollathair

Older Brother – Liam Ollathair

As a girl. Slight, with long black hair and large blue eyes and rosy cheeks.

Long black hair, and tall for a woman, she was willowy and strong, with long muscled legs and toned arms.

Her lips were thin and pink, her mouth quite wide and capable to showing a dazzling smile or a menacing amount of teeth; her cheekbones high and tinted red, the bridge of her small nose straight as an arrow. Her eyes were bright blue, made large by long dark lashes.

Haven't decided what she looks like as an old woman.

Fachtna Mugdorna is the new High King of Airthialla, now named Murthialla. When Fergus leaves Neasca visits Fachtna Mugdorna with a Guard of her Fianna. She feasts with Fergus and seduces him. Findchoem is enthralled by her. While Neasca is there, she discovers her parentage She sees a portrait of the late Queen of the Mugdorna, who looks just like her. She now realizes King Fachtna's enthrallment with her, she was a twin. Fachtna had married her while she was very young, and took her title and became king. She was the daughter of the High King who was at that time one of the Mugdorna, and had died fighting agaisnt Cremthainn. His two other daughters had been married off, one to Cremthainn, the other to Fachtna. She now understands that Fergus had her sister killed. And that she is the rightful queen of Airthialla.

Neasca was the Mother of Conchobar. She was also a foundling, a warrior, and a queen in her own right.

She was found as a child by a roaming band of 12 warriors. As such they raised her strong and able to fight, but they did dote on her.

They give her the name éasca ag dul, because of her sweet and loving nature; it means “easy going” and they shortened it to Easca, pronounced [Ays-ca]

One night another travelling band of fianna murdered her fathers as they slept.

She tracked the band, and in each town they left ravaged she gathered up warriors until she had her own fianna of 27 women. On their journey she gained the name,

Níl easca, not easy going, not gentle.

With that band they attacked the fianna who had murdered her fathers and slaughtered them.

Afterwords she went to a waterfall nearby and was washing herself in the waters and she was found by Cathbad.

According to Scéla Conchobar maic Nessa from LL (106ff.), Conchobar’s mother Ness ingen Echach Salbudi (a byname of Mórrígan-Boand-Eithne) obtains the kingship of the Ulaid for him by guile.

She went one day there [in Ulster] to bathe, when to her came the same champion Cathbad. He came between her and (her) spear shafts and seized her, and they forgathered, so that she became his beloved wife (mnái gradaighthe) and bore him a son. That, then, was the son, Conchobar son of Cathbad. (Stokes 1908a: 23)

In the next paragraph, however, the text states that Ness was unmarried (i n-oentama). It seems clear in that if Ness is to be identified with the goddess Boand, she could not have been married to Cathbad the druid. The next episode is much more in keeping with her nature.

Fergus mac Rossa was then in the kingship of Ulster (i rrígu Ulad). He desired the woman, even Ness, for his wife. “Not so,” quoth she, “till I get a payment (log), to wit, a year’s kingship for my son, so that it may come to pass that his son may be called the son of a king.” “Grant it,” says everyone, “and the kingship will still be yours, though he will be called by the name of king (ainm rige). So after this, the woman slept with Fergus, and Conchobar was called king of Ulster. (Stokes 1908a: 24‑5).

Through Ness’s instruction, Conchobar then stripped the wealth of every other man and bestowed it to the next. In this way he built loyalty for himself. At the end of the year, the Ulstermen voted in the matter.

They deemed it a great dishonor that Fergus had given them (to Ness) as a bride-price. But they were thankful to Conchobar for his good bestowal on them. This was then their decision, “What Fergus sold, let it part from him. What Conchobar bought, let it stay with him.” (Stokes 1908a: 24-5).

Thus Fergus lost the over-kingship (ardrige) of Ulster to Conchobar in order to sleep with Ness. Soon thereafter he lost Ness as well, who conceived Cormac by her son Conchobar.

Clipped from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ness\_(Irish\_mythology)

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Ness (Irish: Neasa, Nessa; Old Irish: Neas, Ness), also called Nessa, is a princess of the Ulaid and the mother of Conchobar mac Nessa in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Her father is Eochaid Sálbuide, king of the Ulaid.

According to one version of the legend, she asks the druid Cathbad what that day is a good day for, and he replies that it is a good day to conceive a king. There are no other men around, so Ness takes Cathbad to bed, and Conchobar is conceived.[1]

In other versions,[2][3] Ness was brought up by twelve foster-fathers, and was originally called Assa ("easy, gentle"), because she was such a pleasure to foster. Cathbad, who is a leader of a band of fianna (landless warriors) as well as a druid in this version, attacks her foster-fathers' house, killing them all. Because the culprit cannot be identified, Eochaid is powerless to do anything about it, so Ness forms her own band of 27 fianna to track him down, and becomes known as Ní-assa ("not easy, not gentle"), or Ness. However, one day, when she goes off on her own to bathe, Cathbad comes upon her alone and unarmed and demands her as his wife. She has no choice but to agree.

Eochaid gives the couple land in Crích Rois (a region covering parts of the modern counties of Louth, Monaghan and Meath), near the river Conchobar. One night Cathbad is thirsty, and Ness brings him a drink of water from the river, but when he sees two worms floating in it he makes Ness drink it. Although the story specifically denies this is what makes her pregnant, there are many Irish stories in which significant characters are conceived when their mothers swallowed a tiny creature in a drink. Here, the father of her child is said to be Fachtna Fáthach, the High King of Ireland, who is Ness's lover in spite of Cathbad.

While Ness and Cathbad are travelling to visit Fachtna, Ness goes into labour on the bank of the river Conchobar. Cathbad prophesies that if she can wait until the following day before giving birth, her son will share a birthday with Jesus Christ. She sits on a flagstone by the river, and the following day gives birth to a son, who is named Conchobar after the river. The baby tumbles backwards into the river, and Cathbad lifts him out. Cathbad makes a prophecy in verse of his future glory, in which he refers to him as "my son and my grandson", **suggesting there was once a tradition that Cathbad was Ness's father, and that Conchobar was born of incest between them.(Worth looking into, that would be a crazy twist)**

By the time Conchobar is seven, Fergus mac Róich is king of Ulster, and he falls in love with Ness. She consents to marry him on one condition – that he abdicate his kingship for a year in favour of Conchobar, so that his sons will be able to call themselves the sons of a king. Fergus consults with his nobles, and they advise him that the boy will be king in name only, so he agreed. But Conchobar, advised by his mother, is so crafty at distributing wealth and gifts that when the year is up, the Ulstermen won't have Fergus back, and Conchobar keeps the kingship.[2]

According to some traditions Ness is the mother of Cormac Cond Longas by incest with Conchobar (although in other traditions, Cormac's mother is Conchobar's wife Clothru).[4] She is also the mother of Conchobar's sisters Deichtine and Findchóem.

In popular culture

Cartoonist Patrick Brown adapted Ness's story as a webcomic in 2007–2008.[5]

References

Thomas Kinsella (trans.), The Táin, 1969, p. 3

Whitley Stokes (ed. & trans.), "Tidings of Conchobar son of Ness" Archived 2014-12-27 at the Wayback Machine

Ériu 2, 1908; Kuno Meyer, "Anecdota from the Stowe MS No 992", Revue Celtique 6, 1883-1885, pp. 171–186

Joseph O'Neill, "Cath Boinde", Ériu 2, 1905, pp. 173–185

The Ulster Cycle: Ness, webcomic by Patrick Brown.

**Appears In**

**Family**

Narrative

* Real name – Issella Ollathair
* Mother – Issella Fionnasa
* Father - Ruaire Ollathair
* Oldest Sister – Moira Ollathair
* Twin Sister – Rossella Ollathair
* Oldest Brother – Brian Ollathair
* Older Brother – Liam Ollathair

Non-Narrative

Father

* Eochaid Sálbuide [Potentially Dagda]

Children

* Conchobar/Aenfeld
* Deichtine
* Findchóem

## Timeline of Actions

**Story Excerpt [Nothing is Cannon Yet]**

The Ollathair sat together for a late dinner of stewed mutton and potatoes. It was a simple fare, a symptom of the long running war that had been waged between Thainnland and Airthialla. The family ware staying in their summer home, though it was December. The King had decided he wanted some time away from the front lines, to "see his family and to remember what was important, godsdammit".

"We recieve less and less support from our allies to the East every day. I may be the High King of Airthialla, but it seems Airthir has forgotten that." Ruaire Ollathair was telling his wife.

Isella pushed away her stew, unimpressed. They had eaten the same meal every day for a week. "Father, if you are High King of Airthialla, then why can you not just command the Airthir to send you more troops. Surely, they do not want us to lose this war?"

Ruaire smiled at his daughter, "Daughter, if only it were that simple. As you know, our Kingdom is split into three regions, Mugdorna, Northern Airthir and Southern Airthir. The Kings of Airthir are Brothers, though they bicker like Children. In reality, they only elected me as King because they refused to elect each other. I had power over them when they were divided, but recently they have made amends."

Isella frowned, "But, father, isn't that a good thing?" He father shook his head. "Alliances in politics are rarely a good thing unless they involve you directly. No, the brothers have decided that the older of the two, would be a better King that I after all. They cannot depose me, I am King for life unless I step down."

That is when it clicked, "So they want you to step down as high King, otherwise they will just let you lose the war? What a bunch of bastards!" Isella exclaimed, causing her brother to almost choke on their stew from laughed. Her sister's snickered behind their hands.

"Isella, that is not how a lady speaks," Her mother corrected, though there was a hint of amusement even in her voice.

"I believe you're right my dear," He father said, he gave her a sad but proud smile. " I don't think I can win this war without their help. But, the only saving grace is that Thainn Cremrach grows tired of this incessant war also. He has already claimed much of our land. And I think he will truly be open to a peace agreement."

"Peace?" Spat her oldest brother, Brian. "Peace after they have taken so much land and so many lives? We should fight to the very last man."

"If we fight till the last man, who will be left to live on any of the land we have left?" Moira, Isella's oldest sister cut in dryly. "We do not have the resources to win this war, nor will we be able to recover economically is father secedes power to the selfish Airthirians. They would drain our resources almost as badly as the war effort. Peace, is the only way to save our people."

Isella's mother, who was also named Isella now spoke up. "Your sister is right Brian, and has volunteered herself to aid in the effort." She smiled at her oldest daughter. They looked so alike, Moira had inherited her mother's bright green eyes and blonde hair. Ironically, Isella, though she had her mother's name, had inherited her father's blue eyes and dark black hair.

"What do you mean volunteered?" A small voice now piped up, it was Rosella, Isella's identical, at least in looks, twin sister.

"I am to be married, to Cremrach's son Cremthainn. At least, that is what father will propose to him next month.

"But I thought you were promised to Octna, the Paper Lord's son?" Rosella asked, aghast. She had always found Octna quite dashing, and thought her sister betrothal to him very romantic.

"The peace of our people must come first." Moira said to her sister firmly, though her eyes looked sad.

"But Father…" Isella now said, "What if they don't let you surrender? What if the brothers won't let you? They want you to continue fighting the war, they want you to lose. What if they sabotage the peace effort?"

Her father frowned at that, and looked at her mother. The thought hadn't struck him that the Airthir brother's might actively prevent peace to gain the Crown.

"Children, off to your quarters. Your Mother and I must talk. Brian and Moira, stay."

He father raised a hand, cutting off the protestations before they could be raised, and Isella, Rosella, and Liam, her other brother who had remained silent through dinner, all trooped out. Liam, who had seen Isella's unfinished bowl of stew grabbed it as he left, planning to eat it in his room.

The three of them strolling across the house to their rooms in the east wing. As they approach though, they sense something is wrong. Normally there are servants bustling around and preparing their beds and lighting candles whenever they left dinner early, but there were none to be seen.

"Brother," Isella whispered. "Where are the servants? What is going on?" Liam put his bowl of stew down upon a table in the hall. "I don't know, but look ahead, down the hall, what is that on the floor?"

Rosella and Isella looked down the hall to the shape on the floor. They crept forward, and suddenly they knew what it was. A body of a maid, lying in a pool of blood. Quick as a whip Isella clapped a hand over her twin sister's mouth to catch her scream. Liam looked like he was going to be sick. The maid was Lucinda, she had always been so kind to him.

"Liam," Isella hissed at him, still not removing her hand from her sister's mouth. She could feel the girl's hot tears streaming down her fingers. "Liam, grab those swords handing on the wall, and hand me one. We must protect Rosella, and get back to father and mother to warn them." Liam nodded and pull the coat of arms down from the wall. The blades were wickedly sharp, though quite long and heavy for the arms of a 10 year old girl, and 12 year old boy.

"Rosella, I'm going to take my hand away now. We need to stay quiet, ok?" Isella said to her sister, and waited for a nod before removing her hand and taking the sword from her brother.

Slowly, they retraced their steps back through the house. as the approached the entrance hall they heard a cacophony of noise coming from outside the entrance of the house. It sounded like men shouting, smashing glass, and the clashing of blades. They didn't wait to see what it was, instead they ran the rest of the way back to the dining room in the west of the house. It did not take them long, and reaching the dining room, they saw two men enter through the double doors in front of them. They wore simple clothes, and held short daggers in their hands. "Fianna," Isella heard Liam curse under his breath. Fianna were bands of landless men. They were prone to raiding cattle, and were often lead by Lordlings who had run away from home and were waiting to inherit land. It was rare for them to enter homes though, let alone the house of a King. The pit in Isella's stomach grew heavier.

The sound of their father shouting inside the dining hall gave them courage, and Liam rushed forward and swung his sword at the back legs of one of the men who had entered the hall. He fell to the floor screaming in pain and clutching his profusely bleeding legs. Isella, less well trained with a blade, and perhaps more ruthless, instead decided to ram the point of her sword into the lower back of the other man. The sword slid in too easily, and it disturbed her, almost causing her to let go of the weapon. The man fell to his knees and the blade easily slid free of his body, dripping with dark blood.

"Children!" He father bellowed in fear. They looked across the room to utter chaos. Her father, and three guards, fought off a group of what at a glance looked like ten other men. Brian stood behind the group, the final line of defence, in front of his sister and mother, who both also held swords. It appeared to Isella that they had just interrupted a flanking manoeuvre. She turned around to see another two more armed men run through the door they just had entered through. The men looked at their fallen comrades in shock as they lay at the feet of the children. "You high born cunts are gonna die now," one of the men spat. Liam and Isella raised their swords and stood together, behind them they heard the yell of Brian. He sprinted across the room to protect his siblings. Thinking him the more serious threat the men turned to him. It was what Isella was waiting for, and she took the moment to skewer the man closest to her. "..ucking ..itch" she heard him mumble as he dropped his sword and weakly tried to grab at her. The other man had raised his dagger to meet Brian's sword, but Brian was well trained in the sword arts, and flicked his blade around like a steel whip, removing the man's hand at the wrist. Then he pivoted, and as the man turned to stare in shock at his stump, Brian's sword struck him hard in the neck, almost severing his head completely.

"Brian, take them and go. You must escape." They heard their Father below again. He was bleeding from a few cuts to his arms and one to his forehead, but his voice rang strong.

Brian scooped up Rosella, who has screaming to her father, and lead the party through the double doors. Isella and Liam took up the rear, stepping over the bodies of their first kills, and back into the hall. Sweat stuck out on all their brows, and was dripping into their eyes, stinging them. Isella could feel the blood pumping in her ears, but she was more focused than she had ever been. Adrenaline pulsed through all of them, as they made their way to the entrance hall. There they would head to the back and out to the stables. Brian put Rosella down when they were in the hall. She had stopped screaming when they entered the eerie darkness of the house's main thoroughfare. The cacophony they had heard near the entrance had grown quiet, but they could see ahead of them, three more men standing near the bottom of the wide staircase that led up to the second floor of the entrance hall. The men turned and saw them. Blades raised. They had them beat in numbers, but the men could see that truly only Brian was a threat with a sword. Isella's brave brother stepped into front of the group, moving is sword in a wide figure eight to keep the men at bay. A gravelly voice barked order, "Gerrard, Olmar, take the boy down." (Isella would never forget that voice.) Brian looked back at his family, and they knew what had to happen, "Go, now. I'll hold them off." Moira, Isella's oldest sister went to stand beside her brother but her yelled her off, "Moira, I said go! They will need you in the fights ahead." Moira nodded, as did the children, too afraid to speak. Lady Isella, her voice catching, said, "I love you Son, and I am so proud of you," and then she lead the other's away to the back of the house.

"Isn't that sweet." The gravelly voice jeered, and an awful broken smile appeared on his face. The other men laughed cruelly as they approached.

Isella looked back, to see the men lunge at Brian in unison. His blade moved in a smooth, deadly arc, taking the arm of the first man. The second man's dagger caught Brian in the arm, but he did not go down. Instead, he pivoted away, swinging his sword one handed. The injured man lay on the floor screaming in agony, but he was ignored by the others. Isella's heart ached, and hot tears streaked down her face as her mother grabbed her and dragged her away from the sight of her brother's death. The man with the gravelly voice waited for his partner to lunge, Brian's sword swung again like a silver viper, taking the man high across the neck and toppling him, but the third man had been waiting for that. As soon as Brian's sword struck he lunged over the body of the other man and buried his dagger deep into Brian's throat. The young man died, drowning in his own blood. The gravelly voiced man took up Brian's beautifully wrought sword, but did not follow the family, instead he headed towards the dining hall whence they'd come.

The four of them did not meet much resistance as the ran through the back of the house. Though the collected a couple of cowering Maidservants along their way, who had been cowering under side tables. For every servant they found alive though, they found two dead. Rosella was weeping uncontrollably, though tears stained all of their faces. Their party had grown by three by the time they reached the back of the house and the entrance to the courtyard. The final addition was their ageing manservant Dirk. He was a sweet man, not yet frail from old age, and he carried his sword confidently.

They ran into the courtyard, Dirk entering first and looking around. Suddenly Dirk had an arrow sprouting from his chest. It happened so quickly that the group had already ran past him before the danger registered. He fell silently to the floor and died gasping on the cobblestones. There had been men waiting with bows on the rooftops. The maidservants were hit next, one in the leg causing her to stumble and begin to scream. Then other took an arrow to the spine, crippling her in an instant. She crumpled from shock. A fourth and final arrow flew, and struck little Liam in the back of the neck. Her mother shrieked, and grabbed the boy up in her arms. He drowned in his blood like his brother Brian, but Lady Issella kept him with her. Rosella was in shock and followed mutely behind her twin sister who dragged her along.

They reached the stables and it was chaos. The roof was on fire, and many of the horses had escaped. Many more lay dead, their throats cut. Two more horses were trapped in the stable by four men with daggers. They were wary of the big stallions. Three other men lay upon the hay strewn ground, their heads caved in by vicious kicks.

When the horses saw their masters their whinied in panic, and reared on their hind legs. Isella, sword in hard charged at the men, hacking a short and fat man in his belly before he could react. His cursed her as his guts began to spill out and he died on his knees to a second blow to the face from her sword as the other men rounded on her. The second man's head was cloven in two by Moira's swing. The next man fell to Rosella, she had taken up her mother's sword and smote him in the back. A murderous rage had overtaken the group of women. A burly, bearded man, with beady eyes, ran at Rosella and punched her in the face with the pommel of his dagger. She went limp. This broke Lady Isella from her trance, and she threw herself upon the man, clawing at his eyes with her manicured nails. Isella had retreated from the fourth man, between the horses. He was very tall, but thin as a rail, and he was warily looking between her and Moira. Isella and Moira each lunged at the man, Moira ducking under his wild swing and both of them rammed their blade through his midsection viciously. They turned to their mother. She was on the ground and the bearded man was stabbing her in the chest over and over in a manic rage. Isella, he arms burning from swinging the heavy metal weapon swung it one final time and the blade stuck in the back of the man's neck, killing him.

They did not waste time mourning though. Moira lifted Isella onto the bare back of one of the horses. Next, she picked up Rosella's body and drapped it over the back of the second horse, before using the gate of a stall to help her onto the back of the same horse.

"Ride, and do not look back. If we are separated, head to the village of Burrhill." Then each of them urged their horses forward, and the horses did not need much goading to reach a full gallop. Some of the men from the roof let arrows fly at them as they themselves almost flew across the open laws of their summer home. It did not take long before two more men on horseback were chasing them.

They turned, to cut through the forest. Their horses were faster than the men's and they were escaping. They sped through the woods, Moira ahead, not looking back, he hands bone white and she struggled to keep the limp body of Rosella from falling. Isella, looked back to see if the men were still following them. They weren't. She turned back just in time to see a low hanging branch before it smacked into her forehead. She was flung from the back of her horse, and the world went black. Her sister Moira, who had not heard little Isella fall, rode on through the dark woods.

**Story Excerpt - Neasca Takes Cathbad**

He had been a part of the fianna who attacked their family, and was their leader in fact. But as a druid he could turn into various animals and in doing so avoided Neasca finding out that he was part of the band.

He waited until she was naked and watched, when he thought she would be the most unaware he charged her. (it is undecided if he attacks her with the knife meaning to kill her, or rape her.) She heard his splashing and turned almost in time to see him, but the man had already grabbed her by the hair and was groping her and trying to drag her to the bank. She thrashed in his grip, and Cathbad was taken off guard by her strength. She spun in his grip to get into a crouch and swept Cathbad's legs, causing him to let go off her hair to catch himself. Then she was upon him, one swift punch to the nose dazed him, and in a flash she had grabbed the knife at his waist and had it against his throat. She asked his name and he said Cathbad. She recognized his name as a famous druid known for making special prophecies about how actions done on certain days would lead to momentous events. What is auspicious about today she asked? He told her that if she could conceive a child before the end of the day that child would become a king. Having heard this she told the druid that if he was lying she would never stop hunting him and she would gut him from "throat to scrotum." She drew the knife down this neck making a shallow and straight cut to prove the point. She then made a sharp whistle and the women came to the pool of water and tied Cathbad up. "If he talks, cut of his toes. If he looks like he is going to change into a beast, then kill him." Then she gathered some of the older women and left.

She told them the prophecy and they knew what her plan was. They knew of herbs in the forest that could get a man erect when he could not otherwise. Then she returned with the potion and made Cathbad drink it. The women, three to each limb, tied his arms and legs and held him spread eagled on the floor. They taunted him and Neasca watched him as his member rose of its own volition. The blood from his own knife had poured down his chest and was now coming in rivulets down the side of his neck now too. "Cover his face. He does not deserve this sight." She said, and a cloth was held over his face so he could not see and had difficulty breathing.

Then she slipped out of her dress and strode towards in the regal manner that she had. And then she lowered herself onto him and rode him hard like she was breaking in a stallion, though he was in no means one, until her lithe back and thighs glistened with sweat. She went until he was truly spent and could not make any more seed. Then she rose, elegant and graceful as a Queen.

"You better pray to every god that there is, that I get my king," she said and her tone was as sharp and hard as a honed axe. Then the women released the ropes and Cathbad rose and crawled away into the woods like fatigue dazed dog.

**Story Excerpt - Neasca Meets Fergus**

Neasca and her band of Fianna had almost finished the construction of her Ring Fort, Rath Neasca. It was situated in on the banks of the Glenavy River not too far from the City of Ballymen.

Her force of Warrior Women had grown to over 300 heads. The women were not just warriors though, as was common they were all farmers and had many other skills outside of warfare. The main bodd of the ringfort was many

Neasca and her band of Fianna had almost finished the construction of her Ring Fort, Rath Neasca. It was situated in on the banks of the Glenavy River not too far from the City of Ballymen.

Her force of Warrior Women had grown to over 300 heads. The women were not just warriors though, as was common they were all farmers and had many other skills outside of warfare. The main bodd of the ringfort was many

The center of the fort was used as general storage, meetings, cook fires, and was large enough to house Neasca's cattle herd in the case of an attack. The herd had around 50 heifers, no bulls, and all of them had been gifts from Farmers, and even some noblemen. The land itself had been recently gifted to her by the High King of Ulaid. She had recieved word of this gift by letter 6 months previously. The King was currently busy with a military campaign against the Louth Border of the Eillech in Airthialla, and was extremely grateful to her band for keeping the peace in his lands at this time.

The final part of the Rath was an ovel section bisected by the outer wall, with stairs up to it opposite to the entrance of the Rath. At the top of theis plateau sat the stone home of Neasca. It functioned as a banquet hall, and behind that was her sleeping quarters.

It was in the hall that she was currently sitting, she was with her son Conchobar and the boy was reading to her from a heavy leather bound tome larger than his own torso.

"The highest social strata of our society is the soérnemed, which includes Kings or Rí, and those of kingly material known as tanists, then chieftains, highly skilled poets called filí… wait, poets? Why are they part of the the upper classes?" Conchobar asked in confusion, "Most of them don't even own land!" Neasca chuckled, "Well son, don't you remember what the true mark of Kinglyness is?"

Conchubar frowned, "Bedding a goddess? But how is that anything to do with poets?"

Neasca laughed again, "Son, the gods are more often wooed by the arts of song and words well put than by slaughter and the collection of thithes. Now keep reading."

Conchubar frowned but looked back to the tome, "Poets, called filí, clerics, and their immediate families. The filí fulfilled many roles, from satirising events in the kingdom, and eulogising the king, to translating and reciting ancie…"

A loud knock interupted them, and one of the doors of the hall opened to permit a tall muscled woman with her hair in braids.

"He is coming." She said in a deep and carrying voice.

Neasca nodded and rose. Conchobar closed the book and hurried out of the hall. The woman bowed her head and then closed the door again. Neasca went to her seat at the head of the Banquet hall and sat, waiting for the King.