Cyrn

## Overview

An accurate map of Cyrn. Borders and labels denote regions.

Picture of Cyrn in 1490 QE.

**Cyrn** is the name of the realm where most of the roleplay's focus is, and it exists in The World. It is a large, temperate region with many parallels to the British Isles of the real world, though it is dominated by forests, hills and a vast mountain range to the north-east which form a natural border against the neighbouring Ke'bri Empire. To the west and south lies the Eternal Sea which is said to be unnavigable. To the north-west lie the islands of Bándearg and Swordsong.

The climate of Cyrn is quite varied, but overall it is maritime and temperate-cold. Certain magical anomalies across the lands such as the Terrorvortex of Düghorm and the Storms of Aol alter the climate in upredictable and unnatural ways. The shattered landscape of Glás is another interesting outlier with its pillars and floating islands held aloft by suspendium giving rise to a mystical landscape of wind and mist. Gorm Éadrom is host to the largest forests in Cyrn and is where the holy World-Tree can be found. Bándearg is home to a volatile volcano that spews forth the magical mineral hexalite while blanketing portions of the island in choking storms of ash.

Many of its inhabitants simply call Cyrn 'the High Kingdom' due to the fact that Cyrn has been united in a feudal empire-like state for most of its known history, starting with the mythical conquests of Cú Chulainn and, in contemporary history, the exploits of Oslaed the Great.

Cyrn is divided into *regions*, large areas of land that often share geographical features, climate and history. These regions are, in no particular order:

* Dearg
* Bándearg
* Swordsong
* Orásite
* Glás
* Buí
* Aol
* Tannonia
* Gorm Éadrom
* Gorm
* Krystenia
* Düghorm

## History

### Prefacing

It is important to note that history is written by the victors - and in the tale of Cyrn, the race of humankind has been the victor for pretty much all of written history. It is therefore advised that the emerging generations of forward-thinking scholars of every race, of every creed and of every religion take note of this and adjust their expectations and cynicism accordingly.

### Prehistoric Period (First Age, FA/FE)

Because of the lack of historical documentation for this time period (and the lack of any real archaeology efforts) the current knowledge of the First Age is unreliable and incomplete, relying on myths, legends and religious tales to paint a historical picture.

The *Lebor Gabála Céire, the Book of the Taking of Cyrn* or alternatively *The Book of Invasions (henceforth referred to as The Book of Invasions)* is a dubious historical epic that paints a tale of Cyrn being the battleground for six different races in six different invasions, glorifying the role of humanity and its divine saviour, the Divine Light. It dates back to around 1100 TA, making it one of the oldest records known. While its accuracy is debatable, it conveys important information regarding the supposed timeframes of the various races' arrivals in the land:

Before humans came to dominate Cyrn, the firbolg were the dominant race. The firbolg arrived in Cyrn from across the Eternal Sea and proceeded to conquer Cyrn and enslave the primitive humans living there - human-centric Cyrnian chroniclers would later come to mark this event as happening in the year 0 FA, thus marking the beginning of the First Age, conveniently painting humanity a picture of suffering under slavery before their eventual salvation in the coming of the Second Age.

### The Human Age (Second Age, SA/SE)

The Second Age began when, according to the Book of Invasions, a human slave to the firbolg known only as Saint Lywn was ordained by the Three Vestals (blessed virgin girls in Divine Light theology, important due to their virginity making them 'pure'); the Divine Light spoke through them to Saint Lywn and gave him divine blessings and power with which he used to lead a rebellion against the firbolg. The rebellion was successful and led to the overthrowing of firbolg rule and the subsequent genocide of their race, which has been used to mark the year 0 SA. It is not known exactly how this transpired, but judging from the modern day firbolg population (<2%), its assumed that it was exceptionally brutal.

According to the Book of Invasions, the firbolg led a panicked exodus across the Eternal Sea after the human rebellion, after which the first true human kingdoms began to emerge. Scholars believe story of Cú Chulainn takes place around the year 1200 SA. He is believed to have challenged the coven of three goddesses The Mörrigan to a series of duels where he used three legendary weapons to best each of them. After he had won, the goddess Macha, representing fate itself, decreed that Cú Chulainn's wishes would become reality. He would go on to conquer the entirety of Cyrn, establishing the legendary Empire of Cyrn and making a convenient turning point for scholars to label as the beginning of a new age.

### The Old Empire (Third Age, TA/TE)

The Empire of Cyrn which Cú Chulainn established is understood to have been an absolute monarchy that, after the legendary ruler's death, began to shift into what scholars call a *rule by the people*. Despite being more historically recent than the ages that preceded it, little is known about the Old Empire due to an unprecedented loss of information during the Cogadh Mór, the event which led to its destruction, in ~900 to ~1000 TA.

Scholars believe that the Empire enjoyed immense wealth, a vibrant culture and spearheaded forays into the arcane arts and science that have since been lost to time based on findings in ruins and folklore. Theologians of both the Old Gods and the Divine Light blame humankind's victory over the gods and their subsequent abandonment of faith for their eventuall downfall. An excerpt from the rhetoric of a priest of Dagda goes *"But Man’s triumph over the gods gradually led him astray, and soon enough, he no longer believed in the gods. Man had become God. But the gods would remind Man of his place in this world."* From this it is believed that the Old Empire had a gradual moral decay as people lost faith and overindulged in their excesses and sins.

In the wake of the Cogadh Mór, Cyrn was likely set back in relative advancement to the early First Age. Humans had to build everything all over again, which gave the other races of Cyrn the opportunity to build their own polities and societies. This period after the war lasted about half a millenium and is often called the *pre-conteporary period*. The progenitor states that would later go on to form the main kingdoms of the High Kingdom emerged around this time; the *Deargi*, *Bywuil*, *Glaeds* and *Gwyrm*.

### Contemporary History (Fourth Age, QA/QE)

The Fourth Age began with Oslaed the Great's conquest of Cyrn by the way of unifiying the progenitor states mentioned above under a single banner; as perhaps the most influental figure in Cyrn's modern political history, his exploits and life has been chronicled and discussed in detail by a great many scholars over the last millenium. The year 0 QA is defined as the year the Lia Fáil, the Stone of Destiny, uttered a divine telepathic proclamation of High Kingship unto Oslaed the Great after he had united the progenitor-kingdoms, roughly 2,000 years after the Third Age began. Called the Rí na Rí or the King of Kings, Oslaed went on to create many of the institutions, laws and norms that still live on today in one form or another (see: High Kingdom of Cyrn). He reigned as High King for 87 continious years and led Cyrn through the First Crisis which saw the lich Trillithrax imprisoned in Düghorm after his attempt to undo the Eternal Knot. This event also led to the unintended side effect of the *Terrorvortex* that looms above Düghorm to this day and blanketed the region in a neverending winter. The dwarves led a mass exodus from Düghorm and settled Oráiste in the following years, eventually building the city of New Düghorm and establishing the Kingdom of Oráiste in 130 QA with the blessing of Oslaed the Great's successor, Vlandian the Boring.

The Kingdom of Swordsong solidifed itself as a major player in Cyrn's politics in the third century QA through a series of ruthless yet brilliant rulers, culminating in the Siege of Mordgrad in 378 QA. Scholars consider this a foreshadowing of the High Kingdom's fatal flaw as it marked the end of a nearly three hundred year long period of relative peace as Cyrn would go on to struggle in internal war and conflict for the next millenium.

The First Ke'bri Invasion between 517 QA and 520 QA was the first time Cyrn had faced a political threat from the outside. The High Kingdom was able to rally its banners and defeat the elves in the Battle of Cláir Crossing in the early spring of 520 QA. The unity provided by the Ke'bri invasion was short-lived, however, as Cyrn quickly went back to fighting itself.

*[Editor's note: The period between 520 QA and 970 QA has not been filled with historical context yet. Please come with ideas and suggestions!]*

The Second Ke'bri Invasion arrived abruptly after centuries of non-involvement by the neighbouring Ke'bri Empire. It lasted from 970 QA to 995 QA; twenty-five years of brutal war raged on in Cyrn as the Ke'bri Empire attempted a full-scale conquest of Cyrn with several invasion forces and liberal use of the most powerful of the Arcane Arts. They invaded Cyrn from across the eastern mountains and from the sea, conquering vast swathes of territory before the High King and his subjects were able to turn the tides of war in their favor. This event shaped Cyrnian society and culture profoundly; discrimination against the Ke'bri became commonplace and led to the brutal Aionian Pogrom in 1010 QA which saw the Grand Duchy of Aion, a predominantly elven state unwaveringly loyal to the High Kingdom even through the Ke'bri Invasions, nearly destroyed by distrustful human states. The Aionians managed to defend their existence by a hair's breadth in the Siege of Lenshan and went on to isolate themselves with the Fog of Illusion and forming the Magedom of Aion.

(More to be added (laziness))

### Modern History (1490 QE and onwards)

Aionian First Contact, 1491, Queen Maeve's policy of centralization and the execution of count Trahaearn of Gléann for treason, 1492

Aolite Conquest of Eyrissen, 1494; Destruction of Eyrissen, 1494

(Add more here at will)

## Religion

Cyrn is a diverse land filled with various religions, beliefs and cults, but three categories stand out from the rest due to the size of their following and their impact on Cyrnian society and culture. These are the Church of the Divine Light, the Old Gods, and the Fomoire Lords. Together these faiths make up the vast majority of the faithful population of Cyrn, and from these the Divine Light is the largest of them all, having held sway over the human population for millennia.

## Politics

The political map of Cyrn is greatly derived from the history of the High Kingdom during the Fourth Age. This may seem weird to new scholars of history that have heard wonderous tales of the Old Empire, but the truth is that a lasting cultural impact can only be left when the foundations for said impact aren't utterly wiped out. The most prevalent form of government are *monarchies* practising primogeniture (eldest heir inherits all titles).

The concept of the High Kingdom, though no longer an extant political entity unto itself, holds incredible sway in Cyrn to this day. Wars have been fought over High Kingship for over a millenia, and scholars believe this will continue for centuries. The current claimants to the title of High King are: [put claimants here, anyone can edit!]