Fennbirn

**Fennbirn Island** is a queendom ruled by a line of queens descended from the Goddess. A magical mist protects Fennbirn from the Mainland by concealing it from outsiders and only allowing certain people to pass through it. The island's true name has been lost to time and forgotten. Mainlanders who know of the island's existence call it Fennbirn, while those who inhabit the island simply call it the island.

## Government

The Island of Fennbirn is ostensibly an absolutist monarchy wherein the Queen Crowned holds sole governing authority. However, in reality, the Black Council rules the island the majority of the time and has become the true political power on the island.

### The Queens

In each generation, the Queen Crowned is gifted by the Goddess with three female triplets who each have one of the island's five gifts. Which gift each triplet has does not seem to be connected to the gift of the previous queen, and it is not unheard of for two queens in the same cycle to share the same gift. Queens born with the sight gift are drowned at birth to prevent an Oracle Queen from ever winning the crown. This practice began five hundred years ago following the disastrous reign of Queen Elsabet, who supposedly went mad and slaughtered three entire houses that she claimed were going to commit treason.

The triplet queens are always conceived during the annual Beltane Festival, meaning that they are always born the following December. When the Queen Crowned nears the end of her pregnancy, she travels to the Black Cottage with her king-consort to deliver the triplets. As soon as the triplets are born, they become the new queens, and the old queen’s duty to the island is considered finished. Once the old queen recovers from giving birth, she retires to the Mainland with her king-consort to live out the rest of her days there. It is said that, once a queen reaches the Mainland, her gift and her memories of the island fade away to nothing. However, many queens do not survive the birth of the triplets and thus never leave the island. The new queens reside at the Black Cottage with the Midwife for the first six years of their life, after which they are taken in by their foster families. After the Claiming Ceremony, the queens are raised by their foster families in their gift's respective city for the next ten years. During this time, they learn to hone their gift and prepare themselves to kill their sisters once they turn sixteen.

The triplets next meet each other at the Quickening, which is the ceremony held on the third night of the annual Beltane Festival. Each queen ceremonially displays the strength of her gift to the people of the island, as well as the potential suitors, and this marks the official beginning of the Ascension Year. During the Ascension Year, the sisters battle each other to the death in order to win the crown. Only a queen may kill a queen, meaning that while the foster families may arrange the circumstances of the kill, the deathblow must come from the queen herself. Similarly, while foster families are allowed to protect their respective queens to a limited extent—such as tasting and testing for poisons—they cannot directly interfere when queens confront or battle each other. At the end of the Ascension Year, the last triplet standing is crowned at the next Beltane Festival and reigns until the Goddess gifts her with the next set of triplets.

There are only two known circumstances under which a triplet queen can become the Queen Crowned without undergoing the Ascension Year. The first is the birth of a Blue Queen, or fourth-born. This rare, fourth sister is considered so blessed by the Goddess that she becomes the Queen Crowned at birth and her elder sisters are all culled immediately. Rather than being fostered by the leading family whose gift she shares, she is raised by the High Priestess at Indrid Down. The other known instance of a triplet becoming the Queen Crowned at birth was Queen Andira, the naturalist queen who became the Queen Crowned after both of her oracle sisters were drowned. In both cases, the Queen Crowned becomes known as a White-Handed Queen because she gained her crown without shedding a drop of her sisters' blood.

### The Black Council

Ostensibly, the Black Council advises the Queen Crowned, carries out her policies, and serves at her pleasure. The members serve at the pleasure of the Queen Crowned, who may appoint and dismiss them as she sees fit. While it may be that the original Black Councils were actually subservient to the queens, over the centuries, the council has come to eclipse the queen in power. This is in part because each iteration rules long after the queen that appointed it leaves for the Mainland. The Black Council resides permanently at the Volroy and rules the island in between Queens Crowned. This means that the head of the council becomes the de facto ruler of the island for the sixteen years in between the birth of the new triplets and the next Ascension Year. According to Natalia Arron, the strength of the queen no longer matters, only the strength of the family that backs her.

The council seems to always consist of nine members, who are supposed to represent the five gifts and different regions of the island. For example, during the reign of Queen Elsabet, members of her Black Council included war-gifted Sonia Beaulin, the poisoner Francesca Arron, the elemental Catherine Howe, and the oracle Gilbert Lermont. However, this has changed in recent generations due to the continued rule of poisoner queens. The last three Black Councils have always had no fewer than five poisoners, who were usually Arrons. In fact, the poisoners have held power for so long that the term "Black Council" has become synonymous with "poisoners."

## Leading Families

The leading families of Fennbirn are the five families with the strongest gifts on the island. Due to this strength, they are given the task of fostering the next generation of queens. The strength of their people's gift, their personal political power, and their personal wealth increases every time their queen wins her Ascension Year, which gives each of the families incentive to ensure their queen becomes the next Queen Crowned. It seems that, usually, the Black Council is headed by the matriarch of the queen's foster family, and members of her foster family usually hold several seats on the council.

When the new queens are born, messengers are sent to the five gifted cities and the capital of Indrid Down to inform the leading families and the Black Council of the new queens' births and gifts. The three matriarchs of the families whose gifts correspond to those of the new queens and a small group of priestess travel to the Black Cottage to meet the triplets. In the case of oracle queens, the leading sight-gifted family must also oversee the baby's drowning. Some families bring blankets or other such gifts for their new queen. On the rare occasions when a Blue Queen is born, the matriarchs of all five families and the High Priestess travel to the Black Cottage.

### The Arrons

The Arron Family has been the strongest poisoner family for over five hundred years, having held that distinction since the time of Queen Elsabet. They have effectively ruled the island for the past three generations through Queens Sylvia, Nicola, and Camille, and their long reign briefly continued during Queen Katharine's short reign. Their last great matriarch was Natalia Arron, who was murdered by the mainlander William Chatworth Sr. following the crowning of Queen Katharine. Natalia was ostensibly succeeded by her sister, Genevieve Arron, though Genevieve was not nearly as effectual as her elder sister.

### The Westwoods

The Westwood Family has been the strongest elemental family for at least four hundred years, having held that distinction since the reign of Queen Philomene. It was noted that, at the time of Queen Illiann's birth, the Westwoods had only recently become the strongest elemental family. It is possible that the Howes were once stronger than them, given that Catherine Howe was a member of Queen Elsabet's Black Council. However, it remains unknown who the strongest elemental family was between the slaughter of the Howe family and the rise of the Westwoods. Their current matriarch is Sara Westwood, who will one day be succeeded by her only daughter, Bree Westwood.

### The Milones

The Milone Family is currently the strongest naturalist family on the island, a distinction they have held for less than four hundred years. While it remains unknown when exactly they became the leading naturalist family, it must have been some time after the reign of Queen Illiann. During the reign of Queen Elsabet and at the time of Queen Illiann's birth, the Travers Family were the strongest naturalists the island. Their current matriarch is Cait Milone, who will one day be succeeded by her eldest daughter, Caragh Milone.

### The Vatros Clan

The Vatros Clan has been the strongest war-gifted family for over four hundred years, having fostered the war Queen Philomene. Even after centuries without a war queen, their gift has remained fairly strong, at least compared to that of the other war-gifted families. It remains unknown if they were the leading warrior family during the reign of Queen Elsabet five hundred years ago. It is possible that the Antere Clan held that distinction prior to its destruction, given Rosamund Antere's position as the Commander of the Queensguard. However, The Oracle Queen indicates that the Anteres and the Beaulins were rivals at the time, and had the Beaulins been the strongest family, or even the second-strongest family, it seems odd that they would not still be so in the present day. Therefore, it is possible that the Vatros Clan was the leading warrior family during Queen Elsabet's reign and the Antere Clan and Beaulin Clan were competing for status as the second-most-powerful family. Their current matriarch is Emilia Vatros.

### The Lermonts

The Lermont Family has been the strongest oracle family for over five hundred years, having fostered the last Oracle Queen, Elsabet the Mad. Since that time, their political power and the strength of their gift has waned as a result of all the drowned oracle queens. Despite this, they are still considered the leading family of Sunpool and the strongest oracles. According to Jules, their family is really all that remains of the old oracle families. Their matriarch was Theodora Lermont, but she was poisoned to death by Queen Katharine. Since Gilbert Lermont claims that he is the strongest oracle left after Theodora's death, he has likely become the patriarch of the Lermont family. However, Mathilde, who is related to the Lermonts through her father's bloodline, continues to act as the de facto leader of the oracles and Sunpool because she is the most warlike of the sight-gifted.

## Culture

Fennbirn is a matriarchy, meaning that women hold primary power within society. Families are headed by the eldest female, except in rare instances where there are no suitable women to lead, and family names are passed down matrilineally. This societal structure stems from the people’s worship of the Goddess and their rule by an unbroken line of queens who are all said to be daughters of the Goddess.

The people of the island seem to segregate themselves based on their gift. The poisoners historically resided in Prynn, the elementals in Rolanth, the oracles in Sunpool, the warriors in Bastian, and the naturalists in Wolf Spring. The capital city of Indrid Down was once considered neutral and ruled by the High Priestess of the Temple, and the majority of the city's gifted population seemed to correspond to the gift of the current Queen Crowned. However, in recent generations, the Black Council has pushed the Temple aside and Indrid Down has become the de facto poisoners city.

The people of Fennbirn burn their dead rather than burying them, with the exception of the vanquished queens, whose bodies are thrown into the Breccia Domain. The colors of mourning, at least for slain queens, are crimson and black. During the Ascension Year, people wear crimson and black during the short period of mourning following the death of a queen. After the Ascension Year and the next queen's coronation, the names of her sisters are never spoken again and are forgotten. The deaths of old Queens Crowned are never mourned.

### Religion

The people of Fennbirn worship the Goddess, who is considered the source of their gifts and a part of the island itself. She is served by priestesses, who are identifiable by their white robes and the black bracelets tattooed on their wrists. The Temple is led by the High Priestess, who serves as Her eyes, ears, and voice. The queens are considered the daughters of the Goddess alone, and the Queen Crowned is her hand or manifestation on the mortal plane.

The High Festivals include the Beltane Festival in the spring, Midsummer in the summer, and the Reaping Moon in the autumn. Beltane is held in the Innisful Valley, which is considered the heart of the island. It lasts for three days and babies conceived during this time are called Beltane Begots. Midsummer is said to be the naturalists' festival of harvest and bounty, while the elementals claim the Reaping Moon through fires and chilled winds. According to Natalia Arron, every festival is the poisoners' festival because at every festival there is a feast, and every feast is for the poisoners.

### Colors

On Fennbirn, certain colors seem to be exclusively associated with certain peoples and groups. For example, the color black is considered the color of queens, since all queens have black hair and black eyes. While queens are given colored clothing at birth to identify their gift, once they are no longer babies, they are only allowed to wear black.

The color white is associated with the Temple, as priestesses are only ever seen dressed in white robes. The color purple is associated with the poisoners, while green is the color of the naturalists and blue the color of elementals. The war-gifted are associated with bright red and orange, and the oracles are associated with grey and yellow.

## Notable Locations

* Bastian
* The Breccia Domain
* Indrid Down
* Prynn
* Rolanth
* Sunpool
* The Black Cottage
* The Volroy
* Wolf Spring
* Innisfuil Valley

## Gallery

Poisoner Queen FlagPoisoner InsigniaElemental Queen FlagElemental InsigniaNaturalist Queen FlagNaturalist InsigniaWar Queen FlagWarrior InsigniaOracle Queen FlagOracle InsigniaTemple Insignia