Guild Houses/Warrior Orders

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Kolba

In the next versions, I am going to remove all quests from lords and instead add several noble houses, warrior orders and guild houses. That would be much more interesting than boring vanilla quests. There will be several unique and random quests for each sub-faction. They will be also competing amongst themselves. Player will be able to join each sub-faction if he has enough renown or if he pass several tests. If you play Morrowind, you know what I am talking about. Let's start making a list of these sub-factions.

Dal Riada

Cenéla

Dál Riada was divided into a number of kingroups or dynasties, called cenéla:

- Cenél nGabráin
- Cenél nÓengusa
- Cenél Loairn,
- Cenél Comgaill


Audheran Laecha


Originally naked warriors from the Dalriatta, in a special warrior brotherhood, the Audheran-Laecha, after the introduction of Christianity, did not wish to abandon their mobility; the reason they fought nude. So, as a compromise, they instead wore their cloaks wrapped around their body, similar in manner to what would later be a kilt; however, this long preceded the invention of kilts, and was merely an attempt to cover themselves. Audheran, or 'Old Way', implies an ancient method of increasing one's mobility; simply shedding unnecessary or obstructive clothing.

Alcluyd

Selcovia

A sub-kingdom of Alcluyd, ruled by king Dingat.

Rheged

No real ideas for now.

Bernicia

Wudewasa

The great German forests held many mysteries but none so enduring as the enigma of the wodewasa. These men were part of folklore until modern times. Living at one with the forest they had an uncanny sense for the natural world, the animals and birds, sensitive to the changes of weather and season. They lived without the need for metal or cloth production, preferring instead only what the woodlands provided, hide, leather, furs, wood, bone and stone. They were perfect hunters.

During the persecutions of heathens and the forest shrines, a strategic depopulation of the wilderness by Christian kings forced continental wodewasa to flee their homelands with heathens from the townships, they took ship and disappeared into the forests of England where they could live freely again. Survivng the centuries undetected by history these people left their mark on the middle ages when they re-emerge in the ilk of Robin Hood and other woodland guerillas fighting the post-Norman attempts to civilise the forest.

These men are uncivilised and yet are nonetheless sophisticated and advanced, only of another world than that of men. Their longbows are the height of missile technology and would a thousand years later prove to be the tool of warfare that would shape England into a super-power. Their sense of terrain makes them invaluable ambushers and scouts, this combined with their supernatural bearing make them feared warriors. Their primitive way of life and old heathen code of honour meant that once befriended they were loyal to the death.

Wulfbyrnas

Men living in constant training and religious devotion to the war god and the god of animal magic, Woden, whose name means 'the possessed'. Initiaited into the mysteries of shamanism these warriors defined themselves not only by their lifelong precision of techniques and utter elite killing skills but their possession by the god Woden, the granter of victory whose own Familiar is the wolf.

The sagas tell that one day, in the final battle, Woden himself will fall to a great wolf, like the sun swallowed by darkness. Wolfskins are not merely wild men but frightening devotees to fearful pagan knowledge whose insight into the psychology of man and beast gives these rare men an advantage over any combatant. These men seek only death for themselves or for others, in the name of the bloody god himself. The wolf is the first companion and teacher of man in the hunt. The animal that taught man to be as beast. The folklore of werewolves arises from the legacy of these men.

Like all Athelings these berserkers are not wild fanatics without military sense or purpose but were highly trained elites fighting in no more than gangs of nine or twelve, itself a magical number. It is thought that many of the berserkers were employed in the services of kings as men of royal blood who had forsaken the glitter and glory of their nobility to follow a spiritual path that retained them in the world of war. Utterly reliable, terrfifyingly devoted and disturbingly effective. They were warrior monks who did not fight in frenzy and without control but were enhanced by the possession of shamanic ritual combined with advanced specialist technques which enabled them to excel as shock troops or bodyguards. They were not as fodder to missiles and cavalry charges but as the elite of the elite, the rare champions of a battlefield whose mysterious presence and religious devotion was equalled only by their reknown as warriors and their fame as heroes which they shunned in favour of total perfection of the warrior arts.

Hraefnhelmingas

The word berserker or to ‘go berserk’ refers to that fact that these men fought naked. The actual cult they belonged to included several warrior types which are depicted a great deal in early Iron Age and late Bronze Age art in Northern Europe. They were clearly deeply involved in religious practices and were not common warriors. They were often banded together around a high king in groups of 9 or 12 which shows a great religious importance. They fought as bodyguards because they were elite men with years of especial military experience and training. They fought in such small numbers because of the spiritual principle, their way of life as warriors were a kind of religious devotion.

The horned warriors from Iron and Bronze Age art gave modern misconceptions that nordic warriors all had horned helmets. This of course was a fallacy, however some warriors clearly did have a kind of horned helmet which was a mark of their status as warrior monks. The horned naked warriors or berserkers are seen from several centuries before Christ to the Age of Migration and seem to have been active even in the Viking Age. Their deep links with heathen religion lead to their disappearance as Northern Europe was Christianised.

The horns themselves seem to relate to several animals, but mostly a combination of a bird of prey and a horned quadruped. The horns are often made from two stylised heads of birds of prey facing each other. Thor’s hammers have been found with the faces of birds of prey on them, even though Thor was symbolised by the goat and possibly the bull. The exact reason for the combination of these two very different animals in a single heathen warrior cult seems to have to do with the powers of specific gods who were connected to different animals and forces of nature, including forces and human nature and the psyche.
The god Woden was probably most celebrated by the berserkers, and the horns connected to ravens, relating to the warriors who wore wolfshead masks and wolfskins. This is seen in many cultures across the world, including Japan and Britain, where men with dog and bird head decorations fought with specialist techniques, clothed in religious symbolism and revered for their extreme elite status. It is a concept far from the misinterpretation of Roman sources that refer to Nordic warriors as uncotrolled madmen.

Gododdin

No real ideas for now.

Fortriu

No real ideas for now. Perhaps we can have some berserkers and the sub-kingdoms: Fib, Fidach, Circinn etc.

Ui Neill

Sraithoir Muiri

The Marshals of the Gold Chain are Christian brethern soldiers of the Irish Christians, specifically stemming out of the church center of Ard Macha, or Armagh, the seat of the Irish archbishop. Most commonly found in the service of the wealthy kings of the Ui Neill tribes, the Sraithoir Muiri are less famous than the old pagan orders, though they absorbed many of their former members. They fight in a tight, supported formation, and use their exceptionally high morale to inspire their companions. Such early knights are part of the inspiration for later feudal knighthoods.

Ruardi Laecha

The Red Heroes or Red Warriors were a post-Christian warrior order that worked mainly in Uladd and Brega by way of local guild houses. In 574 AD, they were legally recognized by the Ui Neill as the official 'Defenders of Ulster', and formally incorporated into the army as elite cavalry and foot soldiers. Every members of the Ruardi-Laecha was expected to complete numerous difficult tests inspired by the pre-Christian Fianna, and considered themselves the Christian heirs of the Fianna, supposedly even being founded by captain Oengus, a Christian convert who had been part of the order shortly before it was disbanded.


 
ALCLUYD

Noble houses
Not Selcovia (part of Rheged)
There could be those houses:
- house of the bear
- house of the wold
- another one I don't recall the name
- subkingdom of Aeron (Ayrshire) based at Buistan crannog.

Fighting order
I suggest simply to pick up the 'special unit', which would be the fighting order. In the quests the player could be given a few of that men, and the hability to recruit them when leading the order.

Kledwta ('Grey swords'): warrior fighting with two handed longswords.

GODODDIN

Noble houses
There would be three of those, leading three subkingdoms.

Manau or Manau Gododdin: based at Iudeu, influenced by Picts.

Lleudonia: based at Trefpren. Some angle settlers nearby.

Din Eydin: the king's faction, based at Eydin's rock.

Fighting orders

The Aumabellu: heavy infantry with long pikes, maybe royal guards.

RHEGED

Noble houses

Rheged: the king and his sons, based at Din Rheged in the Rhins of Galloway.

Selcovia: the ex-kingdom of Gwenddoleu, now dead. Around the Salway estuary. Kingdom could have been absorbed by Urien after his death.

Carvet: the subkingdom of Llywarch the Old, based at Carlisle and Banna.

Crafu: the kingdom of Dunaut Bwr in the Penines.

Elmet: the kingdom of Gwallawc Marchawc Trin around Leeds.

Fighting orders

Marca Bran: the 'Raven Horsemen', elite cavalry.

Religious order

The church of Ninian - based at Candida Casa, led by bishop Kentigern.

DAL RIADA

Religious order

The abbaye of Iona, led by Columba.

FORTRIU

Noble houses

The various subkingdoms:
- Fibb
- Ce
- Circinn
- Fortriu
- Fidach.

Fighting & religious orders

The Cult of Morrigane

The Dogheads

BERNICIA
Subkingdoms of Bryneich (Britonnic Bernicia), Bernicia and Deira.



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To enter a noble house or an order, it will be needed to have good relationship with the faction and some renown. The first quests may be fairly basic, leading a small warbands, raids, etc.
The final quests may be to help the noble house to lead the whole faction, and in the end it could be nice if the player can lead the noble house entirely. Several options could be possible:
- the player became joint ruler of the noble house
- the player replace the ruler after this one dies
- the player became heir by marring the sister or the daughter of the ruler.

Leading a noble house would give considerable power, hability to command all the other nobles of that houses, eventually recruit some mercenary captains, etc.



Fighting orders would have a quite different status. At the end however the player may be able to recruit the elite soldiers of those orders.



Religious orders would be both pagan and christians. Christian orders would lead some diplomatic mission, or local conversion of rulers and folk.


There could be also some independant orders, such as bards or assassins. It may end up in a very different kind of gameplay than classic game.

All the above 'guilds' will be detailed later.
 
For the Picts, we may also have a cult of bulls and severed heads of children located near Dun Tarv, in the Sculptor's Cave.

SCULPTORS_CAVE.JPG


PAGAN_PRIESTESS.JPG

What do you think, will the guilds need separate buildings (which we can enter) in towns or castles, or even neutral locations on the map?
 
Both options are interesting. It will rely on the characteristics of the guild. Some would be faction-linked and then will get buildings in towns. Independant guilds or orders will have neutral places.
 
Good news. After 4 hours of boring scripting work I got working a new neutral faction - Ynis Manaw (located on the Isle of Man) - with a new town - Caer Rosien. Plus:

- Irish raiders wandering around island and fighting with local militias.
- a scene of Caer Rosien - fort on the hill, surrounded by the moat.
- possibility to join local militia in Caer Rosien and follow Captain Aedhin's party to fight with Irish raiders.
- a slave trader in Caer Rosien.
- mixed Gaelo-Brythonic troop tree for Manaw militia.
- possibility to sail off from the island on boat.

Guys, what else can be on this island? My thoughts:

- merchants in Caer Rosien.
- "Red Bull" tavern in Caer Rosien.
- perhaps assasins guild in the tavern.
- few quests for the guild.
- maybe a hidden cave, somewhere on the island, it can be linked with the guild's quest. There can be a hidden treasure or something similiar.

Screenshots will be shown later.
 
I'm not sure about these horned helmets for Bernician berserks mind - I never thought those things on the dancing warriors were meant to be helmets, rather the horns are some sort of halo or a sign of divine possession, similar to the horns Alexander the Great is depicted with, or closer to the Anglo-Saxon homelands, this iron age guy:

holzgerlingen2.jpg

I do however like the idea of different warbands you can join, and more quests. Prophecy of Pendor is a good mod to look at for lots of interlinking quests which give a really nice feeling of immersion in the world. This mod goes a long way to recreating a particular atmosphere, so I think that would be a good direction to take. For Picts, would Scathach's warrior school from Irish legend be a possible warband? Also, for the Bernicians, joining a particular Atheling's hearthwerod might be a good warband idea.

Also, to fly in the face of other people's points about the mod generally, I don't think you should be too scared of a little bit of "fantasy". I don't mean orcs and elves, just that a lot of the 'history' of this period is legend, supposition and so on. Also, to really immerse you in the world, there should be "magic" or things that look like it, since people in this time period firmly believed in prophecy, magic, monsters and so on. Don't have Grendel appearing or anything, but the occasional unique item which is attributed with "magical" properties would be ok in my opinion - for instance, Ruiderch Hael has a 'magic' sword - one of the thirteen treasures of Britain, Dyrnwyn.
 
Yes, unique 'magical' items could be nice to have. They can bring some small bonus. Think that they would be very well done and the owner would feel like having a magical sword or a charm that protect him.

And for "trolls" or monsters like this, you could have a savage man... A bit like Grendel in "Beowulf & Grendel" movie. "Dragons" could be strong chief of bandit warbands.
 
Good idea! The unique items can be also hidden in old roman ruins (my modeler is already making a model of ruined roman house) and unused brochs/hillforts/abandoned camps. The mentioned troll can be wandering on map in wilderness areas (Northern Scotland, Pennines, Cellidon Woods) and killing local villagers. My main inspiration is taken from Bête du Gévaudan (in English: Beast of Gévaudan), an enigmatic monster killing people in Southern France, in the XVIII century. It could be probably an exile man/criminal who went into the forests and become mad and wild beast". Morcant would probably know more about it, as he is French.  :smile:
 
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