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.
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.