Virtue: |
| Fault: The Smith, Reversed (Evil Effort): The worship of the Goddess has a dark side, a fact that has been denied within the last several generations. This dark side has been projected onto the less-civilized peoples of the heavily forested continent, ruled by what the Dannans refer to as the Witch-Queens, but it is still a major undercurrent in Dannan culture. |
| Fate: Nature (Life Energy vs Energy Sapped): The vitality of the life-affirming Dannans is opposed by their increasingly conservative views of the roles of men and women, and the threat of a resurgence of the Old Ways of human sacrifice. |
| Usurper: The Tree of Sacrifice (a man hangs upside down from a tree, his side pierced by a spear and his blood feeding the roots of the tree): The inhabitants of the Isles believe strongly in the importance of sacrificing to the greater good. The question is, is the sacrifice willing or otherwise....? |
The Isles are a large Archipelago of seven large islands, and hundreds of smaller ones, off the Western coast of a heavily forested continent. The Isles are a hereditary matriarchal theocracy, where scholarship, sorcery and power (both that of politics and religion, the same thing in the Isles) are the exclusive domain of women, and men are expected to become artists, musicians, and warriors.
There is a wide variation in climate and geography, but a broad overgeneralization of the Isles could be made by saying that they are extremely fertile and the climate is temperate and moist.
The ships of the Dannan are the masters of the Ocean of this Shadow, and no other power can match the Isles upon the sea.
Sheep are very important throughout the Isles, and most families own at least a few. Pigs are also important. Cattle are kept on the larger islands, but are not as important or common.
Art and music are vital parts of Dannan culture, and all men are expected to be able to perform at least adequately in some art or upon some instrument. Sons are often trotted out at parties to perform for the guests.
Imports:
Luxury goods
Spices
Exotic cloth and textiles
Exports:
Artwork
Wool
Exotic animals and furs from the Eastern forests
"I tell you, I've never seen the like of this place. Thousands of people from all over the Isles all livin' together in one place, how they stand it is beyond me. And outlanders, too. Easterners aren't the worst of it, witch-lovers though they are. There's stranger folks walkin' around, the likes that no decent folk should have dealin's with. As soon as I've sold my wool I'm back to Little Oakford, Goddess hear me. Mind, it's a lovely place, all those statues and paintings everywhere and music all day and night, and such handsome men everywhere. But I worry about leavin' my man at home alone, he's liable to run off to go kill wolves and forget that the sheep need takin' care of, not just guardin’. What? Of course I went to the Lady's Temple, I'd be some sort of fool to come to her city and not watch her preside over an Offering to the Goddess, now wouldn't I? Sent shivers up my spine, it did. I'm hopin' the Goddess will bless me with another child, one of ours passed two years ago and I haven't had any since. Another reason to get home to my man fast, eh?"
- Remarks overheard in the Blue Whale Tavern
in the City of The Lady
And she's stole the gold from the miser's chest
And kissed the Priestess' son
And ta'en the bolt of blood red silk
And away with it she's run
And when she came to the deep blue sea
With the sheriff close on her track
She whistled high to a dolphin gay
And she rode awa on its back
She shouted farewell to the sheriff’s crew
And laughed to see their surprise
And she called "Tell the merchants I’ll soon return,
For the money they got with their lies
And when the midnight moon does shine
And the pretty boys long for a kiss
Tell them they’ll no have long to wait
For their darlin’ Redhaired Bliss."
From the Ballad of Bliss Redhair (trad)
Welcome, Fire of Heaven, Glorious Sun
Child and Lover of the Mother
Be a Flame about Us
A Guiding Star Above Us
A Clear Path Before Us
A Sword to our Foes
A Shield to Our Friends
The Darkness has Passed
New Life Arises from Death
Spring is come to the Land
All Around Us the Signs are Clear
The Days Grow Longer, The Breezes Grow Warm
Growing Things begin Anew
It is the Resurrection, The Creation,
Under the Caress of the Mother the Earth Grows Fertile again
A Time of Change is Upon Us again
The Wheel Turns ever Onward
What Will Be Is, Was, and Ever Shall Be
In this Moment Between Times
Praise the Bountiful Young Goddess
and Her Son-Lover, the Horned Lord of Renewal
For Their Blessing of Fertility
Awake! All Creatures of the World, Awake!
Greet the Maiden and Her Lover
Greet the Spring
The Darkness is Passed
Let Us put it from Our Minds
Looks only to That which Lies ahead
It is the Time for Planting
It is the Time for Joy
It is the Time for Love
- From the Rituals of the Dawning Spring
In rendering this judgement of divorcement against you, I am regretful only of the limitations imposed upon me by the laws of divorce. Your wife and her witnesses have brought ample testimony of your unmanly behaviour, your cowardice and refusal to defend your wife's honour and good name, your constant meddling in the affairs of the women of your town, and your loud complaints against the lawful orders of your wife. You are a shame and a disgrace to all your sex, and it is my pleasure to be able to pass the many evidences of blasphemy on to the priestesses; may they treat you as an example to all.
- From court records of the Isles
...in regards the reports of activities of the Cult of the Dark Mother upon the twin islands of Dunrock and Rathlee, our agents are as of yet unable to answer firmly either yay or nay. Certainly there have been blood sacrifices upon the ancient altars in the forests of these two isles, but we are as of yet unsure whether they are that of human or beast, and animal sacrifice is still quite common among the more remote islands, and does not contravene doctrine. The peoples of these islands are close-mouthed and watchful, but such by itself is not proof. One item of interest is the existence of a local expression, "Gone to Serve the Mother," which is used of the deceased, most especially when they have died at a young age. The more common expression "Sailed West" is used of those who have passed at an older age....
Excerpt from an internal Court report to the The Lady
wee haf finaly arived at the eestmost fort were mie captan sais wee can expect to meet wif more ataks bie the witches men thai ar verie actif all around as wee had herd and do not fite like onorabul men but atak alwais bie surpries and like to fite at nite thai ar tatued and som of them ar naked but thai ar feers fiters and the captan sais wee haf to hold them bak soe hunters and fur trapers can muve freelie in the forest and not bee ataked bie them and wee haf not seen anie of thair witches yet or anie magik but wee did see bones up in a tree that wer a mans and thai must haf ofered him up and weere verie far awai from the see and im not used to not heering the see at nite its hard to sleep wifout the see I hope yur well and the ladie is well and mofer is well gif her mie luf mofer i meen not the ladie shee wont reemember me but i hope shes well and all is well at the palas and i am well to i must stop riting as i am on gard tonite i hope all is well
- Letter to the Priestess E’enfall, from her brother Dewmorn, a Companion of the Brotherhood of the Stag