Foraise, The High Kingdom

Houses

Great Houses

The great houses of Foraise are not descended from the original great High King as in other kingdoms. His magic was so great, it was said it made every woman he lay with barren - although some detractors of the Kingdom say that was a curse on him from Macháin for not fulfilling his promise to name her the great goddess of all the Kingdoms as he had promised should she get his people to Mawr safely.

And so, the Great Houses were named for the trees they found in Mawr, which were said to be quite different from the trees of their old homeland.The High King designated the first five High Families (Great Clans) from the trees Sacred to the Dragon of their new homeland:

• Yew (Iodhoadh) - A religious-focused house, the gods of the Night Lodge are said especially to love the people of the Yew. Though they built, maintain and oversee all temples in the High Kingdom.

• Oak (Dair) - A Dowdy house with strong interests in ocean trade, river trade. They have a great house in the capitol, but maintain their residence in a massive private estate in the Rowanoak - with a sizable personal guard.

• Ash (Nion) - The Ash oversee the professions and guilds of the High Kingdom, holding and organizing Guild Halls, Moots and the tests required to Apprentice, Journeyman and Master as a Boga (a man of his hands). Colors: gold and grey, showing an Ash.

• Howthorn (Uath) - Hawthorn is the house of magic, spies, secrets, poison and war. Their manor houses are small and fortified and distributed across Mawr. Colors: red and green.

There was a Willow (Saille) house initially as well, but they fell during the Wars of Separation.

Lesser Houses

The lesser houses came in the years that followed, as behests of the Kings that followed, or as rewards of the Circle of Filidh to heroes of great renown, or to those who brought great riches to the country.

• Rowan (Luis) - Rowan’s wealth is herding, agrarian, close to the land. However, they are also the guardians of the cairn-places of the Kingdoms, and seem to have blessing or links to Ddurn (the Lord of Death) and to the gods of the wild, Druys and Ventain. Colors: red and white stripes.

• Alder (Fearn) - The finest warrior-poets, the filidh, come from the Alder family. Much of the Bone See’s guard is made up of the stalwart men of house Alder.

• Birch (Beith) - Claiming to be descended from the first human to bargain with Macháin for the gift of song, this house is the patron of the performing arts, producing brilliant writers, directors, players, musicians, composers, the companies of this house travel far and wide, bringing delight, insight and wisdom to all the kingdoms. Many of their sons and daughters have married into other Kingdoms’ Clans. Surely, they’re not an advanced, distributed spy ring. How could that happen?

• Holly (Tinne) - Keepers of festivities, festivals, parades. In significant conflict with Birch. They are a major source of coin for the High Kingdom, and the High King’s coffers.

• Hazel (Coll) - Hazel are the tax collectors, the whore-mongers, the gambling establishment owners, the purveyors of chance and luxury. Hazel are the enviable bastards profiting off other people’s hard work. The High Kingdom wouldn’t work without them.

• Ivy (Gort) - This house is dedicated to artificing, They are blessed by Mabinown, the Mad God. They pursue the crafting of things beyond what a Boga might do - not the bending of steel but the bending of the world into steel. And silver. Wood. Flesh. Places. They claim to be Caretakers of the Legacy of the Builders, but how can that be so when the Builders were gone beyond memory before The Arrival.

Ionad

The first city of Mawr is the capitol of the High Kingdom: Ionad. The great city was raised and molded and built by the First High King and the other great sorcerers of his clan during the Arrival of Humanity.

There are Builder canals running through the city from the great dark river, the Abhainn Ión. The water in them is always clean and clear and no matter what might fall or be thrown into the water there, it runs clean and clear - no silt nor mud, not eels or branches, only the clearest water in the small, pale blue-white canyons of the Builders’ stone.

The Seat of the High King is the great castle of the Ionad, a massive fortress built by sorcery from living stone: with a great hall, a community hall, underground storerooms, a huge kitchen and larder and the private chambers of the High King and his close clan. The castle is surrounded by a moat and high walls, with guard towers at each corner. It is connected to the Throne of Bone - a massive amphitheater with a partial slate roof; the site of the burials of the High Kings since the Landing in Mawr. The King’s throne is a massive chair of bone, carved from the bones of the first High King and his family, and is said to be imbued with the power of the gods - not every king can sit upon it, and those who do not have the blessing of the gods are said to be struck down by lightning or misfortune.

The castle is also home to the High King’s court, where he holds council with his advisors and meets with foreign dignitaries.

The Great Dark building of the Night Lodge is also in the Ionad, a massive fortress of black stone, with a great hall, a library, and the private chambers of the Night Lodge’s leaders. The Night Lodge is said to be the most powerful organization in the High Kingdom, and its members are said to be able to see into the future and manipulate events to their advantage.