Researching my heritage I didn’t have to look far to find the name Niall Noigiallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages.)  In researching possible connections to the O’Neills and McNeils in my own genealogy I looked at Niall’s.  He is a fascinating figure in Irish History and Legend, and, as you might expect, this is true of the genealogical connections to this Ard Righ (High King) of Ireland.

Within the scope of this discussion are a legendary (but could it be credible?) connection deep into antiquity, all the way back to Adam.  Christian monks recorded this connection, but was the adding of this part of the genealogy a fabrication or an inescapably obvious connection to the oral tradition that substantiated his right to rule?

Niall was a Milesian King and there are some who would doubt the historicity of this as much as they might the Tuatha de Dana or the Partholonians.  The Book of Invasions would seem somewhat pointless if it was based on nothing at all.  How much of what is put down to myth was real and what impact did this have on Niall in particular, but Ireland in general?

Niall raided Britain and perhaps as far as the Continent, among his abductions was a certain boy named Succat, a boy who would become a transformational force in Ireland known to the world as St. Patrick, the patron of Ireland.  Niall’s son, Loegaire, met this escaped slave brought to Ireland by his father.  As such, I think Niall, the Ui Niall, and Ireland generally faced transformation because of his actions and his descendants continued the process.  One of the most famous Early Irish Churchmen was Columcille who was himself a prince of the Ui Niall dynasty.

I think it is undeniable that Niall Noigiallach is a transformational figure.  In Irish History and Legend he holds a place between the two.  In addition to the title “Nine Hostages” the epithet “Semi-Legendary” is applied to Niall.  Some don’t believe he was all that the Four-Masters said he was, but DNA forces most to admit that, if nothing else, he was.

There is no end of argument about the Ard Righship of Ireland.  Many if not most experts doubt that in the imbroglio that was Irish pre-Christian politics a true over-king that ruled the entirety of Ireland was possible.  Many even argue that nobody back then claimed the title and that it is an invention of later imaginative documentation and dynastic justification after the fact.

All these may be true, but Niall stands at a crossroads in history where, while once, in the dim pagan past, every small Tuath had its king, afterward is seen the  unification and record keeping of Christian monks that made claims a bit more testable, at least to historians.

Strange too (a Christian like me would say miraculous)that Milesian Ireland, so violent, so war prone, should be converted to Christianity so readily and with so little blood-shed.  Christianity’s story is one of violent repressions failing to halt the spread of the Gospel, one after another, after another.  Why in Ireland, where among the elite, war was very nearly a religion of its own, would Christianity conquer bloodlessly?  Why in Ireland did the Irish, feeling they were not made to suffer, invented new sorts of martyrdom, Green and White, that influenced not only the Irish, but the Continent as well? 

It may be that Niall, standing at this crossroad, holds some light to shed on this miracle.

LSO

PS.  This is an introduction of sorts.  I have been working on a post that has swelled to many thousand words.  My goal here should be shorter posts and as time passed and new posts went wanting I realized that I needed to change my approach to this vast topic.  The above is long on assertion and hints, but short on facts.  I’ve broached a myriad of topics in this one little post which I will link to from this as I produce them a bit at a time.

These fragments of the lore of Tir na Nua are presented raw, first draft, and unedited.  I apologize for their original condition.  However, my first priority is to capture sketches, so to speak, of the people and places of Tir na Nua.  I have promised Free Celtic Fiction and before I can shape these sketches into more polished works I need to write these drafts.  I share them, as they are, while I try to find the time to improve them. –  LSO

The great mountain became the center of the Gaellic world on Tir na Nua.  Around Sliebe na Gael, close on the slopes of that mountain, on the rocky hills were the Connachta on the South and West to the sea, Mumah folk to the East along the coast, the Laigin North and East to the river and that land was fair, and North and West were the Uliad.  That is, these were the divisions when Dana and Lyr and his shieldmen took Sliebe na Gael, when they were driven from the plain by ice, when Wyland delved out the secret forbidden ways, when Bridgit and Lugh eloped and brought on the Rage of Lyr.   The folk were in these four divisions, the Four fourths of the Tuatha de Dana.

The folk of the Uliad prospered and divided into many clans who dispersed to the north until there came to be a land named by her people, Ulster, and a king of that Tuath named Concubar.  This was the time before the Gobli swept the plain with fire and the people were driven back into the Four Fourths.  Concubar was a great king, a proud warrior, and a hunter of great renown.

One day he was hunting with his friends, the warriors of the Red Branch in the new forests that covered the plain.  All the trees in that place were of one height being planted in one season by the Fae Gardeners, the Norfolk, scattered by their life giving forest spheres.

For this reason, in imitation, the Red Branch warriors made brain balls, weapons made from the vanquished.  Many lives were taken by those balls of brain and bone dust and lime, so the Red Branch warriors became known for there making and the feat of their use in battle.

Concubar was swifter than the red stag he stalked, much faster than his warriors.  The blood of his prey was in his nostrils and he left his brothers behind.  He followed the stag into a valley where the trees grew tall, ancient, moss hung, and magical.

A beautiful woman stepped out of this magical forest.  Her skin was pale as a swan, her lips as red as blood, and her hair like burnished copper, was red as well.  Concubar imagined she must be of the Sidhe, he would have left her there, for it is rarely wise for men to mix in the matters of gods, but desiring him she put aside her mantle and Concubar loved her.

Concubar took from his shoulders his cloak to make a bower for them.  In all the time they lay together she spoke no word, nor did the man until she rose and made to go, “Who are you, my lady?” Concubar asked the fairy woman.

“I am the mother of your son, my lord,” said the woman, “I am the daughter of the over King of the Northmost land, I am the watcher who has loved you.”

“Have I known you before my lady?  How can that be?  For surely I would remember you.”

“Never before tonight have I known you, but I have watched you and I know that I love you.  I will send your son to you, my lord.”  And the woman stepped away toward the deep woods.”

“Wait!  How will I know him?” Asked the man.

The woman had no answer, but Concubar could see this worried her and she stopped.  So Concubar took up his cloak and going to the woman he lay it across her shoulders, “By this my people will know him to be a prince,” said the king, “And by this all will know that his father is a king,” he said, pinning on her his broach, “And by this I will know he is my son,” said Concubar and he took his own ring from his finger and gave it into the woman’s hand.

At this the woman smiled and she kissed Concubar and said, “And for this I knew, watching you, that I loved you.”  There arose about her a mist.

“But what is your name?” the King asked her.

“Our son will tell you,” She said.  A mist of fog hid her from Concubar’s sight, and he knew she was gone.

A cool breeze took away the fog and there, not far away, was a red deer doe.  He heard the calls of his warriors and the doe bounded away with the mist.  At this the king went to them.

Work in Progress  –  Expect change

Re-thinking the Time Line  — I will need to work out some birth rates and distributions of different genetics.  The 2 and 5 womb duty is planned for honest randomness, but three factors work against the plan. 1) The original designer,  Bridgit Collins, is not there to administer it 2) Dana Bailey focuses on a pure Celtic breeding program for her core which forces the Sinoese and Russian reactions and 3) the ice-age causes technological losses.

This is how the Tuatha de Dana came to Tir na Nua

-2   -   The great ship of the Gael sailed swift through the tightening grip of star light.  The Tuatha de Dana all slept.  Then ship master Bailey alone was awakened, he sensed the fearful threat.  The great tuath ship rushed above the clouds, toward the shores of the new country, Tir na Nua.  Looking ahead, it was barren of life, in chaos and storm, but the great magics of the Tuatha de Dana would put it right.

-1   -   With their far sight the Druids of the Tuatha de knew that there was a good land here.  What had seemed a clear in their seeing was made more difficult as they approached.  There were two lands that seem to be inhabitable.  One is sparse, a wasteland, but stable and at peace. The other seemed to be a fair land, but it was moon struck, star crushed, mountain whelmed, a great shaking of earth, a vast cascade of waters.  For the brave Celts it is ideal.

0   -   Driven by a fierce wind, Bailey took the steering oar and made to split the nine waves.  No doubt the landing place is rough and inhospitable, rocks on every hand, but the great oarsman god of the Tuatha de steered their ship through the nine waves.  Each wave roared its displeasure, each howled its resistance, each washed the deck in fury seeking to carry away the unwary.  So it was that the leech, Bridgit Collins, was carried away. In fear, three gods defy Bailey and fled to the quiet land.

Others would have lost heart, but ship master Bailey was undetered.  He mounted the nine waves and rode out the nine troughs to steer the great Tuath ship to rest upon the face of Tir na Nua between the great height of Slieb na Gael and the expanse of the Mountains of the West.   (DB 37 yrs.)

1   -   Then the Oak men blessed the land, the Druids of the Tuath de made formings and green places.  First the birch and the alder grew in the meadows of grass, then the willow held to the streams, then too the oaks set down roots and sacred woods were formed by the Oak men of Dana.  Then too, salmon were brought forth and the red deer and swine roamed among the seedlings. In the West, in the fair plain away from the burning of the ship of the de Dana the wise men and stewards made a habitation for the Tuath.  Not to be outdone Dana herself births Llyr (1).

2   -   More and more the people of Dana went out on the plain with the craft of the druids, of the oak men. There food grew for man and for beast in abundance.  It was a pleasant land and children were born to the Tuatha de Dana.  (25 wombs four fold as they say, 100 at the end of the generation.)

3  -  Lugh (2) is born.  He is remembered first for his many skills and that he did good.  (40 yrs. and he took up arms. I would lay my weapon there)

6   -   This is the way it was with the Tuatha de.  Each wife with her husband had a first born, but second, Dana gave a child.  The women bore this womb duty so that children of the gods were born.  Second and Fifth were borne as womb duty for the Tuatha de Dana.  But Dana favored the bright celtic stocks for her kings and queens.  Dana herself bare Brigid (3) not the betrayer who fled, this was the true born daughter of Dana herself.  Rus and Sinoese did not do their duty to the De Dana but selfishly made children of their own.  

8  -  Teutates (4) is born

9  -  Morrigan (5) is born. (Difficult birth for DB.)

11   -   Far in the north a party of the dru meet with tragedy.  One of them is killed, but he is animated by the god of the earth to speak to them.  That there is a necromancer of great power is clear and so the dru cleanse the place with fire.  This is the custom in the north, to burn the dead.

12   -   The wise of the Tuatha de consult with the great goddess, Dana and it is decided to meet the Necromancer and his minions with fire For a time this necromantic mind withdraws and avoids contact and the violent reaction that usually follows.

13  -   Weyland, known as Loki (6) is born

16  -   Gwynn (7) is born.  (DB nearly dies in child birth, at 53 yrs old.  Meds warn her against pregnancy.)

20  -   the generation of Llyr takes wives and husbands.  (about 100 pairs)

19  -  There was a woman of Sin, Mitsuko, who delved into the knowledge of life and stole from the great Dana a life.  This one, finding himself in the womb of the Bramble Sidhe, the Norfolk, lived among them until it was his time to wander, as do his brothers and sisters, though he did not know them by name or face.  Much later he would learn his name, Tuan.(His mother Adelade is 17, a first gen Norfolk.)

20  -  Soon after birth, Tuan goes with his Norfolk family to the roots of the Western mountains.

20  -  Llyr and Brigid are handfasted.  Now Brigid was long in flowering as was the way with many of Dana’s own children, but not so for Llyr.

30  -  Most first gen families were begun.  As they say, one hundred wombs four fold and again twice four hundred.

39  -  The ship master, Baily dies. (84 yrs.)

40  -  This is when the second generation began to take husbands and wives.  Then there were but two hundreds and fifty of all the peoples, Celts, and Rus, and Sinoese, and Norfolk Umircen, and too of the lesser folks.

42   -   The Rus were proud, and unhappy with the allotment given them by Dana and the rig Llyr.  They made to take preminance over all the Tuatha de, but they were thwarted and cast down by Llyr (41) and the shieldmen of Llyr.

43  -  Now Weyland/Loki focused his efforts on finding all manner of metals and rocks and powders of same for his magics and his pranks. (for this reason he was called Loki)   So he went to the mountainous regions of Sliebe na Gael.  There he delved its and found great treasure.

45  -   This year Brigid began her moon rites and a wedding was prepared.  This seemed ill to Lugh and he took Brigid, A moon time and a two day times they eloped and then Brigid was found by the Shieldmen and returned to Llyr.  This was when Llyr’s heart was darkened to Dana’s plans and all her ways.   Llyr’s anger was awful to see and his rage may not yet be cooled, who can say?

46  -  Brigid bore Mannanan (Mac Llyr).  In all this Llyr’s anger did not cool.  Having given Llyr an heir, Brigid rejects him.  For this and because he has no love for her at all Llyr dissolved their bonding.  For this reason Dana takes with her Brigid her child and they lived among the islands of the inner sea.  In her anger, Dana caused children to be born to Brigid without husband. 

49  -  Brigid bore Epona (8)

51  -  Brigid bore Scota (9)

51  -  Mannanan is sent to Llyr in his crystal palace at his insistance.  Then Llyr became rig of the Tuatha de Dana, for Dana herself kept to the islands of the inner sea, and to Eire itself, and nolonger came to the crystal palace or ever to her people at Sliebe na Gael. 

52  -  That same witch of the Sinoese, Mitsuko, takes a life from Dana and holds it in her own womb.

52  -  Also Brigid, sick of her mother’s use of her, took up a knife and opened her veins.  Hearing this Lugh who haunted the fringes of the world, made his way to Eire to make her free.  Before Brigid will leave,  she destroyed the remaining lives that Dana had held.  Lugh wants Brigid to travel with him, but she is wroth and goes off on her own.

53  -  Mitsuko the leech bore Kazuki.  (51 yrs.)

56   -   The gods were good and made to grow upon the face of Tir na Nua much that was good, more land than the Tuatha de Dana could hold so that there was much that grew wild.  Still the Norfolk, learned of the Dru, brought seed and made new to spread what was good still farther.  They became known as the Briarwood Elvish, the Deer Riders, the Sidhe.

59  -  At this time the seas of Tir na Nua were exceeding warm and on the land mountains burst forth with smoke and fire.  The lights of the sky were dimmed and ice prevailed greatly on the face of Tir na Nua.

63  -  The Sidhe fought the advance of the ice to help the things that lived on the land.  Norfolk range east and west of the crystal palace of Llyr.

65  -  This is when the ice forced the Tuatha de to all go to the South. Then Llyr’s folk lived at Sliebe na Gael.  Also at this time Rus and some icefolk fled north onto the ice.  Llyr with his sheildmen pursued them, but they were defeated by the ice and snow. 

66  -  Then the crystal palace was covered over with ice and lost. Much that was known and much that was made was lost.  In grief perhaps Dana dies. (103) 

67  -  Llyr without restraint began to oppress those not of the Gael.  He takes from the smiths their tools and makes of the learned men farmers and workers. 

70  -  Weyland/Loki delved into the Western mountains.  In the face of Llyr’s prohibition he gathered the tools of the smiths and braziers and preserved some of the knowledge of the wise.

70  -  Many people hated the oppressor Llyr.  Umircens began to make for themselves a place upon the plains and east and west along the great ice up to the Western Mountains and the Disputed Lands.

98  -  The witch/leech Mitzuko leads the Sinoese defection. (96-yrs.) Most of the men of the Sin are cut down by Llyr and his Shieldmen.  At this time Llyr became their captain to hunt the Sinoese and cared little for leading the Tuatha de Dana.  He calls his men the Bloody Hand and they are as a people apart and above their brothers of the Tuatha de.  At this time the people said, “He is no king, he is like a Balor.” This was said because of his actions and because his father’s name had been Bailey.

100  -  Scota established colonies over the Yellow, her people try to be seperate from Llyr (Balor) and his bloody hand who are setting up camps to raid against the Sinoese.

126  -  Llyr/Balor and his Red Hand warriors begin to oppress brown skinned folk.  Along with enslaving Sinoese he reduces many others to servitude if not out right slavery.

145  -  The fifth generation is fully born.  There are 100,000 – 150,000 men and women on the face of Tir na Nua.

158  -  This is when the Ice prevailed most on the face of the land and then a great warm summer began to melt it away.

164 -  Peoples continue to go out from Sliebe na Gael.  Balor’s privations continued. This year an Umircen, Chip Wilson, finds his passage across the mountains.  Balor made cities to take slaves in the disputed lands to the sea.

173  -  Balor’s Red Hands, other folk begin to call them Fomorians, begin to raid Scots and even some among the central Gaellic peoples.

175  -  This year the first of the Darklings and Gobli came into the disputed lands against Balor’s cities and his Fomorians.

176  -  Browns and Blacks defected to the South across the Freedom River.  There are others who escape, led by Billy Two-Feathers, into the mountains of Amerinds and Umircens.

180  -  The great Darkling Wars began in earnest.  Hordes emptied Central Gael except for the Horse folk who will became the Scythians.

187  -  This was the Darklings and their Gobli Hordes high tide: only Mount na Gael, Scots wall, Fomorians at sea and in a few coastal forts, Horse folk (Scythians), Gaels who move out into the Oceanic Islands and south to become the Southern Gael and the Sinoese on their pinnacle forts remain north of the Freedom.

This begins a rough first draft of a timeline of the Celts, known as the Tuatha de Dana, who took Tir na Nua.

Work in Progress  –  Expect change

Re-thinking the Time Line  — I will need to work out some birth rates and distributions of different genetics.  The 2 and 5 womb duty is planned for honest randomness, but three factors work against the plan. 1) The original designer,  Bridgit Collins, is not there to administer it 2) Dana Bailey focuses on a pure Celtic breeding program for her core which forces the Sinoese and Russian reactions and 3) the ice-age causes technological losses.

-2   -   The great ship of the Gael sailed swift through the tightening grip of star light.  The Tuatha de Dana all slept.  Then ship master Bailey alone was awakened, he sensed the fearful threat.  The great tuath ship rushed above the clouds, toward the shores of the new country, Tir na Nua.  Looking ahead, it was barren of life, in chaos and storm, but the great magics of the Tuatha de Dana would put it right.

-1   -   With their far sight the Druids of the Tuatha de knew that there was a good land here.  What had seemed a clear in their seeing was made more difficult as they approached.  There were two lands that seem to be inhabitable.  One is sparse, a wasteland, but stable and at peace. The other seemed to be a fair land, but it was moon struck, star crushed, mountain whelmed, a great shaking of earth, a vast cascade of waters.  For the brave Celts it is ideal.

0   -   Driven by a fierce wind, Bailey took the steering oar and made to split the nine waves.  No doubt the landing place is rough and inhospitable, rocks on every hand, but the great oarsman god of the Tuatha de steered their ship through the nine waves.  Each wave roared its displeasure, each howled its resistance, each washed the deck in fury seeking to carry away the unwary.  So it was that the leech, Bridgit Collins, was carried away. In fear, three gods defy Bailey and fled to the quiet land.

Others would have lost heart, but ship master Bailey was undetered.  He mounted the nine waves and rode out the nine troughs to steer the great Tuath ship to rest upon the face of Tir na Nua between the great height of Slieb na Gael and the expanse of the Mountains of the West.   (DB 37 yrs.)

1   -   Then the Oak men blessed the land, the Druids of the Tuath de made formings and green places.  First the birch and the alder grew in the meadows of grass, then the willow held to the streams, then too the oaks set down roots and sacred woods were formed by the Oak men of Dana.  Then too salmon were brought forth and the red deer and swine roamed among the seedlings. In the West, in the fair plain away from the burning of the ship of the de Dana the wise men and stewards made a habitation for the Tuath.  Not to be outdone Dana herself births Llyr (1).

2   -   More and more the people of Dana go out on the plain with the craft of the druids, of the oak men. There grows food for man and for beast in abundance.  It is a pleasant land and children are born to the Tuatha de Dana.  (25 wombs four fold as they say, 100 at the end of the generation.

3  -  Lugh (2) is born.  He is remembered first for his many skills and that he did good.  (40 yrs. and he took up arms. I would lay my weapon there)

6   -   This is the way it was with the Tuatha de.  Each wife with her husband had a first born, but second, Dana gave a child.  The women bore this womb duty so that children of the gods were born.  Second and Fifth were borne as womb duty for the Tuatha de Dana.  But Dana favored the bright celtic stocks for her kings and queens.  Dana herself bare Brigid (3) not the betrayer who fled, this was the true born daughter of Dana herself.  Rus and Sinoese did not do their duty to the De Dana but selfishly made children of their own.  

8  -  Teutates (4) is born

9  -  Morrigan (5) is born. Difficult birth for DB.

11   -   Terra-forming party encounters All-Mind.  Interaction through dead party member causes alarm, sterilization.

12   -   Much time and effort is devoted to assessing and senario problem solving the issue of Alien life.  The All Mind withdraws and avoids contact and the violent reaction that usually follows.

13  -   Weyland, known as Loki (6) is born

16  -   Gwynn (7) is born.  Dana Bailey nearly dies in child birth, she is 53 years old.  Meds warn her that she can not carry anymore babies.

20  -   First generation of births begins to breed.  There will be about 100 pairs

19  -  Curious about DB’s special embryos and her upset that she can’t carry anymore, a bio-tech administering womb duty emplants one of the babies in the remotest host she can find, a terra-forming party member.  The Bio-tech is 17, a first generation Sinoese named Mitsuko.

20  -  Soon after birth, Tuan goes with his Norfolk family well away from DB and her Celts.

20  -  Llyr and Brigid are handfasted. It is clear that they are maturing at a different rate. Llyr is developing almost normally, but Brigid and Lugh both lag.

30  -  Most first gen families begun.  100 pairs will eventually yield about 400 pairs.

39  -  Capt. Baily dies at 84.

40  -  the first of the  Second Gen pairs begin to breed. Population nearing 250 individuals. * need to work out population expansion rate *

42   -   Rus attempt a take over of the colony, but are thwarted by Llyr (41) and his Gaellic military group.  Celtic security force formalized and Rus excluded from vital, technological, or military areas.

43  -  Weyland/Loki focuses his efforts on finding and exploiting mineral wealth.  He begins the exploitation of a giant extinct volcano and the surrounding foot hills. His mines and underground conveniences will be the basis of Sliebe na Gael.

45  -   Brigid finally reaches sexual maturity and a wedding is prepared. Lugh elopes with Brigid, but after a few weeks she is found and returned to Llyr. For his part Llyr has been a very strong advocate for Dana Bailey’s vision, but he is very upset by the elopement and Brigid’s dislike of him.  DB is extremely upset with Brigid too, she is ruining her plans for a Celtic godhead.

46  -  Brigid gives birth to Mannanan (Mac Llyr).  Having given Llyr an heir she rejects him.  DB and Llyr are both furious, Llyr coldly so.  He dissolves their bonding and seems likely to murder Brigid who seems willing to egg him on to that point.  DB removes Brigid to islands of the inner sea and begins to use her to birth more of her uber celts. 

49  -  Brigid gives birth to Epona (8)

50  - 

51  -  Brigid gives birth to Scota (9)

51  -  Slow developing Mannanan is finally weened and DB sends him to Llyr at his insistance.  Llyr is defacto leader of the colony, but very much at odds with his mother, DB. 

52  -  Same Sinoese biotech who planted uber-celt in a Norfolk family, Mitsuko, emplants one in herself.

52  -  A dispondent Brigid attempts suicide.  Hearing this Lugh, who has been avoiding Llyr, haunting the fringes of the world, makes his way to Eire and frees her.  Before she will leave she destroys the remaining super-celt embyos.  Lugh wants Brigid to roam with him, but she is angry with him almost as much as DB and Lir and goes off on her own.

53  -  Bio-tech’s uber-celt is born, named Kazuki.  Mitsuko is 51.

56   -   Success in Terraforming beyond all anticipation leading to wild lands.  A dedicated group of ecologists scramble to foster diversity/add elements to eco-systems.  This group will become the Norfolk also known as Briarwood elves, the Deer Riders, the Sidhe.

59  -  Warm seas and unusually active volcanism combine to initiate an ice age.  Ice builds rapidly at the North polar region.

63  -  Norfolk focus on trying to maintain biomes at the leading edge of the ice.  Their work groups range east and west of the colony.

65  -  Advancing ice forces colony to displace to the South. The original colony location is abandoned in favor of Mount na Gael.  Rus with some Inuit flee north onto the ice-sheet.  Llyr with his security forces pursue but are defeated by the ice and snow. 

66  -  Even limited access to old colony is lost to advancing super-glacier. Technology loss requires realignment of colony focus from expanding a technological society to bare survival.  Dana Bailey, mother of gods, driving force of the Celtic Colony dies at 103.

67  -  Llyr is in total control. He begins to overtly oppress non-Gaels.  He actually intentionally restricts the use of technology in favor of simpler agriculture and traditional crafts. 

70  -  Weyland/Loki establishes Western mountain mines so he can preserve some technological base and have a base of operations away from Llyr’s madness.

70  -  People (Umircens) begin to defuse out into the plains and east and west along the glacial face up to the Western Mountains and the disputed lands.

98  -  Sinoese defection (led by 96-year-old bio-tech Mitsuko who had an Uber-Celt baby, Kazuki) and Llyr’s response establishes a Warrior Aristocracy.  Opponents begin referring to Llyr as Balor a corruption of Bailey.

100  -  Scots establish colonies over the Yellow, but try to differentiate from Llyr (Balor) who is setting up camps to raid against Sinoese.

126  -  Llyr/Balor and his warrior aristocracy begin to oppress brown skinned folk.  Along with bringing in Sinoese as slaves he pressures and manipulates until all are reduced to servitude if not out right slavery.

145  -  End of gen 5 births, estimate 100,000 – 150,000 individuals.

158  -  Ice sheet reaches maximum and an extraordinarily warm summer begins rapid recession.

164 -  Diffusion out from Sliebe na Gael and Llyr/Balor’s privation continues. Chip Wilson finds his passage across the mountains.  Balor formally establishes slaver bases in the disputed lands to the sea.

173  -  Balor/Llyr’s permanent slave bases begin to raid Scots and even some in central Gaellic peoples.

175  -  First incursions of Darklings and Gobli in the disputed lands against Balor/Llyr’s permanent slave camps, his Fomorians.

176  -  Browns and Blacks defect to the South across the Freedom River. Not as well known is that Billy Two-Feathers leads an AmerInd and Umircen contingent into the mountains.

180  -  Great Darkling Wars begin in earnest.  Hordes empty Central Gael except for the Horse folk who will become the Scythians.

187  -  Darkling war high tide: only Mount na Gael, Scots wall, Fomorians at sea and in a few coastal forts, Horse folk (Scythians), Gaels who move out into the Oceanic Islands and south to become the Southern Gael and the Sinoese on their pinnacle forts remain.

This begins a rough first draft of a timeline for the world of the All Mind and the Celtic Colony world.

Our lands are amid the waters of the inner sea, enfolded in mist, protected from the harshness of the outside world.  As we say, “Any trouble that comes must fit in a boat.  How big can it be?”

The rivers and lochs are full of fish, there are red deer and boar in the copses, herbs abound for food and for mendicants, and fruit trees crown the high hills.

We have no needs that would force us to look to those over the sea, nor do we have much they would want to trade to gain.  Our lives are simple, but long, though not as long as our memories.  Few are the folk from the outside who value peace and knowledge, but those who come may find those things.

We know that our people came to these isles from the stars, Our sailing ship in the clouds.  Our projenitors came to this land bringing Old World plants and Old World animals with which to re-create their old land.

They succeeded.   Dana Bailey planned to re-create the magical Tuatha de, living as they did, and despite her and her rapacious “god” children, her dream is fulfilled here on these green isles.

Here we live more simply than we could.   We choose to hunt and gather though we know of agriculture, and the many ancient magics.   The material life is not for us.  We are children of the green isles, children of the mist.