Kell Archipelago


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    Pantheon

    Celtic Paganism

    Population

    2,500,000

    Government

    The Kell Archipelago consists of two nation-states, who’s cultures are highly divergent but integrally linked through religion and myth. The northern Isle of Eire is a deep, ancient, forest, laden with faeries, centaurs, and other sylvan creatures of myth. Eire is governed by a High Druid Council, which manages the island from Stonehenge, along its southerly coast. The southern Isle of Britannia is a hereditary feudal monarchy governed by the lineage of Uther Pendragon, and governed from Camelot on its southern coast. Each governing body respects but distrusts the other, and an uneasy peace exists between the two, as long as each stays to its own isle. The smaller isle of Manx (to the south) lies under the Camelot city state, Callanish (small island to the east) under the Eire city state, and Caledonia (longer island to the east) has a history of switching allegiances.

    Political / Religious Hierarchy

    Eire:

    The High Druid Council consists of thirteen sitting members. The Grand Druid is the ultimate authority, and the mouthpiece of the Inner Order, consisting of himself and four other Arch Druids, each representing one of the four elements. An additional eight members fill out the remaining council, two Initiates to each Arch Druid. Regular meetings of the High Druid Council typically consist of the Inner Order taking a place at each of the five vertexes of a pentagram, inscribed in the center of the Main Gallery of Stonehenge, while Initiates attend the Arch Druids in silence. Meetings are usually open to any druid to attend, except in times of extreme strife or war.

    Britannia:

    The King of Camelot is the ultimate authority of the Isle of Britannia, although many important nation state policies are decided by a process of consensus at regular Feasts of the Round Table, in the Grand Hall at the Castle of Camelot. At these feasts, the King sits with 24 other knights, at a table that seats 26. One seat, called The Siege Perilous, is empty and reserved for the knight who eventually obtains the Graal of the Fisher King, an ancient holy artifact of immense powers related to healing and purity. The knights squires, retainers and other nation-state dignitaries sit at a ringed table outside the round table, and observe the feast. The Round Table itself is an artifact with special properties of governance crafted by Merlin.

    Merlin is an ancient Diviner and Enchanter who advises the lineage of Uther Pendragon on the governance of the Isle of Britannia. His age is not known, and he spends long periods of time away from court, only arriving in times when his advice is needed. It is not known how he has prolonged his life throughout the history of Panakos.

    Geography and Climate

    The isles of the Kell Archipelago are primarily relatively open deciduous forests, free of underbrush and lush with wild game. The climate is wetter and colder than average. Island centers are hilly, with hilltops often open grass or prairie, leading to open glades at the confluences of rivers and in floodplain. Britannia is well crossed with roads and bridges leading to villages and hamlets outside the capital of Camelot, and supernatural creatures are relatively rare, having been slain in various knightly quests throughout the years. Dragons occasionally inhabit the more inaccessible areas of Britannia, but typically not for longer than fifty to one hundred years, as knights seek to slay them as trophies. Rumors among those familiar with dragonkind state that Britannia is where particularly troublesome dragons are banished by their kind, in penance for crimes against whatever passes for dragon society.

    Forests on Eire are deeper, darker, denser, and far more laden with supernatural sylvan fare, including tribes of centaurs, satyrs, unicorns, nymphs, treants, and all other manner of fey and plant creatures. Tribes of more social beasts such as Treants, Centaurs, and Brownies are often represented in the Druid Council itself, and are welcome in Stonehenge. Travel in Eire without a druid guide can be quite difficult for those not attuned to sylvan forest threats. Many foreigners unwise in the ways of the Isle of Eire have resorted to combat due to no fault than their own trespass, when blinded by a Nymph or the like, and have exacted the wrath of not only the forest but the High Druid Council as well for their misdeed. This is known my some travelers as the “Ire of Eire.”

    Exports

    Britannia exports hardwoods, pelts, leather, linen, wool, tallow, mead, and marble. Eire exports pelts, leather, mead, and darkwood. The darkwood “harvest” is highly managed by the High Druid Council, in conjunction with their Treant companions, to be sustainable and beneficial to the management of their forests. Britannia is a heavy importer of high grade metals.

    Cities


    Camelot

    Population: 450,000

    Location: Southern shores of the isle of Britannia

    Leader: King Benthir Pendragon

    Factions: (in addition to temples to most deities of the region)

    Knights of the Round Table: Knights of the Realm are chosen solely by the King, although it’s quite common and generally expected for the sons of an existing knight or lord to be knighted in the King’s service. Only the 24 knights of highest honor are made Knights of the Round Table, who then take dominion over all other knights and act as the King’s Hand in all matters. To be named such is an honor and a burden, and often such naming will only occur after a knight has shown his worth in a complicated and difficult quest for the King.

    Cult of the Lady: Worshipers/followers of the Lady of the Lake. A secret organization completely of women, some noble some not, that seeks to silently guide the Kingdom of Britannia in ways they see fit. Their existence is known among the knights, but their membership is a source of speculation. They are not typically considered to be a threat by the realm’s authorities, and their true level of influence is not known.

    Khandarites: Criminal guild homed in the Camelot sewers.

    Locations:

    Castle Camelot: One of the largest keeps in all of Panakos, rivaling even the Great Pyramids of the Pharaohs. Nested in a vale overlooking Lake Viviane, a wide inland lake near the coast, it is nigh impregnable and defended by the Army of Britannia. All official government offices and such are housed within the castle walls, as well as the barracks for the standing army, and a wing dedicated to each Knight of the Round Table. Knights also maintain personal manor houses or keeps throughout the realm.

    King’s Faire: A wide open expanse in the central city, home to tents of various merchants who rotate in and out, selling primarily finished goods.

    Excalibur: “Only the true king can pull their sword from our stones,” goes the slogan of one of the largest houses of prostitution outside the Incarna Isles. Over 100 consorts of every race grace this establishment, overlooking the docks.

    The Khandar Sewers: a network of brick arch sewers laced under the city and ties into quarries and crypts into the hills. Home of the Khandarites, a highly connected criminal guild.

    Dozmary Locks: A series of great stone locks used to raise vessels to the top of the Dozmary Dam, at the mouth of Lake Viviane. Dozmary Dam rises 30 feet above mean river level, and each of three locks raise oceangoing ships in 10 foot increments. Boats are often navigated up the river and across the lake with aid from Eire druids controlling the winds and currents.


    Stonehenge

    Population: 50,000

    Location: Southern shores of the Isle of Eire

    Leader: Grand Druid Achtan mac Maine

    Factions

    Druid High Council: See above.

    Fionnians: Ranger faction rooted in the tales of the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill. (‘common’ language name “Finn McCool”) These pass closest for a “warrior” arm of the High Council.

    Fey Council: a group of advisers comprised of certain fey races who come to a consensus and present to the Council “The Good Of The Wood.” Their “recommendations” are known to be highly whimsical and often nonsense, but are occasionally rooted in deep and profound divinations of the future.

    Locations

    The layout of Stonehenge consists of a series of concentric circles of standing stones, each progressively taller as one journeys to the center of the settlement.


    First Circle: The stones of this innermost ‘henge,’ towering at approximately 100 feet tall, signify the innermost sanctum of the Druid order. It is open to all travelers and free for foot traffic except at times of Druid Moot, the semiregular meetings of the Druid High Council at certain important celestial events such as solstices, equinoxes, and moon phases. The first circle measures 500 feet across.

    Second Circle: Approximately 1000 feet offset from the First Circle is a second set of standing stones, 80 feet tall. Within the Second Circle lie the semi-permanent encampments of each of the High Council druids. Most of these are meticulously kept gardens and groves, replete with the minions and servants of each druid in question, such as treants, awakened animals, and the like.

    Third Circle: Approximately 1000 feet further out is a third set of standing stones, 50 feet tall. The third circle contains wooden buildings of importance to the workings of the settlement, including taverns, trade houses, and individual houses for individuals of importance.

    Fourth Circle: Approximately 200 feet outside the Third Circle is a set of standing stones 25 feet high, signifying the Fourth Circle. Area of the fourth circle is completely occupied with gardens, kept by the druids of the island.

    Fifth Circle: An additional 2000 feet off of the fourth circle. Reserved for foreign merchants, visitors, and transient island denizens. A vast sea of tents and other temporary habitats that changes in layout from year to year.




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