The Book of the Blessed

The Almanak

Wolf Ashesman- (b. 1709-) Ohean’s loyal and loud servant, called by Princess Isobel “Sir Wolf.”

Anson Aethelyn Prince of Westrial- (b. 1699)- the second son of King Anthal of Westrial, born to Essily of the Crystal Isle. Appointed First Knight of the House by the age of nineteen, 1718, served with distinction in the border wars and was appointed Captain of the King’s Horse in 1727. The animosity between the prince and his brother Cedd led to Anson’s flight at his brother’s accession to the throne. Now more famously known as the lover of Ohean Penannyn of Reghed.

Connleth (Aragareth)- (b. 1707-) the son of Willem and Maire of the village of Trott. In 1724 he followed his older sister to the Blue Temple in Kingsboro to become a dependent, but ended up joining the Azul Ierateío after his first year there, training to be a priest of the Third Grade.

Philemon Paghast, Abbot Fero- (b. 1671-) born in Chyr near Immrachyr and raised to the Fourth Degree in 1692, Philemon Paghast was charged by the Order Semporum to become the Abbot of Fero House after the sudden death of the last one. and he served as Fero for four years before the arrival of Conn, raising high in his service Calon, Gabriel and Derek.

Derek Annakar- (b.1700) to a minor noble Doman house near the Essail and Senach border. He is the principal lover of Conn Aragareth and a priest of the Third Grade moving toward the Fourth. His sisters are Julia and Tessaya. His brother is Douglas Annakar.

Caedmon Aethelyn King of Westrial– (b. 1694) the first child and heir of King Anthal of Westrial and the only son of his first queen, Emmaline of Harrowfast. He succeeded his father as King in the fall of 1729, triggering the flights of his brother Anson and sister Imogen. Generally known as Cedd.

Hilda Aeseflad Princess Aethelyn – (b.1707) the second born daughter of King Anthal and Queen Tourmaline. She entered into the Abbey of Saint Clew at the age of fifteen (1722) was declared Reverend Mother.

Imogen Aethelyn Princess of Westrial - (b. 1711) the youngest daughter of Queen Tourmaline, the last wife of King Anthal. She fled Westrial with her brother to escape marriage.

Isobel Beregond Tryvanwy- (b. 1709) elder daughter of King Raoul Beregond of Sussail and Hermudis Tryvanwy Queen of Sussail and Princess of Armor, the betrothed of King Cedd, secretly trained as an enchantress on the Rootless Isle.

Morgellyn Princess Aethelyn Queen of Essail – (b. 1700) the firstborn of King Anthal by his third wife, Tourmaline. Upon her mother’s death she was married to King Stephen of Essail (1715) becoming Queen at the age of fifteen and shortly bore Linalla, Philip, Peter and Lewys.

Lord Austin Buwa of Desseret- (1700- ) only son of Lord Nephy Buwa, and practioner of the Zahem faith. His wife is the Lady Ashley Buwa, also born of the Outer Zahem. His lover is Pol Kurusagan.

Myrne Cenned of Herreboro- (b. 1710-) daughter of Toman Earl of Herreboro and his wife Lady Senae. Entered the Rootless Isle in 1724 and rose to the rank of Dame in 1727,

Pol Kurusagan- (1704- ) born by the Sussail border from a Solahni mother and a half Itzumi father, he traveled to Kingsboro with his brother, in time becoming a successful streetworker. Close friends with Prince Anson and current companion of Austin Buwa.

Ohean Penannyn (Ash) (b.1689- ) the son of Senaye of the Rootless Isle and grandson of the Crystal Lady. He holds the title The Great Ash from which comes his nickname Ash. Chief councilor to both the kings of Rheged and Westrial, some attribute to him divine origins, calling Ekkrebeth, and he is acknowledged as the mightiest of sorcerers though only vaguely associated with the Wizards of the White Island. His cousins are Meredith, Pollanikar and Nimerly the Crystal Lady as well as his lover, Anson Aethelyn.

The Kings of Westrial

The Kings of Westrial claim their descent from the God Wayland. According to their Chronicle, Wayland, of old, begat Wulfsun, Wulfsun begat Sevard, and Eoga, the first king of the West Ayl was descended of Sevard.

• Wayland
• Valkyras
• Sevard
• Rurgi
• Sigmilund
• Sigi
• Sigir
• Balda
• Bældæg

House of Oesc

• OEGA 622-647
• Brond 647-665
• Friðgar 665-678
• Freawine 666-690 [1]
• Duncan 692-710 [2]
• Giwis 710-725
• Esla 725-744
• Elesa 744-765
• Cerdic 766-790 [3]
• Athelstan the Great 790-831 [4]
• Anthal I 831-876 [5]
• Ceol 876-919
• Ceolwulf 919-927
• Cynegils (Kenneth) 927-953 [6]
• Gillem 953-975 [7]
• Cenwalh 975- 1003
• Gillem II 1003- 1019 [8]

The Doman Kings

A combined force of Domans and Senach sweep into Westrial and rule from Londres. Cenwalh calls himself Duke of Londres and then, in 1030, King of Londres and the West Ayl

• Edric of Daumany- 1019-1025
• Edric II- 1025-1047
• Edric Henry- 1047-1059
• Richard Cenfus - 1059-1063
• Henry- 1063-1085

With the aid of the people of Armet and Rheged, the Westrians come behind the Lady Rowena, a descendant of Cenwahl and a Rhegedi descendant of the House of Oesc called Jerami. He changes his name to Æscwine. After a long war, the Westrians expel the Senach-Hale dynasty, sending them into Senach or back to Daumany.

House Aescwine

Anthal Æscwine 1065- crowned in Kingsboro beside R’asha.

• Crowned in Ondres, 1085- 1101
• Centwine 1101-1156[9]
• Caedwalla 1156-1210
• Caedmon the Bard 1210- 1248
• Æthelheard 1248-1269
• Cuthred 1269-1297
• Sigeberht 1297-1347 [10]
• Cynewulf 1347-1361
  

House of Endic

• Beorhtric 1361-1385
• Egbert 1385-1401
• Egbert II 1401-1436 [11]
• Harold Bloodhands 1436-1441 [12]
• Edward the Naithling 1441-1465
• House Aethelyn
• Æthelwulf 1471-1520
• Æthelbald 1520-1555
• Æthelberht 1555-1561
• Æthelstan II 1561-1603
• Ælfred 1603-1625
• Anthal the Great 1625-1640
• Edward the Elder 1640-1665
• Edmund I 1665-1680
• Edward II 1680-1690
• Anthal IV 1690-
• Caedmon II 1729-

Gloss

Ankar-the western settlement of Royans who left Chyr and spread across Ossar. A millennium before the Imperium it found it solidified into a massive high kingdom under the leadership of the Kingdom of Locrys at Ondres. This mighty union last five centuries and then began to devolve into five main kingdoms, but by the time of the Sinercians, had fallen so far, it was known at the Hundred Kingdoms, with Prince of Ondres and King of Locrys remaining only an honorific. In the time of the Sendics, Ankar was divided into the five kingdoms of Inglad, Westrial, Essail, Senach and Sussail. The Ard- the Sinercian teacher regarded as an incarnation of Varayan whose main disciples became the White and the Black Monks. They brought his teachings to Ossar, but later other followers formed an institutional church (The Communion) with a highly hierarchical clergy (The White, Black and Brown Orders of Priests) which eventually came to dominate the south of Ossar as well as Daumany and Armor.

Armor- the land across the Solahn Sea, east of Solahn, west of Daumany and north of Ferrar, Eshaan and Marandé, a holdover of the old Sinercian Imperium.

The Book of the Blessed- the last of the holy books of the Royan, commited to memory until around seven centuries ago, in some ways associated with the end of this present world and the beginning of another.

Creation- it is widely held that the Earth was created several times, and twice before destroyed. Only by divine and magical means did some survive the destruction and was the world remade. The last destruction of the world is said to have been only thirty-five hundred years ago, and this current world is believed by not only Royans, but many peoples, to be the Third Creation, held together by magic. It is said that there will not be another one.

Chyr-the kingdom that shares the Cambrian Peninsula with Armet and Rheged, known for generally having women rulers, who are often schooled on the Rootless Isle. Its current queen is Ermengild IV.

Daumany- the kingdom east of Armor which was taken over by the Dauman, a group of Dayne who intermarried with the native population around four hundred years ago. Their current king is Willem (William) and by an old marriage they are now linked with the House of Armor.

Dayne- the peninsula to the northeast of Ossar, icebound at its northern region from which the Hale, the Ayl, the Daumans and many other groups come. Though it seems at one point in time Dayne was the name of one of the many tribes of the peninsula, in time it came to be known as the entire land. Less than three centuries ago the Ragnarsson family began the union of Dayne and in 1108 most of the peninsula became the Kingdom of Dayne.

Hale- the nation north of Inglad that takes up the Trunk of Ossar, also the people for whom the nation is named. At one point in time it included the northernmost country of the Sendics, North Hale.

Locrys-the high kingdom roughly approximating modern Westrial which, descended from the House of Chyr and the House of Enro, ruled over the once might kingdom of Ankar. After the fall of Ankar, Locrys maintained its unity and its name conjured respect so that even now, the Kings of Westrial, Rheged and Elmet all count themselves heirs to Locrys. The ruling city of of Locrys, was Ondres, south of Kingsboro on the River Westyl, then called Astyl.

Marnen-along with the Thads of Thanddens are the herding people whose home is in central Chyr. They are known for the great circuit they make through Chyr, the Sendic kingdoms and Solahn which takes around two and a half years. Famously, though they are brown and black and resemble (and have surely intermarried with) Royans, their origin is unknown save that the Thad and Marnen are related to each other. They seem to have appeared shortly after the end of the Second Creation, though there is no agreement as to their prior history.

The New Faith- (also called The Communion) the religion born from the teachings of the Ard. It is new in comparison to the religions it replaced or incorporated, but has dominated Westrial for eight hundred years. Also called The Kirk, also called The Assembly and/or The Assemblies.

North Hale- see Hale.

The Book of Oloreth- a love poem, and the most ancient of the Royan poems dating, in fact, from the ancient land of Hur from which Osse and the first Royan came.

Ossar-the landmass incorporating the Royan kingdoms, the Sendic kingdoms, and Solahn, named for Osse, the legendary father of the Royans.

Remulans (Sincercians)- are a people combined of two (or three) races, the Remulans of the Isle of Cyra, the Achaens who are identified as Sinercians because they and the Rufanians came together in the Sinercian Peninsula to make the City States from which sprang the empire. The people of Armor and Sussail are in part descended from them as are many old families in Westrial and Rheged. Their first king was the legendary Remus and their capital was Remane. The modern calendar marks itself from the beginning of their empire seventeen centuries ago. The Imperium began in the Merid Sea, Southeast of Ossar, and incorporated the whole of that sea and its coastlands and extended into modern Ossar, Solahn, Daumany and Armor, holding power for nearly five hundred years. They subsumed the many small kingdoms Locrys had devolved into, but were unable to take Chyr and the more ancient and powerful Royan lands of Cambria, so ended up making a peace with them. The Sinercians and Remulans, before the days of the empire, had already populated the land of Solahn and mixed with the native population founding a royal house, and many people from Solahn and from the chief Remulan isle of Cyra would colonize what would become the Kingdom of Armor after the Devolution of the Imperium around the late 400’s. Other lands born from the the empire lie on the southern mainland and are Borgund, Allataye, Sephara and the Sinercian City States themselves from which the Ard came and where the New Faith was founded.

When the Sinercian Imperium began to fold, though most of Ossar was left to its own devices, the southern part of it was still heavily populated by Armorians and Remulans, thus Sussail, though a Sendic Kingdom, is often thought of as more Armorian in culture, and the people of Southern Westrial are very often of Sinercian, Armorian, or Solahni stock, being olive or copper complexioned, dark or grey eyed and dark of hair. and are related to the Royan who ruled much of the western world including Ossar for millennia before the Empire and continue to do so to this day. Matteo Vallarti and Quinton Allaveros are both Remulan in descent.

Rheged- Royan kingdom north of Chyr and east of Inglad, Hale and Westrial.

The Rootless Isle- the revolving island of enchantresses and enchanters south of Westrial, currently ruled by the Lady Nimerly, birthplace of Ohean Pennanyn.

Royan- the descendants of Osse who lived in Ossar long before the coming of the Sendics at least fifteen centuries before the Imperium. Their oldest lands were in the Western Sea, and the Royan share kinship with the people of the Far South and Chem as well as the Remulans. They now live chiefly in the west, though most people in the Ayl kingdoms and not some few in the Hale lands have Royan blood. Royans are known for being darker than Sendics and gifted with magic but being composed of three main peoples, they differ more from each other than do Sendics.

Sendic- the term the Royan use for the Domans, the Daumans, the Hale and the Ayl collectively. As mercenaries and then later raiders they came from the northlands over a thousand years ago and now inhabit the East Country and the North Country. The lands of the Hale and the Ayl are referred to as Sussany or Sussainy.

Westrial- the kingdom founded by Eoga the Sendic when he wed himself to the last Princess of Ankar. It is considered the hub of all the kingdoms of old Locrys, and the Kings of Westrial were, until the time of Edmund the Atheling, considered first among equals of the Ayl in the South.

Zahem- a primarily desert territory southwest of Westrial over the Siral Mountains, north of Solahn. It is primarily dominated by the ethno-religious group who follow the teachings of Joses Zahem.

The Royan Gods

The Royans have no orthodoxy, but a variety of holy books, sects, theologies and practices which have risen from each other and blended back together over a period of at least six thousand years. In Westrial, their religion is reflected in the Blue Temple dedicated to Adaon, the Red Temple dedicated to Amana and Nesephone and the Green Temple, but Royan cosmology and Royan gods are far more complex than that.

Addiwak- Goddess of Heaven and of the Rains. She is also Goddess of the Seasons, seen as the sister of Amana, she is the chief Goddess of Chyr. With Amana and Varayan she is part of the Triad. Like Addiwak her chief aspect is compassion though she is sought out as a goddess of science, music and scholarship where Amana is sought out as Goddess of intuition. Another name for her is Ulamé.

Adaon, Annatar, Varayan- the High One, each of his names indicate a different devotion and possible incarnation. Adaon is the Shepherd and Lover revered by the Blue Priesthood while Annatar and Varayan are the crafty magician and teacher revered by the orders of mages and scholars. All forms of him are Varayan as the Beloved One and the Black One and Lord over all. He and his sisters are the only Old Gods who make it into the New Faith, there envisioned as the Triad, and the Ard is seen by the New Faith as God and the Old Ones as an incarnation of him. To the Blue Order, the most recent incarnation of Varayan is Ohean Pennanyn.

Aiuryn is the Goddess of the Abyss. There is some debate over who her children are, the Three Brothers. Amana and Addiwak counted among them. She is absolutely not the mother of Varayan or of Tethys, both being called her fosterchildren, or her neice and nephew.

Amana- Goddess of the Earth and especially the Mountains. She is personified as big boned, full breasted with long coiling hair and wide apart eyes. Her chief place of worship is the Rootless Isle Ylen Amsahar, her chief priestesses of the Amsahar, though all the women of the Rootless Isle are not her priestesses.

Arddu- Death, or the psychopomp leading souls to the land of the dead, may be Varayan or may be Ostos. Some believe Arddu is only a title.

Erkovan and Eskovan- The Sky Twins, creators of the universe and lovers of Varayan in the mythos of the Blue Temple. See Vayu.

Nesephone- Queen of the Land of the Dead, the Springtime and the Sleeping Earth, daughter of Amana though some think she and Amana are the same. Goddess of Change and Rebirth.

Olea- (Alliyah) Goddess of the Heavens and Queen of the Kokaubeam.

Ostos- God of the World of the Dead.

Osumari- God of the Rainbow

Tethys- Goddess of the Waters, especially the deep sea. Her sign is the Whale. She is prayed to by all Solahni sailors and revered by the people of the Spice and Spiral Isles. Her daughter is the Oceanid Doris and the Vomor Vykast. Among her granddaughters are the Nereids, and her great grandchildren are the Merfolk. She is invoked in trances and prophecy, being identified with depth and flow.

Varayan- the all Encompassing One. He is identified with the World Serpent, though he is thought not to simply encompass the universe, but pervade all of it and keep it moving. His color is blue and he is foremost revered by the mages of the Hidden Tower. His chief temples are in Rheged though the New Faith identified him, or his incarnation as the Ard, with their God.

Vayu- sometimes called Vayu-Varayan, he is the God of the Great Overarching Sky, lord of storms and considered to be both the lover of Varayan and consort of Addiwak. In iconography he is like unto Varayan, being young and blue with black hair and broad shoulders. The distinction between himself and Varayan is that Lord Varayan bears a flute while Vayu bears a lightning bolt. Vayu and his brothers are considered to be the fosterchildren of Amana. Sometimes Vayu and Varayan are substituted by Erkovan and Eskovan.

Xbalanque- the Serpent of the Sun, revered by the Tribes of Southern Westrial, Sussail, and Zahem and exalted in Solahni temples, Xbalanque is the God of the Sun and all fire, and the younger brother of Vayu. In the Royan lands he is also called Bel or Belmarine.

Xocalotl- Xbalanque’s twin, the youngest of the Three Brothers, also called the Black and White One. He is God of the Night, and of the Moon, and when paired with Varayan, God of Sexual, especially Homosexual Lust. He is equated with Adaon. His proper offering is chocolate, which is named for him. His semen in the Milky Way.

[1] Freawine was Fridgar’s younger brother who took for himself what is now Sussail, contesting and eventually succeeding his brother.

[2] There was a two year interregnum before Duncan solidified his power in the old Remulan city of Ondres

[3] Known as Cerdic the Great, married a princess of the Sanach Sendics, binding himself to those people and solidifying his reign.

[4] Athelstan marries the Royan princess Elhane beginning the policy of mixing his line with the old lines of the Royan instead of fighting or ignoring him. He also creates the double kingship, crowning his heir in his lifetime so that his son, Cealwin, already crowned, simply takes over at his death, throne uncontested. To religious history is also the first king crowned with the traditional rite by the Archbishops.

[5] Anthal marries Princess Ynark of Rheged creating a policy of joining his house not only to the old Royan families of the Midlands, but to the great royal houses of the West Country. Anthal, sometimes called The Great, moves his capital ot Kingsboro, sometimes called Caelboro or Caelbara.

[6] Cynegils is the king who brings the Black Monks into Westrial at the request of his Rheged bride, Taharma.

[7] Cwichelm is the last king of pan Westrial, the lands which include, Senach, Essail and Westrial. Under his son, the northern Sendics secede, wanting less mixing with the Royan and to keep the old religion. They also wish to ally themselves with the newly arrived Hale. They fight for fifteen years, and in the end, at the Compact of Londres agree to be ruled by Cwichelm’s nephew, EOSA, the grandson of Cynegils, thus the House of Harthesk (Son of Eoga) is born, ruling Essail and what will be Senach.

[8] Gillem, the last king of House Eoga, dies without issue, but has familiar ties to the House of Senach, and the Dauman royal line, thus initiated the Doman Conquest.

[9] He marries a princess of Essail to strengthen one claim and marries his daughter to the king of the newly formed kingdom of Senach. He reigns fifty-five years.

[10] Sigebercht dies at a very old age leaving the throne to his nine year old grandson Cynewulf. Cynewulf, extremely unable, is deposed by his first cousin, Sion who becomes Beorthic, founding The House of Endic.

[11] Comes to the throne as an infant and is eventually found to bed mad. His cousin rules first as regent, and then kills him, marries his widow and takes the throne. Eventually he attempts to kill her children by him to see his heirs inherit.

[12] Harold’s nephew murders him and marries Egbert’s daughter, Ethane, continuing a civil war which. Edward is killed at the Battle of Cosro while fighting against his brother Tosta and the Essail allies. There is a time when there is no king in Westrial until the widowed Prince Ethane, daughter of Queen Ethane and King Edward agrees to marry the war leader Aethelwulf, a member of House Hale and a descendant of

[13] Aethelyn means The Pure and Royal House. Aethelwulf marries Princess Ethane the Second and as the daughter of a king she and her heirs have a right to the throne of Kingsboro, but that king was a traitor. It is the lines of Aethewulf’s father, Aethelgetta, who is descended from the Kings of Westrial through the House of Hale and the House of Essail that are Aethelwulf’s one claim. His other claim is through his mother, Vetetegia, who is a princess of Elmet on one side and descended from the princes of the Old Westlands on the other.