The Ysians - a compendium

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Geoff
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The Ysians - a compendium

Postby Geoff » Wed Jun 06, 2018 8:42 pm

The degenerates of Ys, wholly damned by that decadent city and their Queen Euryalia, who is and yet is not the Horned God upon the earth; the treacherous Drunes of Kernow, kinslayers and betrayers, stubbornly holding to their brooding fortresses even as the rest of Prytain suffers; the remnants of Merovech's sons, led by the do-nothing king who would bow and scrape to Ys rather than lose what little of his power remains. These, then, are the most obvious servants of Kernunnos, Ysians as they call themselves, depraved and savage, cruel and heartless, unpredictable malefactors that have succumbed to their basest desires and to whom the world is theirs to do with as they please, for their God through Euryalia has told them so. For the Ysians, the only will that matters is their own.

The Drunes of Kernow and Breten Vyhan are collectively called Ker-Ysians, followers of Kernunnos in Ys, the subjects of the Horned God in the form of Euryalia, the exalted Queen of that decadent city. It is through Euryalia's work that the Ker-Ysians survive and it through Euryalia's strength that Kernow and Breten Vyhan, two realms separated and joined by the sea, can defend themselves against their aggressors. Kernow bears the brunt of the sea-borne raids of the Érainn and the Fomoraic, and the Norse and the Atalantes, and of course the brutality of the Seaxna and the Jutes: and Breten Vyhan must defend itself against the growing threat of the Byzantii and the revolts of the Franks and the insidious nature of the Vras. Without each other's strength, the Kernewek and the Bretened, the Ker-Ysians, would not survive in a world that only wishes their destruction.

"The Ysians are the remains of the Cornish and the Bretons that were sundered from their cousins, the Brythoniaid, by the Saxon invaders. Promised their ancient land by the Horned God, Kernunnos, they became Drunes, depraved and animalistic; no practice was forbidden, no though too insane, and as the Ysians devolved into nothing more than beasts in human form Kernunnos gifted his followers all they could ask for - strength, skill, arcane knowledge and beastliness.

Combat is the forte of the Ysians, and they can also field excellent ranged units and powerful corruptive sorcery. Their monstrous beasts are mostly feral and ferocious, which means little in the way of tactics is needed - simply put them into the path of the enemy at the right time and they will devour them; and their humans are highly skilled and strong. Their major vulnerability is their lack of armour, for few Ysians wear it, and their lack of subtlety.

The Ysians can corrupt enemy warriors with disease and decay and field ferocious, esoteric beasts found in no other kindred. Their Flesh-Smiths can even create disgusting constructs on the battlefield from the body parts of the dead, but more than anything else their depravity and ability to disgust is their uniqueness."

- The lands of darkness.


Warlords

Euryalia, Queen of Ker-Ys


Euryalia has ruled Ker-Ys since that fell city was first built. She has been its Queen since the first stone was laid, the first glyph struck, the first wards spun, and she will be its Queen until the end of the world, for her aspirations to godhood, her desire to become a living, breathing goddess that none can withstand have attained a reality none had countenanced and all now fear. Euryalia’s ascension from human to something much more, a path that began in the shadow of death, became ever more ambitious, ever more purposeful; forbidden lore, proscribed texts were studied, forgotten rituals were conducted with all manner of beast and man, ignoble sacrifices were made in the name of the most loathsome of gods until Ker-Ys itself shook to intolerable birth-howls that lasted for a year and a day and consumed a thousand souls. Now, for her, there are no limits or boundaries, no fates to bow and scrape to, no deities to appease or supplicate, for Euryalia is herself a goddess, of sin and depravity maybe but a goddess nonetheless, a goddess that will enforce the degenerate truths of her city upon the kingdoms of man.

Carrowek of Carn Dhu

Carn Dhu, the black fortress at the heart of Kernow's betrayal, skulks on an impregnable promontory of granite that dominates the coast and the lands around it and not least because of its lord, the brutal Carrowek, who serves Kernunnos as only the Kernowek can. A War-Drune of grotesque proportion so blessed by his god for his unblinking servitude and unthinking ferocity and beloved of Euryalia for his unswerving loyalty, Carrowek controls great swathes of his lands and influences much more through simple reputation and the power of his retinue, for he commands Ax-Drunes and Sword-Drunes and Chain-Drunes in numbers no other lord of Kernow ever could: yet the fear he inspires in the Seaxans and the Norse and indeed any who would dare to prick the realm of Ker-Ys whilst he lives ensures he is ever abroad with his mighty host, seeking to quench his ravenous thirst for battle and blood and slaughter in the Horned God's name.

Warchiefs

The Rose of Ker-Ys, Witchling

In the darkness that is Ker-Ys there are beings that none would wish to encounter, creatures that crawl and beasts that slither, abhorrent monsters of dark thought and darker intent, but to many the sheer depravity of man is the foullest - or, indeed, most enthralling - aspect of that fell city. The Rose of Ker-Ys is a pure embodiment of that perversion, a seductress with little regard for the wants or lives of others, a witchling whose only purpose is to fulfil her desires whatever form they take and with whatever subject they require - man, woman or beast. Her devotees and supplicants are legion both inside and outside of Ker-Ys and her power grows with every soul that falls under her spell, for each seduction she effects is magik of a kind, a puppeteer's dance that serves to feed her debased virtue and from which few escape from with a sound mind.

Ulric the Defiler, Autonomor

Ulric the Defiler's life is consumed by death and the act of delivering it to others, an existence of blood and pain, of little mercy and no remorse. His ax is a metronomic killer of uncommon sharpness, some say magickal, some say a part of Ulric himself, for he wields it as if it were born to him; and still others believe it is the ax that controls Ulric, that it is possessed, for how could a man of letters wield such a weapon so fearsomely, so wickedly? The answer is that Ulric is an autonomor, a Warrior of death who - through seduction and sacrifice - has become a devotee of the Rose herself, a man for whom nothing matters but her will, for her next kill, her next bloodbath, a man who has forgotten his previous life and calling for a sliver of her affection. Such is the fate of those that fall for her debased enchantments, regardless of their origins, for whatever they were beforehand the Rose knows they will do her will afterward, no matter the form of that will.

Sairen Rose, Death-Melusine

In the darkness that is Ker-Ys there are beings that none would wish to encounter, creatures that crawl and beasts that slither, abhorrent monsters of dark thought and darker intent, but to many the sheer depravity of man is the foullest - or, indeed, most enthralling - aspect of that fell city. The Rose of Ker-Ys is a pure embodiment of that perversion, a seductress with little regard for the wants or lives of others, a witchling whose only purpose is to fulfil her desires whatever form they take and with whatever subject they require - man, woman or beast. Her devotees and supplicants are legion both inside and outside of Ker-Ys and her power grows with every soul that falls under her spell, for each seduction she effects is magik of a kind, a puppeteer's dance that serves to feed her debased virtue and from which few escape from with a sound mind.

Annik of Carn Wrach, Battle-Drune

Annik is a Battle-Drune of Wrach, a cruel, feared beauty of Kernow steeped in the depravity for which her kin are renowned.

Mawdred of Carn Dhu

Built by forgotten hands in a forgotten time, Carn Dhu is yet a testament to the power and skill of the Romanii as was, for no true Brython could work stone nor live within stone walls until the earth mother Dôn was usurped by the cross. Now, Carn Dhu and the other fortresses of black granite within Kernow house the servants of Kernunnos, an irony not lost on the Kernowek, but none serve the Horned God as eagerly nor as assiduously as Mawdred. For he is the An-Kern-Drune that wears the skull and the horn, that bears the banner and the antler, that displays for all to see that Kernunnos is with the children of Kernow; and to be the An-Kern-Drune is to have power of a kind even over the war-drunes and the battle-drunes and the seer-drunes, for only Kernunnos himself could alter Mawdred's path.

Kernuor, Seer-Drune

The Drunes of Ker-Ys fear nothing but the vengeance of their wrathful goddess, but that does not reduce their desire for knowledge of what is, what has been and what may come to be. Thus it is that the Seer-Drunes are venerated by any who follow Kernunnos, for even the lowliest scryers or diviners have power to serve Ker-Ys, and Kernuor is one of the most valued of all. Once a simple low-born peon of Kernow, he now rubs shoulders with those of Carn Dhu and Ys itself rather than the pigs and aurochs he once herded, when he first realised he saw things differently to others and in turn those around him knew his true worth. For Kernuor takes the mortality found within still-beating hearts and sees the threads of life spinning through eternity around him; waxing and waning as the seasons do; finding answers to the questions his lords and masters ask of him and lending strength to those they lead. He is held in awe by most, for with one breath he can bring the mighty low and make the weak strong, but it is the power he wields over the mortality of his enemies that ensures he is always at the forefront of battle.

Infantry

Kernsa, Sword-Melusine Mother

Kernsa is the embodiment of the Sword-Melusine. Secretive and voluptuous, lithe and martial, disconcerting and desirable, Kernsa has proved one of the most able of Euryalia's daughters, perhaps even the most able, to have lifted a sword in her name: for no blade has ever touched her skin and no foe has failed to fall under her bewitching song. Thus it is that she has become a Mother, a leader of the Melusines, a flawless swordswoman who is utterly devoted to her Queen, for she had been selected to walk the path of the Melusine at the most impressionable of ages. She has never wavered from that path, for in her lies a heart that beats for Euryalia alone, a belief in her Queen that encompasses all else in her life. It is even said that Kernsa's origins lie with Euryalia, such is her devotion, but none would ever dare to broach such a question. Indeed, few dare to even speak to her, for simply hearing her speak is bewitching: but in battle, when the lust falls upon her and unbroken enemies are abroad, her keening song and distracting beauty are matched only by the skill of her sword-work and the fury with which she administers it.

Tecass, Sword-Melusine Gigh

The essence of the Melusines and their Queen is readily discerned when Tecass brandishes her Gigh and plants it in the earth before her, marking the field for Euryalia. It displays in obvious terms both the warped temper of the Ysians and the ugly truth of their desires, for not only is it a symbol of the lust that the Melusines personify and inevitably fulfil for themselves it is also a direct insult to perhaps Euryalia's most implacable enemy: nature herself. In the north and the west, where the Earth Goddess is most revered, the Sighle na gCíoch is both a warning and a promise, for Danu knows that lust and desire have their place, just as the crone and the maiden have their place: but Euryalia's appetites have no limits, and so the Melusines display - through Tecass and others like her - their wicked temptations and their beguiling nature without the balance Danu brings upon the Gigh for all to see and desire.

Esyld, Sword-Melusine Siren

Amongst the Sword-Melusines there are those whose keening songs are even more irresistible than most, almost amusingly so, for to see the dumb expressions on their victim's faces as they are enchanted is virtually as dangerous as experiencing it. Esyld's songs are perhaps the most irresistible of all, but it is not her song that makes her so dangerous; it is the shrieking power that can be heard (some would say endured) in her voice, a howling wail that can burst minds and shatter consciousness. In battle it is unleashed at the very height of the clash, directed at the strongest enemies arrayed against Euryalia's army, and is so powerful men simply drop to their knees, horses bolt with or without their riders and beasts rage at the sky, unable to comprehend what is happening and unable to control their limbs effectively. Truly it can be said of Esyld that, even without her sword-training and martial skill, both of which are the equal of her sisters, she is a killer.

Alianne, Sword-Melusine

The path of the Melusine is a long and bloody one with the only reward a glorious death under the eyes of Euryalia. Until that death occurs, Alianne will travel along that path to seek that reward, dispatching the enemies of her Queen and goddess until she meets the foe that she craves, the foe that can avoid her flashing blade and discount her siren call: for the Melusines are not only taught the wiles of battle. Their martial skills may be legendary but such skills are merely to be respected, whilst their keening cries and distracting nature can turn the eyes and dumb the brain such that foes simply cannot lay their weapons upon them, even if they wished to. Indeed, it is rare that Alianne's blade - forged and given to her by Euryalia herself, like all those of the Sword-Melusines - strikes an enemy before they are struck by her beauty or her voice: for even the beasts and creatures of the world, let alone men with their base desires and baser instincts, cannot resist the song of the Melusine.

Ygerna, Sword-Melusine

The secrets of the Melusines are Euryalia's alone, for their loyalty to their Queen and Goddess is total. Their legends, however, are many and varied, confused with the Sairens and the Merewives and the Nix, and they have become objects of lust for many foolish men and women despite their thirst and their actions; and thus their origins and true nature remain lost to all but a few, as Euryalia designed. Ygerna's desires, however, are rapidly bringing the truth of the Melusines to Euryalia's black city, for her rapacious nature is overcoming her disciplines, and whilst Euryalia knows that her black city is but an arena of depravity to be used as she sees fit there are still ways for her many enemies to negate the power within it, including knowledge and understanding of its citizens through spies and sell-swords. Thus, they say, Ygerna treads a fine line between usefulness and inconvenience, for the attentions of the foolish Eastern Emperor and the coastal raiders are ever upon her and Ker-Ys, and whilst Ygerna's skills are prodigious she must sate her desires upon the battlefield rather than patricians.

Arthyen of Carn Maen, An-Ax-Drune

There are many Ax-Drunes of Kernunnos, muscled killers in closed helms of iron and horn that reside in Kernow and Ys, but those of Carn Maen are particularly suited to the savage, brutal life amongst Carrowek's armies. Raised - as Arthyen was - within Carn Maen upon the westernmost part of the mainland and exposed to the unforgiving, savage seas and gales around that wicked coast, the Ax-Drunes from that fortress are almost a breed apart from the Kernowek, let alone other humans. Tough and uncompromising, wicked and ruthless, Arthyen epitomises such Warriors for he is one of their champions: a slab-muscled, cold-hearted murderer who thinks nothing of slaughtering man, woman or child. If the Horned God wills Arthyen and those of Carn Maen follow, however base the task, for Kernunnos will not be denied.

Branok of Carn Maen, Bann-Ax-Drune

Branok serves Carn Maen, the place of his birth, as a true son of the Horned God should for his heart is cold and his will is strong. He wears a helm of steel and horn, meaning he is a Drune of Kernow; he wields an ax of nicked steel, meaning he has dispatched many to meet their fathers outside of this life; he carries a banner of Carn Maen into battle, meaning he is favoured by Kernunnos and will be even after he is taken by the earth. Thus, at least to those that pay attention to such things, it can be seen that Branok's destiny is a great one and whilst he is yet an Ax-Drune the natural order of things ensures that Carn Maen will one day be his to command.

Canan of Carn Maen, Kern-Ax-Drune

It is through the horns of heralds such as Canan that the Ax-Drunes of Carn Maen are brought to battle, and they are blown to both proclaim the intent of their commanders and to dismay the enemies arrayed against them; for the horns of Kernunnos are old and resonant and their voice speaks to the bowels of the earth itself, to root and stone and soil. Canan and other heralds do not talk of such things, but many sons of Kernow believe that to hear no horns blaring ensures the day will be harder fought than they would like.

Talan of Carn Maen, Ax-Drune

Talan is but one of many of the Ax-Drunes of Carn Maen and Kernow, Warriors of muscled, bared chests and broken-backed axes, of horn-helms and hound-cloaks, cold-hearted killers of man, woman and child who slaughter both for their drune-lords' will and for their god Kernunnos. For Kernunnos demands blood and death and murder, the better to soak the earth and to wither it, to turn the wheels of life and generate the new from the old; and whilst Talan may know nothing of the grand designs of gods, he and those like him take part in them nonetheless.

Morcum of Carn Dinas, An-Bow-Drune

The fortress of Carn Dinas yields many Kernowek for battle and Morcum is one of them. Bound to the drunes of war when still a youth, toughened through long years of service and slaughter with bow and dagger, his fate is entwined with that of Ker-Ys for he now leads others from his teeming city just as he was himself led. A champion, then, a leader of other drunes, his bow favoured from use and tempered to instinct, Morcum is both teacher and example to the bow-drunes he leads and their direct contact with the powers that drive him.

Kenan of Carn Dinas, Bow-Drune

A weather-beaten, scarred denizen of land-locked Carn Dinas, Kenan has been a bow-drune for almost as long as he can remember, and so his back is strong and his eyes are keen, although the rain of arrows made by the bow-drunes ensure precise aiming is rarely needed. Even so, the bow-drunes of Carn Dinas belove accuracy above all else, and it is pride that drives their practice, that pushes them to shoot on every day that they are not in battle; but it is lust and anger that drives their and Kenan's daggers into the hearts of their enemies should they have the opportunity.

Gwilherm of Ys, An-Goad-Drune

What drives the beast-masters of Ys to their calling, to a path which - more often than not - leads to a horrifying death at the claws or the teeth or the horns of their charges? Few can honestly say, except to call their minds addled; and even Gwilherm of Ys, a master of other Goad-Drunes, professes not to know why he prefers dank pits and stinking cages to cobblestones and warmth and the company of women. Perhaps it is the other part of his service, the part where Chimaeras and Brutes and Aberrants are unleashed upon the enemies of his queen, where flesh is torn, limbs are rended and the rampaging terrors of Ys can be goaded into even greater feats of slaughter by the simple crack of his whip. Perhaps, some say in admiration, Gwilherm is as bloodthirsty as the beasts he cages.

Judoc of Carn Lann, Goad-Drune

To be a Goad-Drune is to be mad, many say; better to face a beast in battle than to goad one to a battle, but Judoc knows that those who claim such things do not know which end of a sword to hold, even if they had the will to do so. Regardless, he recognises the folly of his work, not least because of what he has seen over his long years of servitude; but he is older and wiser than most, he has survived many battles and goaded many horrific creatures to them, and thus to him being a goad-drune is simply a means to an end, a way to pick over the spoils and thus to drink away the night afterward.

Monstrous Infantry

Gulguta, Kill-Brute


Amongst the Brutes of Ker-Ys there are many grotesque aberrations that have simply mutated too far or are too stupid to be of use in any capacity other than food, but equally there are those Brutes of Ker-Ys that have mutated almost exactly as their fleshsmith had intended and became as brutal and as ferocious as they designed them to be. It is those Brutes that are the most feared in battle, and Gulguta should indeed be feared for his his intelligence remains and his strength is matched only by his unbound fury. He is a Kill-Brute as all Brutes are conceived to be - both brutal yet willing to serve his masters - and the other Brutes around him follow his lead, as if they recognise Gulguta as an unyielding avatar of themselves, and so it became that the Beastmasters, when a Kill-Brute such as Gulguta was upon the field, found they needed only to keep one eye on their charges: for as the Kill-Brutes evinced before him, Gulguta needs no whip at his back to rouse his battle-fury nor to urge his aberrant kin to vent their own pain and anger upon the enemies of the Ysians.

Lugung, Scythe-Brute

Even amongst the singular monstrosities of the Ysians, the Brutes are something to behold. Experiments of flesh and metal, of muscles grown and bones riveted, each Brute is a unique study of a particular fleshsmith's craft, an identifiable expression of their depraved mindset, but Lugung could well be stated to be the most crazed of all, a deformed Scythe-Brute driven to frenzy by the constant agony of his alterations and his uncured lameness, for Lugung was taken from the streets of Par-Ys a beggar, a cripple and a forgotten man, eager for the vittals proffered to him and unconcerned as to where it came from, so far had he sank. Thus ensnared, he became a ghoul of sorts, an eater of his fellow man as well as the flesh of almost anything to hand, the better to propel him into insanity and become a benumbed subject of the fleshsmith's foul undertakings. Yet even the growth and power mutations enforced upon him could not cure the lameness he had since birth, so bad are they, but the Ysians care not: they goad him to battle regardless, promise him the flesh of anything he kills, and a killer Lugung most certainly has become.

Uggurd, Falx-Brute

Each and every Brute is a singular, inhuman example of the strange form of madness that lies within the minds of the Ysian Fleshsmiths, a madness seemingly unbound by nature herself, and Uggurd is no exception to the rest of his bastard kin. Born merely a human yet wrought into something both greater and lesser through a complex process of growth and seed and meld, Uggurd's capacities have become limited to little more than a living weapon, for whilst the agony of his changes has destroyed his mind and killed all emotion, the creature he has joined has given him the speed and ferocity - as well as the scaled, flaking skin - of a monitor-creature, a lizard-thing that even his creators can say nothing of. With his mutation, a little armour, battered maybe but still useful, and a terrible sickle-sword, a falx-blade of immense length, are enough for Uggurd to have become noted and feared upon the field by both his allies and his foes, enough for him to have become a vital part of a marauding host that may yet be limited in number but is still a force to be dreaded.

Muldo, Spike-Brute

Muldo's origins are lost to both himself and the Ysian fleshsmith that created him many years ago, but the agony of his transformation from human to brute can be seen readily amongst the growths and tumours upon his back and the fury he displays upon the battlefield. A living weapon, a vat-grown slab of muscle and anger and terrible ferocity, Muldo is a mighty force in war, able to shrug off the most grievous of wounds before slaughtering his enemies with the bone-spikes that protrude from his forearms in grotesque fashion. Too dangerous to even keep shackled or chained, Muldo is carried to war in a cage and fed scraps along the way, along with the other beasts and vermin the Ysians unleash upon their foes, and released as if some hound of battle: on occasion, if under-fed or over-provoked, he will attack the nearest flesh that he can smell, but even should that happen Muldo will always find his way to the enemy battle-line, to wreak ruination and havoc and to scatter those unfortunate enough to be in his path.

Nung, Horn-Brute

A nightmarish Brute of horn and bone and muscle, an emphatic answer to the question of whether the Ysian fleshsmiths are as insane as many believe, Nung is a living hulk of meat goaded into battle by his masters. Once human, once sane, the depraved acts performed upon Nung's body has deformed both his form and his nature, to the point where the agony of his transformations and the raging fury within dominates all else; and in brutal combat, the smell of blood and gore drives him to ever greater feats of strength and endurance, his crazed mind ignoring the blows of the feeble blades and claws laid upon him, for the destiny of Nung's foes is obliteration under the crushing force of his mighty stone mattock and the healing brought through digesting their bodies.

Monstrous Beasts

Ungefelic, Mantichora

Even the Byzantii could not control Ungefelic, as wild and frenzied a beast as there could ever be, in their Auxilia Bestiarii; or so taunt the Ysians, for a beast renowned for its feral insanity could only ever be brought to war by a race that is equally insane. Indeed, once the Byzantii tried and failed to tame a beast that could not be tamed, the Ysian Fleshmasters took great satisfaction in capturing and turning a Mantichora of Byzantia upon Byzantia's own legionaries, an irony not lost upon the Emperor and another mark of vengeance yet to be fulfilled against the usurpers of Gaul, if he needed more, for Ungefelic has sent many of Byzantia to a grisly end. Thus, the tales of Ungefelic's terrifying wrath and unimaginable ferocity have now spread beyond Byzantia to the furthest corners of the known world, and whoever faces the rag-tag hosts of Ker-Ys will know they must find a way to best this fearsome creature of legend, this barbarous killer that feels no pain nor mercy, to gain victory; for, goaded to a berserk rage by the Fleshmasters that deny it flesh, the better to take the flesh of their enemies, Ungefelic is an almost elemental force that few can stand against.

The Terror of Fortriu, Chimaera

The cold mountains of Fortriu, in the far north where ice and snow hold sway, was the domain of a horror that none dare speak of lest it hear their words and descend upon them with all the fire and fury such foolishness deserves. A barbaric Chimaera of manticore and wyrm and goat, an unspeakable atrocity to nature and the order of things as they should be, the Terror of Fortriu’s true origins have been lost to the annals of Man and to the Gods themselves for millennia. Few mortals have seen the creature and lived. Fewer still have escaped its fire. All are marked by their ordeal until their own end, their spirit broken by a primeval force that demands their soul, for so marked, many return to the Terror’s fiery embrace, unwilling to live for a future where their dreams are torment and their reality anguish.

Conjuncts

Conjunct XIII, Vivicoct
The madness that lies within the minds of the Ysians, and in particular their physicians, can be readily seen in the bizarre form of Conjunct XIII. This grotesque vivicoct of krokod, wyrm, jötunn and an as-yet unknown creature has proved to be a savage, ignoble brute, capable of smashing shieldwalls apart by sheer force and destroying much larger enemies due simply to its ferocity. Such is Conjunct XIII's reputation, despite its obvious locomotive limitations, that few levies will stand upon sighting it and most shudder at facing such an unnatural creature, a wrong-beast that simply should not exist, something that the Ysians are exploiting further with more living concoctions, more insane creatures stitched together for use in their man-starved armies. These take many and extraordinary form, joined by methods abhorred by the sane to create beasts that crawl or walk or fly from the newly-dead or the living; for Conjunct XIII, by its very name, is but one of many, and although it is the most infamous of all the Ysian's vivicocts it is certainly not the only preternatural creature in their armoury.



Further entries: Kernowek, Kernunnos, Crom of Carn Wrach, Kerazek - Augur-Drune, Zethag of Carn Dhu - Harvest-Drune, Hedroc of Carn Maen, Jowan and Hounds of Carn Dhu - Hound-Master and Drune-Hounds Unit, Flesh-Scavengers - Flesh-Drune and Nithings Unit, Gondard of Karaez - Flesh-Drune, Ekk, Yrag, Bil, Beb, Pig-Bog, Spike-Gondard - Flesh-Drune, Brugg - Death Brute, Seza - Death Abhorrent, A lix of Carn Bran, Swords of Ys, Cassa - Sword-Melusine, Sylde - Sword-Melusine , Mawgan, Drano, Dinorg of Carn Maen - Ax-Drunes, Ennor, Piran, Tyack - Bow Drunes of Carn Dinas, Shadows of Carn Bran, Cador, Gawen, Massen, Kitto, Santoc - Shadow Drunes, Perig of Carn Wrach - Goad Drune, Gondard, Abhorrents of Ys -Gorz, Pokell, Gussug, Ingenga, Zunuz, Ruinous Abhorrents of Ys - Grozo, Kell, Rulguss, Genga, Zunur, Corruptors of Kraozon - Fuggug, Udo, Grung, Hounds of Carn Dhu -Biter, Snapper, Gouger, Akkaz - Hound Aberrant, Margedig - Carrowek's Drune-Horse, Ecca - Croms' Horse, Muloc - Kernuors' Karnun-Beast, Druc - Meat Hulk, Torku - Bone Aberrant, Conunct X - Vivicoct,

Locations:

Ys -

Carn Dhu - Built by forgotten hands in a forgotten time, Carn Dhu is yet a testament to the power and skill of the Romanii as was, for no true Brython could work stone nor live within stone walls until the earth mother Dôn was usurped by the cross. Now, Carn Dhu and the other fortresses of black granite within Kernow house the servants of Kernunnos -

Carn Wrach -

Carn Dinas - Land-locked.

Carn Maen - Carn Maen upon the westernmost part of the mainland and exposed to the unforgiving, savage seas and gales around that wicked coast.

Carn Lann -

Carn Bran -

Trivia

Ysian eye bindings: Ysians are not allowed to look upon their Queen, Euryalia, as She is always watching. They are trained from an early age to use their other senses in battle and their abilities are likely enhanced by sorcery and/or flesh-crafting.
Last edited by Geoff on Fri Jun 08, 2018 9:51 am, edited 17 times in total.
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Geoff
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Re: The Ysians

Postby Geoff » Wed Jun 06, 2018 9:11 pm

As further Ysian lore comes to light I will add it to the compendium. If I've missed owt, let me know below, cheers.
cornishlee
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Re: The Ysians - a compendium

Postby cornishlee » Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:24 am

Thanks for this, Geoff.

Although I'm slightly worried by Rob's view of the Cornish. A stag night in Newquay gone horribly wrong?
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Re: The Ysians - a compendium

Postby Rob Lane » Thu Jan 24, 2019 10:48 am

cornishlee wrote:Thanks for this, Geoff.

Although I'm slightly worried by Rob's view of the Cornish. A stag night in Newquay gone horribly wrong?


It's all to do with the word Kernow... it all flows from there... Kern is an old Cornish / Breton word for horn, you see... hence Kernunnos the Horned God, Ker-Ys, etc. etc. and all the horny things...

Take heart that Ys is not part of Kernow!

Cheers
Rob
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Re: The Ysians - a compendium

Postby cornishlee » Thu Jan 24, 2019 4:27 pm

Rob Lane wrote:
cornishlee wrote:Thanks for this, Geoff.

Although I'm slightly worried by Rob's view of the Cornish. A stag night in Newquay gone horribly wrong?


It's all to do with the word Kernow... it all flows from there... Kern is an old Cornish / Breton word for horn, you see... hence Kernunnos the Horned God, Ker-Ys, etc. etc. and all the horny things...

Take heart that Ys is not part of Kernow!

Cheers
Rob


Yep, I'm familiar with that etymological theory and I figured that was what you were basing it on. Actually, I've always been a big fan of Slaine, so I do think the drune thing is kind of cool.
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Re: The Ysians - a compendium

Postby Tiern Gwitreg » Sun Mar 24, 2019 12:55 pm

Ys is actually a famous legend of a sunken city in Breton folklore, and closely intertwined into the hagiography of Saint Gwénolé, founder and abbot of Landévennec at the beginning of the 6th century. Long story short, Ker-Ys was a christian city built close to Douarnenez (Bro-kerne in southwestern Britanny, although some versions place it near Kemper), whose king, Gradlon, lived in luxury. When Saint Gwénolé came and chastised him about it, he repented, but his daughter Dahud/Euryalia, under impulsion by the Devil, seduced his father Gradlon and the Devil stole the keys to the barrage which kept the city afloat, opening the valves and sinking the city. In the ensuing chaos, the saint saved Gradlon, but threw back Dahud/Euryalia into the waves where she died. And so sunk the legendary city of Ker-Ys.

(Disclaimer : I'm by no means trying to influence or change the lore of the game, but merely giving it our world's historical and literary context :mrgreen: )
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Re: The Ysians - a compendium

Postby Rob Lane » Mon Mar 25, 2019 10:15 am

Paris was supposedly named after Ker-Ys... Par-Ys... and Metz, the onetime capital of the Merovingians (which was Mettis), fits perfectly as Met-Ys...

Sometimes I don't have to invent stuff...

Cheers
Rob
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Re: The Ysians - a compendium

Postby cornishlee » Wed Mar 27, 2019 9:39 am

I seem to remember there was quite a nice version of the Ker-Ys legend in one of the Bernard Cornwell Arthur books (though it's probably a quarter of a century since I read them, now).
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Re: The Ysians - a compendium

Postby antoine » Thu Mar 28, 2019 8:12 pm

Rob Lane wrote:Paris was supposedly named after Ker-Ys... Par-Ys... and Metz, the onetime capital of the Merovingians (which was Mettis), fits perfectly as Met-Ys...

Sometimes I don't have to invent stuff...

Cheers
Rob


In cornish/breton, Par-Ys means "like Ys", a linguistic connection that created in the imagination a link between the two cities, and gave for instance a proverb: "pa vo bezet Paris, ec'h adsao Ker Ys" (approximatively), meaning "when Paris will fall, Ys will rise again".
Darklands seems to make this old saying true: the Franks are down, and Ker-Ys became powerful!
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Re: The Ysians - a compendium

Postby Rob Lane » Fri Mar 29, 2019 9:17 am

Thanks for that Antoine, I appreciate that... it's funny, history and myth... the two are forever dancing with each other (just like Scott and Dayle)... yes you read that right. I've outed them!

Cheers
Rob
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Re: The Ysians - a compendium

Postby Brightblade » Fri Mar 29, 2019 10:02 am

Rob Lane wrote:Thanks for that Antoine, I appreciate that... it's funny, history and myth... the two are forever dancing with each other (just like Scott and Dayle)... yes you read that right. I've outed them!

Cheers
Rob


That's just a vicious rumour..... :lol:
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