Prydein

The Prydein are the oldest and most illustrious of the Painted Kingdoms; a nation of warrior-poets reduced to living as poachers and exiles. Rebellion is in their blood and speech.

Habitat
The Prydein's original homelands were the northern borders of what are today the Shield Marches, where the dense Oldgrowth forest gives out to rolling hills and open pastures. There they dwelled in wood and earth holdfasts until the Tiberians came and burned them out of their homes, putting them to flight, and raising stone forts in their place. Ever since then they have dwelled in remote glens and craggy strongholds.

Culture
They are perhaps most famous for their unpronounceable (and deeply poetic) language, the "High Speech", which has preserved much of their culture and history ever since the Battle of Many Arrows. The Speech is deliberately antiquarian and obscure, often cryptic, and spoken in iambic pentameter. There are often multiple layers of meaning in even in the simplest phrases. It was once the courtly speech of the High Kings and Princes (and the bards, when they performed for them). Woodwind instruments such as the flute and reedpipe are also popular. Poetry tends to be grouped into triads (groups of three) as mnemonic device; these riddles are often used as challenges and watchwords by sentries.

Traditionally as a rite of passage young men are sent out into the forest, naked but for their flannel cloaks and armed with only a hunting knife. They must carve their own longbow and poach their first deer alone, carrying it back to their village, and are not permitted any food during this ordeal.

Religion & Beliefs
The Prydein revered the High Speech and believed words held power over men - they could stoke desire or instill reason, sooth or wound, cow and inspire, and kept memories alive. Supposedly the Prydein deified the Pan, the horned gods of the woods, above the Elves for teaching them the beguiling power of speech. According to legend it was one of the horned gods who crowned a bard as the first High-King and taught him the High-Speech; this man then conquered the Marchers with word and sword.

They share many common beliefs with other Landsmen, namely respect for the wild and its many nameless spirits.

Society
Any man - legitimate or bastard - stood to inherit the throne when the High King passed, and primogeniture was often ignored as each Prince made his claim and was challenged by his brothers. Land was also divided equally among the Princes, regardless of their standing.The High King therefore ruled only by the consent of his peers, and was firstly a war leader and judge, but did not govern the land in any sense of the word beyond representing the Prydein in matters with other tribes. There has not been a High-King since the Tiberians first invaded (partly because each man whose crowned himself has ended up fighting the other claimants, making it suicide). Although many men style themselves as "Prince" a true Prince - trained in the arts of court and speech, the wild's mysteries, and skill at arms - is rare.

Among commoners there was a clear distinction between "Marchers" and "Prydein"; the Marchers were vassals and serfs bound to the land. Prydein also had nearly unlimited rights over these people (often stealing their women and cattle), an attitude that unfortunately is still common among modern day guerillas. Marchers were also forbidden from entering the Oldgrowth and "poaching" game (a situation that, ironically, is now reversed). A Prydein was considered a "bondsman" and owed undying lealty to his Prince and clan, but was otherwise a freeman. Becoming a Bard released a man from this bond and enjoyed unconditional protection and hospitality wherever he went.

History
The Prydein used to dominate the southern Landsmen in what are now the Shield Marches. They often demanded tribute from these herdsmen - usually cattle, or brides. When the Tiberians invaded the Prydein fought them valiantly, but could not hope to match their relentless discipline in the open, and were crushed. Their holdfasts were put to the torch and they fled into the woods, taking only what they could carry or pack onto a horse. The last High-King was slain, holding the rearguard in the Battle of Many Arrows (where he allegedly slew a dozen Legionnaires and was only cut down when he ran out of arrows; he had a dozen sons and twice as many daughters; his crowned head was put on a spike and its retrieval became the object of many famous, but ill-fated, quests). The Tiberians raised up the Marchers in their place, making them lords and vassals, and built stone forts along the borderlands. Pushed into the wilds the Prydein had to become guerillas, poachers, and thieves, stealing just to eat.

All they had left of their culture was their language, the High Speech, which the bards preserved in epic ballads and songs. They spoke it in defiance of Tiberium's "common tongue", which they despised as crude and barbaric. Normally the Tiberians were content to let their subjects keep their traditions and languages but the High Speech had become a (rather elaborate and passive) way to resist their rule, and wherever the Bards went they stirred up rebellion. This led to a famous bard having his tongue cut out, and the punishment was meted out to all rebels (even children) which outraged the Prydein into rising up again and beginning the War of the Lost Tongue (also known as the Second Rising).

A Tiberian Legion (led by the maternal grandfather of Ferax Princeps) was sent into the Oldgrowth to root them out, but quickly found itself exasperated. The Prydein would only fight on ground of their time and choosing, ambushing them before melting back into the shadows. All the while they were luring the Legionnaires deeper into the green gloom of the forest, and into its black heart. As they did Landsmen from every tribe and kingdom rallied to their cause (partly out of fear of Elvish retribution if they did not repel the invaders). When the Tiberians had begun to despair and were on the verge of mutiny - drawn out, their numbers dwindling by the day, and grasping blindly for an enemy they could not see - the Landsmen attacked them on both flanks with overwhelming numbers.

Only a single man left the forest, his eyes put out in payment for the lost tongue. From that day forth the Prydein and the Tiberians minded their new borders. The Ecumene named the territory where the Oldgrowth began as "Land's End", the edge of the known world and the farthest reach of their ambitions. Some survivors of the Last Battle were absorbed into the tribes (ironically Romanizing them somewhat). The Prydein, for their part, never truly recovered even after the Tiberians left the Marches, and their numbers have only continued to dwindle.

Recently a new Prince has begun to stir up the people, hoping to reclaim the Marches (who quarrel among themselves) and be crowned the first High-King in 300 years!

Description
Known for their lilting, singsong voices, Prydein are smaller than average and considered plain-looking and unexceptional, with light brown hair and hazel eyes being common. Hunters (who make up the bulk of the male population) wear mottled, flannel cloaks and paint their exposed skin to blend in with the forest.

Diet
Flat bread, boiled leeks/roots, mint, trout, herb & nettle tea, deer, small game; go vegetarian when fasting

Warfare
The Prydein have always favored guerilla tactics; the lightning raid, the ambush, etc. Perhaps their biggest advantage over other armies is that they can live off the land well, and always fight on ground of their own choosing. Many of the hunting techniques they've honed since childhood easily transition onto the battlefield (they stalk their enemies, sometimes for days on end, as if they were mere game). Unsurprisingly they're known as peerless archers, and at close quarters fall back on their long, wicked hunting knives (traditionally wielded as a matched pair, and perfectly balanced for throwing, these blades are also family heirlooms). They're also expert stave fighters (an art first perfected by travelling bards), such that in Marcher towns only old men and cripples are allowed walking sticks. For protection they wear light padded cloth, leather guards, and brigandine jacks, with camouflaged cloaks and warpaint to blend into the forest. Ironically, despite being so famous for their courtly speech, on the battlefield they're better known for their unnerving silence.

Bards, Rule, & Succession
Bards had uncommonly high standing among the Prydein, combining the roles of storyteller and court advisor. Queens and princesses regularly took bards as their lovers and their children could still inherit. Bards were often chief advisors to the High-Kings and Princes (who, on occasion, might even be their own sons!) and only they could tell their patrons the brutal, honest truth - even criticize them - without fear of reproach or punishment (though they might lose the court's esteem). In fact this was expected of them, lest the nobles grow too accustomed to flattery and honeyed words.

Becoming a bard was a rigorous journey and few men had what it took to make it; it required that they have perfect recollection and mastery of the Speech, customs, traditions, and oral history of their people (one misspoken word could ruin the entire delivery of a song or ballad). A hopeful apprentice needed to have a strong grasp of the High Speech, a quick wit, and a strong memory; often they were tested by a riddle-of-three, designed by their master. They were also homeless travelers (having to learn all the stories of their people, which were jealously guarded by different Princes), rarely lingering in one place for too long unless they had been invited to stay at court. A Bard would perform for any audience - be they High-Kings and Princes, common folk, or even the mountains and trees!

Today they are revered sages, though sadly there are as few true Bards as their are true Princes. They've helped preserve their people's identity by spreading the High Speech and are living repositories of knowledge.When they die they receive a King’s burial.

Legends
o The Last Battle & The Prince who rallied the Painted Kingdoms; was mortally wounded and was taken to the Elves who sealed his body in amber, letting his wounds slowly heal over the centuries. One day he will return to sing the last song of his people.

o Brer the Bard: the first (or most famous) of all Bards, Brer was a homeless traveler who would sing for the mountains and trees wherever he went, and always "followed his feet". One day his feet took him to the dark heart of the Oldgrowth - and the Root of the World. His voice is said to have woken a Dryad, who fell in love with him. Brer might have spent the rest of his life in that creature's arms, and it would have kept him much like a woman might keep a songbird, and wept bitterly even as he slew her with a little ax. He fashioned a lute, a bow, and a staff from her supple body. Each was made of extraordinary quality; the lute played better than any instrument, the bow shot further and truer than any other (and always found its mark), and the staff would take a traveler wherever he wished - taking the weight of his burdens, and choosing the best path.

o The Princely Wars: explains Prydein matters of succession

§ The Queen Who Loved a Bard

o The Battle of Many Arrows: One day Fawr Forkbeard, High-King of the Prydein, was approached by an emissary of the Tiberian Ecumene. The Ecumene was a distant, southerly empire, and it despised kings, but Fawr allowed the emissary to stay in his hall as a guest while his "bodyguard" (an entire Legion) remained camped outside the borders. The man, Consul Princeps, tried to convince him to submit to the Ecumene, trying to sway him with flattery, bribes, and finally threats. But he had little to bargain with and Fawr sent him back across the Marches. The next day the Tiberians attacked. Fawr had made preparations for this while he entertained the Consul for weeks with feasts and hunts and ballads; his Bards went out, gathering the Princes to his side. When Princeps returned he found an army several times larger than his own, whose arrows blotted out the Sun, but despite their numbers and valor and cunning the Prydein could never best the Legionnaires on open ground. One by one they were burned out of their earth and timber holdfasts. Allegedly Forkbeard told his people to abandon him when all seemed lost, holding the rearguard alone in the end and slaying a dozen men. He was cut down when he ran out of arrows; his last shot is said to have barely missed Princeps' own heart. Afterwards his head was put on a spike, forked beard and all. Many of his sons tried to recover it, but none succeeded (it is still a trophy of Princepine).

o The Flight of the Prydein: After the Prydein fled into the woods they had nothing left; they forests provided for their needs, they could hunt game or take shelter under the eaves, or hide from Tiberians. But it could not replace the treasures they'd lost; the Gifts of Brer (the bow had been lost with Fawr Forkbeard, the lute broken into kindling, the staff missing), and all their writings had been seized or burned. Only the Bards could remember with perfect detail, and they taught the Speech to everyone - bondsman and Prince alike. The Speech became an unbreakable code and wherever the Bards went they stirred rebellious hearts.

§ The Lost Tongue & The Second Rising

·        Madog, Gwynedd, Gruffud, Caradog, Ceredigion, Owain, Alp, Ap (von; Rhys ap Gruffud), Fawr (the great), Taliesin, Forkbeard, Brer, Glenn, Alan, Bran, Caradoc, Dagonet, Uther, Athor, Olwen, Rhydderch, Hergest, Metre, Rhapsody,

Influences
The Prydein are strongly influenced by the Welsh, Irish, Iroquois, and Robin Hood's Merry Men.

Prydain is the modern Welsh name for Britain.