The Land of Cymru is in the grip of war, both spiritual and physical.

The jostling factions are vying for power over Cymry’s sovereignty and it is up to you, the player, to choose your side and enter the fray.

Each player chooses a Major and Minor Ally and a Major and Minor Adversary. This will tie into your story prompts: when a card refers to a Major Ally, you can draw a character from our list or invent your own. The factions can interact however you find most interesting; perhaps the Cymry resistance and the English occupation have allied to face the larger looming threat of the Clergy as the Vatican tries to tighten its grip on Cymru. Perhaps the Druids and Clergy have set aside their spiritual differences, battling together to put an end to the fighting. The choice is yours because the story is yours. 

The English Occupation 

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. The throne of England (called Lloegyr by the Welsh) is held by William II, the third son of William I – the Bastard, the Conqueror. His position, however, is less than secure. His father’s legacy, brutal and transformative, casts a vast shadow over the kingdom; rumours of his sexuality circulate through the English court like wildfire. Though the king himself pays the rumours little heed, he does nothing to dispel them; his penchant for positioning himself in the spotlight gives his rivals ample material for gossip and opportunity to spread it.

What is a king to do to secure his own throne? Looking to his western border, William’s eye falls upon the land beyond: Wales. A land of small, disparate kingdoms, its might is surely nothing before that of England. An idea begins to form in the king’s mind…

Wales presents an opportunity to carve away, piece by piece, until the whole country and its peoples fall under his rule. A successful military campaign would surely cement the king in his power, but he cannot do it alone. William calls upon his Marcher lords: nobles appointed to guard the border, gifted their titles for their military prowess, guile, and skill in combat.

William’s grip is firmly on the sword his father wielded so deftly. Whether he can raise it to the same effect remains to be seen…

• King William II of England
• William FitzOsbern, First Earl of Hereford
• Roger de Montgomery, First Earl of Shrewsbury
• Hugh d’Avranches, First Earl of Chester

The Elusive Druids 

Though the ways of the druids may be all but forgotten, their lands long under siege from war and industry, they are not defeated.

Yet the peoples of the world, and even of ancient Cymru, place their prayers and hopes now in saints, in idols, in mortal men. The land is unworshipped, unloved: mighty trees are felled to build tall walls, walls that sever those within from Lludd Llaw’s free-blowing winds outside. Villages swell into towns, towns into cities, pockmarks and cysts across the land. Tanneries despoil the waters, corrupting the flow of life itself. Mountains – yes, mountains know love still, but for the gems mined from within, not their own unrefined beauty. The greed of man has ridden the land to ruin.

Few are those who give thanks for the rains that water them, or the Mabon sun that shines on them. Few homes, few campfires are open to the druidic folk now. Yet Cymru itself embraces them still. In these lands, the druids faced the Second Trial of Iron in Ynys Mon. In these lands, they stood against the legions of Rome with their backs to Derwen Ceubren ys Ellyll. Here fell the High Druid Taliesin for the second time, and here, betwixt the roots of Derwen, they were buried.

The third rebirth of Taliesin is not by chance, but by fate. Here, on the precipice of the third Trial of Iron, they come to guide the druids once more. For only they, the last with the knowledge of the Fae, can do so. Only they can wake the dragon.The Cymry Resistance 

Cymru is a country divided. Its many kingdoms are far from united. Like wheat in the wind, kings fade or fall, only for budding princes to sprout in their place; the people still mourn the loss of King Hywel Dda, who in life had mended bridges, and whose death opened chasms anew.

The kings of Cymru have always paid tribute to their oppressive neighbour: Lloegyr, whose people call it England. Every shepherd knows the wolf will stay sated on fresh lamb only for so long. With sharpened tooth and wicked claw, it always returns for the flock. There comes a time when the shepherd must take their flock to the hills; there, they make their stand. There, they face the wolf. And in the flock’s time of need, there is no greater shepherd than Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd.

But Gruffudd’s court is no united stronghold. Lesser kings have already bent the knee to the Llogegyr in the hope of keeping lands and ill-gotten titles. There are calls to seek help from Rome, the druids, the fae, but Gruffudd keeps his thoughts closed like a fist. Though he knows he must fight, his blade will only taste the air when the time is right. Winds carry the ashes of burnt homes around his country, as tales of new heroes carve their way into song and campfire tales. While his council bickers and debates, Gruffudd ponders when best to draw the sword from its sheath.

• Gruffudd ap Cynan – Prince of Gwynedd
• Meririon Goch
• Tanwen Lloegyr-Bane
• Y Dewr Rhiannon

The Clergy

Christendom is rife with war. Like wildfire, it has spread across the continent, engulfing the minds of petty kings who try to placate the Church with offerings of gold. God’s laws are flagrantly violated: Christians slaughter Christians in pursuit of expansion.

Yet what if one war could end all wars? One great war to unite all under one faith, one border, one leader? From the ashes could be born a new land: a thriving Christendom unburdened by kings who know only greed and depravity. In their place, a righteous and holy leader: Pope Adrian IV, the successor of Saint Peter and the representative of the Lord God on Earth.

A grand plan, but all grand things must have small beginnings. King William II of England’s campaign across the Welsh border has given the clergy an excuse to advance their ideals in Britannia, where for too long the dark corruption of paganism has taken hold of the people. Once Wales is secured in the name of the Pope, all – from king to pauper – will surely flock to the clergy for guidance and purity. Once their task in Wales is done, the clergy intend to turn their sights to England. There, borders will be broken down, and Britannia united under the new Christendom.

By scripture, or prayer, or flaming sword, the clergy will not rest until they can build a new world for their flock.

The Fae

The Tylwyth Teg, or fae folk, once stood proudly alongside the people of Cymru. In his first life, the High Druid Taliesin and Queen Mab of the Fae knew a close peace: druids and fae, and any other folk who would come in friendship, would gather to welcome the seasons and dance beneath the light of the harvest moon. Offerings of milk would be left on doorsteps, ready for Queen Mab’s procession, whereupon the Queen herself would enter homes to bestow a mother’s blessing upon newborn children.

The First Trial of Iron changed much in Cymru, though only Queen Mab and Taliesin remember the bitter struggle. Cold iron came to the land in abundance, and the Tylwyth Teg were forced to retreat to the burrows and dark undergrowth of forests in Cymru’s heart. They did not survive unscathed.

Scarred by iron, some of the Fae grew twisted. From the shadows grew the Gwrach y Rhibyn and Afanc, the Cyhyraeth and the Morgen. Old ties were forgotten; deep in the belly of the land, new bonds were forged. Discontented with the passive, defensive rulership of Queen Mab’s, they struck out and scattered across the wilderness of Cymru.

Now there are only whispers – of missing children, of untrustworthy voices in the dark – and locked doors. Yet, in marshes and lakesides, in valleys and forests untrodden by human feet, Queen Mab reigns still, and her gentle heart yearns for an accord to be struck once more. For a chance of freedom, perhaps even those lost to the darkness can be persuaded to join the fray.