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Introduction and Purpose Introduction and Purpose This supplementary material is designed for both Players and Storytellers who are interested in using the Túatha Dé Danann in their games of Scion Second Edition. Sections of this text could prove useful for people running Scion First Edition, but the mechanical aspects of this work are entirely focused on Second Edition. Scion: Origins and Scion: Hero for Second Edition are needed to get the most out of this supplement and use it in your game. As different Play Groups aspire to different levels of Alternate History, or Mythological Accuracy in their games, this work has been focused on presenting the material of Irish Saga literature in the most accurate way as possible, drawing on direct scholarly translations of texts rather than retellings and modern scholarly publications on these topics covered within. With this in mind an individual Storyteller can adapt this baseline information to either try to stick strictly with the actual details of Irish saga literature, or to build off what is presented here to fit the Pantheon into any setting they desire. There is no right or wrong way to play your game, as long as you are trying to be respectful to the cultures whose cultural traditions you are borrowing for your enjoyment. If you wish to learn more about Irish saga literature, at the end of this work there is a list of suggested readings. Any comments or complaints can be brought to Watcher on the Onyx Path forums, or the Scion fan Discord channel and I will happily explain my choices, or hastily correct the spelling errors that inevitibly have slipped by my constant editing. LEBOR ÓE IN DEA Laws 15 Marriage 15 Murder and Assault 16 CHAPTER ONE: A PRIMER 5 Inheritance 16 Who are the Túatha Dé Danann? 5 Notions of Fate 16 In the Hands of Fate 5 Gods With Jobs 6 Storytelling the Túatha Dé Danann 6 CHAPTER THREE: PLAYERS 18 The Squatters on the Root 7 Why Play a Túatha Dé Scion 18 Foreign Tribes 8 New Divine Parents and Patrons 19 Boanann 19 Coirpe mac Étan 19 CHAPTER TWO: MYTHIC IRELAND 11 Donn-Ainech 20 Divine No More 11 Étaín 21 SampleKingship 12 file Fand 21 Society and Law 13 Ler 22 The Status of Women 14 The Morrígana 23 Gender annd Sexuality 14 2 LEBOR OÉ IN DEA Macha 23 Trickster 53 Nemain 23 Warrior 54 The Badb 24 The Purviews In Context 54 The Morrígan 24 Artistry 54 The Áes Dána of Cath Maige Tuired 25 Beasts 55 Airmed and Miach 25 Beauty 56 Bé Chuille and Díanann 26 Chaos 56 Crédne 26 Darkness 57 Figol mac Mámois 26 Death 57 Lucha 27 Deception 57 Mathgen 27 Earth 58 The Corrgunechai 27 Epic Dexterity 58 The Deoguhairi 28 Epic Stamina 58 Scions of the Túatha Dé Danann 28 Epic Strength 59 Born Scions 28 Fertility 59 Chosen Scions 29 Fire 59 Created Scions 30 Forge 60 Incarnate Scions 31 Fortune 61 The Geas 31 Frost 61 Supernatural Origin Paths 32 Health 61 Saint: Heir of Míl 32 Journeys 62 Changeling 33 Moon 62 Fomorian Ancestry 34 Order 63 Áos Síde Captive 35 Passion 63 Dúlachan 35 Prosperity 64 Cait Sith 36 Sky 64 Birthrights 37 Stars 64 Creatures 37 Sun 65 Followers 40 War 65 Guides 41 Water 66 Relics 45 Wild 66 The Callings In Context 50 Creator 50 CHAPTER FOUR: STORYTELLERS 67 Guardian 51 Relationships with Scions 67 Healer 51 Telling Stories 68 Hunter 51 What Is A Titan? 68 Judge 52 New Titans 68 Leader 52 SampleCethlenn of the Crooked Teethfile 68 Liminal 52 Donn mac Míl 69 Lover 53 Eochaid mac Eirc 69 Sage 53 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Indech 70 CHAPTER FIVE: COSMOLOGY 85 Sreng 70 The Otherworld 85 Tethra 71 Otherworld: Fonaib Síde 85 What Is A Primordial? 71 Brú na Bóinne 86 New Primordials 71 Mag Slécht 87 Cessair Cuthach 71 Tech Luigh 88 Fintan mac Bóchra 72 Oweynagat 88 Partholon 72 Tobar Segais 89 Nemed 72 Otherworld: The Otherworldly Sea 90 Bolg 73 Strange Isles 90 Fomoir 73 Tír na nÓg 92 Míl Espáine 73 Tír Tairngire 93 Antagonists 74 Mag Mell 94 The Fomorians 74 The Lost Cities 95 The Sons of Míl 76 Insi int Fomóraich 95 The Fir Bolg 78 Miscellaneous Notes 96 The Áos Síde 80 The Problem of Alba 96 The Túatha Dé Danann 82 The Fey Courts of Great Britain 96 Unaffiliated Monsters 82 Reincarnation 97 Paying Tribute 98 Sources and Suggested Readings 101 Sample file 4 LEBOR OÉ IN DEA Chapter One: A Primer “And they came to Ireland, on Monday, the kalends of May, in ships [and vessels]. And they burn their ships, and advanced unperceived by the Fir Bolg, till they landed on Sliab in Iairnn. And they formed a fog for three days and three nights over the sun and moon, and demanded battle or kingship of the Fir Bolg. And the battle of Mag Tuired was fought between them, as we have said above, and afterwards one hundred thousand of the Fir Bolg were slaughtered there.” — Lebor Gabála Érenn, Second Redation, Robert Macalistar Far off beneath the mounds and across mist-shrouded seas war across Ireland as they pushed deeper inland. Eventually do the Túatha Dé Danann rest. Some alive, and most dead. winning a magical contest against the three kings, the Sons They lost their war long ago and lost their claim on their of Míl defeated the Túatha Dé Danann in a final battle, and beloved Ireland. the Pantheon resigned themselves to their defeat. Under the Twisted and distorted by Fate to the point that their original watchful eye of Manannán mac Lir, an oath was forged, and forms are entirely lost, the Túatha Dé Danann are an Ireland was divided. To the Sons of Míl the surface was excellent contribution to any Scion campaign. Deities who granted, and the Túatha Dé Danann were given the your players will be able to interact with on a more personal underground, the depths of the hollow hills, the Síde. level as they are intensely human, and prime Divine Parents Their defeat left the Túatha Dé Danann to become and Patrons for Players who wish to play over the top, larger foreigners in their own land, ever sitting beneath the hills in than life characters. their homes of crystal and red gold, remembering the glory that was Ireland. The pact was sealed, the oath forged, the surface was for the Sons of Míl, and the bond chafed at WHO ARE THE TUATHA DE them. Sometimes the Túatha Dé Danann would raid the surface, coming into conflict with the mortals, and DANANN? sometimes the descendants of the Sons of Míl would try to As discussed in Scion: Hero, the Túatha Dé Danann break into a Síd, or other realms of the Túatha Dé Danann. are the deities of Ireland. They are a tribal confederacy, However, despite these conflicts, a cautious familiarity numerous túath bound together through shared ancestry formed. with Danu. They invaded Ireland, and subjugated the native Fir Bolg, distant relatives who had found Ireland deserted As the mortals formed their kingdoms, and echoed their when they arrived. The Túatha Dé Danann defeated the Fir predecessors, the Fir Bolg and the Túatha Dé Danann in Bolg in a large battle at Maige Tuired after unsuccessful their culture and institutions, the Túatha Dé Danann were demands that the Fir Bolg cede Ireland to them on the spot. never far away, just within the hills. Half-Divine figures The Túatha Dé Danann would then go on to fight a second would arise on occasion such as Cú Chulainn, Fróech, or war with the Fomorians, a foreign tribal confederacy similar Conare Mór and the Túatha Dé Danann never lost an to the Túatha Dé Danann who wanted to establish the opportunity to meddle, not for some strange purpose, but kingdoms of Ireland as client-kingdoms. This second battle, primarily for their own amusement. also at Maige Tuired, resulted in several major figures of the Pantheon dying, but the victory of the Túatha Dé Danann IN THE HANDS OF FATE was secured, along with the secrets of agriculture. In reality, the Túatha Dé Danann are not the deities of However, independence and peace are not the same Ireland. The Túatha Dé Danann are characters who appear thing. It did not take long for the Túatha Dé Danann to begin in medieval Irish saga literature who may or may not have turning on each other. An insult, and a death. A twisted once been inspired by deities of Ireland before the island word, and a war between the tribes. After the deaths of was converted to Christianity. Originally, it is very unlikely Nuada Airgetlám, Lugh, and The Dagda, the unification of that Ireland would have had a single unified Pantheon, and the tribes seemed to end, and the Pantheon struggled. This instead each tribal group, a túath, would have had deities instability under the reign of Mac Gréine, Mac Cuill, and unique to themselves and perhaps some figures who MacSample Cecht resulted in their three wives, namely Ériu, spanned across tribal boundaries. Thefile Túatha Dé Danann Banba, and Fólta, abandoning their husbands for a new are characters either built out of the literary bodies of these wave of invaders: mortals. deities or created whole cloth from the imaginations of the Across the sea did The Sons of Míl Espáine come, monastic authors of these texts. combatting the Túatha Dé Danann, and fighting a bloody THE BOOK OF THE CHILDREN OF THE GODS 5 But, what does this mean in the world of Scion? Likely reference to the aés dána, the men of art, the high-status that the Túatha Dé Danann are a Pantheon that has been individuals of early Ireland such as smiths, physicians, fíli, twisted and reshaped by Fate to the point that they are neigh- poets, and many others.
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