Editing Ourworld:Keltoi (section)

== The History of the Keltoi ==

'''The Keltoi Arrive; Destruction of the Laideann Empire, circa 800-1,000 years ago'''

The ancient history of the Keltoi tells of the great ships of their ancestors coming ashore at what is now Caenid Bealach (Caenid Bay). From across the seas a great fleet hove to, crudely hewn ships crewed by a young and savage race with pinkish skin and wild red hair. They wear brass and war paint and bear strange designs upon their flesh. They sing harsh war songs and drink heavily. They wish to fight and kill and take the ancient lands from Laideann. This unwashed horde is led by Gwyddno the Dog-Bull, leader of the Sons of the Dawn Tide who wishes to spread his people and his new beliefs to these shores.
These warlike men take most of the land off the fat and rich Laideann Empire, a decadent and ancient people whose divided and corrupt armies cannot not stand up to the lean and hungry Keltoi. Even as their marble cities crumbled, the Laideann held orgies and went about their unwholesome ways. Great treasuries were split between the warbands and some of the biggest libraries in the world were burned to the ground. 
The Keltoi’s gutting and looting of Laideann drove the conquered over the White River where the majority of that race drowned in the swiftly running current. Satisfied that the Laideann had been driven away, the Keltoi split their spoils between their various Thanes and thus began the War of the Long Knives.

'''The War of the Long Knives, 500 years ago'''

With the unifying threat of the Laideanns gone, the Keltoi began a ferocious inter-clan warring period. Gwyddno's original vision of splitting the clans into roughly equal warbands lead to the Thanes being essentially the same in size, power and influence. For years, none of the Thanes gained a significant advantage. This period lasted about three hundred years and ended with the Keltoi lands expanding to cover almost the entire southern continent. They did not lack for land, and it was unusually fertile, so their population exploded. The only thing keeping them vaguely in check was their constant bloody war, which served to allow the Laideann to grow into seperate nations again, though they were basically slaves of the Keltoi for most of this period with Keltoi Thanes ruling their domains and Laideann men drafted into Keltoi armies to fight their blood foes. The largest clan, Kincaed, was nearest to the Laideann lands and it was they who uncovered the Draoidheil Leabhar in the ruins of the ancient capital. This treasure trove of ancient Laideann wisdom, culture, philosophy, history and alchemy benefitted the the Kincaed clan immeasurably. Speficially, various texts detailed the rituals and signs needed to work a potent alchemical craft, magic. Their druids learned the necessary skills to use this and utilised it to brutal effect. They quickly absorbed the clans near them and put hundreds of Laideann scholar-sorcerers to task at learning this craft as quickly as possible, which had the follow on effect of the Laideann learning real magic, not the conjurer's tricks they had utilised since the destruction of the Empire. This, combined with the liberal use of Laideann mercenaries to bolster their ranks led to clan Kincaed becoming the dominant force on the continent and expanding her borders quickly. Soon there was very little competition as her conquests gained momentum and this had the effect of beginning a new age of the Keltoi; the ''Cinntinn'', or Flourishing.

'''The Flourishing, 200 years ago'''

The Druids of Clan Kincaed took the surrender of the Clans at Glabhar, the first Kincaed village and landing point of the Keltoi centuries before, now a large town, and future capital of the Republic. As part of the conditions of surrender, a druid from clan Kincaed was sent to every clan leader and he acted as their advisor. At first, the Thanes resented this intrusion, but over the years, began to value the skills and wisdom of the druids. A period of unparalleled peace and prosperity began and the Keltoi began combining their inherent curiosity about the world and their largely rational approach with the arcane texts of the Laideann to begin a cultural, scientific and philosophical renaissance. The Golden Age of the Keltoi had begun and it lasted a hundred years. People from all nations came to their lands to learn and to teach and the sum of the world's knowledge was enriched. This period ended when King Roibeard Kincaed, a man of the older, bloodier days, began amassing a great fleet with the ambitious aim of conquering the globe.

'''The Age of Conquest'''

If the Flourishing was a Golden Age, then the last hundred years could be considered the Red Age. Millions of people from all races were drawn into Roibeard's and Roibeard's son's and grandson's adventures. The most massive fleet ever constructed headed west to subdue the western continent. Massive tracts of land were taken and retaken and taken again over bloody battles that rages for twenty years. Settlements and fortresses and castles were built and destroyed. When Roibeard died, his son Roibeard the Red Hand simply built another fleet and took back what had been retaken a decade before. This war also lasted twenty years and it seemed that all but the Keltoi were tired of the endless conflict. Countries were ravaged, forests razed and mountains mined. After almost fifty years of almost constant war, Roibeard the Red Hand's son, Roibeard the Bandit-King threw his father into the sea and vowed to continued the conquest. Still, he inherited an empty treasury and a country almost economically destroyed by war. There was little he could do but retire home and try to rebuild. However, true to his name, he constantly raided Laideann territories and drew the ire of the Laideann Trader's League, a powerful group who knew an opportunity when they saw it. Their enormous mercenary army ventured south and conquered huge areas of the Keltoi homelands. Thousands of Keltoi were enslaved or merely murdered. Many believed this was the long-awaited revenge of the ancient Laideann Empire. However, the mercenary army was not fit for rulership and quickly dissolved into quarrelling captains and petty lords. This gave the almost-beaten Keltoi the chance to rally, and rally they did. They pushed the Laideann back to the White River just as they had almost a thousand years before. They knew they could not hold the Laideann lands, however and agreed on a pact; the Laideann would hold everything north and one hundred kilometres south of the White River, while the Keltoi would hold all south of the Stob Bahn Mountains. The hundred kilometre no-man's land was neutral territory which neither held and served as a buffer to both sides. 

'''The Republic, 50 years ago-now'''

Rebuilding after the wars of conquest and the Laideann invasion was slow but gradual. The Keltoi Rìoghachd, or kingdom, Clan Kincaed's homeland, was still the largest of the clanholds and this time, extended her influence through trade, not war, which enriched her greatly. There was a smaller renaissance that ended with her becoming the Poblachd, or republic, after her king abdicated. Now the greatest Keltoi
nation has eschewed her earlier dreams of conquest and has focused towards building a sustainable economy and enlightened social system.