CODEX CELTARUMCeltic Adventure in Faery

By Brian n. young

Editor: AliciA StAnley & tim BurnS

art: Peter BrAdley, JASon WAlton

art dirEction//Layout/: Peter BrAdley

cartography: Peter BrAdley

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website: www.trolllord.com orwww.castlesandcrusades.com

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© 2013 Troll Lord Games. All Rights Reserved. Castles & Crusades ® is a Registered Trademark of Troll Lord Games. All Rights Reserved. C&C, Castle Keeper, SEIGE engine, Troll Lord Games, and the Castles & Crusades, SEIGE engine, and Troll Lord Games

logos are Trademark of Troll Lord Games. All Rights Reserved.

Art, artwork, cover art, cartography is copyright Peter Bradley of Ravenchilde Illustrations, 2013 or Troll Lord Games. All Rights Reserved. All text is copy-right Brian Young. All other content copyright 2013 Troll Lord Games. All Rights Reserved. Castles & Crusades, C&C, Castle Keeper, Troll Lord Games, and the Castles & Crusades and Troll Lord Games logos, and products published by Troll Lord Games are Trademarks of Troll Lord Games. All Rights Reserved.

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GWASTRAWT AFWYN BRENHINES

Tom Tullis, Ron "Bubba Ho-Tep" Purvi, Julian G Hicks, Matt Hurd

SWYDDWR Y LLYS

Sebastian Dietz, Marzio Spairani, The Great and Powerful Alpha Wolf Troy Schwaller, Raymond M. S. Quignon, Keith Davies, "Lord Karick", Jeremy Clifford, Shawn Lamb, Bill Centinaro, E. Michael Rupert, Joe Maccarrone, Tom Williams, Mike Welham, Damian Hupfeld, W. Schaeffer Tolliver, Can

Sungur, Jayson C. Block, "Wooly Rupert", Christopher Anderson, Bad Baboon, Bill Dodds, Kevin Donovan, Redbeard, Dustin "Design Zombie" Cooper, Keith E Brandt, Catprog, Dokkalfar, Rasmus

Durban Jahr, DrLight, Che Webster, "Wine Guy" Morgan Boehringer, Tom Hudson, Jordi Rabionet Her-nandez, "Steven D Warble", "Pat "Silverhand" Andrews", R. A. Mc Reynolds, Peter "Zeus" Mette, Seth

"Justicar" Corbett

MEDYD

Michael Ramsey, Andrew Gelbman, Matthias Weeks, Christopher Dawson, Jeffrey Osthoff, Kyle Decker, Sarah Devier, Rian McMurtry, Patrick Seymour, Warren Michael Goodman, Todd Leback,

Ryan Percival, Kevin Kentner, Jonathan Woodward, Brent Walters, David Cinabro, John Canales, Dan-iel Dimitroff, Robert Miller,Brad Everman, Aaron Atwood, Matthew Cook, Bill De Franza, John Appel,

Mark Martin, Todd Showalter, Christopher Child, Nathanael Terrien, Greg Kramer, Gus J. Badnell, Jerry Aldridge II, Bruce Wiggins, Jeffrey Tadlock, Kurtis Evans, Anthony Roberson

TRULLYAT

Mark Clodi, Johnathan L Bingham, David DeRocha, Trampas Whiteman, Lloyd Rasmussen, Niels Adair, Kathleen Harbinger, Daniel Bayerdorffer aka "Seljuck Graylock", Great DruidPaul Munson, Jai

Mather, Timothy S. Brannan, Haylea Hamous, Christina Stiles, Vincent DiPaula, James M. Yager, Dan-iel J. Corwin, Curtis 'Wolfson' Lyon, S Penrod, Steven Vest, Ed Moretti,Doug Palmer, M. Sean Molley,

Terry Buckingham, Karl The Good, Philip J. Hudson, Jay Hypes, Bill Willy Rat Currie, Seorus Lockkerry

DRYSSAWR NEUAD

Kem Templeton, Jorden J. McNally, Rich Canino, Derek W. White

BARDD TEULU

Kevin Fitzgerald, Patrick Odell, Petr Engebos, Rowan Harbinger, Eric Falk, Thomas Woodall, Ryan Peel, Daniel and Johanna Pack, Jake Parker, Bret P. Smith, Jason Paul McCartan, Calvin Shafer, Mi-chael Tapia, Daniel Colwell, Lukie Fuge, Brett Easterbrook, Kent D Taylor, Michael Ferdie, John R. Woollard, Dave Ellingwood, Garth Elliott, Adam Fink, Kevin M. McDaniel, Blake thomas, Thomas

Biskup, Pat Bellavance, Steve Dodge, Wendy Napier

DISTAIN BRENHINES

Tim Rudolph, Chad Drummond, Caninicus, David Williams, Zappophalian, Thomas G Treptow, Frost Holli-man

PENKYNYD

Jim Kitchen, Morgan Hazel, Mario M. Butter, Ben and Nateal Erickson, Derrick "Omote" Landwehr, David Donohoo, Benisha Abe, J. Quincy Sperber, Steven Sullivan, Sir Izzy, Gael Imad'Eddine, Doug-

las Meserve, Drew Wood, Mark 'Isamill' Liddle, John Craft, Jason 'Hierax' Verbitsky

PENTEULU

Rob Stone, Gateway Games & More, Noble Knight Games, Paul Coulter, Kell's Crusaders, Richard KurtinSam

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CELTIC ADVENTURE IN FAERY 3

CODEX CELTARUM - CELTIC ADVENTURE IN FAERY

This World book has been a little over twenty years in the making, with two university degrees and as many years play-testing before it came together in the manner it did. It evolved out of a purely fan-tasy based setting that was inspired by some of the greatest fantasy movies of the early 1980’s (The

Dark Crystal, Legend, The Black Cauldron, Dragonslayer and Excalibur) and found its way into my pedigree along slightly eccentric and genetic paths. The background of this world alone is enough to make a thick academic study, and someday that might be a possibility.

No decision behind this World setting was chosen lightly, but was instead weighed against ancient Celtic ethos, mythologies and his-tory. Where there was an answer lacking, a creative substitute was put in place by a combination of Celtic idiom and fantasy analogs. The hope is this will become an iconic setting where gamers can have endless adventures and memories that will be personal and as good as any found in fantasy gaming.

One advantage of designing this complex and unique world set-ting is the acquisition of Celtic languages along the way. Sadly, in gaming history these areas are poorly represented, but that is righted in this book.

Unlike the majority of Fantasy world settings, this one does not cater to the usual clichés of role-playing games. Wealth abounds in Faery but ironically has little value among the Faery-folk ex-cept for the Neutral and Dark alignments. Another unique as-pect is that adventure is everywhere, but not in the same man-ner that most gamers are used to experiencing. Every adventure story in Faery is epic – every one. There are no simple adven-tures that require only that the characters hunt simple bandits or ruffians, for example, unless they are in the Mortal world. Any adventure will be grand, regardless of its meager beginning.

Each chapter is arranged to follow a slightly mischievous and very Faery logic from start to finish. Due to the enormity of the setting, the lands and worlds covered are given as detailed a scope as possible with hopes that each can be further embellished later with additional books or editions. Over a hundred and fifty Faery abilities and pow-ers are included, broken into the three alignments that the Universe has split between them. Humans, and Humanoid races as found in Aihrde, function differently in regards to their alignments than the Fey, and this will be explained.

Derived from Celtic primary sources are Druidic spells and com-bat Adjuncts, with the added rare opportunity to transform the Faery character (gradually, over time) into a demi-god. Faery-folk also can be born, or cursed, with the unusual maladies and quirks of being an Immortal. These can definitely increase the pressure and tension in the campaign and make things as dif-ficult as the CK desires. This setting can be adapted to any ex-isting campaign, and taken from and/or added to along the way as needed, but if left as-is leaves a wondrous realm of magic and epic adventure that most gamers have never experienced or imagined. Sticking to the Castle & Crusades idea, this is light on rules but gives just enough in the way of game mechanics to play out a compelling and fun story.

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4 CASTLES & CRUSADES - CODEX CELTARUM

The book in your hands has seen over two decades of change, evolution and constant improvement until has been stream-lined and is ready to go. Dive into the magical realm of Faery and don’t look back; this is truly another world rarely seen or experienced by Man. Oh come away with me, Human Child…

This book’s chapters are arranged in a very Fey manner to help the reader find their way by memory wherever they have to go:

1. Once Upon a Time (History section)

2. In Lands Far Away (Covers the World Setting)

3. There Lived a People (Faery races and monsters)

4. Great of Magic and Power (Magical abilities, items and spells)

5. Strong of Feats and Deeds (Combat and warfare).

6. With Great Gods and Lords (The Deities and the many powerful lords that rule over Faery).

7. Who have Mighty Names and Feats (CK information)

In this song given to Oisín mac Finn by the Faery princess Níamh Chinn Óir to entice him to her world, the Land of Youth or Tír na nÓg holds wonders unimagined:

“Delightful is the land beyond all dreams,

Fairer than anything your eyes have ever seen.

There all the year the fruit is on the tree,

And all the year the bloom is on the flower.

“There with wild honey drip the forest trees;

The stores of wine and mead shall never fail.

Nor pain nor sickness knows the dweller there,

Death and decay come near him never more.

«The feast shall cloy not, nor the chase shall tire,

Nor music cease for ever through the hall;

The gold and jewels of the Land of Youth

Outshine all splendors ever dreamed by man.

«You will have horses of the fairy breed,

You will have hounds that can outrun the wind;

A hundred chiefs shall follow you in war,

A hundred maidens sing thee to your sleep.

«A crown of sovereignty your brow shall wear,

And by your side a magic blade shall hang,

And you will be lord of all the Land of Youth,

And lord of Níamh of the Head of Gold.”

A plethora of Celtic language is used in this book obviously, and to make it less difficult for those not fluent, the more modern orthographies have been chosen in place of their ancient coun-terparts at times. Primitive/Old Welsh and Primitive/Old Irish are commonly used throughout with some Cornish and Breton sprin-kled where necessary. The orthography is a little scattered due to the many sources referencing Celtic gods and Faery-folk, but this is left so to make the understanding of much of this diverse (but related) material for new people.

Often separate but related Celtic languages are side-by-side in the place names in Faery, and that is because of shared multiple traditions concerning the concepts and ideas out of essentially the same myth and faery-lore. The remaining languages today are used as more of a filter to which this magical realm exists in, or once existed in ancient belief. So it would seem odd that Gaelic and Cornish speakers, for example, were adjacent but in reality, during the Post-Roman and early medieval eras this was truly the case.

The Celtic Gods, whose pantheon is widely misunderstood among modern Pagans and recreationists, are given a semi-fantastical ambiance and character throughout to aid in the Fantasy nature of role-playing gaming. Since absolute data on these deities is lacking almost across the board, they are detailed in a way that is familiar to anyone who has some knowledge of them, but will enrich the understanding of any reader. The line at which semi-divine heroes end and absolute gods begin blurs in Celtic thinking, and high level Faery characters will display this through game play.

The two surviving Celtic groups, the Britons and Gaels, have wildly varying tales and approaches to the same deities, and so a middle-ground has been reached, filled with much specula-tion and derivative ideas based from a common Celtic idiom (and lots of academic theories). ‘Purists’ who wish to remain true to the unique philosophies of each separate nation’s ideolo-gies may select that perspective and game it only, but such a notion seems narrow-minded in a game filled with such fantasy and imagination at its core.

Because of the vast scope and room constraints of a work of this size, there are a few crucial elements that could not be addressed in this edition. One of these is the holidays, a time when worlds can touch, and travel between them becomes dangerously easier. Another important aspect that will not make this edition is Dru-idic Ogham, the secretive system of writing that was briefly used by the Druids of the Gaelic Celts after Rome’s departure. These and additional information and clarifications will be addressed in later supplemental materials.

In the process of designing and play-testing this setting the past 20 years, I have earned a Masters in Arthurian Studies from the University of Wales Lampeter (2007). I was the world’s first graduate of the program with a Cum Laude, and plan to finish with a PhD in Celtic Studies soon, so this venture was not just an enthusiast’s way of setting such wondrous tales and ideas to print; it became a life’s pursuit.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CODEX CELTARUM - CELTIC ADVENTURE IN FAERY

3

TABLE OF CONTENTS 5

ONCE UPON A TIME 9

THE WOMB OF CREATION 10

THE LIFE TREE & THE HORNED ONE 10

THE BLUE HAG 11

THE DARK TIMES 11

THE NOBLE ONES 12

THE BROODS OF DOMNU & THE MORR`IGNA

13

THE TENSION OF THE TWO SISTERS 13

THE KING OF RAVENS 13

DANU`S FALL 14

THE INVASION OF E`IRE 14

LU`GH LAMHFHA`DA 15

CATH MA`G TUIRED II 15

THE SECOND & THIRD DARKWARS 15

THE GREAT BEAR 16

THE FUTURE PRESENT 16

IN LANDS FAR AWAY 17

THE TWO CAULDRONS 18

THE TWELVE HOUSES 18

GWYNFYD - FAERY 19

THE TORC OF STORMS 20

THE SHROUDED ISLES 21

ILLDÀTHACH 21GWLAS AN VEYN USY AN LESKY 21COIT SENTATU 22INNISÍ NA GÁISCEDACHA 23DÚN FÁLIAS 23MÁG MÓN 23DÚN MURIAS 24MÁG FINDARGAT 24TÍR BHFÓMORACH 24TIR TYLLUANOD 25BREITHELL 25INNISÍ ILLDÁTHACH 26INNIS CRAN MÓR 26YNYS AFALLACH 26TÍR FO THUIN 27AIRCTHECH 27TÍR NA MBEÓ 28DÚN GORIAS 28COIT BÚAN 28DÚN FINLIAS 29

MÁG DA CHEÓ 29TÍR NA MBÁS 29DIN MARW (DÚN MARB) 30

ANNWN - THE UNDER-EARTH 30

CAER RIGOR 31CAER GOLUD 31CAER VEDIWYD 31CAER OCHREN 31CAER WIDIR 31CAER PEDYRVAN 32CAER SIDI 32NYTH YSTLYM Y FRENHINES 33

ABRED - THE MORTAL PLANE 33

YNYS Y CEDYRN 34COIT MAWR 35LLOIGYR 35GWYR Y GOGLEDD 36GWLAS AN HAVAS 36PRYDAIN 36YNYS WEITH 36YNYS MANAU 37ÉIRE 37LLYDAW 38BROCÉLIANDE 38

THERE LIVED A PEOPLE 39

FAERY MORALITY 40

CLAND SOLUIS (PLANT GOLAU) 41

CLAND DUB (PLANT GWYLL) 41

CLAND COMA`IR (PLANT CYFNOS) 42

FAERY WEAKNESSES 42

FAERY TRAITS 43

THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT 44

ELVEN FOLK 44CEASG 44ELLYLL 45HENKIES 45MERROW 46MORWYN ELVES 46PREN ELVES 46ROANE 47URISK 47

THE CHILDREN OF TWILIGHT 48

ASRAI 48COBLYN 48CLURICHAUN 48BALLYBOGS (PEAT FAERIES) 49BLUE-CAP 49BRÚNAIDH (BROWNIE) 49BUGAL NOZ 50

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CAWR (FATHACH) 50DERRICK 50DOONIE (DUNNIE) 50FAELCLOINE (CŴNBEN) 51FÍR DEARG 51FÍR GLAS 51GRIG 52KNOCKERS (MORTHOLOW DARRAJOW) 52KORRED 52GORIC 53GRUAGACH 53HOGMEN 53KILLMOULIS 53LEPRECHAUN 54LOIREAG 54MAIGHDEAN-MHARA 54MÔRGAN 54OAKMEN 54PIXIE (PYSKY) 55PWCA (PÚCA) 55

THE CHILDREN OF DARKNESS 55

ALDER WITCH (CLETHRAD) 56ATHACH 57ATTORCROPE 57BAOBHAN SÍTH 57BARGUEST (BOGY-BEAST) 58BIASD BHEULACH 58BOG HAG 58BOGY 59BRAG 59BUGGANE 59CEARB 60CIUTHACH 60DEARG DU 60DUERGAR 61DUNTERS 61DUSA 61FACHAN 62FIDEAL 62FÍR COLLACH (ORCACH) 62FÓMOR (FOAWR) 63FUATH (ARRACHD) 63GEAN CANNADH (LEANAN-SÍDHE) 63GAN CEANN (DULLAHAN) 64GALLYTROT (BEGGER) 64GLASTIG (GWRACH Y RHIBYN) 65GWIDDON 65GWRACH (CAILLEACH) 65GWYLL 66MALLT Y NOS 66POLPEGAN (PLENTYN-NEWID) 67RED CAP 67SPRIGGAN 68YSGODIAID 68

FEY BEASTS 69

ADAR LLWCH GWIN 69

ADERYN Y CORPH 69AFANC 71BISCLAVRET 71BONELESS (BROLLACHEN) 72BOOBRIE 72BURACH BHADI 72CATH SÍTH 72CEFFYL DŴR 73CIREIN CROIN 73CŴN ANNWN 74DOBHAR-CHÚ 74EACH TENED 74ÉISC INIS 75ELLÉN TRECHEND 75IT 75GIANT BOAR (COLLACH MÓR) 76GLASTYN 76GWARTHEG Y LLYN 77LÀBH-ALLAN 77LLAMHIGYN Y DŴR 77MODDEY DHOO 78MUIRDRIS 78NUCKLAVEE 78PADFOOT 79YCHAIN BANNOG 79

SUPERNATURAL ANIMALS 80

THE WHITE STAG (CARW WYN) 80

THE GIANTS OF WALES 81

THE STATE OF BEING FAERY 83

GREAT OF MAGIC AND POWER 85

FAERY SPELL-LIKE ABILITIES 86

AS SPELLS 86

FAERY SPELL-LIKE ABILITIES 91

ACORNS OF WISDOM 91AIR-AS-STONE 91BLEND WITH NATURE 91CERNAE’S CALL 91DIRT-AS-STONE 91EARTHSCENT 91FAERY GLAMOUR 91FAERY LURE 91FEY FLIGHT 92FEY FRENZY 92FEY INVISIBILITY 92FEY WIND 92FIRE-AS-STONE 92GIANT’S GROWTH 92GNASHING TEETH 92INNER LIGHT 92LEAF BLADES 92LIMB LEAP 93MIGHTY COUNTENENCE 93MIST FORM 93NATURE’S ARMY 93

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