tir-na-dean-au

[tir-na-dean-au]

Tir na Déan AU

Probably going to get seen by like three people, but, oh well, I feel like yelling into the void about a MCYT (mostly Hermitcraft and Empires SMPs) AU I may or may not eventually write, with loads and loads of Celtic mythology references 'cause I'm a nerd and proud of it.

So, most people are probably familiar with the idea of a "fae realm", but if you aren't, here's a short rundown:

There are multiple "worlds" or "realms" in almost every mythology. The Nine Worlds in Nordic, Tir na nOg in Irish Celtic, Olympus and Hades in Greek, and so on. These realms or worlds often exist parallel to our own, to the "mortal" plane, and to any other plane of existence. This is a very basic explanation, for an absolutely fascinating subject.

In this AU, I grabbed the idea of the Celtic Otherworld (Tir na nOg) being split into various "courts" (or, rather, worlds!), and booked it like a child with five cookies stuffed in her mouth.

So, me being a mythology nerd, and also a Hermitcraft fan with way too much time on my hands and way too many AU ideas, thought up the idea of the "Tir na Déan", or "Land of the Craftspeople" (because, y'know. Craft. Minecraft).

Effectively, each server in the MCYT is a different "court" of Tir na Déan, with smaller groups within each. I.E., in Tir na Impirí (Empires SMP), everyone who lives in Tir na Impirí is part of the Caisleán na Impirí, while someone who lives in Sanctuary, for example, is part of the Caisleán na Impirí and the Caisleán na Sagrario, as Sanctuary is just one small part of Tir na Impirí.

(I really hope this makes some sense.)

But! It's about to get more complicated!

See, there is, of course, more than one realm. There's Tir na Déan, as I've already explained; there's the mortal plane (which I've yet to name); and there's the land of the dead, which is largely irrelevant so far (and also currently unnamed. You can tell where my focus has been since I came up with this idea. Fae are much more interesting than us mere mortals). There's also a few others, but they're loosely connected to the main three and not currently important.

Now, while Tir na Déan is effectively in a permanent state of sword & sorcery/steampunk (because iron is a big no), the mortal plane continues to change and advance, up to the current day. The worlds do still interact, though not as frequently as they once did; they kinda view each other as "fairy tales" for the most part, stories told to children to make them eat their vegetables or go to bed on time, on both sides. The fae are just as scared of humans as humans are of fae. See, the humans have tales of fae eating people and stealing children, and the fae have tales of humans slaughtering trooping faeries and torturing their own out of fear of changelings (which are, in most parts of Tir na Déan, completely illegal. Symbolically. Like how it's illegal to build on a fairy mound in Ireland). Humans scare fae, and fae scare humans, just as people who are different often do.

But, of course, there are places the worlds collide. Places, on the mortal plane, like Brú na Bóinne (an Irish sidhe-mound), where the Veil between the worlds is said to be thinner and allow magic to seep through. In Tir na Déan, these places are where magic is weak, because it's magic that keeps the Veil intact. Opposites, once again, as faerie and man are want to be.

Now, because there are places where the worlds touch through the Veil, there are always going to be people who know about the other side.

Hence, we finally reach the Hermitcraft portion of this post, after... six hundred and twenty-five words. Welp. I'm more long-winded than I thought.

So, the Hermits are their own court, made up of fae who, for some reason, want a court but don't have one. There are characters who, like Grian, bounced from court to court, never really belonging anywhere until he found this chaotic court of madmen. There are others who, like Scar, were forcibly removed from their court for a variety of reasons, or, like Cub, chose to leave it. There's people from different worlds, like Cleo who came from the land of the dead, or Joe who was born on the mortal plane and just left. There's loads of different reasons they've become Hermits, or, as their court is known, members of the Caisleán na Díthreabhach, the Court of the Hermit.

(Definitely a stylistic choice, and not the fact that I can't figure out Irish plurals yet. Nope. Definitely not.)

So, the Caisleán na Díthreabhach are effectively cryptids, even to the fae. They're known as either the Caisleán na Díthreabhach, or the Caisleán na Strainséir (Court of the Outsider); they just kinda show up places, solve conflicts, and leave. Which, in my opinion, is very Hermitlike.

They appeared in the Caisleán na Brionn. And now there is no Caisleán na Brionn, just a few survivors who spoke of magic like they'd never seen before, and of friends and family who left with them. Some of them returned. Some of them didn't.

(Court of Dreams. Most of you probably get what happened.)

But they're also known to humans, too. Sort of.

Their court is built right on the border between the mortal and the fae lands, the place where the Veil is weakest.

Ohio.

To the fae onlooker, it looks like an imposing fortress. To the human onlooker, it's just a town with a really weird vibe. And yeah, there's loads of cryptid sightings in the area, but that surely isn't related to this strange little town that freaks everyone out, and whose inhabitants all give off really Uncanny Valley vibes. Surely. That's a stupid thought.

But there are also those who know. Humans who know that this weird Ohioan town is the place to go to find themselves on the other side. Fae who know that the Caisleán na Díthreabhach is a way out.

And it is. If you know where to go.

But even those who know would not dare do them harm.

After all, He Who Keeps The Void is their king. After all, He Who Walks With Spirits holds his banner aloft. After all, They Who Watch will warn him. After all, He Who Fears Not Iron crafts their blades. After all, She Who Death Cowers Before rallies his armies. After all, He Who Is Fear stands at his right and He Who Turns Winter Red at his left.

After all, the Hermits will fight.

And they will win.