The Divide

Navigation of the seas between the two lands was becoming more and more unpredictable. The High King was desperate to find safe passage between them. As the High King and his advisors debated the fate of the eastern expansion, the Fomorians reared their heads once more. This time word slowly began to reach Eyru that the Fomorians had begun to raid the city of Tach and intercept ships leaving its harbors. 

Ian Lirnaan, the new High King was outraged by the interference. With the aid of his advisor, a respected bard by the name of Jaoch Fersun, the High King drew up plans to lead an army to Tach. Lirnaan was convinced that bringing a contingent from the Council of Stone would quell the Fomorian’s antics. Further, Ian had been a King of the throne all his life, reigning in unparalleled peace. The High King now wished to prove his worth with the sword as well.

High King Ian Lirnaan selected fifty of the Council of the Stone to take on his journey. It was a risky trip in the unpredictable sea, but the High King saw many a good omen for the journey. He promised to return within a month's time. Having no heirs, he left his throne in the hands of the chieftain of a powerful clan, Tairan.

Despite the protests of many, the High King set sail. He was never seen again. All communication with the glorious city of Tach soon completely ceased. Many attempts were made over the years to re-establish contact with this fabled city but to no avail. It is now widely believed that the tale is sheer myth.

Here is where the divide began, spawning a war with no end. Clans small and large, powerful and weak, had sworn allegiance to the one High King for centuries. However, circumstances plotted against peace. The High King had left no heir, only a trusted ally in charge. Further, with the peace and stability enjoyed during the Golden Age, the strong willed Eyrian people had grown restless. No more than ten years after the High King disappeared, competition for control erupted among the various clans.

The first to openly lay claim to the missing High King’s throne, was a chieftain by the name of Steairn. He controlled a small clan which held the rough lands to the northeast of the Eyrian capital. Steairn tried to convince the people that King Lirnaan had simply abandoned them for the prosperity of the lands to the east.

Tairan condemned this. He assured the various clans that the High King would indeed return one day. Further, he held he would always remain true to his oath of allegiance to the High King. As soon as the true High King returned, Tairan would step down. This allayed most of the clans fears, however many were swayed by Steairn.

Preaching unrest, Steairn’s forces grew. He first brought open and violent revolt against the Lirnaan loyalists by hatching a plan to kidnap acting High King Tairan’s young sons so that his family’s reign would also end. Tairain’s two sons were killed in the attempt to take them hostage. This sparked the first series of horrible clashes between the two clans.

Steairn was eventually captured and charges of heresy, treason and murder were brought against him. The claims of heresy stemmed from a widely held belief that Steairn practiced Fomorian witchcraft and dealt with demonic forces to aid his cause. Such rumors played well on the superstitions of those loyal to Tairan. In an unprecedented punishment, Steairn was put to the stake and burned. The enormous crowd that turned out to witness his death watched in horror as Steairn stood among the flames for nearly three hours. As he burned, he called down all manner of curses upon the family of Tairan and the generations to come. He promised to bring fire and pain to those who remained loyal to the missing King’s "puppets". His death produced a martyr and more clans slowly flocked to his banner. 

A different clan chief by the name of Faough was sickened by what he saw. He saw greed on all sides and vowed to return his clan to a better sense of balance. He and his small clan left the inhabited lands of southern Eyru; abandoning their villages, to seek solace elsewhere. On the outskirts of  the Wood Between he found that peace. 

Faough found brotherhood among the animals that lived in the Wood and came under the tutelage of a druid by the name of Rale. Rale had a special affinity for the beasts of the woods as all druids do. However, for Faough it was the wolves who intrigued him most. He regarded them as noble and powerful creatures. For many years Faough lived with Rale among the wolves and brought back his new perspective to his clan.

Finally, after 50 years of continued feuding, yet another faction formed around a heroine by the name of Erinin. Originally a supporter of Tairan, she was also a respected member of the Council of Stone. Erinin grew tired of the continuous war and strife that followed the loss of the High King. She made a pledge to bring the clans together in peace under the ancient banner of the Council. Through charismatic speeches and cool headed negotiations, she slowly brought about her goal. The Council of Stone took center stage in clan affairs and held the peace. It was however, short lived.

In what followers of Erinin would later call the "Great Betrayal", secret meetings were held between long time enemies clan Tairan and clan Steairn. Neither could truly bring themselves to a lasting peace with each other. Between them, powerful clandestine groups plotted to destroy what Erinin had achieved. After a string of amazing successes by the Council, the negotiations began to mysteriously fail. Powerful evidence appeared that Erinin was in fact a traitor to both sides and that she intended to lay claim to the High Kingship.

Those who refused to accept the evidence were forced out of their office or in some cases simply vanished. The council, now stacked with puppets of the clandestine alliance between Tairan and Steairn, formally brought charges against Erinin. Erinin was convicted of treason and her land in the south of Eyru was deemed forfeit. Erinin abandoned the Council in protest and went into a self imposed exile. This created a power vacuum in the Council that nearly tore it apart.

In a predictable clash, both clan Tairan and Clan Steairn lay claim to Erinin's land and holdings in the south of Eyru. With the mediating force of the Council now in disarray, fighting once again erupted. This time it was Erinin’s land as the new battlefield. Erinin quickly returned when she heard of the suffering of those on her land. Her dreams of peace shattered, she dove vengefully into the fray. Many rallied to her; old allies from her days with the Council of Stone, those who had sought new lives on her land, and even some from the "Freeman’s" lands. In a series of vicious surprise attacks, she drove the clans of Tairan and Steairn back beyond their borders.

Clan Tairan, soon called a truce, though refused to assist in removing clan Steairn. Steairn’s followers were eventually removed but at a great cost. Erinin died during a final battle when she held off Steairn's army with a force one tenth the size. This halted clan Stearin which was on a slash and burn advance through her territory and forced the heretic’s army to withdraw.

There were drastic consequences of this in-fighting. The Eyrian Warriors in the North thinned as they returned home to fight the wars. Those who remained began to see the precarious position they were in. Their forces continually weakened and the Giants were still hiding among the mountains. A well-known warrior named Clarabaan took a gamble. Hoping to finish off the giant population before they had a chance to act, he led the majority of the Northern army to the range of mountains known as the Giant’s Stair. It is said upon reaching the mountains that "the ground shook and mountains fell" as the giants pounced with a force much larger than Clarabaan could have imagined. Left without protection, many people journeyed back to the south and the lands of the north slowly returned to the wilds they had once been. No Eyrian has set foot in them since.

As years passed, clan loyalties cemented under the four leaders Tairan, Erinin, Steairn and Faough. Some sought the solace that Faough’s simpler life promised. Some held on to hopes that the one High King would return and joined Tairan’s side. Those who had given up on the High King and what he stood for flocked to Steairn’s banner. Those who longed for the peace and prosperity of the past chosen Erinin. The effect shattered any remnant of solidarity the people of Eyru once had. Now, instead of one strong leader uniting the warring clans, it was four. Each one claiming the right or wisdom to lead the numerous clans back into a new Golden Age.