by Martin Frowd
APPENDIX D: THE MOONS OF KARNOS
Nine moons orbit the world of Karnos. In order, from the closest to the furthest out, these nine are known to the Twelve Tribes of the People as:
Hellmoon – smallest, black, 13 day orbit
Skyjewel – small, bright blue, 24 day orbit
Dragonmoon – large, white, 28 day orbit
Icemoon – medium size, white, 30 day orbit
Jademoon – small, green, 32 day orbit
Tidemoon – large, blue, 33 day orbit
Firemoon – large, red, 37 day orbit
Huntmoon – very small, silver,39 day orbit
Great Red Eye – largest, red, 91 day orbit
To learned people across the sea, the moons are known in the Tongue Arcane by the following names:
Naarias
Blirias
Morias
Frorias
Graalias
Shirias
Kasrias
Verias
Metrias
The Huntmoon, Verias, is also known in Maragashic, the native tongue of Maragash, as Tiraq. The names of the other moons, in other tongues, may be revealed in the future.
The Hellmoon, Naarias, is visible only to the Druid Order, and sacred to their God, Kelnaaros, King of Hell. It is much closer to the planet than any other moon, but invisible to most people, although others know of its existence.
The Huntmoon is the closest thing the Twelve Tribes of the People have to a lunar calendar, as the Druid Conclave meets at Hellgate Keep each full Huntmoon. As each full orbit of the Huntmoon is three full orbits of the Hellmoon, these two moons are always full together, although the Hellmoon is also full on its own. Thus, to the Druids, a full Huntmoon always resembles an eye peering down at the world, as the black Hellmoon obscures the core of the silver Huntmoon.
The Karnos year is commonly accepted by all nations and cultures as 364 days during which the world revolves once around the sun. To the Twelve Tribes of the People, and the Druid Order who rule them, the year is divided into four seasons marked by the orbits of the Great Red Eye, which is known beyond their shores as Metrias. For Druid record keeping, the year also consists of twenty-eight months of thirteen days each, marked by the orbits of the Hellmoon, but this is impractical for the tribesfolk who cannot see the Hellmoon in the sky. The tribes observe the other moons as they cross the sky and can measure spans of time according to each one, but do not typically maintain a calendar, as the Druids forbid them the arts of reading and writing.
The most commonly used calendar beyond Bliria’s shores divides the year into thirteen months of twenty-eight days each, based on the orbits of Morias the Dragonmoon, but the Druids particularly forbid any such reckoning by the Twelve Tribes as the Dragonmoon is sacred to Morkhaan Dragonfather of the Light Gods.
With the exceptions of Naarias, Morias and Metrias, the year cannot be neatly divided by the orbital periods of any other moon and therefore any lunar calendar based on one of the other six moons would of necessity clash with the solar calendar of the year.
APPENDIX E: THE DRUIDS OF ZYBYLL
The Druids of Zybyll, also known within their domain as the Druid Order and beyond their own borders as the Druids of Kelnaaros, the Blirian Druids or the Dark Druids, are the unquestioned theocratic rulers, teachers, priesthood and judges of the Twelve Tribes of the People on the continent of Bliria. They rule with an iron hand, ruthlessly suppressing any dissent, and in particular do not permit the worship of any God other than their own patron Kelnaaros, Dark King of Hell, and His chosen champion Zybyll, Prince of Demons, whom they refer to as the Divine Prince. Even the worship of the other Dark Gods of Hell is forbidden in the lands of the Twelve Tribes.
Seat
The seat of Druid power is at Hellgate Keep, or simply the Keep, on the north shore of the Black Lake in the northeast of the continent of Bliria. Currently the lands immediately surrounding the Keep are held by the People of the Wolf, one of the more powerful and influential of the Twelve Tribes. The Keep is home to the Conclave, the Druid Order's ruling body, and many other Druids, although there are also Druids based with the larger clans of the Twelve Tribes and Druids who undertake circuit duty among the smaller clans who do not have a permanent Druid of their own. No non-Druids are permitted to make the Keep their permanent home and even the Chieftains of the Twelve Tribes are rarely summoned there.
Hierarchy
The supreme leader of the Druid Order, and thus de facto priest-king of all the lands of the Twelve Tribes, is the Grand Druid, who presides over the Conclave. The Grand Druid is chosen by majority vote of the twelve Archdruids who make up the rest of the Conclave, always from among their own number, and serves for life once elected. The Grand Druid is expected to lay aside his affiliation to his birth tribe and rule without prejudice or preference, but in practice some Grand Druids retain a stronger connection to their previous tribe than others.
The twelve Archdruids who form the rest of the Conclave each rule over one of the Twelve Tribes and must be born into that tribe. An Archdruid may be chosen by his predecessor, if the latter has been elevated to Grand Druid, or else is elected by the Druid Masters of the same tribe from among their own number if the previous Archdruid has died. In practice, most Archdruids divide their time between Hellgate Keep and the territory of their tribe, and the Chieftain of their tribe is the de facto voice of the Druid Order on day to day matters among the common tribesfolk whenever the Archdruid or a Druid Master is not present.
The Conclave meets at Hellgate Keep at midnight every thirty-nine (thrice thirteen) days, when the Huntmoon is full (and thus when the Hellmoon is also full, though visible only to the Druids).
Each Archdruid is supported by a varying number of Druid Masters, who in turn oversee Druid Wanderers. Numbers relate at least loosely to the population of their tribe, but there are normally at least thirteen Wanderers for every Master, thirteen being the sacred number of the Order. Druid Masters have wide-ranging authority among their fellow Druids and their word is law among the tribesfolk, even the Chieftains of the Twelve Tribes and their clan chiefs, unless directly contradicted by another Master or overruled by an Archdruid. Such occasions are vanishingly rare, to emphasise the unity of the Order's rule over the tribes. Some Druid Masters are based with the principal clan of their tribe - always the clan whose chief is also the overall Chieftain - but the majority are based at Hellgate Keep.
Druid Wanderers are the only rank of Druid commonly seen out and about in the lands of the Twelve Tribes. Some are stationed permanently with a particular clan and accompany them on their nomadic migrations, while others travel a circuit to provide teaching and mete out judgement among the many smaller clans who lack a permanent Druid in residence. A Druid Wanderer's word is always law, unless a higher Druid is present.
Druid Novices and Acolytes are found only at Hellgate Keep. Novices are young Druid trainees with either a natural magical Gift or the born capacity to learn magic. Typically taken from their parents before the age of five, they are raised and trained entirely at the Keep. The training is harsh and rigorous and fewer than half of all Novices survive to reach the age of thirteen, the age of majority among the Twelve Tribes of the People, whereupon they attain the rank of Acolyte. Acolytes are permitted to leave the Keep, albeit only under supervision of Druid Wanderers as part of their training, and their education normally continues for five years. An Acolyte who is deemed not ready for ordination as a Druid Wanderer at eighteen may be held back for a further year or more in order to complete their training in magic, combat and law.
Substructures
While the ranks of the Druid hierarchy form a vertical divide, the Order also has a fundamental horizontal divide via the separate Brown Path and Black Path. All ordained Druids are either accepted into the ranks of Brown Druids or Black Druids. Usually by the third year of Acolytehood at the latest, they will have displayed a natural inclination toward the mystical abilities of one path or the other
. Druids with a particular birth Gift may be steered toward one Path or the other from an earlier age.
Brown and Black Druids of the same rank are considered equals in all matters of authority, but their particular abilities and strengths in magic are not the same. Wanderers, Masters, and Archdruids may all be either Brown or Black. Only the Grand Druid commands the powers of both Brown and Black Paths, and only after undergoing a special ritual unique to his rank, following his election by the Conclave.
Additionally, certain Druids may also be a member of one of the sub-groups or cabals within the Order. These include the Sighted, the Order's seers who are based on the Isle of Ravens and specialise in forecasting the future; the Unseen, Druids particularly gifted in physical as well as mystical combat and in stalking, hiding and quiet murder, who serve as the Order's assassins; and the Watch, who defend and secure Hellgate Keep itself. Less well known are the Fleshtearers and the Darkweavers, who fight with physical and mystical arts on the front lines of the Druid Order's endless battle with the rebel tribes of southern Bliria, and whose very existence is unknown to most common tribesfolk, as the existence of rebel tribes is a carefully guarded secret.
Druid Powers
All Druids have certain magics in common, although individuals may be stronger or weaker in certain areas than others. These include healing, command of animals and birds, manipulating the earth and plants, and control over the weather, including storm winds and lightning. Additionally, Brown Druids can transform into a number of animal or bird forms, while Black Druids can channel fire and hellfire and summon monsters to do their bidding.
Druid magic does not require words of the Tongue Arcane to actualise it, unlike the magic of necromancers, mistweavers and other mages, as taught by the Black Skull School and other institutions of arcane magic. Instead, Druids invoke their magic through ritual gestures or through prayers to Kelnaaros, some enunciated in the common tongue of the Twelve Tribes and some in the language of demons.
Druid Knowledge
The Druid Order reserves much knowledge to itself. To reinforce their control of the Twelve Tribes, the arts of reading and writing are forbidden to non-Druids, as are maps of the lands. Druids are trained to retain a staggering amount of oral information and retrieve it at will, including the laws and histories of the Order and the tribes, but also record information on magical crystals whose use is taught only to them. The Druids make little use of paper or parchment, as to do so would require a steady supply of raw materials and a certain amount of necessary industry. Even within the Order, knowledge is restricted, with certain sections of the Keep library available only to the Masters and above, or Archdruids and above, or even to the Grand Druid alone. The true history of the lands of Bliria is known only by the highest echelons of the Order and never divulged in full even to lower Druids, much less to tribesfolk.
Druid Markings
Human Druids of all ranks and Paths shave their heads (tigren are not expected to shave their fur; cobren have scaly crests rather than hair). Druids go barefoot at all times, to reinforce their connection to the earth.
All Druids wear silken robes in the colour of their Path, either deep brown or black.
Druid Masters are tattooed with the badge of their rank, in the form of a long claw-mark down the left cheek for Brown Masters or a thirteen-pointed star above the left eye for Black Masters. Archdruids have tattoos on both cheeks, or above both eyes, depending on their Path. The Grand Druid is tattooed with claw-marks on both cheeks and thirteen-pointed stars above both eyes.
Further Druid lore will be revealed in future books.