The Celtic Otherworlds are united under a single sovereign state known as the Caliburn Union (or the Camelot Confederacy). Opinions on the Union differ from persona to person, either seeing it as the brilliant mandate of God, or a Machiavellian plot by Avalonian enchantresses to seize the Otherworlds.

The Caliburn Union formally began when the Elfame Commonwealth entered into a political union with the Kingdom of Avalon. Since then, the Union has expanded to encompass as well, Saithcaer Annwn, and an array of other minor constituent territories.

The head of state assumes the title "Lord Protector of the Otherworlds". This hereditary position is held by the House of Quibell, who are also the royal house of Avalon. While their kingship extends solely to the Isle of Great Avalon, their authority as Lord Protector spans across to all of the Celtic Otherworlds.

The mandate by which the Kings and Queens of Avalon are allowed to rule, as with all Otherworldly matters, revolves around their possession of the sword Excalibur (ref. file MO1000).

Beyond basic anomalous qualities, the sword is also intricately linked with the Otherworlds on a metaphysical level, allowing those of elder Briton blood to exercise literal control over the Otherworlds using Excalibur as a medium. It is the only method by which the Otherworld Drift has thus far been reversed.

Put simply, it is through the Quibells' ownership of Excalibur that they control all passage between our worlds. It is at the King's discretion that one is allowed to enter or exit the Otherworlds.

John Quibell (also known as John the Uncrowned) was a foot soldier for the Royal Sicilian Regiment in the Napoleonic Wars. Quibell was believed to have retrieved Excalibur amidst a French incursion, inadvertently reconnecting Avalon to our world. Information on Quibell would not come to light until much later, as he had succumbed to a plague outbreak whilst stationed at Malta.

At the conclusion of the Lusitania Expedition into Avalon, an agreement was reached between the Royal Congregation of Sorcerers and the enchantresses of Avalon to coronate Quibell's orphaned son, James Quibell, as King of Avalon (as James I of Avalon^[2]). His reign was marked by an immediate invasion from Elfame over the control of Excalibur. James solidified his authority by defeating and rebuilding Elfame's fractured realm, establishing the Caliburn Union.

James's heirs were not yet born at the time of his death, and so the Avalonian throne passed to his niece, Jessamine Chalon (as Jessamine I of Avalon^[3]). The Avalonian throne was subsequently disputed between rival claimants from respective descendants of James I and Jessamine I, continuing until the Johannine Settlement of 1872 and the Treaty of Recompense of 1927 articulated the legitimacy of both lines of succession.

The Lord Protector's full title is:

As wielders of Excalibur, the Lord Protector is bestowed the highest authority in the Caliburn Union. As Common Law wasn't standardised across different territories, the Lord Protector is often the final arbiter on important matters or disputes. Further legislative powers are within their prerogatives, although the Lord Protector is supposed to govern their dominion in the counsel of their subjects.

In halting the Otherworld Drift, a process also known as Convergent Synchrony, Excalibur exacts a profound toll on its wielder. As a result, not often does a Lord Protector live beyond the age of 30, their lives sacrificed to the weight of their duty. In your lifetime of service, you will witness many brave men and women rise to bear the sword. Young as they may be, they are nonetheless statesmen, and command the Faeries' reverence, who regard their sagacity and strength as transcendent, perhaps divine.

Since the coronation of James I of Avalon in 1819, rules of succession concerning the Crown of Avalon have gradually accumulated. Presently, the Avalonian Throne observes thus:

For centuries, the high command of Monarch Security has overseen the development of its nation through the Round Table. The Caliburn Union is a participating member of the Monarch Security, allotting them a position at the Round Table. Unlike other heads of state, the Lord Protector directly chairs the Round Table as one of its key leaders without an intermediary representative.

In their cooperation with Monarch Security, both parties abide by the Royal Congregation of Sorcerers' regulation on certain strains of thaumaturgy and are responsible for supervising supernatural phenomena occurring in member states. This duty empowers affiliate organisations, both MI13 and Avalon's many knights order, to intervene when appropriate in service of the veil of secrecy.

Although the natural resources of Caliburn appear unremarkable, they have at their disposal several, and are themselves, strategic assets that make them indispensable allies. Included within our partnership, are the near-exclusive access to the faeries and thaumaturges of Europe and control of the Otherworlds.

The Caliburn Union, under the Quibell dynasty, has opened up a vital space for the unveiled, where those of 'anomalous' heritage may find peace. The veil is bolstered by the support offered by the Quibells, perhaps to their detriment.

CLASSIFIED

The Kingdom of Avalon is a crowned ecclesiarchy and a core constituent of the Caliburn Union. It encompasses the entire geographic area known as the Avalonian Isles.

The Avalonian faeries made substantial contact with the native Britons prior to their departure, as evidenced by its likely inspiration to the Arthurian Cycle of literature. This connection ended shortly before, or during, the Anglo-Saxon migration into Britain. No recorded contact with Avalon would occur until the Lusitania Expedition of 1818 by the Royal Congregation of Sorcerers.

Compared to peer Otherworlds, Avalon suffers the greatest extent of the Otherworld Drift, which rendered it completely inaccessible for almost a thousand years. This was undone by the Convergent Synchrony, a meta-structure of spliced leylines reconnected Avalon to the Irish Sea, now semi-physically anchored to Earth's geography, eliminating the Sea of Chaos entirely as its boundary.

It is possible to directly travel back to Earth from Avalon (but not the reverse) by navigating the high seas. However, nautical measurements appear distorted when charted to standard Earth projections, travel distances are inconsistent and may vary between destinations.

Cadelswith

Avalon is an archipelago composed of over 300 islands, of which few are permanently settled.^[4] The land is highly productive, and has kept up with agricultural demand as development expands to accommodate Avalon's growing population. For this, they are also known as the "Isle of Apples", named after its most numerous produce.

Great Avalon (or Avalon Major) accounts for 92 percent of Avalonian lands. It is the largest and most populated island of the archipelago. The rest of Avalon is sparsely populated due to its mountainous geography and untamed wilderness. Villages and communal settlements are uncommon. Instead, the island's population congregates into eight religious cities towered by great cathedrals.

The Isle of Avalon (or Little Avalon) is an island nestled in the center of a circular island chain next to Great Avalon. It is a place of cultural significance, said to be the eponymous mystical isle of legends and the final resting ground of the legendary King Arthur. Encased entirely by the walls and spires of massive cathedrals, it hosts the "Castle-upon-lake", Cadelswith, capital to both this kingdom and the Caliburn Union at large.

The Kingdom of Avalon is divided into feudal duchies, with centred on each cathedral cities. They are ruled by a collective of sorcerer priestesses, these nine women are informally known as the Ennearchy (lit. rule of nine).

Reverend Lady Nivene, Duchess-Archbishop of Morgen, circa 1866.

The faeries The Ennearchy existed before the crowning of Avalonian monarchs. They traced their lineage to the Nine Sorceress, the druidic leaders of pagan Avalon. As Christianity took root in Avalon, the enchantresses took the title of "Duchess-Bishop", embodying both spiritual and temporal authority over their domain.

The Duchess-Bishops are the true executives of Avalon, running state affairs in their respective duchies. Their authority is exclusive to their duchies and may not infringe on the primacy of another's domain.

As Duchesses, their secular duties range from maintaining civil order, enforcing justice, taxation, and resolving disputes. As Bishops, they preside over all spiritual matters such as sacraments, ministry, and religious observances.

Duchess-Bishops are also exceptional thaumaturges, a consequence of the over-centralisation of their offices. These positions are neither democratic nor hereditary. One is not simply voted into the office of a Duchess-Bishop. It is the responsibility of a Duchess-Bishop to find and raise a worthy apprentice to succeed the offices upon their death.

While the Ennearchy has no official leader, the "Duchess-Archbishop of Morgen" traditionally held precedence as the foreign representative of Avalon and, preceding this role, the regent of Avalon.

Certain privileges of the Ennearchy had since tranferred to the Avalonian Crown. The Lord Protector, as the sovereign of Avalon, may intercede as an arbiter concerning inter-duchy disputes. They are also integrated into the religious ceremonies of Avalon, such as knighting and duchess confirmation rituals.

The Duchess-Archbishops of Morgen have had long-standing ties to the Orllyn branch of the Quibell Royal House, begun when Reverend Lady Orllyn betrothed her daughter to King James I. Since then, members of the Orllyn-Quibell House have assumed the role of Duchess-Archbishop, or that a succeeding Duchess-Archbishop continues to maintain a close connection to the cadet branch due to her predecessor's ties to the family. This has aligned the Orllyns much closer to the faeries than would the more human-oriented Chalon branch.

Avalonian Brythonic^[5] is the native language of Avalon. Evolved from Common Brittonic of 6th Century Britain, it is a part of the Brittonic subgroup, sharing a linguistic ancestry with other insular Celtic languages such as Welsh, Cornish, and Breton.

Christianity were thought to have spread to Avalon from Roman-era Britain, where sects such as the Apollinarians and Pelagians flourished outside the purview of Rome. Since Roman retreat from Britain at the start of the 4th Century, Avalonian priests never participated in the later ecumenical councils such as the Council of Ephesus and Council of Chalcedon.

When Avalon was separated from Earth, the disparate Christian sects and the established Druidic class united into a new religious tradition, known as Avalonian Orthodoxy, making it one of the oldest Christian denominations in the world.

Avalonian Orthodoxy therefore deviate significantly from other Christian denominations. Along with their own saints such as "St. Pelagius" and "Myrddin the Wise", Avalonians also celebrate the four major Celtic festivals. The duchess-bishops attributes great importance to these festivities as a source of unity. The nine duchies take turns hosting the celebrations, where faeries from across the kingdom travels to the cathedral cities.

A form of chivalric code developed parallel to medieval Europe, which demands piety and noble deeds. From this emerged the knighthood of Avalon, whose primarily purpose prior to the Convergent Synchrony, was to defend against the Sea of Chaos. Even as these threats were dispelled, knight orders such as the Order of Drustanus continues to be prevalent as Avalon's counterpart to MI13.

Through all of this, the Lord Protector held a revered status second only to Christ himself. The prophesied King of Avalon was a messianic figure that was to end Avalon's exile and usher in an age of prosperity. John the Uncrowned and his descendants are believed to be the fulfillment of said prophecy, which had led to a renewal of faith across Avalon.

Since its return, the Ennearchy and Quibells have made it their mission to steer the kingdom towards modernisation while preserving stability. Progress has been deliberate yet cautiously steady so as to prevent shock. Amongst its achievements, the Elysium Express (now the Styx Line) railway network was opened in 1870; the first island-wide telegraph network was completed in 1887; and a completed paved road network by 1929. Cadelswith's island nature and historic heritage prevented much of the modernisation, however.

Shy of the 1940s, the Ennearchy has always kept up tight border control to stem the flow of outsiders, nevertheless, reintroduction to the outside world has triggered a population boom in Avalon ever since.

CLASSIFIED

The Ghaordaidh Unseelie family, circa 1899.

The Elfame Commonwealth is a parliamentary necrocracy and a constituent of the Caliburn Union. Comprised of numerous minor Otherworld clusters that intersect the Scottish Lowlands and borderlands.

In ancient times, the Elphanes were many tribal clans of faeries that vied for dominance over Elfame. These clans fell into two ideological factions based on their moral inclinations — the benevolent Seelie Court, and the malevolent Unseelie Court.

Elfame eventually unified under the reign of the immortal faery Eilidh Ghàidheal an Cèiteanach Bean-sheòlaidh nan Slighean Ceòlmhor, the Queen of Elfame.

The compassionate queen welcomed travellers into her domain; there they were taught thaumaturgy and return to Britain as wisemen, prophets, and cunning folk.

In Scotland, the Queen of Elfame was accused of being the Devil, and those affiliated with Elfame were hunted for practicing witchcraft. The Unseelie Court helped fan the flames of paranoia to steepen the division between Elfame and humans, hoping that the Queen of Elfame's diminished standing may revitalise the Unseelie Court.

This backfired dramatically when their intimate dealings drew the ire of King James VI of Scotland. From 1590 onwards, the many Scottish Witch Hunts contributed to a increasingly deranged "war on magic" that culminated in James VI's war on Elfame.

The Scottish-Faelic War, formerly known as the "Rightful Cause", and to the Elphanes as the Bleeding of Elfame, was a devastation of unmatched magnitudes. Completely destroying the landscape of Elfame, the war had claimed the lives of innumerable faeries, and killed the Queen of Elfame at its conclusion.

In the aftermath, various despots made their bid to wrest control of Elfame from the crippled Seelie Court, ledy by the Unseelie "King of Elfame". All of these attempts failed, further destabilising Elfame. The power struggle led to a second collapse of the Elfame Court, plunging the faeries into a state of perpetual ethno-religious conflict.

When Excalibur was unsheathed in 1813, the Convergent Synchrony also affected Elfame. Alerted by this development, the Unseelie Court briefly invaded Avalon in hopes of taking Excalibur. After repelling the invasion, King James I of Avalon launched his own expedition into Elfame, seeking to incorporate it into his realm. After fierce resistance, Elfame accumulated to James I's sovereignty. The reconstituted Elfame joined the Caliburn Union in 1828.

A curse placed by the Queen of Elfame at her deathbed forbids anyone of British nationality from stepping foot onto Elfame. As a result, not many MI13 agents are able to enter Elfame, making it one of the most elusive Otherworlds.

Elfame was once a singular, contiguous Otherworld, but was shattered into countless smaller Otherworlds after the Scottish-Faelic War. The environment of Elfame consists mostly of green plains and hills. As are all Otherworlds, theirs is the most fertile soil, but continues to be plagued by spectres of ruined souls. An overabundance of iron kept the rivers of Elfame flowing red, said to be the living proof of Scottish crimes.

At each boundary, the Otherworlds are partitioned by the Sea of Chaos, manifested in the form of a dark, foggy forest. After the Convergent Synchrony, selected segments of the Sea of Chaos were dispelled to create new land bridges to one another, and Charon Service was able to fully reconnect the Elfame Otherworlds once more via Elysium Express's Acheron Line.

The deceased Queen of Elfame is the de jure head of Elfame, while the Lord Protector is recognised as the Courtier and Regent to Her Highness the Queen of Elfame, protecting Elphanes in the absence of a true faery leader. The restructured Elfame institutions borrowed significantly from the constitutional framework of the United Kingdom. As decreed by James I, Elfame is a constitutional democracy with decision-making vested in a unicameral legislative parliament.

A map of Elfame constituencies.

The Elfame Parliament is composed of 100 representatives elected every 6 years under a first-past-the-post system. Elfame's MPs broadly fall under three party blocs. The Unicorn Party represents predominantly Seelie faeries, while the Black Stag Party represents mostly Unseelie faeries.

These two parties are the ideological successors to the two faery courts and enjoy a strong bloc of faery voters due to their innate values. However, neither side has an outright majority and must govern through alliances with third parties.

The Green Party represents a broad spectrum of median, indeterminate voters. Unlike the two courts, the preferences of these voters are less predetermined by their ideological convictions, for a variety of reasons. A green voter may be human Elphanes that had lived here since the Scottish-Faelic War, human-faery halfbreeds, or faery outcasts with no insistent values. Due to their perceived political neutrality, it is common for the Green Party to be a part of the ruling coalition, with a green MP serving as the First Minister and Loyal Advocate to Her Highness the Queen of Elfame.

Recently, Elfame saw the emergence of a new extremist party, known as the Redcappers, named after the goblin wardens of Elfame's leyline intersections. The Redcappers espouses Elphane nativism, anti-British sentiments, and are sympathetic to the old Crossfell Revolution. They sought to restore Elfame's sovereignty and isolationism.

Current Parliament composition

.

27th Elphame Parliament (1990)
Party	MPs	Leader
Black Stag	42	Finnlowe Dìomhanas
Unicorn	36	Maoleilidh nan Àrsaidh
Green	20	Jacob Earlston (First Minister)
Redcap	2	Robert of Hermitage

Faeries of Elfame once spoke Cumbric or their own Brythonic language, but they were discarded by the Queen of Elfame in favour of a tongue more familiar to the contemporary British folk. Nowadays, Elphanes speak in Gaelic and a form of English reminiscent of the Northumbrian dialect.

The legacy of the Seelie and Unseelie Court court continues to persist in modern Elfame. They can best be understood as two distinct cultural identifiers, each embodying contrasting approaches to their interactions with humans. Seelie faeries choose to coexist with humans, offering assistance and contributing positively to human society. On the contrary, unseelie faeries adopt a more antagonistic stance, inflicting harm and loss upon humanity.

This isn't to say that the Seelie is necessarily good nor the Unseelie evil, as their drive to do action is an intrinsic part of their nature. Such is the moral framework of Elfame, which is alien to humans. Elphane personalities are often described as perplexing or incomprehensible as a result of their adaptation to an incoherent space.

Eilidh, Queen of Elfame, was venerated as the direct descendant of a revered goddess, earning divine reverence from both the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Her sacrifice, defending Elfame from Scottish invaders enshrined her in the Elphane psyche. In this, she is akin to King Arthur. Many Elphanes continue to believe that the entombed Queen of Elfame is in fact not dead, but merely asleep, and will one day return to rule Elfame as its rightful Queen.

The Solasan Catacombs, decorated with the bones of faeries

After the catastrophic Bleeding of Elfame, many of the ruined castles and abandoned residences were repurposed into ossuaries for the dead. They have since become grounds of worship or other religious rituals. All Elphanes are noted to have an ingrained respect for the dead. Elphanes that ventured into Earth would strictly observe funerary customs, often attending memorials or public funerals regardless of familiarity.

Regardless, Elfame society remains deeply isolationist. The entrances to Elfame are vigilantly warded by the Redcap goblins. Most Elphanes are conservative and highly distrustful of foreigners. The government has repeatedly rejected aid or technology exchange offered by the MI13, Elphane industry is thus kept to subsistence agriculture.

CLASSIFIED

Saithcaer Annwn (lit. Seven Towers of Annwn) is a stratocracy and a constituent of the Caliburn Union. Its leyline intersection is located in Cardigan Bay off the coast of Wales, falling inside Danger Area D201.^[7]

The Sea of Chaos is most severe in Annwn, perpetually enveloping the landscapes of Annwn, that renders reality uncertain. The surface is thus uninhabitable for most humans and faeries. "Pseudo-lifeforms" roam inside the Sea, known as Fomorians.

The Sea of Chaos and its monstrous offspring are known to occasionally seep into Cardigan Bay through Annwn, during such times, the entire Range Danger Area is cordoned off under the guise of military testing, where the threat will be dispatched by Her Majesty's Nightmare Fleet.

Terrorised by the shapeless chaos, the people of Annwn fled to Earth, while some sought the refuge of ancient monoliths. Eight Caer or Towers, stood tall inside the Sea. Said to have hosted the gods of old, they became Annwn's sanctuary from the Sea of Chaos for generations.

Annwn lived an elusive history, for they were locked in a forever war with the Sea of Chaos and its Fomorian spawns. This was until Caer Rigor, Annwn's former capital tower, fell to the Fomorian beast known as the White Dragon, leading to immediate reforms.

A young officer by the name of Rhodri Dyfed led a coup d'etat of the Towers with the aid of Avalonian knights, in exchange for Annwn's fealty to the Caliburn Union. Then Lord Protector, Queen Jessamine I arrived at Annwn and was able to slay the White Dragon, earning her the title Avenger of Rigor, bringing the seven towers under the fold of the Caliburn Union.

HMS Orpheus approaching Caer Pedryvan at low tide.

The Saithcaer can be better understood as a kind of geological anomaly, a superstructure of impossibly large megaliths interconnected by a complex of tunnels and interlocking pillar branches. Its most prominent features are the seven, formerly eight, overground spires that extends hundreds of meters into the sky. They form the basis of Annwn's administrative units.

The Saithcaer resist the altering effects of the Sea of Chaos and the Fomorians, the Annwfins thus made it their bastion. Through generations of excavations, the Towers come to house some 35,000 inhabitants, ruled by military leaders. Beyond the Towers laid inconsistent geography, valleys and hills shifted and reshaped by the Sea of Chaos at a moment's notice. The Towers therefore double as navigational landmark, and is the only meaningful definition of Annwn's borders inside the vast Sea.

Caer Wydyr is the new capital Tower of the Saithcaer. A fortress made entirely of hardened glass, it is the by-product of an anomalous scorching core underneath the layers of tempered glass. A cycle exist where the top layers Caer Wydyr grow brittle and collapse, to be recycled by the Tower's core into new layers of Caer Wydyr.

The light of Caer Wydyr's core illuminates the whole Tower to extend to all of inhabited Annwn. Once only a humble lighthouse, Rhodri Dyfed chose it as the new capital tower of Annwn to be a literal beacon of hope, symbolising Annwn's progress and struggle against chaos, blessed by God to eternally fight on.

Hywel Penn Tylwyth Teg, in traditional Annwfin garb, circa 1912.

Since Rhodri's Revolution, Annwn had rapidly modernised with help from the United Kingdom. New internal expansions have allowed the Towers to be retrofitted with new communication cables and defensive gun batteries.

Annwn currently boast an export industry made possible by imported Earth machinery.

The Towers offers no agricultural potential, making food security a major concern for Annwn. This is remedied by food subsidies from both the Monarch Security and Elfame.

In Annwn, goods such as caffeine and spices are highly sought-after stimulants, helping Annwfins to endure the Sea of Chaos.

Military service is a compulsory, or rather an integral, part of Annwfin society. Directly or not, all Annwfins contribute to Annwn strategy for survival. Each Tower demands a standing army of 1,000 warriors for its defence, led by its Penn Caer (Chief of the Tower)

The seven Tower Chiefs together govern Annwn in an assembly known as Cynulliad Saithcaer and from within, one Chief is elevated to the position of Penn Tylwyth Teg (Chief of the Fair Folk). Idwal of Caer Wydyr is the current paramount Chief of Annwn.

A Chief is chosen by their merit over blood or lineage, both humans and faeries have taken the mantle of Fair Folk Chief. It is their duty to have complete dominion over injustices and the monsters of the fog, for according to traditions, "it is said that God gave Gwyn ap Nudd control over the demons lest this world be destroyed."

Annwn historically saw multiple waves of exodus. Be they refugees or simply lost, a diaspora of Annwfins found themselves settling the Isle of Great Britain, concentrated in northern Wales. The typical Annwfin is both warrior-like and adventurous, combined with their sharp eyes and skills, the migrant Annwfins lended their skills to Welsh and English kings as great archers.

Annwfins of Earth heavily assimilated into Welsh culture. Old Annwfinish, already a Brythonic language, was further Welshified with the return of the 'islander' diaspora, standardised using Welsh orthography. Like Avalon, Annwn reports a Christian majority, but is divided in tradition, religious affiliation ranges from the Avalonian Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, or Evangelism.

Annwfin soldiers in the Battle of Arthur's Pass, circa 1916.

Living in constant siege compels Annwfins' pursuit of technological innovations, this led to widespread adoption of black-powder firearms, and the transformation of a vibrant gunsmithing culture.

Every Annwfin household purportedly hold at least one heirloom weapon, and members are expected to operate a firearm at least once in their lifetime. Per Queen Elizabeth II's instructions, British Annwfin diaspora are subjected to a much laxer regulation on firearm ownership as a cultural practice.

Many of the Annwn diaspora continue to work in arms manufacturing industries, they have largely coalesced under the employment of Vandwy Defence, which supply arms to organizations such as Monarch Security, RPC Authority, and the Saithcaer.

The reign of the Caliburn Union had foster the reconnection of the Annwn diaspora and their homeland. The Chiefs are able to expand their influence by leveraging the diasporas' allegiance in service of Monarch Security and the Caliburn Union. Under the Treaty of Caer Sidi, Annwfins were recruited by Britain as sharpshooters.

Currently, approximately 600 Annwfin 'elfshots' are part of the British Army, organised under the Royal Faery Regiment and is marked for mobilisation priority in Acquired Forces deployment.

CLASSIFIED

Tír dé Danann was a collection of otherworldly land under the subject of the Tairngire Empire, a fractured realm of nations, where great houses and rival kings vie for power over the imperial throne. In addition to some dozen Otherworlds that comprised its base, Tír dé Danann also held earthly territories inside the forests and Alps of Europe, giving it the unique distinction as Europe's first Otherworld empire.

The nucleus of the empire is the Otherworld of Tairngire, which overlaps Ireland in burial mounds called Sídhe. Faeries of Tairngire, also the ruling class of Tir de Danann, call themselves the Aos Sí and rejects their classification, insisting distinction from 'lowborn' faeries. These claims are dubious, though the Aos Sí have a noticeably extended lifespan of over 200 years, they are largely indistinguishable from other Elfish faeries.

The Aos Sí claims to be descendants of the Túatha dé Danann (tribe of the goddess Danu), a mythical race of Celtic demi-gods that conquered and ruled Ireland until the arrival of the Milesians, precursors to the Irish people. Defeated by the Milesians, the Túatha dé Danann were driven into Tairngire, becoming the Aos Sí.

Early Tairngire history immediately following their exile is scarce. Vaguely retold as the era of the Three Interregnums. the Túatha dé Danann divided themselves into petty kingdoms that rose and fell in various wars waged by feuding kings for control over the Otherworld.

Various Waldschrat participating in Imperial Wild Hunts, circa 1878.

Recorded history of the Aos Sí began in 9th century with the conquest of Germanic faeries by Rudraige of the Third Uí Mananns, who then leveraged their strength to overthrow the ruling Uí Midir Dynasty in Tairngire. As the new High King, Rudraige merged the Aos Sí and faeries into a single realm, the "Land of Danu".^[9]

At its height, Tír dé Danann's presence spans all of Western and Northern Europe, where Aos Sí kings collected the tribute of faeries ranging from Changelings, Janas, Moosleute, Alders, Flosshilde. At the same time, the empire also enabled local faeries to organize into new kingdoms. By the 12th century, faery rulers would contest the supremacy of Aos Sí, even successfully installing their own High Kings, such as the Uí Berúin (Auberon) dynasty. Tír dé Danann in its later years fully transformed into a collage of feudatories.

Tír dé Danann was eclipsed by the rise of Avalon and the Caliburn Union. Early in their history, the Lady Protector had attempted diplomatic dialogue with Tairngire, but High King Diarmaid Dána was incensed by Queen Jessamine I's inability, and refusal to speak Old Irish. This became the foundation of a longstanding feud between Tairngire and Avalon. The Caliburn Union, with the leadership of successive Lord Protectors, triumph over the many incursion attempts by Tír dé Danann, and their empire's periphery was slowly chipped away by the power of Excalibur.

During the First World War, an embittered High King Eochaid mac Cathbhóthach sided with the Central Powers and called upon wild hunters on all Avalon and Entente territory, bringing the continental devastation to the Other-Front. In response, King William II used Excalibur to enforce a total blockade of Tairngire. Depriving the Aos Sí passages to their Otherworlds, the Entente waged a scorched-earth campaign, systematically destroyed every kingdom under Tír dé Danann.

Art depicting the Riders of the Sidhe, imperial warriors.

Relation with Tír dé Danann is more tense than the Calliburn Union. Intelligence regarding the former Tír dé Danann primarily concerns the European territories held by faery over-kings.

The legacy of Tír dé Danann persists through the by remnant faery communities that still roams Europe. While household faeries such as the Kolbolds and Lutins are thought to have perished, wood sprites like the woodfolks or mossfolks retreated into the deeper recesses of the shrinking forests.

The Wild Hunt decrees of 1914 persist in legal ambiguity. Many wild hunter clans chose to continue their one-sided war on humanity in disobedience to the High King, forming their own fiefs. The loss of authority particularly impacted the Alpine highlands, where rouge beasts such as the tatzelwurm and fänggen harasses countryside even now.

Two Germanic Otherworlds are still known to MI13, the Black Forest and Tairngire. The Duchy of Schwarzwald (Black Forest), once stretches all of Rhine Valley, saw significant loss of its leyline intersections by war's end, now receded to just the Schwarzwald proper. Many faeries of Germany sought refuge in the Black Forest during the Entente purge and was never seen again. Though it survived, silence from the Black Forest suggest the collapse of organised civilisations.

The High Kingdom of Tír na nÓg houses the remaining institutions of Tír dé Danann, where the High King continues to lay claim to all former imperial territories. It is the Otherworld of Aos Sí and bears semblance to the Irish landscape. Visitors often describe Tairngire as 'eerie' and 'uncanny', where one would find lakes and rivers on its earthly counterpart would instead find themselves faced with peaks and mountain ranges.

Tír dé Danann territories are divided into túaths. These tribal clan-states are loosely defined, and could represent anywhere from a castle ruin to whole forests and mountain ranges. Each is ruled by a king, or Rí, whoose duty is to tend to the lands which outline their ethereal kingdoms.

The system of kingship follows a straightforward hierarchy. A king who dominates neighbouring túaths becomes a Ruirí (over-king). In turn, many túaths conjoin to form a cóicid (over-kingdom), where Rí kings answer to the Rí Ruírech (king-over-kings). At the end of this hierarchy, sat the Ardrí na sí ocus fee (High King of the Sídhe and Fae), the most perfect Aos Sí.

In practice, each cóicid varies greatly and not all adheres to the title of kingship. Where there were the Erlkings of Bohemia or Vollmarian Kobold Kingdom, there was also Lutins of Languedoc, whom styled their ruler a prince; The von Walds, matriarchs of wood sprites in eastern Germany and Bohemia preferred the title of Buschgroßmutter (Shrub Grandmother), while the Pyrenees faeries lived within a "Basajaurerria" (Forest Lordship).

The Berchta attended by a Wild Hunter

The túath system dominated the High King's imperial court. Once, the High King commanded an audience of 72 kings-over-kings to govern the empire in his stead.

In place of a standing army, the High King has the power to declare an Imperial Wild Hunt (Ardrílich Wilde Jagd). Territories chosen for a Wild Hunt obliges all faeries to wreak havoc upon it. Denizens from across the empire would be conscripted into cohorts of Wild Hunters (Wildjäger) and led on pillaging raids either by the High King or the Berchta.

Impressive as they were, the Tairngire court was mired in the machinations of Aos Sí over-kings vying for power, each claiming descent from previous dé Danann High Kings and old Celtic gods. This gridlock worsened after the integration of faery nobilities from the Germanic Otherworld, ushering in autonomous over-kings that slowly turned the empire unruly.

The current Aos Sí High King is Airgthech Imlech of the Second Uí Nuada, having deposed High King Eochaid after the disasterous war. Of the once numerous over-kingdoms, few were left standing. Tír dé Danann now exist only in Tairngire with its five over-kingdoms remaining.

At the heart of their ruination is a profound pride in exceptionalism and superiority. Aos Sí believes themselves divine and heirs to greater gods. Extraordinary, and often-contradictory, claims of divine lineage forms unshaken blood-ties between Aos Sí clans.

Religion in Tairngire is closer to ancestral veneration and a system to legitimise their divine right to rule than the worship of a superior sovereign. The world that exist is utterly beneath the Aos Sí, so to suggest otherwise in any way is the gravest insult. Emblematic of this intractable conceit, Tairngire has yet to rescind its Wild Hunt decree on Avalon.

The Aos Sí claims a heritage of grandiosity, where changelings of the Tairngire court walked above men in disguises as monarchs, saints, healers, and even gods. Historical anecdotes spoke of Irish kings wedding the "spirit of the land", but Aos Sí nationalism go further still, as many insists that famous rulers such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne etc were ancestors or descendants of their race.

The obsession with influence over humans coincides with a strong distaste for Christianity. Aos Sí holds the Church in contempt, particularly Saint Patrick, accusing them of stealing Irish patronage and diminishing the Aos Sí's relevancy. The High Kings had once made it an institutional effort to undermine Christianity, encouraging faeries to subvert Christian faith with whatever means they saw fit. Such actions contributed to the medieval conflation of faeries with true demons, a role Aos Sí took upon with glee.

These anti-Christian laws were unenforceable in the mainland, where each faery kingdoms hold a different stance towards their human neighbours. As native influence grew, Tairngire's cultural imposition was subverted as well. Most apparent of Tairngire's diluted influence is the continental tongue of western faeries, Tairngire Creole, a fusion of the high prestige Old Irish and the everyday dialects of High German and Occitan.

The shadow of Danu lingers in her absence, in abandoned effigies of worship, in imperial decrees half-heartedly proclaimed to deaf ears, in dragons and maneaters haunting the mountains, and deep inside the sunless forest.

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New Camelot, circa 1980.

The Fair City of New Camelot is a self-governing territory located in the Duchy of Gliten, founded in the truce between the Royal Congregation of Sorcerers and the Ennearchy.

In the Concert of Camelot, the Royal Congregation offered Avalon custody over the orphaned James Quibell, in exchange, a small portion of land by the Semathe River of Gliten Duchy was ceded to the Royal Congregation, where they founded the settlement of New Camelot.

Initially, New Camelot made a fortune as a trading port, forwarding British goods into the Avalonian market. New Camelot was later transferred to Her Majesty's Subjugation Office and further developed into a research station focused on the Otherworlds.

By exploiting the linkage created by Convergent Synchrony, the HMSO was able to engineered the Elysium Line, the first railway system that allows 'conventional' movement from Britain into New Camelot from the town of Caerleon.

After the Crossfell Revolution, King George V returned the city to Queen Maribel I as a part of the Treaty of Recompense. New Camelot in the 21st Century kept an open-door policies to European faeries fleeing destruction of the two World Wars until King Richard I, after a second refugee wave, fully established New Camelot as an autonomous city.

While a constituent of the Caliburn Union, various checks and tight restrictions are placed on New Camelot to prevent an outflow of its population into the rest of Avalon.

As Europe's last vestige of occult wonder, New Camelot holds cultural significance for all of Europe. A small stretch of land of 58 square miles houses nearly one million souls in it, New Camelot is governed by the most modern institutions out of any other parts of the Caliburn Union, complete with its own executive, judiciary, and legislature answerable to the electorate. MI13 is responsible for policing the city as stipulated in the Treaty of Recompense.

The city's autonomy equals, if not exceeds, that of other Caliburn constituents, the Lord Protector's sovereignty over the city is only ever reminded by the title Prince of New Camelot, assigned to the heir apparent.

As the "occult capital" of Europe, the European Union's Authority Commission maintains ties with New Camelot on historical and cultural grounds. Almost three-quarters of the city's populations are faeries, and over half of them form the biggest faery diaspora of continental European origins. The city is exempted from the secrecy maintained by the Caliburn Union, allowing it to freely engage with the paranatural world.

Taking advantage of its unveiled environment, New Camelot attracted various occult organisations with its low tax rate, free to conduct businesses away from the public eye. Included in its portfolio, Nucorp, HORUS, Vandwy Group, and Charon Service, all have branches set up in New Camelot. New Camelot is also the site of Eccleston University, an international university that specialised in the study of thaumaturgy.

Sir Johan Eccleston, GCMG

Founded in 1830 and named in honour of the late Sir Johan Eccleston, Eccleston University is a research university dedicated to the exploration and study of thaumaturgic arts. Branching off from Oxford’s curriculum, Eccleston is a confluence of four colleges, each specialised in the four sciences of thaumaturgy, taught in a primarily tutorial model.

Receiving funding from both the United Kingdom and the European Union, Eccleston's prime benefactor remains still, the Royal Congregation of Sorcerers, which staffs the majority of lecturers and professors at Eccleston, allowing the Royal Congregation to continually dictate the standards of academic thaumaturgy.

Such prestige had attracted an international student base, New Camelot's unveiled environment offers a competitive advantage none of its continental counterparts could hope to match. In its advent, the Eccleston University has gradually displaced the antique invisible colleagues that once dominated continental occult sphere before the modern veil of secrecy renders them obsolete.

Beyond its extensive academic endeavours, Eccleston University also offer specialised crash course for MI13 agents of mundane backgrounds with little to no prior exposure to thaumaturgy. Eccleston is able to quickly equip fresh recruits with foundational knowledge necessary to handle basic assignments.

Cornwall Institute, a precursor and current subsidiary of Eccleston, continues to work within the veiled societies as a sanctuary for vulnerable anomalous individuals.

Established by HMSO in 1870, the Elysium Express Company was merely the maintainers and operators of its namesake railway, back then containing solely the Caerleon-to-Camelot railway. After the Treaty of Recompense, Elysium Express Co. was transformed into a statutory corporation, jointly owned by HMSO and the New Camelot City Council.

From 1870 onwards, Elysium Express collaborated closely with the Duchess-Bishops of Avalon to extend New Camelot's railway infrastructure to the rest of the kingdom. Avalon's first island-wide railway was completed in 1921, linking the nine cities (excluding Cadelswith) together.

By 1960, Elysium Express had secured a monopoly in all transport services in Avalon and Elfame. During the 1964 Monarch Security reform, CEO Michel Louis Chalon bought out the remaining stocks from HMSO and officially rebranded the Elysium Express Company to Charon Service Limited.

Charon Service currently owns and operates the Elysium Express, the Otherworlds' premier transport service. Their operations include the Styx Line, Avalon's rail, bus, and ferry services; the Acheron Line, Elfame's main railway line; the Plegethon Line, Annwn's cable rails; and the Lethe Line, a network of secret transports for MI13 usage.

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