Overview

The rolling green hills of Eire have stood undisturbed by the passage of time for many centuries. The Druid Council rules the land with a benevolent eye, leaving most people to their own devices unless they trangress the written law.

In the distant past, many attempted to claim this mysterious island as their own, but the magic of the council and their appointed Heroes have always turned them back. When the Romans made their concerted push into the isles under Caesar, the Council enveloped the entire island in a concealing mist. Those foolish enough to venture into the mist never returned, killed on rock and reefs or by the islands defenders. Even Avalon, the saviour of the rest of the Isles turned its eye on Eire, but eventually considered the shrouded island with its insular inhabitants simply not worth the trouble.

Only sixty years ago, Eire reopened its magically protected borders to allow limited contact with the outside world. Outsiders are still viewed with suspicion, but slowly, and with favourable contacts, this view may change.  top

Political Structure

Eire is an island of small, scattered communities, still living a fairly rural lifestyle. Each town or hamlet is governed by the local Laird, in consultation with the Journeyman Druid posted to each town by the Council. While these Lairds are allowed to manage the town and its people as they see fit, they must follow through with any directive that is issued by the Druid Council that rules over Eire as a whole.

The Council is an advisory board made up of thirteen Druids. Each solar year three of these Druids are elected by their peers to rule the council with equal authority. There is no limit to the number of times any one Druid can serve in this position. Only these three have a vote in any decision before the council although all thirteen have equal voice in any debate that occurs before the vote.  top

Ruler

The Druid Council is currently ruled by Eadaoin O'Céile, Pól O'Riagain, and Muirne O'Flannabhra. This is the fourth year of the joint posting of Eadaoin and Pol, and the first year for Muirne. So far the three have worked harmoniously, with each decision made by them being unanimous. top

Society

Eire is a mainly rural society, suspicious of change and outsiders. A love of nature permeates everything the people do and is inherently obvious in the way they lead their lives. Opinion has been divided over the Council’s decision to re-open the borders of the island to the outside world, but the people have adopted a ‘wait and see’ attitude to what developments this may bring to their land, secure in the knowledge that should the worse come to worse, the Council would easily close the protective shield of mists around their homeland once more.  top

Law

The rule of law exists in Eire. Crimes and other lesser disputes are heard before the Laird, with appeals and crimes of a higher nature being brought before the Council. The death penalty is quite rare in practice, but still exists on the books for use at the discretion of the Council.  top

Magic

Because of its isolation, Eire has a lower overall technology level to the rest of the planet, lower indeed than the average country. In balance to this however, the low tech level has encouraged the use of magic to flourish, although it is fairly specialised. Druids of Eire command the weather, can call down storms, lightning or clear skies, they can control the plants and animals, and are excellent healers. They are also quite good and concealing magic, after all they hid their entire island for many, many years.  top

Armed Forces

There is no standing army for the Isle. Each town does maintain a small defence force, especially the port towns and those that lie near the coast. Magic helps the Druids maintain a good early warning system concerning approaching vessels to the island, and would be used to mobilise the townsfolk if needed. A more likely occurrence would be the creation of a killer storm to turn back or sink the approaching ships. Eire currently has no capability whatsoever to wage a war in any country other than their own. The ability of Eire to invade even a foreign houseboat is negligible.  top

Current Events

Trade with the rest of the world has begun slowly in the past few decades. Medicines and animals are the main items of export for Eire, with manufactured goods making up 80% of their imports. It is well known that a warhorse bred from Eire stock will always be superior, and one trained on its native isle will never fail or turn on its rider.  top