Southern Ireland

Manannán mac Lir, the High King of Autumn

The Sea King, The King of Storm and Ash, Oirbsiu, The Last and First King, Manawydan fab Llyr, The King in the Doorway

In Irish myth, Manannán mac Lir was a deity of sea and of death, the last king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. When the Milesians came, the ancestors of the present-day mortal inhabitants of the isles, Manannán led them into the Sidhe mounds, to dwell there forever more. The faerie-king that leads the Court of Autumn in Ireland claims to be that selfsame Manannán mac Lir. He might, he might not be, but if he isn't, he is so old and so powerful that none dare gainsay him. The changeling has led his Court since it first appeared in the historical record around the 4th century AD. He is, quite possibly, the oldest being of human descent in the British Isles.

Manannán mac Lir, despite being the oldest of the Four Monarchs of Éire, in many ways acts the youngest. He's a trickster, a seducer, and general rogue. He has a sharp rivalry with Clíodhna of Spring as a result of some long-ago love affair, and is considered a disreputable sort by Crom Cruach and the Cailleach. Yet the Sea King is also the most powerful magician in the High Court, with scores of potent tokens including a cauldron that creates undead warriors, a spear that strikes dead any it touches, and an apple tree whose fruit grants immortality. Manannán is often interested in new and curious magics, and will richly reward anyone who brings him a powerful trinket. At the same time, Manannán is often generous with his magic, handing out tokens with barely a thought. Finally, in addition to rogue and magician, Manannán is the executioner and judge of the High Court. It is in his time that death is decided, and he who acts as final killer and guide to those about to die.

Manannán is a consummate shapeshifter. His natural form is that of a short, white-bearded old man, with wind-blown hair, faded blue eyes, and a quick and easy smile. He often takes the shape of a handsome, barrel-chested warrior, or a fish, or any one of a hundred other human and animal guises.

The Cailleach, the High Queen of Winter

The Hag Queen, The Storm Hag, The Cailleach Bhéarach, Milucra, sister of Áine, The Old Woman of Beare, The Cailleach Phiseogach

The tale of the Cailleach is told through the Celtic lands. She is a great hag, the personification of winter in Ireland and Scotland, a great, grim, stormy crone. The woman who takes the name of the Hag Goddess was once a grandmotherly healer and sorceress in the north of Ireland, until she was taken by the True Fae sometime in the 12th century. She became known as a protector, and there a great many land features named after the Cailleach in modern Britain, from the Irish Slieve na Calliagh ('The Hag's Mountain') to the Corryvreckan whirlpool ('The Washtub of the Cailleach') to Scotland's Tigh nan Cailleach. The Cailleach became one of the High Monarchs in the late 16th century.

Observers of the High Court believe that the Cailleach is the most intelligent of the current monarchs. She is also the most diplomatic and conciliatory, but beneath the veneer of plain-speaking and matronly common sense, there lurks a thoroughly Machiavellian intellect. The Cailleach has the greatest interest in the other supernatural realms of the British Isles, and is said to believe that the High Court should rule all of them, yet she is also the most willing to forge treaties and pacts with the Freeholds of New Jerusalem and Elphame. The Cailleach also maintains the best relations with the other High Monarchs, even the unpleasant Crom Cruach.

All of the High Monarchs are master shapeshifters, but the Cailleach most often appears as a stout, apple-cheeked old granny, with white hair still showing traces of the carroty red it had once been.

Clíodhna, the High Queen of Spring

The Banshee Queen, The Queen of Bone and Antler, Cleena, The Lady of Desmond, The Queen of Blarney, The Barrow Queen

The faerie queen known as Clíodhna was once known as Caoimhe of Munster, before she adopted the regnal name of the Banshee Queen of Irish lore. Caoimhe was a noblewoman at the court of Fedelmid mac Crimthainn before her Durance (in the early 9th century) and acceded to her throne in the 13th century. As Clíodhna, she was mistress of the banshees and prophets of Ireland, but the best-known story involving the Queen of Bone and Antler also involves Castle Blarney. Cormac Laidir MacCarthy, the builder of the castle, was involved in a lawsuit and appealed to Clíodhna for aid. She told him to kiss the first stone he found on his way to the courtyard -- and when he did so, he was given the gift of a silver tongue, able to speak and deceive without giving offense. The gift, in other words, of blarney.

Clíodhna is the member of the High Court with the greatest interest in mortals and in mortal politics, a consequence of her own aristocratic lifestyle. She is the patroness of several prominent dynasties in Irish history, including the O'Keeffes, the MacCarthys, and the FitzGeralds, with whose members she has had her own amorous affairs. Contemporary democracy offends Clíodhna on a deep, instinctual level, as a violation of her anointing of proper rulers. Still, she has a soft spot in her heart for brave and clever mortals, and a deep appreciation for what a certain level of chutzpah. These mortals, she tends to shower with her gifts, though she never forgets that the last gift is to wail forth their death. Among the other monarchs, Clíodhna is a deathly rival of Manannán mac Lir, over a long-ago offense that she has not forgiven. She is friendly with the Cailleach, though she disdains Crom Cruach as a lowborn monster.

Clíodhna is a woman of thoroughly perfected beauty, a golden-haired Celtic Aphrodite. She is capable of stopping a heart with a glance, and her banshee's wail can slay armies. Of all the High Court, she most often walks among mortals, usually appearing as an actress or fashionable trend setter, yet on no one quite knows.

Crom Cruach, the High King of Summer

The Crooked King, The Dark Man, Crom Dubh, Cenncroithi, Bloody Head, Iron-Tooth

Of all of the High Monarchs of Éire, Crom Cruach is the youngest, and with the best attested mortal history. He was an Irish priest by the name of Fr. Theodore Gilfoyle, who lived in the late 17th century -- the time of the Confederate Wars and Oliver Cromwell's conquest of Ireland. In those years, Ireland lost somewhere close to half the population of the island, and Gilfoyle was in the thick of the fighting. He claims to have been taken by the Others ministering after a battle, and when the ogrish priest returned from Arcadia, he slipped right back into fighting the English. Gilfoyle ascended to the High Court with lightning speed, and by 1821 was crowned Crom Cruach, after the bloody god of pre-Christian Ireland.

There is very little left of Fr. Gilfoyle's Catholicism by now, and indeed little left of his humanity. Crom Cruach is the most violent, most vicious, and most bloody-handed of the High Monarchs. He slaughtered his way to the Crown of Summer, and there is a directness to him that contrasts with his more subtle comrades -- Crom Cruach drives towards his goals with unstoppable force, and he leaves nothing standing. He is no fool (he would never have survived were he not a canny and callous brute), but he's a firm believer that all the trickery and tactics in the world cannot stand against sufficient force. Crom Cruach patronizes bloody cults throughout Ireland, in an echo of the old faith, and encourages human sacrifices and the deification of the High Court in backwoods villages. He is also virulently, genocidally hateful towards the English, never forgiving them for the slaughter that Cromwell wreaked centuries ago.

Crom Cruach is a twisted and deformed giant, an enormous ogre of a man with a dragonish face and a crooked back. He is the member of the High Court most likely to wade into battle personally, where he lays about himself with the great sword Caladbolg, which Crom Cruach took off the corpse of his predecessor. The ancient blade of Fergus mac Róich, Caladbolg is a two-handed sword that shines like a rainbow when swung, and can take the top off a hill. This is not an exaggeration -- the blade can send scything shockwaves before it that can slice a tank in half.

Historically, it was from the Hill of Tara that the ancient High Kings of Ireland would rule, though the allegiance of the fractious Irish chieftains was ever more theoretical than practical. In the modern day, Tara is an archaeological site, interesting and important to the history of Ireland, but nothing but grassy hills and a country road.

In the Hedge, Tara is a great hall, an enormous, multi-layered fortress that looms up over the Thorns, with a thousand chambers and a thousand defenders ready to meet any assault of the Others. It is from the Hill of Tara that the High Kings and High Queens of Éire rule, passing over one another with the seasons. All four of them are quite interested in putting London under more direct control, but they are so far prevented by their weak grasp of anything more modern than the steam engine, their own incestuous courtly intrigues, and by the necessity of dealing with Elphame at the same time. Given the size and occult power of the High Court of Éire, this is a very good thing.