Ideas about the Four Kingdoms
by HyrieusTaking the concept that the Hinterlanders ( or the Raven Clan ) are a M-Irish, M-Welsh mix, here's some ideas on the Four Kingdoms.
What if the Four Kingdoms were an ancient military alliance against the Nithian remnant?
Here's an interesting bit of Scottish myth to link ancient Britons with Egypt, I use it as inspiration for Mystaran History which can then be twisted into shape.
There's plenty of other versions, but that keeps it brief.
Let's say an exiled Nithian Pharoh , Sokhare, from the time of the transition from the Thothite to Amonite dynaties. Travels to the Isle of Dawn, wanders, settles for a time (the Spanish portion of the Scota myth),and marries a Milenian prince Gaythelos.
A revolt drives them to the Davinian coast where they found a Nithian city Xoph. After a great war with the native fairy folk, the Sidhe kingdom of the Tuatha de Danann, they expanded this into a kingdom. Peace and prosperity through trade ensues with the neighbouring Milenian states, inspired by the dual nature of Xoph's monarchy.
Xoph was to be corrupted though, not just from its foundations as a slave society, but from the tendrils of the legacy of Y'hog. An aeon before the Tuatha had fought a great war against the Fomor, an offshoot of Y'hog. Fairy sorcery had proved effective in binding the Fomorian sites of power, the defeat of the Tuatha weakened the Tuatha wards. The Nithians, always curious, began to let the influence of the Outer Beings seep into their culture.
By 700BC magical corruption and the tyranny of slavery had grown too much to bear. Bran was a chieftain, whose was standard was a raven, descended from both Gaythelos, Sokhare and chiefs amongst Isle of Dawn slaves. He quested for artifacts and alliances to use against the bindings of X'oph, as it now was now known. Travelling to the far west, among the Pobl y Blaidd, the people of the Wolf, a city of Antalian pirates, he enlisted the aid of the smuggler Hrolf Gyrfalcon. Among the Pobl y March, the people of the Horse, he wooed the princess Leuce, winning her hand and the acclaim of the Milenian city states. Questing south he befriended the Simbasta warrior Chinthe and mustered the prides of the Pobl y Llew the people of the Lion and so brought the Simbasta to war against the slavers of X'oph. So armed and assisted, he turned to his mentor Melydyn, an Alphatian émigré to provide the magical knowledge to unravel the eldritch workings of Nephren-Ka. When the sorcerous shields protecting the temples of X'oph were brought down the Great Revolt began, the shackles of Nithia were broken and the founding of Thyatis was set in motion.
The tale does not end quite there, Tragedy was yet to befall the line of Bran. A daughter was taken by the Tuatha, a changeling left and the girl raised in Fairy. Later she would trick Melydyn, tapped in a status crystal, unto the present. Her schemings a century later provoked awar between the Horse and Raven peoples, and Milenian invasion.
Any ideas? A M-Wales needs a M-Arthur and I've tried to provide a foundation myth for the four kingdom with plenty of room for embellishment. I've tried to incorporate much of the work on the hinterlands. The link between the People of the Lion and the Simbasta seemed too obvious to miss. People of the horse likewise is a natural fit for the Milenians. And I've invented a city of Antalian pirates which seems an excellent fit. Of course after the death of Nephren-Ka not all members of the Host of the Four Kingdoms will go home, tribes of the Horse, Wolf and Lion will settle and intermarry with the locals, who now name themselves the Kingdom of the Raven after Bran. And these local offshoots have tales of their original far origins in other kingdoms.
I'll also add, Leuce is ancient Greek for white, Guinevere meaning white enchantress. Hrolf Kraki is associated with bear warriors. Melydyn is a reversal of dyn-y-mel Welsh for beekeeper, and is an additional wink to Dumbledore. It would also require an additional two droids to make it a loose retelling of Star Wars, but then again Lucas did draw from the Hero With a Thousand Faces.
My inspiration was this article on Pandius, good to see there's more materiel to work with. I was looking for a M-Fomorian equivalent, the Carnifex seemed to fit, though digging further Mogreth may be a better fit existing much closer in history. A Tuatha De Danann Vs Y'hog war does have a definite appeal though. The Ogam from the Isle of Dawn should be included too. Sokhare may have acquired some Ogam shaman on her journeys. Read their history in Alphatia here.
I'm crafting this bit of lore to resolve a few questions left from the hints in canon. Why were there two revolts against the Nithians? Because the first was against the corrupted Balur-Xoph kingdom, (I'm preferring this usage, as a nod to Ishtur-Koth and the Fomorian Balor), and many Nithians were willing to welcome them as liberators. It was to be another century before strife broke out again.. And again the Four Kingdoms as referring both to the alliance of Antalian Pirates, Milenian city states, Bran's rebels and Simbasta prides and again the totems of Wolf,Horse,Raven and Lion subsequently adopted by the Hinterlander tribes. So;
Vargholm, not all the Antalians who came south to the Serpent Coast came as slaves, many were valued as mercenaries by the Nithians and also as slavers willing to trade in thralls. Milenian states were also keen to enlist the skills of these warriors. In time these Antalians became to be known as Vargr for their shaggy demeanor and their wolfish nature at sea, shifting between piracy and pay as the turn of the wind. Relatively early they were granted lands to the east of the Milenians as a reward for their services in battle and the city of Vargholm was established.