The Emerald Isles of the Celts
The emerald isles of the Celts roll green and misty between a silver sea and soft grey skies, dotted with thatched roundhouses, ancient oak groves, and rings of humming standing stones. Mist drifts over still lochs, and across it, just out of sight, lies the Land of Youth where no one grows old. The isles are full of gentle wonders: a playful shapeshifting faerie, an old, bright salmon, a shy selkie of the loch, and four children long ago turned into singing swans. Here a hero is not the strongest or the loudest, but the one who is full of ideas, listens kindly, and keeps a promise. The grandest deeds are done with imagination and courage and a kind heart, and even a fearsome-seeming stranger, met with a friendly word, often turns out lonelier than it is unkind.
Stories in this world
Pook's Tangled Paths
Adult-ledIt is nearly time for the May fair. But the winding paths of the Whispering Oak Grove have gone all tangled. Soft ribbons of mist loop them over and round,...
The Swan Children's Lullaby
Every dusk, four white swans sing a little song over the Misty Loch. Their lullaby lifts the mist and paints the sky rose and gold. But tonight the song goes...
The Journey to the Land of Youth
A small friend of the village has gone missing. Yesterday they ran after a white deer, down to the Misty Loch and across the water, into the Land of Youth....
Example heroes
Niamh
6 to 8
Strengths
Carries
Cian
6 to 8
Strengths
Carries
Aoife
9 to 12
Strengths
Carries
Donal
9 to 12
Strengths
Carries
Who's who and what's what
Strengths
- Imagination
- Imagining ideas and trying them. In the green isles, a good idea opens doors that force never could, and a riddle is solved with a cool head.
- Courage
- A steady heart in a misty, scary moment. Courage is not being unafraid; it is staying kind and trying anyway, even when you are afraid.
- Kindness
- Care for every soul, faerie or friend. The greatest heroes of the isles are the ones who share, help, and keep a promise.
- Curiosity
- Asking the right question and noticing what others miss. In the misty isles, a careful look often finds the thread that leads the whole way home.
- Patience
- Waiting kindly and trying again, until a shy creature or a tangled path comes right. In the isles, the salmon and the selkie come close only to the patient.
Characters
- Old Maeve the Tale-Weaver
- The kind old story-weaver of the Roundhouse, who knows every tale of the isles and sends the heroes out with a warm word and a good gift.
- Danu the Kind
- The gentle mother goddess of the green isles, who watches over land and loch and smiles on heroes that win by thinking and caring rather than by force.
Creatures
- Pook the Puca
- A playful shapeshifting faerie of the oak grove who loves games and surprises, and hands out helpful hints (and the odd harmless trick) to folk he likes.
- The Salmon of Wisdom
- An old, bright salmon who swims in the misty loch and knows the answer to any riddle. He is fair and kind, and shares a clue gladly with those full of ideas and those who are gentle.
- Sorcha the Selkie
- A gentle seal-person of the loch who can slip off her sealskin to walk ashore. She seems shy and a little lonely, but a kind word makes her a steadfast friend who will ferry travellers across the mist.
- The Swan Children
- Four gentle children turned long ago into white swans, whose evening song lifts the mist and colours the dusk. When their song falters, a grey mist lingers over the loch.
Places
- The Roundhouse
- The cosy thatched roundhouse at the heart of the village, the heroes' home, with a warm hearth in the middle and stories told around it every night.
- The Whispering Oak Grove
- An ancient wood of great oak trees where the faeries play, the leaves whisper old secrets, and the winding paths can tangle for anyone without a thread to follow.
- The Ring of Standing Stones
- An ancient ring of tall grey stones on a green rise that hums softly at dawn and dusk, and listens when the swan children sing.
- The Misty Loch
- A still grey lake often wrapped in soft mist, home to the old salmon and the shy selkie, where a boat may slip across to the Land of Youth.
- The Land of Youth
- The gentle Otherworld across the mist, once called Tir na nOg, where no one grows old, the apple trees are always in blossom, and a kind heart is the only way in.
Items
- The Ball of Red Wool
- A ball of bright red wool. Tie one end where you start and you can always follow it back, however tangled the path becomes.
- The Honey Oatcake
- A warm, sweet oatcake. Shared with a shy or lonely soul, it can turn a worried frown into a friend.
- The Little Harp
- A small wooden harp. A simple tune played from the heart can wake the swan children's song and lift the mist.
- The Sprig of Oak
- A small sprig of oak leaves. A token of friendship that the faeries and the folk of the Land of Youth know and respect.