The Death of Arthur: Prologue

The Historical Background behind the Final Testimony of Merlin ap Ceridwen, my older brother, as obtained his disciple, Nimue ferch Ceridwen, our younger sister - By Taliesin ap Ceridwen

Our mother, Ceridwen La Faye, born of humanity and educated by the fair folk of New Annwvyn, was made the Fairy Queen of New Logres, according to the sacred tradition of the penance of our Good Neighbors. She dispensed the technological blessings of the fair folk at her pleasure, as was the solemn duty of all who preceded her. Having mastered the sciences, having been educated in the subtle nature of the fair folk’s diplomacies, she could assist in humanity’s evolution, free from their direct influence, which had very nearly destroyed everything on multiple occasions. Her consort, The Fairy Ken was the patron spirit of a lake which was in the mountain forest, who was under her family’s protection. He administered the affairs of New Annwvyn, according to the will of The Fairy Queen’s chosen council, The Planetary Sailors of the Order of Navigators. She assumed her throne and inherited The Scepter of the Moon in Anno Domini 4000.

Her eldest son, Merlin was educated in New Annwvyn, as was the privilege of the children of our mother, Her Majesty. According to custom, when Merlin came of age, he was sent into New Logres, to bring fairy blessings to the leaders of humanity. My brother is known for his unsurpassed level of adeptship in all the subtle arts and sciences. In his youth, however, he was a prodigy in his prophetic talents, above all. He traveled to every community, dispensing pertinent advice, of which only good things came.

The geography of that region consists of extensive riparian and plains ecosystems in the east, whose population consists mainly of agricultural communities, which supply grain and produce to all of New Logres. There is range of mountains in the west stretching the entire length of the region, north to south. The foothills in the central region are a mix of riparian ecosystems and arid shrublands, and its population consists of trading outposts along the banks of the great rivers. The western montane region is made up of dense forests of pine, spruce, fir, and aspen, which are separated by wide valleys, thick with tall grasses. This region’s population consists of those whose specialty involv herdsmanship and animal husbandry.

The western subalpine region, the ancestral home of Her Majesty Ceridwen’s family, consists of year-round snowbanks and forests with spruce and fir in the lower elevations, and pines in the higher. The population is made of hunter-gatherer communities who hunt in the winter months, and travel to the riverbank trading outposts during the spring, summer, and autumn. They trade furs and finely crafted articles of bone when the excess snowpack melts into the headwaters of the great rivers, and they are allowed passage through.

The high, alpine peaks of the far-western edge of the region is called New Annwvyn. It is the abode of the immortal fair folk. Once, they were the governors and shepherds of humanity, the ancestral gods of the ruined world. Now, they are their mere fellow-beings, except in their obligation to execute those duties which traditionally belong to humanity’s immortal benefactors and guardians. Needing no material sustinence for their nourishment, and no material resource for their crafts, the barren peaks are the ideal canvas for the spires of their ethereal universities, whose students plumb the interminable depths of secrecy which hide the manifold secrets of nature, and feast-halls, whose tables support enchanted cups which never empty, and dishes which causes the food upon them to reappear upon them, as soon as it is eaten, and whose walls contain sounds of revelry which never exhaust themselves.

When Merlin arrived in one of the trading posts of the foothills, returning from a long stay in the plains, he was detained by a group of bandits, hired by a man named Vortigern, who managed the trade in that settlement. Merlin was then bound and put under painful duress, so that prophecy would emerge from him in an unending stream. Vortigern used the information to engage in long-shot attacks against the other settlements of New Logres, with no room for error. My brother’s prophecies allowed him to do this.