Before the Saxons, before the Romans came with their legions of steel and their walls of stone, we were here. The painted ones, the men of the north, of Alba. Our tales tell us that the first of our kind in these lands was Cruithne son of Cing, a mighty king who led his people up from the south and ruled over all the north wisely and well for a hundred years. In that time he begat seven sons, each of whom took unto himself the rulership of a different region of Alba and sired a clan to follow after him. Fib the eldest took unto himself the rulership of Fife and Kinross, where he reigned for four and twenty years. Fidach the second ruled for forty years over the areas of Moray, Nairn and Ross, while Fotlaig reigned in peace for thirty years in Athol and also in Gowrie. Fortrenn ruled the longest, living for threescore years and ten along the banks of the slow winding river that runs through Strathearn and Menteith. Cait founded the clan of the cat folk in the lands of Caithness, Sutherland, the West Highlands and the Northern and Western Isles and ruled over them for fifteen years. Ce reigned for fifteen years over Banff and Buchan, but the youngest was my ancestor, Circinn the crest-headed. He reigned for sixty years in Angus and the Mearns, and made his home in a small village beside a dark loch that took his name.
Loch Circinn as seen from my home
When the Romans came, our cousins in the south fought bravely against the one called Julius Caesar when he came with his legions once and then again. Yet while they stood well against Roman steel, they stood less well against their silver promises. They fell into disarray, with some actually aiding the invader and others merely failing to stand beside their friends. In a matter of years all the tribes south of the Forth and Clyde fell to one weapon or another, but the clans of the Picti stood together and refused to be bought. We were not always able to keep the Roman from our lands, but we never knelt and we never surrendered and in time the Romans gave up and put themselves instead to trying to keep us out with a wall and guards upon it. They were no more successful, and the practice of raiding the wealthy and soft south of the wall became a time-honoured tradition among the young and the brave. We were here before the Romans came, and we remained here long after they left.
Our raids grew more powerful, more ambitious as the 'Britons' struggled to rediscover the will to defend themselves and the clans became wealthy; yet we were unable to take full advantage of this for the Scoti had crossed from Eire and founded the so-called Kingdom of Dal Riada in the western reaches of Alba. We fought against them for many years, and though their advances were halted ere long, neither could we drive them out completely and they always came back. In time our southern border was occupied by the Sais of Northumbria who replaced the Britons of Goddodin; they were no friendlier and tried our border a time or three over the decades. Yet the Sais kings seemed strangely disunited and more obsessed with gaining for themselves the title of Bretwalda than in aligning to overwhelm our armies together. Christianity came to us as it did to them, but late in the eighth century the precarious balance remained. Did we strike out at one enemy or another in force enough to quell them, then we exposed ourselves to the other - yet did we not then the most we could achieve were raids which, while lucrative, were not constructive in redressing the balance of power.
I am Urguist MacCircinn and though my family are no longer the Kings of Alba we still retain a sizeable and loyal following. I mean to secure my clan's rightful primacy in this land, expel the Scoti and drive the Sais out of our ancestral lands. The blood of Cruithne has ruled over these lands for over a thousand years, and will do so for another thousand and a thousand more; the last shall be first again.
I decided to take the opportunity of the new DLC (and the recent Paradox sale) to start a fresh megacampaign in an area suggested by one of my favourite writers; Scotland. Of course in this timeframe we're determined to evict our enemies the Scoti from our lands. We'll see how it goes, shall we? We have no inkling of the Vikings at this point, so what could possibly go wrong? If we get that far we'll proceed into EUIV, then Vicky II (or III!) and finally into Hearts of Iron if it still seems interesting. I was thinking of doing this story in a historybook format, but with Urguist MacCircinn and all it just feels more... appropriate to do it as a narrative. Fun too!
Loch Circinn as seen from my home
When the Romans came, our cousins in the south fought bravely against the one called Julius Caesar when he came with his legions once and then again. Yet while they stood well against Roman steel, they stood less well against their silver promises. They fell into disarray, with some actually aiding the invader and others merely failing to stand beside their friends. In a matter of years all the tribes south of the Forth and Clyde fell to one weapon or another, but the clans of the Picti stood together and refused to be bought. We were not always able to keep the Roman from our lands, but we never knelt and we never surrendered and in time the Romans gave up and put themselves instead to trying to keep us out with a wall and guards upon it. They were no more successful, and the practice of raiding the wealthy and soft south of the wall became a time-honoured tradition among the young and the brave. We were here before the Romans came, and we remained here long after they left.
Our raids grew more powerful, more ambitious as the 'Britons' struggled to rediscover the will to defend themselves and the clans became wealthy; yet we were unable to take full advantage of this for the Scoti had crossed from Eire and founded the so-called Kingdom of Dal Riada in the western reaches of Alba. We fought against them for many years, and though their advances were halted ere long, neither could we drive them out completely and they always came back. In time our southern border was occupied by the Sais of Northumbria who replaced the Britons of Goddodin; they were no friendlier and tried our border a time or three over the decades. Yet the Sais kings seemed strangely disunited and more obsessed with gaining for themselves the title of Bretwalda than in aligning to overwhelm our armies together. Christianity came to us as it did to them, but late in the eighth century the precarious balance remained. Did we strike out at one enemy or another in force enough to quell them, then we exposed ourselves to the other - yet did we not then the most we could achieve were raids which, while lucrative, were not constructive in redressing the balance of power.
I am Urguist MacCircinn and though my family are no longer the Kings of Alba we still retain a sizeable and loyal following. I mean to secure my clan's rightful primacy in this land, expel the Scoti and drive the Sais out of our ancestral lands. The blood of Cruithne has ruled over these lands for over a thousand years, and will do so for another thousand and a thousand more; the last shall be first again.
I decided to take the opportunity of the new DLC (and the recent Paradox sale) to start a fresh megacampaign in an area suggested by one of my favourite writers; Scotland. Of course in this timeframe we're determined to evict our enemies the Scoti from our lands. We'll see how it goes, shall we? We have no inkling of the Vikings at this point, so what could possibly go wrong? If we get that far we'll proceed into EUIV, then Vicky II (or III!) and finally into Hearts of Iron if it still seems interesting. I was thinking of doing this story in a historybook format, but with Urguist MacCircinn and all it just feels more... appropriate to do it as a narrative. Fun too!
Chapters
Book I: Urguist MacCircinn, (769 - ???)
I: The Last Shall Be First
II: Strife Among the Clans
III: ???
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