Eiru: Part 2 - Danu

Continuing my description of the new fantasy world I've created, we now look at the second race, the Danu. (Danu, by the way, is both the singular and plural form).

Again, to be safe, we shall have the official disclaimer:

The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the GURPS system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.

The Danu are giants, standing around 9 feet tall, but otherwise, they look like muscular humans. They live underground; specifically, they live in communities called 'sheehers' which translates roughly to 'hollow hills.' They find a hill, dig a passage down to the centre of the hill, and then tunnel a massive underground city off of that first passage. In essence, they build massive underground settlements vaguely similar to anthills, but they always have a single entrance/exit, which must be bored into the side of a hill.

Their original belief is that hills are a geological result of an underground portal to a magic otherworld, which they call Tir Nell, and that by tunnelling into them, they are entering Tir Nell. Some Danu believe that their cities are actually in Tir Nell, while others believe that they're close to the portals, but no one has yet actually found one. A few believe that there is no otherworld, and that they simply live in a labyrinth of subterranean passageways.

One thing is certain: the magical mineral known as clanasolse can only be found under hills. Zealots point to this fact as evidence of the presence of portals to Tir Nell. But the truth is, no one really knows why clanasolse is only found beneath hills.

Nine sheehers are known as 'ardeers,' and are the seats of the nine kings of the Danu. All other sheehers owe allegiance to one of the ardeers, but contact between a sheeher and its ruling ardeer is infrequent at best. There is one important point to be mentioned concerning the Danu kings: regardless of what nation they rule, they have an ancient law that says no Danu king can be imperfect in mind or in body. Thus, if a king suffers a serious injury in battle, he is required to abdicate his throne. The most famous of this is Duanu, the king of Midir, who lost his arm in a war against the Fomors. Although his wizards crafted a replacement of silver, he was still considered 'imperfect,' and was thus forced to abdicate.

Danu do like to travel, and are fond of adventure, combat, and tales of glory. Thus, a Danu may be encountered anywhere, but they will always return to their sheeher after a time. All Danu speak a language called Milish. Dialects exist, but any Danu can understand any other Danu speaking Milish.

It costs 85 points to play a Danu. They have the following modifiers:

Attribute Modifiers: ST +4 (Size: -10%) [36]; DX +1 [20]
Secondary Characteristics: Will +2 [10]; FP +1 [3]; SM +1
Advantages: Charisma +2 [10]; Damage Resistance +1 (Tough Skin: -40%) [3]; Night Vision +5 [5]; Fit [5]; Magery 0 [5];
Disadvantage: Code of Honour (Danu) [-10]
Quirks: Congenial [-1]; Proud [-1].

In our next entry, we will take a look at the Fomors. Until then, play some games, and don't forget to

Game on!