The Recession of the Tuatha

This is an article on the History of Feyworld
Years: 238 BF to 1 NC
Age: The Long Night
Continent: All
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The Druids of Feyworld
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The Second Anchorage	Druids in the Third Age of Man

During The Long Night, that dark time between the Second and Third Age of Man, the leadership of the Tuatha would shift several times. After the fall of the Second Age, Ogma stepped down as leader and the Dagda was elected to his seat. The druids during the Dagda’s reign were even more reclusive than they had been in ages past and their numbers dwindled. Even so, they were still looked to in primitive societies as bastions of knowledge and wisdom. The Dagda eventually disappeared and Nuada, the youngest of the original Tuatha, was elected to rule.

As the druids became more reclusive and focused on guiding those who had not fallen to the Curse of Ten Tongues, those few priests who had upheld the traditions of the Old Gods again became popular amongst the people. The Old Gods heard their pleas and slowly began to return. Fearing a return of the capriciousness of the First Age, Nuada led those who still followed the Tuatha against the Accursed (as those who had been cursed by Oghma came to be known) and their allies amongst the giants. Despite initial successes, as the priests of the Accursed became more and more powerful, Nuada found it more and more difficult to oppose them. The giants were defeated in the Battle of Moy Tura, but during this battle Nuada lost his left arm. Though Dian Cecht replaced his arm with a silver facilimile, Nuada could no longer rule as King of the Tuatha because he was unwhole and he abdicated. Bres the Beautiful, the half-giant who had been granted immortality by Math Mathowny, was elected King of the Tuatha in an effort to bring peace between the giants and humanity.

Bres proved to be a strong King and denounced his alliance with the Accursed, but did not have the generosity of his predecessors. The giants horribly oppressed humanity during Bres’ rule and many more flocked to the banner of the Old Gods than Bres’ army could slay in the battlefield. After almost two decades of his tyrannical rule, Nuada of the Silver Arm returned, his natural arm healed fully by Macht, son of Dian Cecht. Nuada defeated the half-giant god in the Second Battle of Moy Tura and the giants were scattered. Realizing the folly of warring against the Accursed, Nuada ordered his mortal armies to stand down. The Old Gods again held sway over most of humanity and Nuada was content to care for those few who still called upon the Tuatha for aid, including the druids and the reclusive elves.

Little more than two centuries after the Second Battle of Moy Tura and a thousand years after the fall of Math, the Dagda returned. The Dagda had wandered Existence and discovered the paths to Otherworld. After a brief meeting with Nuada, it was decided that the Tuatha would recede fully from the Firm World, so as to forever protect the Secret. By this time, the elves had their own gods and few still called upon the Tuatha for aid. Only the druids were allowed to maintain contact with the Tuatha after the Recession, and then only for the conduit that the Tuatha provided to Nature itself.