Table of Contents
Welcome to James Kemp's Wiki
This is a collaborative web platform that allows people to edit1) the web pages to provide additional content for some of the stories I have written and the roleplaying games that I am involved in, whether as a player or GM.
There are several namespaces operating slightly different wiki subjects. These are, in no particular order:
- Skyss - Story Background - a fantasy novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo 2016.
- Perfects - background for the near future story and some police roleplaying that I ran in that universe
- Theocracy of Daprav - A D&D campaign that I ran with Glasgow University Games Society around 2002-3.
- Jim Wallman's Universe - a roleplaying by e-mail campaign that I play in, this is an unofficial wiki and none of it is canon unless Jim says it is.
- Interstellar Freelance Unlimited - subset of the Universe pages covering the activities of a mercenary company that we are currently roleplaying every Full Moon.
- Earth Imperium pages. These cover the activities of the Government of the Solar republic (aka Earth Empire) in Jim's Humanity Will Prevail campaign, including the Earth Imperium News Items.
- Free Worlds Alliance - covering the activities of another emerging polity in the Humanity Will Prevail campaign. Mostly contributed by Eric Moroney.
- Universe Background - page collecting the various bits of background info that have come up in various e-mail discussions for the campaigns set in Jim Wallman's Universe.
- Master map of the Universe (6Mb PDF, as at 3212).
- Delta Green - some roleplaying campaigns about horror and conspiracy. The main one was set in Berlin in 1953.
- Free games rules - a collection of free rules for wargames and other sorts of face to face games that I have designed or run.
- Wargames rules - I'm not just a player of games, I also do rules for them from time to time as well as one-off games. A primary outlet for this is through Chestnut Lodge Wargames Group.
- Other free rules - at the moment just those for the 1689 (Orange or Lemon? and Bonnie Dundee, respectively about the debates in the Scots Parliament and then the military campaign of Viscount Dundee during 1689) and The Other Side of the COIN (about what makes people become insurgents). All games that I have have produced for Chestnut Lodge Wargames Group.
- Background for a near future universe where I have written some fiction and also run some roleplaying games in.
Comments and complaints to me at webmaster@full-moon.info please.
James Kemp
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Recent Additions
Calendar
The calendar is based on a 28-29 day moon cycle numbered by observation, and also using clues like the solstices and the equinoxes to divide the years into three types, Long Winters, Long Summers, and Short Years. In a 38 year cycle there are 21 Long Summers, 10 Long Winters, and 7 Short Years.
The year starts on the first new moon after the Spring Equinox. Long Summers and Long Winter years have 13 moon cycles, and last 370-371 days. The Short Years have 12 Moons, and last exactly 342 days. Where the Spring Moon starts less than 12 days after the spring equinox then there's a 'Long Summer', which is always followed by a 'short winter. If there isn't a Long Summer, and the Fall Moon starts within 12 days of the Autumn equinox then there is a 'Long Winter', otherwise there's a Short Year.
Typically the moons are broken into four 7 day sections, the new Moon, the waxing Moon, the Full Moon, and the waning moon. Any extra days for the next new Moon are tacked onto the end as extra outwith the usual weekday naming conventions.
Names of Moons
Each of the moons has a name, based on the more common activities in most years when it appears, or the major festivals of the gods.
| Long Summer | Long Winter | Short Year |
|---|---|---|
| Spring Moon | Spring Moon | Spring Moon |
| Flowering Moon | Flowering Moon | Flowering Moon |
| aeolf's Moon | aeolf's Moon | aeolf's Moon |
| Green Moon | ||
| Summer Moon | Summer Moon | Summer Moon |
| Ripening Moon | Ripening Moon | Ripening Moon |
| Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| Fall Moon | Fall Moon | Fall Moon |
| Jorunn's Moon | Jorunn's Moon | Jorunn's Moon |
| Malfin - Goddess of the Darkness's Moon | Malfin - Goddess of the Darkness's Moon | Malfin - Goddess of the Darkness's Moon |
| Snow Moon | Snow Moon | Snow Moon |
| Troll Moon | ||
| Cold Moon | Cold Moon | Cold Moon |
| The Mother's Moon | The Mother's Moon | The Mother's Moon |
Other Background
This is a placeholder list for links to pages that aren't about people, places, or gods.
The Nobles of Dael Riata
There are fourteen families that are Dukes or Earls of Dael Riata. Some of these are older than others, and you can usually tell the off-shoot families by their red stripes on the main colour shields from their older lines.
| Ranald, Grand Dukes of Reoch & Kings of Dael Riata | Gilranald, Earls of Norpen | Ahearn, Earls of Suddal | Giluilleam, Earls of Dalry |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| fretty vert or below a stag's head proper a tower triple towered celestial azure shown smaller | vert bend sanguine a seagull argent volant in chief a tower triple towered celestial azure in base point | Maily tenne and argent a horse rampant sable hooved sanguine | annuletty azure and argent a chevron sanguine a boar's head proper dexter |
| Gilcinead, Earls of Craigmuir | Aonghus, Earls of Beatham | Riata, Dukes of Glasholm | Gilriata, Earls of Dalcot |
 |  |  |  |
| per saltire or and gules below one martlett orange volante shown smaller a tree proper | Per-pale double arched estoilly purpure and argent and estoilly argent and purpure a saltire parted and fretty murrey three torques or. | Per-saltire celestial azure purpure. a claymore inverted proper in fess a ducal crown proper in base point | Per-saltire sanguine celestial azure a claymore inverted proper in fess |
| Sithech, Earls of Aifric | Suibhne, Earls of Douglas | Sioltach, Earls of Duff | Gilruary, Earls of Dalmuir |
 |  |  |  |
| Paly carnation and vert per saltire counterchanged a wolf tenne langued gules. | Papelony sable argent, in chief throughout five apples Or. Fesse azure a galley sanguine | Per bend sinister indented Vert and Lozengy Or and Gules, a unicorn statant argent. | Azure seme de ships proper sails bisque fimbriated argent an anchor sanguine |
| Murchadh, Earls of Uisdean | Alpins, Earls of Ardmor | ||
 |  | ||
| Maily or and sable a ship sable sails bisque | pily argent and vert. below a cloud argent A mountain proper shown larger |
All the shields above have been drawn using https://drawshield.net/random/ which as well as having useful reference material on creating blazons using proper heraldic terms, also draws them.
Bhaltair Gilranald
Bhaltair Gilranald is the Earl of Norpen, and for some time regent of Dael Riata during the minority of his cousin Alasdair V, King of Dael Riata. He is also the Marquess of Righ, and swears fealty twice to the King. Bhaltair is the second cousin of Alasdair V, King of Dael Riata, descended from the second son of King Alasdair III.
The ancestral home is Caer Righ, a castle guarding a strategic crossing of the river Righ in the Grand Duchy of Dalreoch. However the present Earl's father was translated to the Earldom of Norpen, on the northernmost of the Easter Isles. This was an overtly political move by the old Queen early in her reign as an effort to clip the wings of the The Murchadhs who had been causing trouble for generations.
The seat of the Earl is the walled city of Norpen, a very densely populated stone built haven from the Northern seas and the storms that rip across the open ocean to the North and West of the Easter Isles. There are about 10,000 people in the city, and a similar number farming across the collection of isles.
Titles
The current Earl is Bhaltair Gilranald.
They are is 36 years old, and is currently married to Eilidh Alpin. They have five surviving children
- Tormoid (16), is the eldest & heir.
- Ealasaid (14), is second and currently betrothed to the elder son of the Earl of Suddal
- Ranald (10)
- Aonghas (8)
- Oighrig (4)
Size & Wealth
Although new to the islands the Gilranalds have worked hard to establish the sea focus of the other island Earls. When the Earls of Uisdean were disestablished on Norpen many of the more skilled seafaring folk left with them, and the tradition takes time to establish. Some 25 years on there are signs of it returning, but it will continued effort to develop local shipbuilding skills and attract more veteran seafarers to pass their skills along to the new generations.
There's an active stone quarry that exports local stone for building. There are also lots of fishing vessels, seaweed collection, and some iron ore deposits. There's a lot of trading both with the Kingdom and more widely across the world.
The Earl has a letter of justice from the King enabling his ships to intercept raiders and keep the prizes. This has been a very good source of income over the last decade.
In addition to the lands in the Easter Isles the Earl of Norpen still holds lands as the Marquess of Righ within the Grand Duchy of Dalreoch. These are mostly feudal villages engaged in agriculture. These account for about a quarter of his income, and the second town (Caer Righ).
Recent History
Bhaltair spent four years as the regent, from 765-9. Initially he was chosen for his close relation to the King and that the Earls of Duffjord and Suddal both thought that they'd be able to steer him effectively. It turned out that Bhaltair was more adept than they'd expected, and while both Suddal and Gilranald came out of the arrangement ahead, Duffjord took offence when neither of them supported his attempt to move his northern border from the river Muir so that he could work both sides of the forest for ship-building timber.
In his time as regent Bhaltair engaged the King in decisions, and made sure he was well lead. This early introduction to the murky world of politics allowed the King to assert his right to rule in his mid-teens. It's also shown up in how the King has ruled, and the methods that he's used to enforce strong central control on Dael Riata. The country has not been this unified in living memory. Bhaltair Gilranald remains unswervingly loyal to his cousin, the King.
Allies, Friends & Lords
Enemies & Feuds
Alasdair V, King of Dael Riata
Alasdair Ranald is the King of Dael Riata, and the fifth of that name. His mother was the only child of Alasdair IV (reigned 700-739), and his father was a Skyssian merchant who spent some time in Dael Riata before escaping.
Titles
Alasdair Ranald holds several titles, including Grand Duke of Reoch, King of Dael Riata, and as such all the Earls of the Kingdom are expected to swear loyalty to him. He is a great grandson of King Harold VII of Bernicia (reigned 687-711, his grandmother was the second child. Alasdair V has a strong claim to the throne of Bernicia should the current Queen (Eleanor I - born 706, reigning since 756) die.
He is 20 years old (born 754), and is currently engaged to be married to Lady Elizabeth Wallis. She is the heir to the Earl of Stylet, the current secretary to the aging, and childless, Queen of Bernicia.
Size & Wealth
The Grand Duchy of Reoch is the largest realm within Dael Riata and it has some of the most fertile farmland. On top of that there are royal duties paid on trade that passes through the main ports. The capital is Dalreoch, the biggest city in the realm, with a population of around 25,000 and a flourishing trade network. It even has its own university.
Recent History
He has been King since he was three months old, and asserted his adulthood at the age of 15, having been through four regents in the time since his mother was forced to abdicate.
Since breaking free from the last of the regents (his second cousin Bhaltair Gilranald, Earl of Norpen, with whom he has a strong bond) Alasdair V has pacified the country and resolved the failure of fifth Earl of Uisdean to swear allegiance. The current, seventh, Earl of Uisdean has sworn an oath of allegiance, under duress as he claimed, after the threat of losing the family lands and extirpation being made.
Domnhall Murchadh and his brother Fearchar met the King and his Steward for a negotiation over dinner at Caer Suibhne, a neutral ground. The rules of hospitality were in force, and the Earl of Douglas was their host. After dinner the Suibhne family left the two parties to negotiate. Raised voices were heard, and the clash of steel. When the Earl of Douglas entered the great hall he found the King's Steward cleaning his sword, the King staunching blood from a wound to his face, and both of the Murchadh brothers dead on the floor, their drawn swords next to them. Alasdair V asserted that they'd tried to kill him, and only his Steward's swift defence had saved his life.
Allies, Friends & Lords
- Bhaltair Gilranald - A cadet branch and very loyal, although some have questions around how the previous Earl, Bhaltair, conducted himself as Regent. Alasdair himself is fiercely protective of his elder cousin, and claims that were it not for his regency then the kingdom wouldn't be in such a healthy state.
- The Ahearns - The Horse Lords are the strongest supporters of the King outside of the Ranald family.
- Other reliable families that the King has a favourable view of include riata, sithech, and The Suibhnes.
- All the Earls have formally sworn allegiance to the King, and none are currently under arms within Dael Riata.
Enemies & Feuds
- The Murchadhs - the Earls of Uisdean raised rebellion against his rule, and allegedly made a direct attempt on his life. Alasdair V threatened the current Earl of Uisdean, Diarmad Murchadh, with extirpation and loss of the ancestral lands if he didn't swear allegiance.
- The King doesn't trust aonghus or The Alpins because both were allied with Murchadh during the civil wars that followed his mother being deposed.
