Let’s learn all about Domhain Clach (Tow-un Kla-kh), the priestly order of Bressus in DireLands. Join Adam as he explores his DireLands fantasy campaign setting. You can learn more about DireLands here: https://reverendcampbell.com/direlands/
About DireLands Fantasy Campaign Setting
DireLands is a system agnostic, dark fantasy tabletop roleplaying campaign setting. It was created by Adam P. Campbell in 2024. DireLands is set in a land that is in the final century of an ice age that saw the rise of the Witch-Queen who subjugated the three realms’ populations and cast out the demi-human races. The Triumvirate rose in the last century and liberated two of the three nations, but after their victory, they have become corrupt themselves.
Transcript
Cold Open
They are the bridge between the Triumvirate’s Order of Books and the Jion Order.
Intro
Welcome to this continuation of my DireLands system agnostic, dark fantasy campaign setting! My name is Adam and in this episode I will be discussing the priestly order of Domhain Clach (Tow-un Kla-kh) in DireLands. If you appreciate the development of this campaign setting, or the features of other games on this channel, I would like to invite you to consider becoming a patron on Patreon. You can even purchase tabletop roleplaying games using my affiliate link in the description below.
Details
While the priestly order of the Domhain Clach is relatively young compared to the first-nation people of Faulest, it dates back to before the men from the west first arrived on the continent. The order was founded by the First Son, Acolyte Hesiro Shea. He was believed to have been touched by the gods back when the men from the west could remember their homeland. The gods, when the Wildlands covered nearly all of Ciar-mhonadh (kierd-vonnig), reached out to those mortals they created and granted them the ability to tap into the primal forces of the world. These primal forces were what the gods themselves created, and in some circles believed they drew upon to create life.
When they granted this gift to mortals, it was used in many different ways by the disparate races. Men, who were born to ponder, create and destroy, formed organizations to celebrate the gods. The Domhain Clach was not the first organization to spring up, but it was one of the few which lasted. For millennia, this organization has carried down the traditions of old, even now, in the current Frozen Age Epoch, or F.A., when few believe the gods ever walked the world, they continue giving homage in ritual and structure. The order worships all gods as aspects of nature and mortal expressions. Some may truly believe in anthropomorphic forms of the gods, but the strictures of the faith teach them to be aspirational metaphors rather than literal beings. Time tends to dull the memories of men.
There was a dark time in the Domhain Clach’s deep history, when the men first arrived from the west, when a faction of the order tried to integrate with the first-nation people, in order to unite with them, but it didn’t last more than a century. For the First-Nation people twisted the order’s rituals into their own more primitive forms including mortal sacrifice and the consumption of mortal flesh.
This stain on the orders’ history, which persists regionally to this day, caused a rift between the Beàrrta (bee-och-te) and the First-Nation people, and it is believed that this was the first blow which ended in all out war and the defining of nations and their borders. The order was not wholly altruistic however. Even in their original continent, the Domhain Clach was keyed into positions of power, leveraging their divine authority to enrich themselves and exert power through politically connected influence. There was even a span of time when the order tried to place its First Son, Acolyte Rego Juut III in 1623 A.M., or ‘After Men Arrived from the West’, as emperor. This was when they subdued the First-Nation people. But the men from Bressus remembered why they were forced to migrate from their homeland, and had the First Son assassinated.
Not only did this stifle the aspirations of future First Son’s, but it inspired the development of the Triumvirate, as First Knight Commander Anthony Kee was close friends with Acolyte Leonard Fry, the newest First Son. Acolyte Fry had intimate knowledge about Maga Yuul and leveraged it to blackmail him into allowing the Domhain Clach to be the bridge between the burgeoning Triumvirate’s Order of Books, with the Jhion Order (Gee-on), the historian, alchemist and scientific research society of Bressus. This granted the Domhain Clach incredible influence and authority over the development of Bressus as a nation. If they couldn’t sit on the throne, they would certainly direct whomever did.
The Domhain Clach is led by the First Son, who oversees religious dictates, defines rituals, and observes national holidays. He is backed by the Holy Order of Tre which oversees institutional structures. They create missions, assign Cardinals to regional domains, and even have an arm of their order called the Doves which is believed to run a spy and assassin ring. You can imagine the public face of the Domhain Clach to be one of sanctity, humility and grace; but behind the scenes they are ruthless and authoritarian. They currently have secret wars which are being waged against the Wildlands in Caelia (kay-lee-uh) and Locaston, Spy’s embedded in the Biel Gos and the Gaullix (gaw-lex), and plans to overthrow the emperor of Bressus should he continue refusing to hand over the ‘rights of access’ to Bressus’ Wildlands.
While the administration and secret orders of the Domhain Clach are corrupt, the missions and domains the order oversees, and certainly those priests who run them, do genuinely care for the citizens they serve. They are pious and truly worship the gods in the manner the order was originally founded. One could imagine a time in the near future where a schism is formed between those administering the order and those serving the people of Bressus, but that is an event best left to your home campaigns.
Will you stand up against the powerful and dangerous influence of the Domhain Clach, or join them in their efforts to control the nation of Bressus? Can any religious order survive the aspirations of those administering it? And finally, what will be the repercussions of the order waging war on the homeland of the gods? The future of these DireLands are in your hands.
Outro
Thank you for watching today’s DireLands Fantasy Campaign Setting episode. Please consider subscribing to this YouTube channel, liking and commenting on this video. And if you enjoyed this episode, consider becoming a patron on Patreon. Always remember that evil spelled backwards is live, so get out there and be evil!