Slaine was born to the Cessair clan in the Imperial year of 185. He wasn't noble-born and was a strong and handsome young lad.
He could fight better than any other lad his age and his reputation quickly spread. He was disowned at the age of 16 when he
slept with one of the chieftain's own concubines and was cast out of the clan. He was forced to roam the land as a traveling
mercenary, and he fell in with a twisted dwarf companion named Ukko. He traveled south pas the areas of Cil MhainTain and
eventually reached the great inland lake, loch Mheasa. There he had a vision from the Gods and was brought to their kingdom in
the El worlds. In their sacred hall, the Sun God Lugh informed him that he was to be the High King of Tir na nog, and Slaine
laughed at the idea in response. Not caring, Lugh told him that he must collect the four magical treasures of Tir na nog that
Nuada never collected. Out of a crystal door came the father God, Dagda who gave Slaine one of the magical treasures, the
cauldron of Dagda that would feed anyone who came before it. Slaine was startled and before he could think of something to say
the vision faded and he was back by the lake in the physical world holding the Cauldron of Dagda and facing a barrage of
questions from the puzzled Ukko. Slaine did not want to betray the Gods and so set out to find the treasures of Tir na nog,
first by heading back to his clan.
While Slaine was wandering in exile, his cousin Ragall had become the chieftain of the Cessair clan and was a character much
like Breas. On the winter beforehand, the Fomorians had returned in great numbers and Ragall stood down, accepting their
enslavement and paying their large taxes. A large disgusting Fomorian who looked like a giant fish was set to constantly stay at
the chieftain's court and collect the taxes. If the taxes were not paid by an individual he would cut their nose off, and if
they failed a second time he would kill them and rob all their possessions. Ragall was fearing Samhain (November), the start of
the Celtic year, when the Fomorian enslavers demanded two thirds of the whole clan's money, crops and livestock be offered to them
as a sign of fealty. The clan were extremely poor as it was and had little to live on, most were poor and had little crops to
feed on, let alone pay the taxes. Ragall's new wife, Megrim was controlling the kingdom through the broken man and she was
secretly a witch-priestess, a worshipper of the worm god Crom-Cruach (It is possible that Crom-Cruach and Nurgle are the same
God from the two different mythologies). By the Brehon laws, a chieftain had to rule at least for seven years before he could
voluntarily abdicate, and if he wanted to step down before the first seven years then he would have to be ritually sacrificed.
Ragall could not take the situation anymore and chose to be sacrificed. Megrim was furious, as the lands would not be handed down
to her that way. In a ritual sacrifice, whoever the chieftain's blood trickled towards was destined by the gods to become the
new chieftain. That was one of the only ways for a common-born to become chieftain. As Cathbad, the high druid slit his throat,
the followers of the clan gathered round him in the morbid hope that they would be the next chieftain. The blood trickled away
from all of them to a gap in the circle. And just when everyone started cursing the Gods, Slaine came up the hill and the blood
rolled to his feet. The crowd cheered at their returned hero who was the new chieftain, and in his dying moments Ragall
apologized to Slaine for what he had done to the clan. That night for the first time in years they had a huge feast, the largest
feast in the whole kingdom due to the cauldron of Dagda. The tax collector was beheaded and his large fish like head was stuck on
a spear and put in front of the clan's dun as a warning to any Fomorians.
After a long and arduous task, Slaine gathered the four treasured items of Tir na nOg; the Cauldron of Dagda, The Spear of the
Sun, the Sword of the Moon and Lia Fail, the stone of destiny. He already had the Cauldron of Dagda, and he set out getting the
Spear of the Sun and the Sword of the Moon from the chieftains that possessed them. The Sword of the Moon is a giant rending blade
that can kill the mightiest foe with one blow, which Slaine got from King Gann. The Spear of the Sun is Lugh's own mighty weapon
that when released you can name a target and it will fly from your hands and plunge into your opponent, killing it instantly.
Reluctantly King Rudraige handed over the Spear and Slaine went in search of the Stone of Destiny. When Slaine finally found it
was in the hands of the avanc, the last of a race of monstrous beaver folk and Slaine had to kill it to get the stone. The
stoneis said in the ancient legends to shriek out a long wailing note if the rightful High King of Tir na nOg stands on it with
the other four treasured items.
And so he had all the treasures, and he summoned the four chieftains to the hill Uisneach in Tara, also known as Bolg Danu, the
Belly of the Goddess. On its summit was placed the Stone of Destiny and before the stone was placed the Cauldron of Dagda. Each
of the four Chieftains took their turn at standing on it with the Sword and the Spear but nothing happened until Slaine stood on
it. The stone shrieked like a banshee, and out of the Cauldron came the Goddess Danu herself, in the form of Blodwuedd, the
maiden. Holding a massive Crowned Helm, she crowned Slaine the first High King of Tir na nOg, the king if kings. Slaine was a
good and fair High King and ruled with a conscious mind. Although he was High King he still recognized the chieftains of the
clans as rulers of their kingdoms. But the peaceful reign did not last long as war with the Fomorians was inevitable. This time
the Fomorians had made a pact with the Drune Lords (the Celts called the Chaos Lords of the North Drune Lords). Leading the army
was Balor of the evil eye, a Drune Lord who worshipped the darkest of Gods and came from the wastes of the North. He got his
name from his left eye which was nearly always close. If he opened the eye it would be lethal to anyone in his glare, a thin
beam of dark magic that destroyed anything in its path. Together with Fomorian allies, Balor prepared a massive invasion of the
Old World through Eriu, where the other nations of the Old World would not notice the horde approaching. Fortunately for the races
of men that the Drune Lords completely underestimated the Celts under High King Slaine.
After three massive battles against the Drune Lords, the Celts pushed them back and eventually they fled. During the battles
Slaine went into battle frenzy, calling the bloodlust of the Goddess onto his body and he slew over a hundred Fomorians on his
own in the space of ten minutes. In the last battle, Slaine faced Balor in single combat. Balor thought Slaine would be an easy
kill, but his underestimation was his undoing. He believed the Celts to be a stupid and savage race and when he open his eye, he
fired the beam of pure dark magic at Slaine but Slaine was prepared and used the Sword of the Moon to stop the Ray and reflect it
back at Balor, killing himself. When Balor died, he exploded in a blast of Dark Magic that Slaine was lucky to escape from and all
that was left behind was a large crater that filled up with water and is known today as Loch na Suil (lake of the eye) near the
border of Chonnacht and Ulster.
After the defeat of the Fomor, who fled back to the El Worlds, the Celts lived in a time of prosperity where feasts and
merry-making was common. However Slaine was often unhappy because the woman he loved, Niamh was married to King Rudraige. Niamh
was the king's concubine who Slaine originally dishonored and unbeknownst to him, she was pregnant and when he returned Slaine
was ready to start a new life with her and their little son Kai. However Niamh still hated Slaine and no matter how much he tried
she just ran away from him, and eventually she had a marriage of convenience with Rudraige of the Portholoin. In her hatred of
Slaine she sent their son Kai to train to be a druid so that he would never succeed Slaine as the High King. Two years after the
defeat of Balor, Megrim, whose real name was Medb tried to assassinate Slaine, but he was saved just in time by Niamh who realized
what Medb was up to.
After about ten years, Slaine eventually married the fair maiden Nest, who loved him dearly and she became Queen. Although he did
love her and had a peaceful marriage with her, he was still distraught because Niamh hated him so much. It was then another six
years till another Assassination attempt happened and this time it unfortunately succeeded. Medb broke free from her prison and
ensorcelled the young kitchen maid Ethne to kill Slaine in his sleep. Once the news broke out, the whole nation went into
mourning at the loss of such a great leader, and Medb was captured and burnt at the stake. Niamh herself cried at the grave of
Slaine, which was just a simple tombstone, unlike the large passage tombs of the older kings which was a sign of Slaine's modesty.
Nest and Ukko then spent years creating a manuscript that contained the life story of Slaine MacRoth and his rise to power and his
troublesome last years. Slaine may have died unhappy, but he united the kingdom, dove away the Fomorians, killed the evil Drune
Lord Balor and initiated an era of peace. |
