I've published two PDFs under the Open License covering the island of Arran (geographically at the intersection of the Hibernean, Loch Leglean and Stonehenge Tribunals). I mentioned this on the Open License thread, and am adding details here...
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- The setting overview is here: From Herry to Arran
- An introductory adventure is here: An Unwelcome Rescue
- And a map of the island is here: Arran Map
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Its craggy hills rising above both the sea and the mainland beyond, the northerners call this place Herry; the locals call it Aran, meaning “the high place”.
This is the home of the clan of Suibhne (pronounced “Sween”). Future generations may come to know them as the MacSweenys, legendary Irish mercenaries; but for now they cling to the coasts of Aran and Kintyre, where they fish, farm, hunt, herd sheep and, when it is necessary or profitable, fight.
Somewhere to the east the King of Scotland might want to make this a part of his domain; to the south, the Lord of the Isles, ruling from the Isle of Mann, might believe that this island is part of his territory; the king of Norway might look upon these southern isles as an extension of his kingdom. But the Suibhnes have no special love for the warlord who rules Mann, not for the distant Norwegian monarch, and they have no concept of “Scotland”. This is a family which runs its affairs as it pleases, bowing temporarily to stronger factions as pragmatism requires but reasserting their independence at the earliest opportunity. Their friendships and enmities, schemes and rivalries, cross the waters to Skye and Mann, Islay and Dubhlinn, encompassing clans and lordships from the Hebrides down to Gwynedd. But their world is changing.
The power of the Lord of the Isles is waning, and the King of Norway struggles to assert his dominance over these waters. Anglo-Norman lords are bringing stone castles and feudalism to Ireland, and have already tamed Cumbria and Galloway.
Not for much longer will the Suibhnes be left to rove along the coasts and across the sea, proudly testing their strength in a shifting network of alliances and rivalries. Soon, their island may become a territory in a feudal kingdom – the kingdom of Scotland – and, pushed westwards, the focus of their clan will shift towards Ireland.
