King Oberon’s request for the tales of Prince Firenzi Morghun
"This time next year there had better be tales about Prince Firenzi!" Those were the words of the Unseelie King of Arcadia, Oberon, as he escorted the Prince back to Arcadia at the Summer Moot in 1110. The Factions were camped near to a doorway that was an remnant of first Fey city of Fallias, yet it still came as a surprise that King Oberon was active upon Erdreja; considering how fortunate he had been upon Erdreja, maybe it was just Firenzi’s fate. Magical speculation aside, this article was undertaken at the request of Lady Fama, of the Teutonian House of the Serpent. King Oberon’s threat notwithstanding, Lady Fama wanted the events noted anyway. Whether this request was a reward or a punishment due to me voicing my intent to become a Bard last year, I am not sure, maybe one day I'll ask.
Whilst it should be obvious that King Oberon is a being of supreme power and importance; he makes a Liche look like an ant. Many non-Fey, and maybe even some Fey, may wonder about Firenzi. He is the Unseelie Prince of Arcadia, and whilst his power on Erdreja was restricted he was still one of the most powerful beings around. Just from the perspective of those from the Heartlands and Southlands, Firenzi has been active at the Gatherings, Fayre/Games and Moots for many years. Years ago he was part of the Dragons, an adopted member of the Morghun Family. Firenzi was a very important part of the Scouts Guild. He was the Lord of the Shadow Court and one of the richest individuals in the Heartlands, if not the richest.
Firenzi was contracted to the Tarantula faction in the Great Helbron Recruitment Drive of 1102 to assist them with finance and trade. Later Firenzi became the Viceroy of the Tarantula Nation and Senior Advisor to Valsharess Araushnee Naxos D’Fey . He also had an important connection to the Cataclysm in 1107.
Since Firenzi has been around a long time, my initial concerns were encapsulated by three questions:
1) Where to start?
2) What specifically to write about?
3) Would writing this lead to problems?
My experience in undertaking this task has clearly answered number 3: yes. The majority of people do not know much about Prince Firenzi, and those that do remained guarded. Given his sovereignty of the Shadow Court, his rank amongst the Tarantulas, and his special position in the Scouts Guild, this lack of volunteers was no shock to me. However, knowing the journey is tough does not stop one from undertaking it, I knew I would eventually find people with things to say, and I did.
Assisting Scouts Training
I, like many others, saw Prince Firenzi around, but rarely had dealings with him. My first experience of Firenzi was during a Scouts Guild training exercise at the Gathering in 1104. I was one of four new Scouts sent out to carry out a fake hit, but unfortunately our target was being guarded by the Quiche Commandos (QC). After quite a while of observing the target they finally moved to somewhere quiet, and given our limited time frame we have little choice to either make a move, or give up. For a moment our attack went well, we scored a few hits via the element of surprise, however after the first few frantic seconds the QCs had managed to drop two of the attackers, and just as I thought about escaping a Fey wearing a fine purple coat and headscarf arrived unleashing a volley of magic upon the third Scout, whilst I was cut down by two QCs. As I lost consciousness I heard one of the QCs explaining to this stranger that it was a training exercise. Moments later I was healed and the QCs had a good laugh about the incident and explained who their friend was, and why we never stood a chance; a good learning experience. Over the years I would occasionally see Prince Firenzi around the Scouts Guild, however back then I was under some sort of curse that made me stupid and a bit cowardly, so I never attempted to learn much about Firenzi, let alone make any attempt to befriend him.Great Friendship
Many years ago a great friendship started between Prince Firenzi and Cedric Mortain of the Bears faction. I am informed that their fortuitous meeting was fated, a part of a greater plan. Cedric says this occurred due to the fates of awesomeness; despite my research into Fate not revealing these fates, I do like the sound of them. As Firenzi and Cedric gained rank within their Factions their friendship grew, not to imply that their camaraderie was purely motivated by business or by politics, but it certainly helped. Firenzi became an honouree Mortain in 1105. This occurred due to an invite to a Bears banquet and an attempt to prevent any political issues since there were tensions between the two factions, the invitation named him as: Felix Mortain. Much merriment was had, which led to a cheeky kiss by Felix on Obidask, and the next thing was Obidask grabbed him by the face snogged him. After Obidask was assassinated he became an Ancestor of the Underworld.Cedfiresence
It was also in 1105 that Firenzi and Cedric attended the Scouts Guild Torment mission. After much drinking Cedric and Firenzi decided to perform an acoustic set, 1 Man + 1 Fey simply known as Cedfiresence. It is said they achieved notes unbeknownst to others, and despite their brilliance it was agreed that Cedfiresence was too powerful and dangerous to risk a repeat performance. It was speculated by one individual that the vibrations this caused to the patterns of the Void, Existence and Erdreja resonated out and echoed back, and thus started a chain of events that led to the Cataclysm in 1107. Importantly, it is not claimed that Cedfiresence was the only event of note in the chain that led to the Cataclysm.Aiding Jackals
Several important events in Firenzi’s escapades occurred in 1109 during a Jackal's mission. Firenzi and friends consisted of members of House C, Cedric and company; jovially referred to as team Spider-Bear. Despite being tooled up and exceptional powerful, the Spider-Bears declared “Irene” when someone was struck, even though it was by a magical attack that couldn’t even hurt them. They then spent the majority of their time on this Southlands mission sat in a tent. They did make two further assistances.Friendship Broken
One of many incidents relating to the Mercenary Alliance in 1106 was when Master Ori of the Scouts Guild was killed. This created a rift between Cedric and Firenzi because Cedric was married to Master Ori (although I hear she was married to someone else) and he blamed his friend for not doing enough to prevent events from leading to her death. Cedric told me he hunted Firenzi for a year, which included quick visits to Nihon and Cathay. Since that year little has been heard from those foreign lands, just how Firenzi relates to this is unclear. After the year of craziness they managed to mend their friendship.Guild Service
Again the Scouts Guild is mentioned, and as was written previously Firenzi was an important member, being the personal student and apprentice of Former Grandmaster Fingers Fitz D’Fee for over six years. Details of his involvement with the Scouts Guild is something that I would have loved to have expanded upon, but unfortunately, as most would assume, the Guild wishes to keep passed events on a need to know basis.Where Eagles Dare
During the days of the Empire’s return Prince Firenzi was attacked by Eagle Knights. In one version he had to spend a lot of time running through the market place from a single Eagle Knight, and barely escaped. In another version he faced off against six, and won. Although it may seem like a sure thing, personally I would never bet on which version is closer to the truth.Cadre War
During the Cataclysm numerous Aspects of Existence choose Champions and even had Personifications. A complete list of who were chosen is not publicly known, personally I doubt anyone other Existence has such a list. I tried to find out Firenzi’s role in these events, this proved nearly as difficult as asking the Spiral. Some speculation had him as Champion of Illusion, likely supposition due to the element’s somewhat strong connection with Fey. Maybe he was involved with Fate, if the Cedfiresence resonation is to be believed.A Queen’s Tale
The current Queen Blodwyn of the Bears told me a tale about the Battle for Elvas; possible only because the memories pass on from one host of the Blodwyn to the next, although the memory was cloudy in regards to the date. Amongst the many valiant beings fighting, it was noteworthy that Prince Firenzi and Silk were instrumental in this action due to their power and toughness. They fought off wave after wave of unliving attack, numbers so great there were literally too many things to deal with at once. The previous Blodwyn at the time ran out to meet a wave, but was struck by a paralysing blow and then dragged behind enemy lines, where the foes started to decay her. Seeing the crisis unfolding Prince Firenzi charged the line, and broke through the unliving shield wall. Absorbing several blows in the valiant rescue and upon reaching the Blodwyn, Firenzi threw up a forbidding around her and himself. Whilst keeping attackers at bay he managed to bring her back for healing; if it had taken seconds longer the Blodwyn would have been dead!Tea with Fey
The next time I personally had any major interaction with Prince Firenzi was during the GEF in 1110. Lady Fama and Lord Aeneas had arranged a tea party for several important Fey, Lady Treacle, Lord Gwion, Lord Pavel, Lord Remus, Lord Icarus, Prince Firenzi and his sister Princess Sorcha; additionally Torvell was a special guest. Despite being a lowly Fey I was in attendance, though of course it was in a serving role. Whilst I will not divulge all the contents of the meeting, there was a moment I can mention: I had acquired 2 special cheeses, a Seelie and an Unseelie which was met with much approval from those in attendance. The Unseelie cheese helped to clear Prince Firenzi's blocked nose. Whilst many may find this irrelevant information I have added it because at the time I was just a Sluagh and this moment was a highlight for me. Also another point of the meeting was that an important part in the process towards the creation of Haven, on the island of Elvas. Haven is a significant moment for the Fey and even Erdreja herself, but details are in another long article that I am currently working on. Whilst Prince Firenzi was not directly involved in the work for the Haven ritual, he was part of the initial conversations about it and left his words of support.Fey Bane
I was shown some letters written by Prince Firenzi in regarding Flagha at Summer Moot 1110. In the letters he shared his view in regards to Fey Bane weapons. It was interesting to note that Firenzi viewed Fey Bane as anathema and whilst he owned such a weapon he kept it as a deterrent. His letter mentioned a cold iron spear that was named after him by the Bank as a jest, he states that the bank apologised. Before the Prince left he was on the Bank’s board of directors; maybe he still is. I was told that the Fey Bane dagger that the Prince owned left when he did.Politician to a Nation
The Tarantula faction is referred to by some as evil; such a simple generalisation for a large number of beings is of course wrong. Debating the morality, importance and role of the Tarantula faction in relation to the other factions was something that Firenzi often did. For many he was the public face of the Tarantula faction, particularly in the post-Gabriel years. Firenzi’s connections and power helped open up the Tarantula faction. Not only did they lose a powerful individual, but also an important politician. Cedric Mortain highlighted an important query, would the Tarantula-Viper bloodshed have even occurred at the GEF 1111 if Firenzi was still on Erdreja? Whilst it is clearly a query that cannot be answered, those that know even a little about Firenzi will note the query’s significance in emphasising the dynamic he might have had over the events that unfolded.Return to Arcadia
The arrival of King Oberon was something that will stick with me forever. A message that the King was going to arrive in the early evening of the Saturday at the Summer Moot 1111 was delivered to the Tarantulas, giving the Prince a chance to make his preparations to leave. Although I was no longer just a Sluagh I still understood the significance of the King’s visit.
All Works are © Original Author
(OC Author - Richard Brewster)