The Siege of Lobhan
Every Siabhlach with noble blood claims descent from one of the Hundred Heroes. The central legend of Siabhal is the Legend of Lobhan. Lobhan was, until recently, a mid-sized town in northern Siabhal. The Legend speaks of Finian the Brave, the Hundred Heroes and their great victory over the Gwyllt which made Siabhal a comparative haven for mortal people in the centuries before the arrival of the first Réig. Lobhan no longer exists.
In the declining years of Réig Airt Ua Chonchobhair’s reign, starting in the late Autumn of 787, the leading family of Lobhan, named House Mac Éanans, proclaimed that they were some of the most prominent Hundred Heroes reborn. They produced the famed relics of the Heroes, many of which had been thought lost. They spoke and acted as if they were the Heroes of the Legend and even reproduced some of their great feats, for example the daughter of House Mac Éanan who claimed to be Siún Who Leapt the Flaming Wall was able to vault over houses and the town walls.
Claiming to be figures from legend and magical feats are one thing, but the Mac Éanans and their followers did not stop at that. Soon they began to speak of restoring the glory of Siabhal, with them as the natural leaders of the restored Kingdom of Siabhal of course. Even in the wayward years of Réig Airt’s rule this treachery could not stand.
The gallóglaigh bands were mustered and marched on Lobhan. When they arrived, the gallóglaigh found the town gates sealed, and the populace madly in support of the Hundred Heroes Reborn, as they were called. More and more of the Mac Éanans and their associated relatives took on the roles of the Heroes, until the whole band out of the Legend were represented.
It was weeks before the siege formally began. Gallóglaigh thanes first called on the town to surrender, but whenever they would negotiate with the town’s leadership, they would first become sympathetic and inevitably would enter the town and not return. A month had passed before the danger was recognised for what it was and the order went out that only written communication was allowed to pass between the gallóglaigh bands and the besieged. Even then every night the gallóglaigh camp would find that more of their number had deserted.
Details of what happened inside Lobhan are sketchy, but from survivors’ accounts it seems the Hundred Heroes Reborn were dedicated to recreating their famous battle out of legend, with the gallóglaigh bands outside cast in the role of the Gwyllt. A few skirmishes took place, with horrible casualties on both sides, but the ranks of the besieged were soon replenished. Despite the best efforts of the besiegers, countryfolk were still deserting their farms and gallóglaigh abandoning their posts, daring to enter the town of Lobhan and act out the strange play within.
As 787 lumbered into 788, morale was low among the gallóglaigh bands. The Thanes had even begun to discuss whether some accommodation could be reached with the Mac Éanans and their fanatic followers. Things changed when the Golden Knives arrived at Lobhan. Led by the Réig’s niece Maeláine Uí Chonchobhair, this band had won great fame in fighting in the deepest tunnels of Draíod against the strangest and most fearsome of foes. It was said that every gallóglach in the band had walked the Way of Wisdom, fighting every step of the way.
Maeláine called a council of the thanes, claiming that her uncle the blessed Réig had dispatched her band specially to end the siege and bring peace to northern Siabhal. The other thanes scoffed privately at this, as it was common knowledge that Réig Airt was suspicious of his niece and her ambitions, and had refused to grant her an audience for many years. They began to listen however as Maeláine outlined her plan: sending gallóglaigh into Lobhan to take it from within.
Surely this was madness, as everyone who entered the town fell under the spell and began to act out the Legend of Lobhan? To counter their protests, Maeláine introduced Solatas, her cinnire-at-arms and a famed ritualist. Solatas told the assembly that he had studied the reports of the siege and had created a ritual that would shield a small group from the influence that had struck all within the town. With this protection and other boons bestowed by the Shaper, the gallóglaigh would be able to steal within Lobhan, open the gates, and put an end to the whole affair.
Although they were dubious, the thanes agreed to this plan when Maeláine said it would be her own Golden Knives that would make the attempt. Solatas led the rituals along with the cinnirí-at-arms of the other bands, bestowing the blessings of the Shaper upon the ten gallóglaigh who had volunteered to break the siege. When the ritual was ended, they ventured forth into the night.
Hours passed, and nothing was heard from the town. No attacks harried the gallóglaigh lines, but the gates did not open. The bands had begun to murmur amongst themselves that the attempt had failed, when a terrible cry rose up from the town, as if thousands of people were suffering a fate worse than death and had full knowledge of it before it befell them. Afterwards there was dead silence, and not even the birds sang as dawn began to break.
Finally, a lone figure appeared atop the walls of the town, and clambered down to the outside. Her livery was torn and she was battered and bloodied, but a cry soon went up from the Golden Knives as they recognised Maoithneasa the gallóglach. She began to walk back to the besieging bands’ lines, but fell to her knees before she could make it all the way. Maeláine was among the first to reach her, and many heard what Maoithneasa said to her: “Burn it to the ground. Leave nothing standing.”
Straight away, Maeláine directed her gallóglaigh to begin the preparations for the burning of Lobhan. The other thanes challenged her, and demanded a council, and Maoithneasa was brought before them. Only those who were at that council know what she said, but within an hour the orders had gone out that all assembled bands were to find anything that would burn in the nearby countryside and bring it to the town walls.
As the fire was set and it began to spread within the town walls, the gallóglaigh did not hear the cries of fear they had been dreading, nor did the smell of burned flesh reach their noses. It was as if every living thing in the town had already disappeared. Rumours flew about what Maoithneasa had seen, and what the terrible cry had been, but Maoithneasa and the thanes refused to speak of it.
When the great fire had died down, the walls were broken and the stones themselves hauled to the Endless Sea where they were tumbled off the Cliffs of Ísliú into the Endless Sea. Nothing remained of Lobhan except the Legend itself, and many of those gallóglaigh who took part in the Siege of Lobhan, even those who were themselves Siabhlaigh, could no longer bear to hear it recited in their presence.