Cian- Celtic GodDeity

Father of Lugh

Cian was a warrior of the Tuatha Dé Danann and son of Dian Cécht, the physician god. A prophecy declared that the Fomorian king Balor would be slain by his own grandson, so Balor imprisoned his daughter Ethniu in a crystal tower on Tory Island to prevent her from ever conceiving a child. Cian, with the help of the druidess Biróg, infiltrated the tower in disguise and lay with Ethniu. From this union Lugh Lámhfhada was born, the champion who would fulfil the prophecy and slay Balor at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired.

The Murder by the Sons of Tuireann

While travelling across the plain of Muirthemne during the approach of the Second Battle, Cian encountered Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba, the three sons of Tuireann, who bore a blood feud against his family. Recognising the danger, Cian struck himself with a druidic wand and transformed into a pig, hoping to hide among a nearby herd. But the sons of Tuireann saw through his shapeshifting. Cian asked to be allowed to resume human form before being killed, and they agreed. Brian then struck him down with stones, refusing to use a weapon so that the earth would not cry out his name. The brothers buried his body, but the ground revealed the crime nonetheless, and Lugh eventually discovered his father's fate.

The Éric of the Sons of Tuireann

When Lugh learned of Cian's murder, he demanded an éric, a blood-price, from the sons of Tuireann. The price he named appeared modest at first: a series of magical objects gathered from distant lands. But each quest proved more perilous than the last, sending the brothers across the known world to retrieve treasures guarded by powerful kings and hostile forces. The final tasks left Brian and his brothers mortally wounded, and despite their father Tuireann's pleas, Lugh refused to lend them the healing pigskin they had retrieved on an earlier quest. All three sons died of their injuries, and Tuireann died of grief over their bodies.