Story - four branches of the Mabinogion simplified

I've gone through the main stories told in the four branches of the Mabinogion and simplified the tales for a quick plot summary! I've listed some things I think we might want to keep in mind.

1. Ideally I'd say we are looking for something we can loosely base our game around. Story is good but we don't want it to bog down the game-play.
   
   
2. We want a story that's 'short and sweet' with strong characters (especially main character) and environments, places people will remember.


3. We want the story to compliment the 2d/3d game mechanic so it ties in and doesn't seem to be applied for the sake of it.
   
   

The First Branch

• The first branch of the Mabinogion is set in Dyfed, the southwestern part of Wales.Dyfed was said to have had the strongest connection with the magical underworld known as Annwn (pronounced Annooven).
  
  
• Rhiannon 'The Great Queen' has a strong connection with this magical underworld. Rhiannon is a goddess connected with horses, birds and the Island of Otherworld.
  
  
• The hero of this first branch of stories is 'Pwyll' who undergoes a series of magical trials before emerging as the 'Head of Annwfn.'
  
  
• He becomes the consort of the consort of the Great Queen, before the latter gives birth to the hero Pryderi. Pryderi has significant links between this Branch and the rest of the Mabinogion.
  

The Second Branch

• The second branch of the Mabinogion follows the 'great king Bran', or Bendigeidfran ('Blessed Raven'), who leads an ill-fated expedition over to Ireland to avenge his sister, Branwen.

• Seven Survivors of the battle, carrying the living head of their leader undertake a mysterious odyssey, before relinquishing power from the enemy, who had seized control in their absence.

• (I'm pretty sure this is the story that involves the Black Cauldron. When someone falls in battle, their corpse can be resurrected to carry on fighting when placed inside the Cauldron.)

The Third Branch

• The third branch recounts the fallout of these previous events. It involves four characters, Manawydan son of Llyr, Pryderi son of Pwyll, his mother Rhiannon and his wife Cigfa.
  

• These four characters are involved in the land magically emptied of human habitation.

• Underlying this Branch is a mingling of the traditional wasteland myth with a medieval popular tale known as 'The Eustace Legend.' In this myth the hero faces a number of degradations which are met with humility and forbearance.
  

• Manawydan through a mixture of wisdom and cunning, manages to outmanoeuvre the magical powers involved with his downfall, and banish their influence from Dyfed for all time.

The Fourth Branch

• This fourth branch focuses on the family of the goddess Don.

• The story follows the birth and early life of the Celtic hero-god Lleu. He can be seen as a British rendition of the Nordic trickster-god Loki.
  

• He is conceived in murky circumstances (which coincide with the death of Prydri),

• Lleu is forced to overcome the curse of his mother. This curse tells that he should receive neither a name, a weapon, or a wife.
  

• He succeeds in overcoming this curse with the help of his magic-using uncle, Gwydion son of Don. In order to overcome the last element of this triple curse, Gwydion and Math (the wizard-king of Gwynedd) magically create a woman for Lleu, conjuring her out of wild flowers.
  

• This tragic woman ultimately betrays the man she was created to love, coming close to bringing about the death of Lleu at the hands of her lover, Gronw Pebyr.

• After a powerful shamanistic transformation, Lleu is eventually restored to life, and the last branch of the Mabinogion is concluded soon after.