Post by DM Leverage on Jun 8, 2013 5:42:54 GMT -5
Moonshae Isles
Capital: Caer Callidyrr
Population: 680,400 (humans 89%, halflings 4%, elves 3%, dwarves 2%, half-elves 1%)
Government: Monarchy
Religions: Chauntea (in an aspect as the Earthmother) among the Ffolk, Tempus among the Northlanders
Imports: Coal, horses, minor magic items, ore, parchment, silk
Exports: Armor, timber, weapons
Alignments: NG, N, NE
A cold cluster of rocky islands cloaked in mists and deep woods and sprinkled with abundant beasts, bogs, and soaring mountains, the Moonshae Isles are shared by two dominate races of human folk. The northern section of the islands is dominated by seafaring Northlanders descended from the raiders of Ruathym. A darker-haired and darker-skinned human race known as the Ffolk, the islands’ longer-term residents, control the southern part. The Ffolk thrive in a dozen petty kingdoms ruled over by a High Queen.
In previous years the Northlanders and the Ffolk spent much of their time at each other’s throats, particularly because of the Northlanders’ penchant for bloody raiding. The rise of High King Tristan Kendrick unified the two peoples of the Moonshaes. Tristan’s daughter, High Queen Alicia, has held her kingdom together through the usual small wars between petty lords. Compared to the nations of mainland Faerûn, the Moonshaes have enjoyed several decades of relative peace.
Life and Society
All Moonshavians are shaped by the rugged, striking landscape and harsh weather. The Ffolk revere the land (and the deity who is the land), long aware of the divine power present in the rushing steams, secret pools, and mist-wreathed forests of their isles. The Ffolk adore their home with a deep and abiding love hard for other humans to understand.
The Northlanders are less moved by the landscape. Their hearts are turned to the sea, and they tend to be boisterous and outgoing compared to their neighbors. Relations between the two peoples are often strained, even if they are better now than ever before.
The Ffolk do not often welcome outlanders. To farmers, outlanders are trouble; brigands and thieves who imperil families, belongings, stock, and crops. To local lords and warriors, outlanders are rivals. If they abide by local laws, they are respected but watched: There’s no telling what trouble will erupt if foreign sword-swingers run amok. News from the Sword Coast travels fairly well to the Moonshaes, so the previous deeds and reputation of arrivals color their reception. Heroes may be fully accepted by warriors of the Ffolk as one of their own. The Northlanders have a stronger tradition of sea trade and travel and tend to be simply curious about visitors from the rest of Faerûn.
Outlanders are most likely to find employment as sellswords in the service of feuding lords, or as guards aboard Moonshavian vessels running to and from Sword Coast ports. The Nelanther Isles are all too close for comfort, and the pirates grow bolder with each passing year. In every Moonshavian port tavern, one may hear a dozen colorful tales about narrow escapes.
Major Geographical Features
The Moonshaes consist of a handful of major islands and hundreds of smaller isles. Among the noteworthy ones are the following:
Alaron: Ruled from the city of Caer Callidyrr, the island of Alaron is the most powerful of the Moonshae’s kingdoms. The rugged Fairheight Mountains to the north of Caer Callidyrr separates the traditional lowland homes of the Ffolk in the south from the homes of the Northlanders. Intermarriage between the two peoples is slowly eliminating the divide between their customs.
Gwynneth: The largest of the southern islands, its northern half was settled by Northlanders from Oman’s Isle and the southern part (which became the city of Caer Corwell) by the Ffolk. Nelanther pirates have made some landings on the island’s southern coast, but no large-scale raids have been reported.
Moray: The westernmost of the major Moonshae islands is also the wildest of the southern isles. Since the peace between the Northlanders and the Ffolk, Northlanders have taken to raiding the monsters of the Orcskull Mountains that run down the island’s spine. Consequently, Moray is a safer place to live and has attracted Ffolk and Northlander settlers.
Ruathym: this rugged, barren island is not properly part of the Moonshaes at all, lying more than two hundred miles north of the island chain. Ruathym is the ancestral home of the Northlanders, the barbarians who colonized the northern Moonshaes and Luskan. Scattered steadings and villages cluster around the isle’s fjords and inlets. The largest settlement is the town of Ruathym, a city of five thousand. The Northlanders here have a long-standing feud with the folk of Luskan on the Sword Coast.
Important Sites
Most of the Moonshae Islands boast at least one or two small villages. The major islands are home to dozens of settlements each, often divided by large stretches of wild and rugged terrain. Large towns are rare.
Caer Callidyrr (Large City, 21,486): Caer Callidyrr is a leftover of a previous civilization’s peak, a mighty castle built on the island of Alaron above a sprawling port city. The Kendrick family now rules the kingdom of the same name in addition to their ancestral holdings on Gwynneth. The wizards and sorcerers who directly serve the High Queen live in the castle at Callidyrr instead of going south to Caer Corwell.
Unlike the rest of the Moonshaes, Caer Callidyrr is accustomed to the presence of visitors and merchants from other parts of Toril.
Caer Corwell (Small City, 11,459): The home region of the Kendrick family, occupying the south half of the island of Gwynneth, was the land first settled by the Ffolk. Its rocky shores and high moors make it an excellent place for strong-minded individualists who prefer space to neighbors, or for druids who seek to worship in the temple of the wild.
Iron Keep (Small City, 5,730): The strongest fortress of the Northlanders perches upon the northern shores of Oman’s Isle. Iron Keep was formerly the most feared and violent of the Northlanders’ kingdoms. It’s still a warlike realm, but its inhabitants’’ aggressions are spent on other Northlander kingdoms, particularly the isle of Ruathym.
Myrloch Vale: The land sacred to the Earthmother occupies the central portion of the island of Gwynneth to the north of the Myrloch, the island’s central lake. Unlike the aspect of Chauntea known throughout the rest of Faerûn, the Earthmother of the Moonshaes treasures unspoiled wildlands more than cleared farmland. Only druids and elves walk without fear in this place. The lands’ primary occupants are centaurs, pixies, sprites, and the elves of the Moonshaes, known as the Llewyrr. Few of the Llewyrr joined the Retreat to Evermeet, owing nothing to the Elven Court and preferring their life in Myrloch Vale. Though the Vale is sacred to the Ffolk, Northlanders still fear it as a place of dangerous magic.
Regional History
For centuries, the cycles of history in the Moonshaes pivoted around struggles between the invading Northlanders and the Ffolk. Early in the 1300s DR, the islands’ conflicts took on greater significance. The evil deities Bhaal, Malar, and Talos attempted to take possession of the Moonshaes from the Earthmother.
The evil deities were thwarted largely through the heroism of the Kendrick family and their friends and lovers. The Kendricks ascended to become a new dynasty of High Kings and Queens, expanding the High Throne’s hold upon the island and convincing the Northlanders to accord them fealty alongside the Ffolk.
The last three decades of rule by High Queen Alicia Kendrick (NG female human Ftr6/Drd7 of the Earthmother) and her consort High King Keane (NG male human wiz18) have been largely peaceful. Alicia and Keane have raised worthy heirs and appear to have founded a successful dynasty. The islands’ only significant problem at this time is a growing conflict with pirates from the Nelanther Isles, who are ranging north in search of better haunts. The Northlanders have proven to be excellent allies against the Nelanther pirates, but adventurers from the mainland can sometimes find employment fighting the pirates’ deadly wizards.
- Source: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Capital: Caer Callidyrr
Population: 680,400 (humans 89%, halflings 4%, elves 3%, dwarves 2%, half-elves 1%)
Government: Monarchy
Religions: Chauntea (in an aspect as the Earthmother) among the Ffolk, Tempus among the Northlanders
Imports: Coal, horses, minor magic items, ore, parchment, silk
Exports: Armor, timber, weapons
Alignments: NG, N, NE
A cold cluster of rocky islands cloaked in mists and deep woods and sprinkled with abundant beasts, bogs, and soaring mountains, the Moonshae Isles are shared by two dominate races of human folk. The northern section of the islands is dominated by seafaring Northlanders descended from the raiders of Ruathym. A darker-haired and darker-skinned human race known as the Ffolk, the islands’ longer-term residents, control the southern part. The Ffolk thrive in a dozen petty kingdoms ruled over by a High Queen.
In previous years the Northlanders and the Ffolk spent much of their time at each other’s throats, particularly because of the Northlanders’ penchant for bloody raiding. The rise of High King Tristan Kendrick unified the two peoples of the Moonshaes. Tristan’s daughter, High Queen Alicia, has held her kingdom together through the usual small wars between petty lords. Compared to the nations of mainland Faerûn, the Moonshaes have enjoyed several decades of relative peace.
Life and Society
All Moonshavians are shaped by the rugged, striking landscape and harsh weather. The Ffolk revere the land (and the deity who is the land), long aware of the divine power present in the rushing steams, secret pools, and mist-wreathed forests of their isles. The Ffolk adore their home with a deep and abiding love hard for other humans to understand.
The Northlanders are less moved by the landscape. Their hearts are turned to the sea, and they tend to be boisterous and outgoing compared to their neighbors. Relations between the two peoples are often strained, even if they are better now than ever before.
The Ffolk do not often welcome outlanders. To farmers, outlanders are trouble; brigands and thieves who imperil families, belongings, stock, and crops. To local lords and warriors, outlanders are rivals. If they abide by local laws, they are respected but watched: There’s no telling what trouble will erupt if foreign sword-swingers run amok. News from the Sword Coast travels fairly well to the Moonshaes, so the previous deeds and reputation of arrivals color their reception. Heroes may be fully accepted by warriors of the Ffolk as one of their own. The Northlanders have a stronger tradition of sea trade and travel and tend to be simply curious about visitors from the rest of Faerûn.
Outlanders are most likely to find employment as sellswords in the service of feuding lords, or as guards aboard Moonshavian vessels running to and from Sword Coast ports. The Nelanther Isles are all too close for comfort, and the pirates grow bolder with each passing year. In every Moonshavian port tavern, one may hear a dozen colorful tales about narrow escapes.
Major Geographical Features
The Moonshaes consist of a handful of major islands and hundreds of smaller isles. Among the noteworthy ones are the following:
Alaron: Ruled from the city of Caer Callidyrr, the island of Alaron is the most powerful of the Moonshae’s kingdoms. The rugged Fairheight Mountains to the north of Caer Callidyrr separates the traditional lowland homes of the Ffolk in the south from the homes of the Northlanders. Intermarriage between the two peoples is slowly eliminating the divide between their customs.
Gwynneth: The largest of the southern islands, its northern half was settled by Northlanders from Oman’s Isle and the southern part (which became the city of Caer Corwell) by the Ffolk. Nelanther pirates have made some landings on the island’s southern coast, but no large-scale raids have been reported.
Moray: The westernmost of the major Moonshae islands is also the wildest of the southern isles. Since the peace between the Northlanders and the Ffolk, Northlanders have taken to raiding the monsters of the Orcskull Mountains that run down the island’s spine. Consequently, Moray is a safer place to live and has attracted Ffolk and Northlander settlers.
Ruathym: this rugged, barren island is not properly part of the Moonshaes at all, lying more than two hundred miles north of the island chain. Ruathym is the ancestral home of the Northlanders, the barbarians who colonized the northern Moonshaes and Luskan. Scattered steadings and villages cluster around the isle’s fjords and inlets. The largest settlement is the town of Ruathym, a city of five thousand. The Northlanders here have a long-standing feud with the folk of Luskan on the Sword Coast.
Important Sites
Most of the Moonshae Islands boast at least one or two small villages. The major islands are home to dozens of settlements each, often divided by large stretches of wild and rugged terrain. Large towns are rare.
Caer Callidyrr (Large City, 21,486): Caer Callidyrr is a leftover of a previous civilization’s peak, a mighty castle built on the island of Alaron above a sprawling port city. The Kendrick family now rules the kingdom of the same name in addition to their ancestral holdings on Gwynneth. The wizards and sorcerers who directly serve the High Queen live in the castle at Callidyrr instead of going south to Caer Corwell.
Unlike the rest of the Moonshaes, Caer Callidyrr is accustomed to the presence of visitors and merchants from other parts of Toril.
Caer Corwell (Small City, 11,459): The home region of the Kendrick family, occupying the south half of the island of Gwynneth, was the land first settled by the Ffolk. Its rocky shores and high moors make it an excellent place for strong-minded individualists who prefer space to neighbors, or for druids who seek to worship in the temple of the wild.
Iron Keep (Small City, 5,730): The strongest fortress of the Northlanders perches upon the northern shores of Oman’s Isle. Iron Keep was formerly the most feared and violent of the Northlanders’ kingdoms. It’s still a warlike realm, but its inhabitants’’ aggressions are spent on other Northlander kingdoms, particularly the isle of Ruathym.
Myrloch Vale: The land sacred to the Earthmother occupies the central portion of the island of Gwynneth to the north of the Myrloch, the island’s central lake. Unlike the aspect of Chauntea known throughout the rest of Faerûn, the Earthmother of the Moonshaes treasures unspoiled wildlands more than cleared farmland. Only druids and elves walk without fear in this place. The lands’ primary occupants are centaurs, pixies, sprites, and the elves of the Moonshaes, known as the Llewyrr. Few of the Llewyrr joined the Retreat to Evermeet, owing nothing to the Elven Court and preferring their life in Myrloch Vale. Though the Vale is sacred to the Ffolk, Northlanders still fear it as a place of dangerous magic.
Regional History
For centuries, the cycles of history in the Moonshaes pivoted around struggles between the invading Northlanders and the Ffolk. Early in the 1300s DR, the islands’ conflicts took on greater significance. The evil deities Bhaal, Malar, and Talos attempted to take possession of the Moonshaes from the Earthmother.
The evil deities were thwarted largely through the heroism of the Kendrick family and their friends and lovers. The Kendricks ascended to become a new dynasty of High Kings and Queens, expanding the High Throne’s hold upon the island and convincing the Northlanders to accord them fealty alongside the Ffolk.
The last three decades of rule by High Queen Alicia Kendrick (NG female human Ftr6/Drd7 of the Earthmother) and her consort High King Keane (NG male human wiz18) have been largely peaceful. Alicia and Keane have raised worthy heirs and appear to have founded a successful dynasty. The islands’ only significant problem at this time is a growing conflict with pirates from the Nelanther Isles, who are ranging north in search of better haunts. The Northlanders have proven to be excellent allies against the Nelanther pirates, but adventurers from the mainland can sometimes find employment fighting the pirates’ deadly wizards.
- Source: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
