Tracing the Path

Burne pushes aside the stacks of books and sheets of vellum to make room to spread out a map of the Isles. He moves his outstretched fingers over a spot on the map to orient Gavin. "Here somewhere in the black forest in the far north of Alaron at the end of the ancient elfroad sits the throne of the Erlking. No human kingdom has ever reached into those untamed lands. To the east of that in the Sea of Swords is the island nation of Mintarn; the kingdom of Berinmor, the white king of the sea. In ages past the white king was a staunch ally of the high king of the Ffolk at Caer Callidyrr and his elven ships could be seen at every port along the coast. Since the time of Oberon's departure from the throne Berinmor has focused his fleet on defense of the white isles and has long since cut off contact the human nations. Caer Callidyrr is home to the Grand Seer of the Opaline Tower, one-time advisor to the High King and of a magus of the highest order. The Grand Seer has ever kept his eye upon the waters between Mintarn and the dark north, scanning for elven traffic. In the months since midwinter night the Seer had seen faerie fires burning in the night at points along the deserted northern coasts and storms rage at sea. It was supposed that these might be the signs of melee between elven armies. It is not clear to us who was the winner of these battles but we know that shortly after the last of them a lone elven traveler was spotted at the northern crossroads. The agents of the Grand Seer followed the traveler south over many miles of wild country until the trail disappeared atop a mountain ridge which had been blasted by lightning in a sudden storm.

"The Seer notified the order of wizards of this silent intruder and a watch was set at every known location of ancient elven magic between Callidyrr and Doncastle. The traveler was spotted again at the ancient stone circle east of Halwynffen moving still southward over open ground on a parallel course to the kingsroad. We believe this emissary from Mintarn was able to to outpace us at each leg of the journey by traveling from place to place along the elfroad in and out of Faerie while our agents were slog through rough terrain. Orders were issued to the Pyromancer of Bannogallt Bluff to send his six flame adepts out to attempt to intercept the traveler here just north of Bregonshire, where the land narrows between the bluffs on the west coast and Rushdown Wood to the east.

The Gathering Storm

Now the late afternoon sun streaks across the chamber and paints the wizard's study in shades of honey and amber. The old wizard pulls himself up from his chair and crossed the chamber to the fireplace. He stirs up the last embers of the morning's fire and tosses a new bundle of sticks onto the coals. After a long pause he returns his gaze to Gavin who is scanning the documents spread out on the table before him trying to figure out his role in these events. Burne draws in a breath and launches once more into his tale.

"These matters remain largely invisible to the kingdoms of men. The days of trade and discourse with the elves are long past and their accounts are resigned to dusty tomes. To your kind our memories must seem short indeed. It is only old men like me who can recall the last of those days. Yet everyone can see that splendor of the past is waning. The reign of kings gets shorter and bloodier and each new usurper to the throne rules over an ever shrinking domain. The untamed lands between kingdoms grow fiercer and few risk travel along the old King's Road. Strangers once welcomed are now treated with suspicion. All who can remember better times sense that there is worse still to come but most have resigned themselves to fate.

"Maybe we men of old had the luxury of being dreamers in our youth that is not to be had now but we knew that there was more to the world than could be seen and touched and tasted. We devoted ourselves to the arcane arts which had been all but forgotten. We pored over the lore surrounding the world that was and means of our study came to learn much about that realm of Faerie which touches our world but is not of our world. We have seen the awesome power of the wild realms of chaos that lie beyond even your world and invade into ours only when the Seelie court cannot hold back those unwholesome tides. Indeed there are some who, being corrupt in their very hearts, seek to align themselves with the chaos and become its servants in exchange for sorcerous power and dominion over mortal men. We remember well the last time that such a despot rose to power. It was only through the combined effort of elves and men that his dark army was defeated and his tower broken. It seemed for many years that the dark times were behind us but now it seems that a shadow has again fallen across the land.

"But you had asked me what can be done to stop these unfortunate events. Alas, while the members of my order have compiled a great deal of information about the past we can only guess at the course of the future. Since the gates of Faerie have closed to outsiders there has been more speculation about the current state of affairs than hard facts. That is why we we have developed such a keen interest in any soul that ventures from out those lands. That is why we have kept so close an eye on you. Many years ago, at the start of this course of events, we should have watched your father as closely. Had we done so he would not have slipped away so easily. Now we are forced to investigate every mention of his name in the hopes that it will bring us closer to the man himself. We hoped to have from him directly the tale of what caused him to flee the Faerie lands on the very eve of the sundering of the Seelie court."

Seelie and Unseelie

"That, young Gavin, is the at the heart of all matters of which we speak." the wizard scans his array of books and letters seeming about to begin but hesitates. His eyes dart from one text to another and then, drawing in a deep breath as pulls the spectacles from his nose and drops them onto the open book before him, he begins to tell his tale.

"I'm sure you are aware of the growing tension that has arisen among the elven kingdoms since the last appearance of the High Faerie King at the Seelie Court. It had always been his custom to fete the lords of the elvencourt at the midpoint of the year but he has not presided over the solstice courts in many a year. Rumor has it that he has withdrawn to an even remoter land than the Faerie realm, perhaps all the way to the realm of wild magicks whence he came at the beginning of this age."

"Lord Oberon's absence has spurred dissent within the Seelie Court. Some are content to sit idly by and await his return while others seek to dissolve the Seelie Court and let each lord rule as he will with no higher authority. With no High King on the Faerie throne it is inevitable that the peace among the elven kingdoms will end and even the pact between the elven kings and the mortal kings of old may be broken. War among the elvenkings will then spill out of Faerie into the realm of humans. There are rebels in the elven court who would gladly break that oath made long ago and seize the lands in the mortal realm which were once their domains. Chief among these renegade lords is one who has dubbed himself the Erlking and claimed sovereignty over the whole of the Moonshae Isles. The Erlking has set his throne upon the earth and on the darkest night of midwinter calls together the creatures of gloom and shadow to people his Unseelie Court in mockery of the Faerie King. He now threatens the elven kingdoms to pay fealty to him or face his gathering host. If the elf-lords of Moonshae bend the knee to him then humankind would stand no chance against the combined armies of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. If they oppose him then we risk these lands becoming the battlefield in a war for Faerie." At the thought of this the old man seems for a moment to shiver and draw the velvet mantle of his robe a bit more tightly around his neck.

Gavin parleys with the wizard of the tower.

Burne regains his focus and glances down at the papers spread out before him before continuing."I did not ask you here so I could reminisce but these events from so long ago play an important role in current affairs. After the Goblin Wars the elven kingdoms began to close their gates to human envoys. With the lines of communication broken the reasons for the elves' retreat was something of a mystery. It has long been held by the sages that their attention was directed inward toward the land of Faerie whence they came, that the elven lords were summoned to the Seelie Court. Alas what we lacked all this time was a messenger from Faerie to tell us what was the matter. It has been only recently that I have learned the identity of the last man to set foot in the Faerie Lands since the gates were shut. That man was a wandering minstrel who went by the name of Thomas. I imagine you know something of this man of which I speak." As he pauses to retrieve his spectacles and take a moment to gauge Gavin's reaction.

Moonshae Primer

Moonshae Isles

The Moonshae Isles are a group of islands in the Trackless Sea, in the west of Faerûn. They are modeled after Wales and Scotland. The islands form a roughly circular archipelago with the Sea of Moonshae in the centre. They lie roughly 400 miles (644km) west of the region of Amn and to the southwest of the Sword Coast. The Moonshaes are ruled by the High Queen Alicia Kendrick, who rules from the capital city of Caer Callidyrr on Alaron.

The isles were described in FR2, Moonshae published in 1987 by TSR, Inc.^[2] They have been the geographic location of multiple works of fiction and game adventure modules.

[edit] Islands

The Moonshae Isles are bordered by several other islands, including Ruathym, the Nelanther Isles, Mintarn, and The Whalebones. The islands that make up the Moonshae Isles are as follows:

• Alaron
• Gwynneth
• Korinn Archipelago
• Moray
• Norheim
• Norland
• Oman's Isle
• Snowdown

[edit] Societies

Two major human societies populate the isles of the Moonshaes. The original human inhabitants of the islands are the Ffolk. The later arrivals are the more Viking-like Northmen. The Ffolk are organized into a number of small kingdoms, loosely collected under the leadership of a High King. The High King is more of a figurehead than a true ruler, however. The Ffolk are primarily an agricultural society, though they can fight savagely when called on to defend their homes. The Ffolk are of normal stature, with light to dark hair and eyes.

The Northmen scorn agriculture in favor of raiding and making war. They have wrested much of the northern Moonshaes from the hands of the Ffolk. The remaining kingdoms of the Ffolk are the favored raiding targets of the northmen, but their adventures also carry them to the Sword Coast, and occasionally as far south as Calimshan. The Northmen are tall in height, with hair of light to dark blonde and blue eyes.

A large majority of the Ffolk worship a druidic goddess the Earthmother, an aspect of the benign goddess of agriculture, Chauntea. The Northmen worship the god Tempus, Lord of Storms and Battle.

The race of elves living on the Moonshaes is the Llewyrr. Once the dominant race on the isles, the Llewyrr now claim only small and remote portions of Gwynneth and Alaron as theirs. The Llewyrr are very similar to High Elves.

Like that of the Llewyrr, the Shield Dwarves on the Moonshaes go back a long way. These stocky and war-like demihumans have also been driven into small holdings on the isles. More numerous than the Llewyrr, the dwarves love their privacy and vigorously defend their lands against any further human encroachment.

Of all the demihumans, halflings have adapted most easily to human domination of the Moonshaes. Halfling communities are located beside most major communities of the Ffolk; some halfling towns can be found near the strongholds of the Northmen. The halflings thrive on the trade with their human neighbors and welcome the security provided by nearby castles.

There are no known communities of gnomes on the Moonshaes, but many gnomes live among the halflings and humans.

[edit] Economies of the Moonshaes

While each Moonshae kingdom is relatively self-sufficient, a certain amount of trading nonetheless serves to supply goods that a particular nation does not produce. This trading occurs via overland transport between kingdoms on the same island, and overseas trading of goods between the various islands and the lands along the Sword Coast. Trading partners of the Moonshae kingdoms include Calimshan, Amn, Tethyr, and Waterdeep.

[edit] Conflicts

The Northmen are a violent, Viking-like society with little interest for or tolerance of the Ffolk's monarchical ways. This creates a continuous tension between the two human peoples, with Northmen raids on Ffolk farmsteads a common occurrence. The raids of the Northmen have gradually become oriented toward conquest, and the kingdoms of the Ffolk have succumbed one after the other to the enemy longships.

However, in recent years, the conflict between the Northmen and the Ffolk has slowed down due to the hard work of the High King Tristan Kendrick and later through his daughter, High Queen Alicia Kendrick. Through their queen's work for peaceful solutions to arguments between the Northmen and the Ffolk, the Moonshaes have enjoyed several decades of relative peace.

The firbolgs are the scourge of the remote areas of the Moonshaes. Huge, ugly, and mean, these giants are prone to attack anything that is not of their race. Fortunately for the other inhabitants of the isles, the firbolgs rarely leave their remote domains. This makes them primarily a threat to those who venture to explore these areas.

The firbolgs do, however, occasionally muster a large force and venture into civilized areas for raiding and plunder. These outings consist mainly of slaughter and destruction as the firbolgs are not much inclined to stealing or enslaving.

Map of the Forgotten Realms

The long winter comes to an end.

As you cross the square this morning you notice beyond the wheel ruts and steaming dung that the first green buds of spring are beginning to show their heads through the remains of this winter snow, once sparkling white now sullied and brown. You reflect for a moment on how long you've dwelt here among these humans in Hommlet and how long ago and far away the comfort and refinement of your mother's court truly seems.

It was many months ago that you and your companions returned from the ruins of the moat house with treasure and a very gracious rescued captive. You were lauded as heroes and rewarded well. All the important men of the village gathered to hear your stories of a greater malevolence at work than the band of brigands the townspeople feared. When the possibility of the evil cult's resurrection was mentioned the great elder and the high priest of Cuthbert showed great alarm and resolved to raise a mob of armed men to investigate the ruins as soon as could be arranged but Burne and Rufus after speaking alone in hushed tones refused to commit their men to the search. It was clear that this was not the first time that these two groups were at odds. What began as a spirited debate quickly moved into the realm of heated argument concerning the authority of certain parties over the people of Hommlet. Several freemen took this opportunity to remove their own support of the mob, setting off another wave of fierce bickering. In the end you gave up on the town meeting and escaped out into the night only to catch a glimpse of the old druid Jaroo disappearing over the hill in the night. No one had noticed him leave either.

The next day you learned from Ostler that they had resolved to send a party before month's end. You and your companions took this opportunity to recover from your wounds and plan your return to the ruins. Alas as the last of summer's dying strength faded so did the resolve of the townsfolk. The expedition was put off for another month to better prepare but as that date approached an unexpected cold wind blew the first snow of winter down from the north and the townsfolk decided after a time that in fact it might be better to wait for the cold to pass for surely an autumn snow must be an ill omen and perhaps it would be better after all wait until the coming of spring undertake such a campaign. As the blanket of snow grew thicker the men of Hommlet became sleepy and timid and nestled by their hearths like so many dormice in their burrows. As winter wore on longer men grew more concerned with their waning larders than with a growing threat in the far off distance. So it is with mortal men that their time is so short they cannot see past this moment.

Map of the Village of Hommlet

Out of Character Comments

Please use this space to leave out of character comments. From time to time I may use this post space to discuss rules or organizational issues. The original notes published here have been removed and may return in a more finished form later.

The first issue worth discussing is format and pacing. Once ramped up to full speed I would like to have a new blog post each weekend with periodic updates on a daily basis in the comments section. I'd like to try to cover a scene a week so when possible we should try to wrap up the current scene by the following weekend. Players should use the comments section to explain there character's actions and speech. In character discussion between players should occur in the comments. Once the situation arises we will need a method to distinguish between in character and out of character texts. For now, out of character comments can be placed here. For more complex situations such as combat I may create a second post for the out of character comments for that scene.