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 Rumor has it that he has withdrawn to an even remoter land than the Faerie realm, perhaps all the way to the realm of wild magicks whence he came at the beginning of this age."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