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.