Forgotten Realms Lore - Moonshae Isles

Episode 39 - The Moonshae Isles, or what the heck are those islands west of Amn?

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[dungeonmasteromega]

I'd recommend making a Moonshae Isles part 2 video, that addresses the aftermath of the novels to the current age, especially concerning the fate of the Earthmother.

[threadscore]

The Earthmother was an ancient form of Chauntea, before there were larger civilizations and cultivation was widely practiced. She created the Isles while in the form of the Laviathan and filled the Moonwells with a great water spout afterward. This is why her worship on the Isles takes on a more “traditionally” druidic tone. The story of the Isles’ creation I think is told in either “Realms of Magic” or “Realm of the Divine” anthologies. It’s been a while since I read either though, so I may be wrong on a few points.

[pupapestiferous]

A lot of videos talking D&D rules or lore are just way too pretentious. I love your editing style of just getting to the point with some accompanying artwork, no silly musical transitions or grandiose story telling.

[banishedfromars]

The Moonshae Trilogy was the first fantasy novels I ever read. Thank you.

[thevoidlookspretty]

Drop your party into the Moonshae Isles, but they just say “Nope! Just got done with the Feywild, we are going to Waterdeep and taking a vacation!” But then when they get done with the vacation, they find Waterdeep’s about to be attacked by the lycanthropes they didn’t fight.

[joshpwnsnoobs]

no mention of firbolgs? I'm surprised! they were one of two main antagonists in the moonshae books. the other being skrags, the sea trolls you mentioned.

[Parker]

As a note on the spelling, I'm guessing a lot of it comes from Welsh writing. The "ff" is a different sound from "f" in Welsh, because "f" in Welsh writing refers to a "v" sound, while "ff" refers to an "f" sound. Likewise the "ll" in the name of the local elves - in Welsh, it represents a sound that isn't found in English.

[KillerCrocZilla]

I'm going to start a campaign using the Moonshae Isles, and i intend to use Kazgaroth (however you write it's name) as a BBEG. Wish me luck.

[beautysyx]

I love this vid as one of my most beloved characters (as a player) is from the Moonshae Isles. Thank you for sharing all of this knowledge with us. I love listening and watching this series of vids.

[Lesandira]

I'm really hooked on your videos and went on a binge watch of all of them. Is it only me, or to the Moonshae Isles have a strong Celtic Ireland vibe?

[shagohad]

The Earthmother and Chantea are two different entities. The Moonshae trilogy goes into this, as there's conflict between the druid tradition and the growing religion of Chantea. The Earthmother doesn't survive the trilogy, and when the druids lose thier powers, one of the main characters converts and becomes a priestess of Chantea.

[TheTidobanditto]

Great video! I'm building a campaign right now set in the Moonshae Isles. Starts is Caer Callidyr and this will help to create the different roads my party can wander down.

[j-fallard]

I'm glad you covered this subject I know VERY little about!

[niesaforster]

So appreciative of this! They're playing a large roll in my new campaign

[samveeproductions]

The fact that Northlanders worship Tempus as the greater god has been retconned. They now worship Valkur, Tempus, Umberlee and Talos. In a crude order of popularity.

[x]

- This one is of particular interest to our current campaign. Which has drastically reshaped the Utter East into something completely different than it might look like in most campaigns.
- There was this old Video game called Blood & Magic (1996.) It was an old D&D 'RTS computer game, Where Blood Forges were used to craft armies of Basal Golems, which could later be transmuted into various creatures at Bloodforge temple shrines. Basically the Game has a large impact on the history of the Utter east. & It's what we've built our current campaign on.
- There is a couple novels which we added to our read list, 'Crypt of the Shadowking' 1993, & Curse of the Shadowmage. 1995. Both of which touch on the Lore of the Shadowking, & Talfir Shadow Magic.
- The Talfir fled from the original Shadow King around 140 DR, & became the Ffolk, settling on Moonshae Isles .
- In 621 DR, Some of the Ffolk found their way to the Utter East, & settled there along with some Northmen. Creating the 5 Kingdoms.
- In 648 DR, The Bloodforge Wars happened after King Grewe of Konigheim "Discovered" the first of the Bloodforges. With everyone else all of a sudden finding their own Bloodforges. Creating a new kind of Noble Golemancer Mage.
- By 657 DR, The Use of the Bloodforges to build massive armies of Golems drained the magic from ancient prisons deep under the Utter east, unleashing Demons upon the land. Causing an event called the Plague of Fiends.
- In answer to the Plague of Fiends the Grand Caliph Arash bint Sanjar of Zakhara dispatched forces to slaughter most everything, & everyone in the Utter east. What a nice guy? right?
- This is where our Campaign takes off more or less, differeing from realms history. We played Commanders, in a sort of Romance of the 5 kingdoms style epic military campaign. Fighting back against the invading Zakharan forces, & against the rising Demon/Fiends. With armies of Golems.
- We brought back things like Talfirian magic, and developed the Utter east into an Empire that rivaled if not surpassed Netheril in it's hayday.
- It's been the best campaign. The world of Toril is doomed! First we have to take down our old enemies, Zakhara! that might take awhile, They have Genies... But once that is accomplished, No force in Toril can stand against us! mwahaha! *cough*... :D

[kapittsalt]

The Moonshae books aren't terrible.
Or weren't.
When I was 11.
🤔😬😶

[Diditallforthexp]

2:16 This snapshot of the Moonshaes shows it to be the Australia of Toril. All of these are creatures you throw at players to make them think "oh hell this place wants to kill me."

[randalthor]

This is the first trilogy of novels I ever read so many decades ago. It is a great place to make players lose their minds.

[BYoNexus]

So, unless they changed something down the line, The Earthmother and Chauntea are two distinct entities.

The Earthmother once held sole dominion over the Isles, until Baal Came. Her druids beat Kazgoroth a number of times, but each time, the Earthmother grew weaker.

The Moonshae Isles books take place during the last conflict, which saw the Earthmother weaken to the point of death, and Chauntea moved in, with the earthmother blessing, to take over the struggle against Baal and his minion.

AS far as stories go, the Moonshae trilogy isnt too bad, but very old fashioned in its writing style. Would recommend