Lux Tenebris: Moonhome

The city of Moonhome nestles in a valley within the Stonespear Mountains. It is not a very large city when compared to others, but it is one of the dominant political powers within Western Nur. This is more impressive when one takes into account that Moonhome is less than two hundred years old.

The city was founded by elves from Goldsun. Led by Sister Silma, a priestess of Rasha, these Goldsun elves were commoners who grew discontent with their lack of a voice in the government of their city.  Sister Silma did not seek to lead these malcontents, but had visionary dreams sent to her by the goddess, Rasha, instructing her to gather up the discontent elves and lead them north, to a new home.

This movement was, at first, violently repressed by both the secular and religious authorities within Goldsun. The persecution ended when the goddess, Rasha, cursed the High Priestess of her temple, transforming her into a monstrous creature and exiling her from the light of sun and moon.  After this abject lesson, the High King and the remaining temples were quick to withdraw their opposition and almost a thousand elves chose to depart with Sister Silma.

At first, the party traveled north, through the treacherous Lirwood, guided by rangers and Sister Silma's divine visions. It was these visions that led the party to what would become known as the Feywild Path, a supernatural route connecting the infamous Feywild with Lore at various points. By taking the Feywild Path, Sister Silma and her group cut weeks off of their travel time, even though it meant they had to brave the arcane vagaries of the Feywild itself.  Fortunately, the group's travels through the Feywild were guided and advised by an Archfey known as the Shepherd-of-the-Leaves.

The travelers emerged east of the Stonespear Mountains, on the edge of the dreaded Braerosen Wastes. At this point, some of the group questioned whether they had made the right choice, following Sister Silma. Some elves chose to leave the group and they traveled south, along the edge of the mountains.  They vanished and their fate remains unknown to this day.

The elves who remained were rewarded for their faith by a vision from Rasha. They were instructed to travel west, towards the moon's home. They obeyed, entering the Stonespear Mountains and traversing its peaks and valleys, until they came to a mountain valley where it appeared as if the moon was sinking into the ground. Realizing that this was their destination, the group quickly entered the valley and began to prepare for the coming winter.

The elves named their settlement Moonhome and it barely survived that first winter in the mountains. It was a time of privation and suffering, but the elves endured, and when spring arrived an unlikely ally arrived with it: a silver dragon.

The silver dragon was called Hankatar. He was an Elder Dragon who spent some seasons in the valley, and was willing to share the space with the elvish settlers as long as no one tried to steal from his horde.  The elves agreed and Hankatar became a valuable ally and source of information about the region.

As the elves established themselves in the valley, it became apparent that although they were largely self-sufficient, there were some things they needed that they could not produce themselves. They would need to open a trade route. This, however, would be difficult because of their isolation and their lack of tradeable goods. There was a market for elvish crafts in some cities, but it was doubtful Moonhome could produce anything unique enough to attract the attention of buyers.

At this point, Moonhome welcomed its first new residents. An order of monks, the Brothers of the Vine were devotees of the goddess Ratava, and they claimed to have been guided to Moonhome by their goddess, to give what aid and comfort they could to the elves. The Brothers were a mix of races, human and elf and halfling, all united by their devotion to Ratava and their love of wines.  They were welcomed to Moonhome and quickly established a monastary and vineyard. Within a decade, the Brothers were producing wines with amazing restorative properties, and Moonhome finally had a product that could be sold in the outside world.

Again, the problem of transport came up. Hankatar would not act as a beast of burden for the elves, and traveling overland would be long and hard. The only feasible option seemed to be the Feywild Path, but the elves were hesitant to use it. Without the Shepherd-of-the-Leaves to guide them, who knew if anyone would survive the journey or even where it would end.

The problem of transport would soon become moot with the arrival of a newcomer in the valley. Aureum Oduro was a wizard and a friend of Hankatar.  He arrived in Moonhome to visit the dragon and, when he learned of the elves' transport problem, offered to assist by establishing a teleport circle linking Moonhome with his estate near Fallen Baramir.  In exchange, Aureum asked for a parcel of land near the city where he could construct a home. After some discussion with Hankatar, the elves agreed.

Moonhome wines arrived in Fallen Baramir and became quite popular, not just among the esthetes of the city, but the healers as well. Their reputation as a restorative spread and soon Moonhome wines were in demand from Greycrown to Darkwater.

As the reputation of the wines spread, so to did stories of their source. Elves who had broken away from the Logra Delfa and settled in human cities, were particularly curious about this new elvish city.  Having lived among humans for so long, many of these elves found the stratified, conservative atmosphere of Goldsun to be too stifling.  Moonhome, however, sounded much more welcoming.

Inquiries were made about transport to the city, but traveling there was difficult and expensive. Still some of these elvish exiles persisted, even traveling overland, to arrive in Moonhome, dusty and weary, but happy to have finally arrived. They were made welcome, and many chose to remain in the growing city, sending word back to friends and relations of their warm welcome and the open nature of the city.

Moonhome's reputation and isolation made it naturally appealing to those individuals and groups seeking to escape persecution.  Misfits and malcontents, the persecuted and the denigrated began to seek out the city. Many chose to remain, heartened by the genial nature and laissez-faire attitude of the citizenry, contributing to its growth and cultural diversity.

However, even the tolerance of Moonhome's residence was tested with the arrival of the first drow refugees in the valley. The city's elvish founders were divided on the issue of whether to welcome the drow or send them away.  The non-elvish citizens waited and watched, curious to see what the city founders would do and how their decision would shape Moonhome's future.

It was Sister Silma, ancient and venerated, who resolved the situation. As High Priestess of the Temple of Rasha, in full ceremonial regalia, she walked to the city gates and personally welcomed the drow refugees to Moonhome.  Any question as to whether Moonhome would welcome and accept the drow among them vanished. The drow were welcome, and if that welcome was cooler than others had received, the fact that they were welcome at all was seen as a great blessing among them, and a sign of the clear division between Moonhome and Goldsun by others.

Until this point, Goldsun had largely ignored Moonhome. With their acceptance of the hated drow into their city, however, Goldsun disregard turned to cold hostility. All trade and commerce between the two elvish city-states came to a sharp end and Moonhome's residents were banned from setting foot with Goldsun's domain upon pain of death.  Moonhome acknowledged this and then went back to ignoring Goldsun, an action that infuriated the High King.

The tension between Goldsun and Moonhome did not go unnoticed or unmoved upon by the other western powers.  Moonhome had been viewed as little more than a decent trading partner until now, but Goldsun's frigid reaction to the isolated city-state drew the interest of political factions from Darkwater to Alindema.  Moonhome found itself drawn, somewhat reluctantly, into the arena of continental politics.

At the time of the Draconic Invasion of Western Nur, Moonhome was enjoying a reputation as a diverse and welcoming city.  Its isolation, far from established trade routes and shielded by the Stonespear Mountains, made it a low priority target for the Draconic Legions.  They did dispatch a formal emissary to Moonhome, but he was forced to turn back because of foul weather and treacherous terraine.

Nevertheless, Moonhome has played a part in the war. It accepted dozens of refugees from Fallen Baramir via Aureum Oduro's teleport circle. When Swordhold fell to the Draconic Legions, the heir to the city-state's throne, Prince Berret, found sanctuary in Moonhome by following the Feywild Path.

Now, with the western powers gathering at Fallen Baramir, under a united banner, to launch a counterstrike against the Legion, Moonhome has chosen to dispatch a force of vollunteers to aid in the war effort.  This force is eclectic and includes several freescale dragonborn, a trio of drow siblings and a one-eyed dwarf berserker named Verra Kaffervek. This motely group is led by an elf warrior named Balan Leafborn.