NaMAHo Moonshadow

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Moonshadow is one of the original noble houses of Zirdy. They are a bloodline of heroes dating back to Valeath Moonshadow an ancient bladesinger who defended the country from a goblinoid invasion, then he stopped a shadowfell incursion, then he slew the great dragon of Wildren, and finally he led the elven fleet to victory over the orcish raiders. In his old age he was brought up by God himself to become an angel. His descendants have revered him ever since, many become warlocks of this most holy ancestor. They are also the wielders of Moonshadow the moonblade, who chooses the successor of the house from among the High Lord's Children.

The family technically rules over the town of Lunestaire but in reality, good heroes don't make great rulers, and most of the day-to-day is done by stewards. The people are generally happy though so it all works out. All Moonshadows have silver hair and blue eyes. 

Meet The Family

High Lord Varrin Moonshadow. He is a Celestial Warlock, worshipping his Holy Ancestor. He has ventured into the Underdark three times and rescued victims of drow kidnapping. He is also a gladiator champion having led a party to victory in the Bradis Gladiator Championship.

Chius Moonshadow. The heir apparent to the Moonshadow family, he doesn't actively seek the title though. He did win the Clash of Cohorts and Cohort Cup every year at Talon School but he got married young. Having recently had children he prefers to deal with matters at home. He has married the first daughter of Luminelle, a match that pleases both families and whose child Cedric shows amazing potential.

Jeanathas Moonshadow. Brother of Chius, 2nd son of Varrin, Jeanathas spends his time gambling and carousing. He does not chase after the title of High Lord like some of his family, he is happy to enjoy the life of a rich noble socialite. This annoys the rest of his family who are constantly trying to give him responsibilities, what's worse is he's actually a decently powerful sorcerer but doesn't aspire to herodom like the rest of the family. He married a daughter of Bevevino, gaining access to unlimited wine and has produced a pair of young twins.

Jean-Luc Moonshadow. Varrin's 3rd son and the one trying hardest to become the heir. Jean-Luc has slain a Wrath Dragon that was terrorizing the area, helped House Thalendir put down a group of rogue Hill Giants, and cleared the Moonshadow forest of a troll infestation. He married a Montague and they had a pair of twins, Verona and Girard Moonshadow.

Astrid Moonshadow. Varrin's only daughter and youngest child. She is a widow to a human husband from House Brighton with a pair of half elf kids bearing their father's name. Now she is facing pressure to find her "real" marriage and is being courted by several hopefuls.

Structure

The Moonshadow charter specifies that the Moonshadow Moonblade chooses the next High Lord. Each of the former High Lord's children tries to attune the blade, it can choose one it thinks is worthy or demand to see all of their children. Either way the most worthy is chosen according to the sword, though the sword is known to prioritize glory over simple goodness. As such the line can be inherited by either male or female, with a stipulation in the charter about the children of a female head of house having the Moonshadow name.

Culture

The Moonshadows are tought to be good but are inherently competitive. They all know that the order of birth doesn't matter for inheritance, they need great deeds to their name to impress the moonblade. The moonblade can see into your soul and as such being duplicitous or purposely sabatoging eachother is actually counter-productive. All members instead try to bring glory to the house but prospective heirs do so seperately so as not to help inflate the chances of a rival.

Assets

Of course many generations of heroes have built up a substantial fortune but the Noble and Most Ancient House of Moonshadow's greatest asset is their entailed armory. Generations of powerful weapons and magic items crafted for heroes, looted from dungeons, or pried from the cold dead hands of evil men. Unfortunately that means a lot of it is cursed, but even only counting the non-cursed options they have one of the largest collections of magical weapons and armor in Zirdy, perhaps only beaten by the St. Wrights. All of it is entailed to the House and loaned out to their members and knights.

History

Since Valeath Moonshadow's ascendance, his bloodline has carried on his legacy of being heroes. They have a special selection method of the next head of household. Instead of going to the oldest son the head of household goes to whoever is the greatest hero, according to their ancient traditions. This leads the siblings to compete with each other fiercely for glory and means that almost all of them at some point leave home to make their name.

Honor & Dignity

Type

Geopolitical, Great house

Capital

Lunestaire

Alternative Names

St. Moonshadow

Ruling Organization

Zirdy

Leader Title

High Lord

Location

Lunestaire

Related Ranks & Titles

• High Lord

Controlled Territories

• Lunestaire

Related Species

• Elf