Moonshire - Storyline

Storyline of the Moonshire Campaign World

1.1 Overview

Below is a description of the storyline:

The current king of the lands is King Archibald. He is the highest leader, settled with the royal council and the nobles in Silverdale. This is also the main province in the lands. He is peaceful, kind and also slow to take decisions. He tends to let his council or the nobles make the decisions. Some people complain that he is not hard enough

King Alexander the explorer was king before Archibald. He united different tribes and also explored much of the lands himself. He was more aggressive and liked by many people. Also he did not do anything to stop the slavery and next to the community, promoted individualism a lot. People did not necessarily need to help each other as it was more a survival of the fittest Alexander was king before Archibald but passed on the throne and eventually died 50 years ago. He was more aggressive and some people really wished he was on the throne

1.2. Starting Point

The starting point can vary per game done. One shot games that are usually only one gaming session can have different starting points. Also in a regular roleplaying game, the starting points can vary as the game events develop and the player characters travel around through the medieval lands in the game

An example of starting is, the players start in the village of Royal Oak and do not necessarily know each other. They can come from many places of the Moonshire in any of the areas. Feel free to fantasize along for the storyline about the place from which your character came

Starting Scenario: The Landlord and Mayor of Royal Oak, Rothan Blackshield would like you to come to the townhall. Even though the players do not necessarily know each other, they can meet each other here. The group has come together to meet because of the increase in crime and the mayor of the village wanting to talk to them. Through the lands, the yearly harvest festival is celebrated and many family members of the group are present there. Of course this is also celebrated in more remote places, but it is nowhere near as fun as here

1.3 Politics

The current rulership of Archibald is that much is tolerated, but there is also much bureaucracy. Black robed mages and priests are tolerated, but they are watched. They are also (at least they should be) stimulated by the seniors of the mage guilds and temples to help the towns, villages, peasants and army with their magic.

Tolerance: also races like orcs who can be violent and may look scary & aggressive sometimes are tolerated to build and share in the communities through the lands. However discrimination still occurs and orcs are shunned by some parts of the populations, as most races are wary of them and dwarves especially hate them. Simply said, most peasants just do not want the orcs near. They know they must tolerate them and be friendly but this isn’t always easy. Some peasants call it ‘love & peace politics’.

Decision making: decisions, orders, improvements, changes in the towns and cities go through the local mayor, the nobles, and the local town/ city council. Sometimes they take ages to finalize, to frustration of most of the officials & council members who do the administrative and arranging work Everyone votes anonymously except the mayor who must vote openly (which could bring him or her into dislike sometimes). The higher the noble rank, the more votes he has. If the topic or change is approved, it may go to a Global council in for example Silverdale where it has to be approved again. There it could be rejected and there doesn’t have to be any reason given. All these bureaucracies cause much frustration with the population, and also the army since they want things done and organized

1.4 History

400 years ago (140 BC):
In the far past there used to be a war between provinces, the city of Calador under the lead of Marcus the Red thought about expanding since their military power was high and attacked Silverdale. At that time Silverdale was run by Lord Malcolm of Karsten. Marcus, being a powerful wizard, used rituals with groups of mages to launch terrifying magical attacks on the city, which caused severe damage to many buildings and people.

The capital of Silverdale was being attacked by San Raal the Lich together with the death knights Lord Soth & his assistant Callaghar.

The war went over to all the provinces who helped one of the two parties and from there it spread all over the lands. The war was getting out of hand.

Eventually the legendary archmage Greydale was called to make peace between Silverdale & Calador together with the help of the solamnic knights. The battle with the undead army of San Raal was fought at the Traveler’s Inn. Greydale did a ritual to call on the gods to stop all the invading evil, and with success. Eventually the evil lost and were banished from the lands for many centuries according to the Book of Time written by Astinus the Chronicler

1.5 Creation of the Universe Story

The All/ Ao - What was there in the very beginning, we don’t know.

Light and Darkness - Now, the world was formed from light and darkness; that is what has been told through the ages

The gods - from there was a cosmic dance of the stars and the gods were born in that dance

Pre-worldly myths and sages - before time was there, there were already wars from which we only heard in legends.

The universes, dimensions and races - The universe, the races and the worlds, multiple dimensions, were created.

The first communitie - through the centuries the gods have given instructions to the leaders and elders how they should build the communities.

The communities evolve- from the First communities, towns, villages, cities, lands, temples, fields and harvests were created as well as mage towers with the knowledge from the ethereal realms. The gods have done much for mankind

Rivalry & wars - and then the mortals became self-thinking, felt their independence, and knew it better. The gods are no better than us, they said. So yes, now and then the gods give signs of authority to show us their presence.

The opinions about these stories differ per sages. Some say we have always been present in the higher regions and others say we have been created on this planet. Others have the opinion that Gods are no gods but only energies. One says that the gods do interfere life directly, others don’t. One say we have a destiny, the other now.

Let us all come to experience it,

Astinus, Chronicler of the Great Library