#moon druids

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Length of service: a Moonshadow assassin hair headcanon

What if, the longer an assassin's hair is, the longer they have actively been an assassin? What if hair length indicates time served, because long hair is part of the uniform?

The Bloodmoon Huntress snippets we got seem to indicate that Runaan tries to take all the missions he can, so no one else has to. If he's been at that since early in his career, that would fit, theoretically, with why his hair is so long, and maybe it can tell us some things about other Moonshadow elves we know.

Andromeda's hair is relatively long, and ornately styled. Skor has longish hair as well, and it's relatively kempt. Only Ram and Callisto have very short hair. Perhaps they could be relatively new to going on missions - or returning to them after a mourning period. (Looking at those bare horns there, Cal)

There's a retired Moonshadow assassin in one of the Tales of Xadia playtests, and her hair is very short. Maybe she grew it long while she worked, and once she moved on career-wise, she chopped it again.

Additionally, Lain and Tiadrin are indicated to have been assassins, and now they're Dragonguards. Maybe once they retired from assassin duty, they cut their hair short.

Of interest, Bloodmoon Huntress has long braided hair as well.

And so do a lot of defense-adjacent Moonshadows.

Rayla was on her first mission when we met her, so her hair is still short. And since she's moved on from being an assassin as far as an active career choice, we may never see her in a long ornate hairstyle. She'd look really awesome in one, though.

Moment of silence for Runaan's future haircut, should he ever officially retire from being an assassin.

If "assassin" = "former/descended from Moon Druids", then maybe some kind of shift or return in terminology would let Runaan everyone keep their long hairstyles. I mean, the Druids had long hair, too.

[honourablejester]

Half-baked idea for an aasimar moon druid: aasimar have that thing where there’s glimmers of a celestial heritage, and often it’s in the form of them being inhumanly beautiful, and I just like to imagine that if they were a druid, that unearthly beauty would transfer to the animal forms. So just … an aasimar druid transforms into a giant centipede, and it’s somehow the most scintillatingly beautiful centipede you’ve ever seen. Their spider form has silken silver fur. Their giant vulture somehow manages to look dignified rather than a giant angry muppet bird*. Their snow leopard is unfairly gorgeous and possibly at serious risk from menagerie owners. It’s unnatural, and maybe somewhat damages their stealth capabilities in animal form, but it’s also kind of awesome.

*Apologies to vultures, I’m sure many of you are quite beautiful, but many of the pictures I’ve seen kind of do look a bit like angry muppets

[ladyandherbooks]

The Moonshadow's Price

So at the beginning of the novelisation of Book 1 we learn that the reason why the continent was divided.

So, in episode 1 Aaravos recounts the dividing of the continent and as he does so we see him with a group of elves, two of which are female.

While either one of these elves is a good candidate for this merciful elf I'd like to propose that it is the Moonshadow elf who was the one who cried for mercy for the humans.

I believe that when she proposed this act of mercy, Luna Tenebris, a Moon dragon and therefore a creature with a deep belief and respect for balance decided to spare the humans. However, while the Moonshadow elves would have understood and accepted the queen's judgement the other elves and dragons did not. They couldn't understand this need for balance and quickly became enraged, defiant and divided. They accused her of favouritism, that she valued the voices and opinions of those connected to the Moon over everyone else's. So in order to keep the peace and ensure that her decision was honoured and followed a compromise was reached.

The humans could have the western half of the continent on the condition that when the elven border was drawn it must not include the Moon Nexus. This was the sacrifice that the Moonshadow elves and Luna Tenebris had to make to ensure that the humans lived. They and they alone would be cut off from their most sacred site and the magic that it contained.

So in order to ensure that the Nexus was never abused or found the Moon Druids destroyed the henge and appointed a mage to guard and protect their Nexus from prying human eyes.

(Note: Shirtless Runaan - refer to final paragraph for this to make sense. Sorry guys)

Luna Tenebris, heartbroken by this decision and with her reputation damaged beyond repair abdicated, allowing Sol Regem, to take the throne.

Meanwhile the Moon Druids, now separated from the Nexus forever needed to find another purpose. Then they came up with an idea, one which would give them a new purpose as well honouring the decision that Luna Tenebris made to spare the humans.

This was how the assassins were born. The Druids needed to find a new way of life, something that gave them balance and honour. So they became assassins who would honour the act of mercy shown by their kin by eliminating the worst of the humans, the ones who seek to create imbalance, the ones who choose to ignore and disrespect those who saved them through the use of dark magic.

She is the first to become an assassin

And her descendants follow in her footsteps, serving Xadia and it's people by killing the worst of the humans, thus ensuring that this elf and Luna Tenebris' mercy, her Judgement of the Half Moon is upheld.

1000 years later and this female assassin's descendants are still doing so. Runaan, the most Moonshadow of Moonshadow elves and a direct descendant of the first assassin ensures that balance is upheld, just as his ancestors have done for the last millennia.

However, Runaan makes sure never to forget his ancestor's sacrifice and to honour them and their once sacred duty he paints the Moonhenge symbol, once worn by his druid ancestors, directly over his chest, not only as a remembrance but as a constant reminder of the balance that must be upheld.

However, with the balance in Xadia now hopefully changing for the better, the time of the assassins is coming to an end. Runaan will have to find a new purpose, just as his Druid ancestors did so long ago.

What could that be? My guess is that Runaan, along with Ethari will become the new Nexus guardians who repair the Moonhenge and create a new group of Moon Druids, who use their once deadly abilities and magic to protect elves, dragons and humans from evil and dark forces as well as preserving their sacred site and educating those who wish to learn about Moon magic, Moonshadow elves and their culture.

[theredhairedmonkey]

Lujanne mentioned that there exists something called "Moon Druids." Are those moon mages or something different?

Hmm, that’s a good question! From what we’ve heard from Lujanne, it appears that the Moon Druids were the ancestors to the Moonshadow elves:

Lujanne: Thousands of years ago, when Xadia was one land, the ancient ancestors of Moonshadow elves performed fantastic rituals here.

…

Lujanne: The Moon Druids destroyed it themselves when Xadia was divided in two.

So, the Moon Druids are likely the same elves who performed rituals on the Moon Nexus, and are ancestors to elves like Lujanne and Rayla.

However, just because they’re ancestors doesn’t mean they don’t currently exist. Moonshadow elves still perform rituals at the Silvergrove, so it’s quite likely that there are still Moon Druids around. And Druids in the real world refer to a high-ranking class of Celts, who often served as religious leaders, legal authorities, and lorekeepers.

In fact, the Druids were thought to be sorcerers, magicians, and wizards. They were considered mages!

Lujanne never calls herself a Moon Druid; only an illusionist. Though there are hints of a central authority for mages; Lujanne was, after all, appointed as a Guardian of the Moon Nexus by someone.

Lujanne: Ever since, there has always been a Guardian of the Nexus. A mage, like myself, whose duty is to prevent humans from discovering it.

And perhaps that’s what the Moon Druids are–a high-ranking class of mages.

I headcanon that each type of elves has its own monastic order of mages that oversees its individual members.

For sun mages, we know they have an almost religious fervor toward purification; according to the Spellbook, “they believe their mission is to bring more light and hope into the world.” They dress in ornate robes, they let “the Light” decide one’s fate, and conduct sacred rituals by the sun forge.

Their class might be called the Sun Priests.

Sky mages might be a little harder to decipher since we don’t ever see a community of skywing elves (or even hints of a historical one), but we can still deduce what they might be called. We know that there are a lot of Buddhist and Daoist beliefs associated with Sky Magic:

The importance of focus, deep breathing, and uniting body, mind, and spirit.

The centrality of concepts such as freedom, vision, potential and perspective, and detaching oneself from a fixed destiny.

Living as one with the Sky Primal ( “I’m inside Sky Magic, but it’s also in me, with every breath I take”)

Even being stereotyped as martial artsy by other elves (if Rayla’s comments about “neat Sky spells” are anything to go by).

So, given all of this, perhaps…Sky Monks?

[beautifulterriblequeen]

King Runaan of the Moonshadow Elves

This post will have several sections. They’ll be as follows.

Runaan is a king, and Rayla is his heir (this post)

Runaan had to confess his love first, because he is the king

Ethari’s entire skill set is now dedicated to keeping the king of the Moonshadow elves alive

Rayla's self-worth issues

Viren did invite the assassins just like he said Amaya accused him of. One assassin in particular

Aaravos and Viren may both want to spend Runaan in the future

1. Runaan is the king of the Moonshadow elves

Angst Rating: 1/10

This theory came to me with one specific image in mind, while talking theories with @kotikala​ yesterday. But it got anchored by two other things. Rayla’s grumpy face behind Runaan’s back in S1E2 when he called her the fastest and strongest of all of us, and the fact that Runaan has a 3D model with a post-battle torn vest, and another with no shirt. These three things. Plus a year and a half’s worth of theories--many of which I had lying around with no bigger picture in mind until last night--and rewatches. I feel simultaneously giddy and stupid as hell.

That one image was Runaan’s shoulder markings.

They are in fact like Aaravos’s crown shape, with a round moon instead of a second diamond,

but not because Runaan’s markings reference Aaravos. Because Runaan is royalty just like Aaravos.

This double diamond shape appears in Katolis, too, on the armor of the king’s army and even Callum’s scarf.

It’s also right there on top of Khessa’s crown, looking very similar to Runaan’s markings, with a round disc replacing one of the diamonds. In this case, it represents the sun instead of the moon.

Runaan doesn’t wear a crown anytime we see him. He might not have a crown at all, since he’s a warrior king who has “seen his share of hardship and war.” But he paints that symbol on his arms and wears his rank as king for everyone to see. He might never have had an older symbol on his arms at all, since he was born to this.

His face markings are the shadow of an assassin hood. He never needs to wear his because he’s internalized his duty so well. And he has probably had these markings since he was tiny, because there was never any question about his future.

Kings generally come with castles. This is Runaan’s castle. 

A thousand-year-old tree near the edge of the village. It was probably either planted or reshaped when the Moonshadows had to move eastward out of Katolis following the Merciful Compromise, and it’s been the royal dwelling ever since. Ah, tradition. This wasn’t Ethari’s home because it had space for a forge in it. It’s Runaan’s home, and his home is literally his castle. (How many levels does it have in there, and does anyone else live with them? I have such questions)

Moonshadow elves are forest elves at heart. Runaan lives in a tree, while his people live in ordinary houses. 

The tree house is the best and brightest home any of them could imagine. So Runaan’s tunic bears the symbol of a tree trunk on it. He is the stable trunk of his people, and they branch from him and the anchoring stability he provides. His tree tunic is his royal robes of office, marked with the symbol of his (literal and metaphoric) house.

The Moon Druid link has been pretty well theorized in general, if not in specific, before now, but here’s a summary: the Moon Druids of old used to live in Katolis’s forest, around the Moon Nexus. When the border was drawn 1000 years ago after the Merciful Compromise was suggested by the daughter of the Moonshadow ruler, the elves had to leave. They destroyed the Nexus, left a guardian, and settled/resettled in the Moonshadow Forest, reestablishing their rule in the east and taking up the dark and sacred duty of protecting Xadia from dangerous humans by assassinating them, so their merciful agreement to spare all the humans never brought disaster. 

When Runaan took his team back west, he performed the binding ceremony in an ancient grove with six trees and a moon-rune-shaped water border. It was his own people’s ancient grove.

The Moon Druids stood like this.

And so does Runaan.

His accent and Lujanne’s are the only two British voices among all the Scottish Moonshadows. One of them guards the Moon Nexus, where the Moon Druids used to live. The other is currently ruling from the Silvergrove.

The Silvergrove is the only place labeled in the Moonshadow forest. On a map, if you’re only going to have one city, you label the capital. I didn’t understand the relationship between the Silvergrove, the assassins, and the human kingdoms before. I thought it was a border village. But it’s deep in the forest, at its heart.

Runaan didn’t come to the Silvergrove to train to be an assassin. He was born there. The Silvergrove and the assassins were always the intimately connected. The Moon Druids became assassins to uphold their sacred duty. Wherever they live, that’s where the assassins train.

Runaan was once drawn younger in this outfit. It’s blurry but the white text reads “younger Runaan?”

It got morphed into someone else. But look at this dynamic. This is clearly a Moonshadow leader and his close ally—his son. His son the assassin.

The Moonshadow staff used to look like this a thousand years ago.

Then it got stabby.

Now it looks like this.

My heart for Xadia, indeed. That line might very well be reserved only for the ruler and his heir to swear.

Runaan’s bio says he “cares deeply for his people.” That means all of the Moonshadow elves. And he’s called, in full, Runaan of the Moonshadow Elves. That’s a title.

Rayla gave her name to Sol Regem in that format, too. Rayla of the Moonshadow Elves. Because Rayla is Runaan’s legal heir. He’s a gay elf and won’t be having his own kids. So he chose his best friends’ child to follow him in succession. He’s been training his own replacement since she could walk.

Rayla is the Moonshadow Princess and she has her own title.

I think part of the reason I didn’t see Runaan for the king he was, or even the prince I used to think he was, had to do with my assumptions that any Moonshadow ruler would preside over a community similar in setup to Khessa and Harrow. Big, obvious, powerful. Meant to be seen. But that’s not the Moonshadow way. Even though Runaan’s tree castle is literally all of those things. I just wasn’t speaking Moonshadow fluently enough yet.

Runaan’s rule, and the Moonshadows in general, really give me a Viking-era England feel. England was comprised of several small kingdoms before the time of Alfred the Great. They never covered too much territory, and they weren’t very centrally organized. You might get a handful of heavily walled towns, and if there was trouble, all the citizens outside the walls would scamper in for safety. (Imagine the Silvergrove’s moondome functioning like the dome over Wakanda’s capital city when Thanos’s minions attacked in Infinity War. Nice, huh?)

Runaan has that local-king feel. His position is a martial one. He leads from the front. He’s very focused on upholding his duty, not looking cool in furs and crowns or whatever. He either gave his own oath to the Dragon King and Queen, or he was already bound to a pre-existing oath, Oath of Féanor-style, and that promise rules his life. His life, but not his heart. So he lives in his quiet little village with his cute craftsman husband and all his people and his blood promise, and he trains with focused dedication to uphold his people’s honor with maximum efficiency and safety for his own assassins.

Things that hit differently now

Amaya hates Moonshadows the most because their king kills

Kings probably aren’t good cooks

Why no one spoke against Runaan when he said a teenager was coming on his mission

Of course they used the pool outside the tree house for the lotus ritual. That’s the royal pool outside the royal palace.

Of course Runaan had to ghost his friends. They were assassins, and he was their leader and king. He had to lead the ghosting.

Duty before love makes so much more tragic sense now

Literally yesterday I posted about Runaan’s biological legacy not being called into question regarding Rayla’s parents’ failure. But she is his heir, so his wisdom was being questioned.

“When Someone Great is Gone” from Devon’s Runaan/Ethari playlist

Runaan and Harrow are both kings bound by literal and metaphorical chains. Neither is free

“Justice will not be denied/Your justice will come later/Humans are liars”

“My heart for Xadia”

“You let him live, but you’ve killed us all”

Basically every word Runaan has ever said

part 2

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Ethari’s magic

Anyone else read the Moon magic spotlight page in the TDP art book and  get their brain snagged on the line about “some great Moon mages are illusionists”? “Some”? Some!

If some moon magic is illusion, the rest must be the life/death magic. What’s it called? Spirit magic? Soul magic? Veil magic? I’m betting it belonged to the druids, since the rest of the passages goes on to talk about “places where the energy of the Moon is highly concentrated” being where “the veil of life and death can thin,” and we know the Moon Druids used to hang at the Nexus before they had to tear it down.

Symbolically, it’s neat that the Moonshadows have two kinds of magic, since duality is a major theme in their culture. Illusion is probably the “light” magic and spirit magic the “shadow.” One is a bit silly and “not real” and the other is anchored in the real truths of existence itself.

I’ve always thought that Ethari was an illusionist, because that was the only Moon magic we’d seen: Lujanne and her illusion food and spiders and trickery and how she helped Ellis by giving Ava an illusion leg. I thought illusion magic was kind of the only type that Moonshadows had.

But then I really stopped to consider: Ethari’s enchantments are deeper than that. His pretty heartbloom flowers are tied to the life force of each assassin. That’s life/death magic, straight up. 

And even his shadowhawks kind of stretched the logic of illusions for me until now: how can an illusion truly flap its wings and carry an arrow a thousand miles? How can it know to defend itself by dodging attacks from an enterprising Skywing rogue? You could probably “program” all those spells in, yes, absolutely. And if Ethari is the village’s master craftsman--which he is--then he’d be capable of that, no problem. 

But what if: the shadowhawks truly came to life, in some way? If there was genuinely a life force in them, for as long as the spell was active? (which, creepy, really, like an AI but with actual life) Then the life will defend itself and go where it’s sent without needing as many instructive spells.

The shadowhawk angle isn’t super convincing me, but the heartblooms? Yeah. That’s not an illusion, not in the slightest.

For further consideration: Ethari sparks this lighthawk arrow with his spell, and the magic kicks in beginning at its eye.

That’s the first thing to go when Runaan’s moonstrider gets bit by the soulfang--even though it bit her haunch. 

It’s the last thing to fade on Avizandum as he’s turned to stone--dark magic turns everything inside out.

Guys I’m kinda loving this: I think our soft master craftsman Ethari knows druidic magic. I’m not saying he is a druid. But I’m not saying he ain’t. Okay, maybe I am saying he’s a druid. Druid Ethari, anyone? Our gentle soul, holding the power of life and death in his hands? How could Runaan resist?

Please, someone get this craftsman to the Nexus, stat. It’s never been more a matter of life and death than it is right now.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Who do you think the Moon Druids were/are? I had my own theory, but I wanted to hear what you thought! :)

Oooo, I haven't refined this theory in a while, but it's a favorite! *rubs hands gleefully*

We’ve recently learned that the humans were spared by a combination of two things: The Merciful Compromise suggested by the daughter of the Moonshadow leader, and the Judgment Under the Half Moon, enacted by Queen Luna Tenebris, which did spare them but also booted them all to the western half of the continent, where the Moon Nexus (and possibly other nexuses) lay.

The Moon Druids were shown living at the Moonhenge, which seems to interact with the Moon Nexus and power or control it. When they tore down the henge, it disabled the magical abilities of the nexus to some large degree, but there is still enough there to protect that a Guardian has remained there ever since. 

But is that all the druids did? Just run the Nexus?

In a conservative culture like the Moonshadows have, power is often tightly protected at the top, and authority is very hard to disobey without severe consequences (as we’ve seen with Rayla’s failure on Runaan’s mission). So it’s likely that the Moon Druids held quite a bit of power in the old days and were the leaders of their culture, guiding it with the knowledge and power that the nexus gave them. Alternately, they could have advised the leaders and been a separate source of authority, but it’s a little simpler to let them be in charge for story purposes.

What I’m really curious about is the evolution of the druids when the Moonshadows had to leave Katolis. I’m currently embracing a fun headcanon that the Moonshadow assassins didn’t exist before the land was divided, and that policing the humans’ future was the Moonshadow elves’ burden to bear for asking to spare them from genocide. Luna Tenebris, in all her moonly wisdom, could have said, “Okay, sure, the humans can live, but not with anyone they can turn into spell fuel. And since this is your idea, you get to give up your homeland to them. Oh, I’m not done yet. Every time they mess around with dark magic and break the border treaty, that’s on you, and I expect you to make an example of them, swiftly and permanently. By my royal decree, Moonshadow assassins are now a thing. You’re bound to the ruler of the dragons, since we oversee all of Right Xadia now, so you jump when I say so.”

Yay, angsty fun, amirite? Ahahaa, yeesh.

Who were these first assassins? These takers of lives, these punishers of men? If the druids were leading the Moonshadows, then the daughter of the leader would most likely have been a druid as well. Her deep connection to life and death would’ve prompted her to speak out against killing an entire people. That’s a disaster and a tragedy, and should never be the answer to anything. Good for her. But Moonshadows are also deeply connected to death. If anyone knows how to take a life efficiently, it’s them. And yet, even now, after a thousand years of division and killing, Runaan teaches Rayla that hesitation is torture. Speed is a mercy, and there is no purpose to suffering and pain. Because life is precious, even unto its very last moment, and its loss is never a reason to gloat or celebrate.

That sounds like the deep kind of philosophy a druid holds dear, right? I think the Moon Druids are still very active in Moonshadow culture, serving as rulers and possibly mages. And some of them have trained to act as its assassins. That was the pact they made, and it has become their dark and sacred duty, to which they have held ever since.

If the Moonshadow leader is a Moon Druid

even after all this time

then Runaan probably is, too.

Also:

It’s a very distinctive pose. yes that was an Eliot Spencer reference

If assassins and mages are both (at least partly made up of) Moon Druids, it would also explain Lujanne’s and Runaan’s accents matching each other’s and no one else’s, as well as the handful of other things they have in common.

tl;dr: 

[beautifulterriblequeen]

King Runaan of the Moonshadow Elves, pt 4

Heir apparent

Angst rating: 7/10

This was the second image I thought of when this full theory hit me.

Rayla is not Runaan’s biological child, but she is his heir. She’s not quite adopted, but she’s very well loved in the tree palace, and yet she feels very keenly, at least on the mission and probably after Winter’s Turn, that she is not a Moon Druid the way Runaan is. And she doesn’t feel like enough anymore.

He makes sure she knows all the best fighting techniques, martial tactics, and herbal medicines. All her fight moves are very similar to his own.

What Runaan does not do is mandate her accent or her hair or her posture. He lets her remain herself. But this does set her apart in a really obvious way. She’s suffered a lot of insecurity during the show, and it’s very possible that this is the root of it: Rayla feels unworthy to continue Runaan’s line.

So when he walks her into the forest to basically tell her she’s failed him—which she already knows—and then calls her “the fastest and strongest of all of us,” she makes a face and looks aside. She doesn’t feel that she’s living up to his high expectations anymore, as his protégé or his heir, and deep down she’s questioning her self-worth in the light of her parents’ supposed failure.

She has the same look when Callum tries to compliment her at the Oasis.

Ironically, this issue of self-worth binds her much more closely to Callum, even though she doesn’t tell him why. Neither of them is related by blood to the king who raised them, and they’ve both suffered insecurity and feeling like they don’t fit in. Just as Callum is coming into his own and finding his own footing, Rayla is losing hers. Callum was treated distantly, while Rayla was earnestly instructed and praised. They’re at different points in the same cycle, but it’s very much the same cycle. Far more than Rayla has ever let on.

Callum’s anger in regard to Runaan killing Harrow is probably the only reason Rayla hasn’t spoken a word of it to him. They could bond even more tightly over it, and she does trust him, but Runaan killed his stepdad. She can’t imagine that Callum would have any interest in bonding over anything that involves his stepdad’s killer.

But she’s not just a princess. She’s a crown princess. She was drawn to Ezran because they’re both carrying the weight of future rule. Ez has picked up his crown already. I think Rayla’s going to do the same, sooner or later.

Rayla in a tree trunk-patterned tunic? Or will she choose a new motif? That really depends on how the rest of the series goes. But whatever she wears, I think Rayla’s destiny is to take her place as Queen of the Moonshadow Elves to lead her people into a better, and freer, future. Perhaps Runaan knew exactly what he was doing when he chose a sassy Scottish elfling to be his heir. Someone very unlike him, someone who might one day break the cycle and set his people free.

Speaking of not being free, Runaan is the one who binds Rayla with the ribbon. As the king, he could easily have actual magical power to bind people, as long as he’s got that ribbon handy. Or perhaps oaths in his presence—including his own—literally mean more. Enough to activate mirror runes when he breaks them, perhaps.

 Maybe this feature of his position is why he physically prevented Rayla from saying “My heart for Xadia” a second time. She swore an oath and was bound to it by her king. What might happen if she tried to swear the same oath a second time? Was she drawing her blades to make a blood promise? Runaan would absolutely not want her to do that. Whatever weight her oath was about to put onto her shoulders, he swiftly prevented it from landing there.

Things that hit differently now

Her conversation with Ezran on the Cursed Caldera

Her guilt over Runaan’s death

Her brave and stoic face when Ethari faded back into ghost mode

Her emotional breakdown at the Oasis

The whole final battle atop the Storm Spire

Her sacrificial rescue of Zym

The end of TTM

part 5