Moonshae Isles

The Moonshae Isles are a collection of islands on the western side of Faerun. The Isles themselves contain dense and beautiful forests, high cliffs, and pristine beaches where the land meets the ocean. Due to these lush and fertile forests, there is a wide range of biological diversity.
The civilization upon these isles is almost entirely elven, other common humanoid races such as humans, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings are banned from entering the territory. Moonshae was founded in -605 DR, The Year of Lingering Nightfall. It is said that this is the year that the sun never rose, casting what felt like eternal darkness over the world. It was during this time that Alea Elkaryne, a moon elf, took her people and traveled far to the west in search of new lands. They found the Moonshae isles, free from conflict and bloodshed, a verdant paradise.
After almost 2,000 years the civilization on this island has flourished and diverged from the mainland counterparts. The elves within these lands now call themselves Moonshae elves and are genetically distinct from the moon elves they hailed from.
Even the wildlife on these islands are distinct from their original predecessors. Elven ecologists travel from all over the world to study these unique fauna and animals.
In Moonshae society the people have always been ruled by a council of Archmages, the most powerful and capable within their society. The current council has reversed the original decision of keeping the isles closed from all trading and they now support minimal trading strictly with Amn.
The most important holiday on the Moonshae Isles is the Conjuring of the Second Moon, a holiday to honor the moon goddess Selune. This is a holiday that takes place every four years on Eleasis 2nd. It is said that occasionally during this holiday Selune will personally pick a member of her clergy to join her with their mortal form amongst the stars. It is a personal belief of many Moonshae elves that this is what happened to Alea Elkaryne.

Alea Elkaryne was the original founding elf of the Moonshae Isles and was also the high priestess of the temple of Selune. Even to this day she is still worshipped in Moonshae as the high priestess and her image is commonly found through the entirety of the isles.

Due to the worship of Selune and high priestess Alea, there is a celebration held every full moon. This celebration is called the Feast of the Moonmaiden. This is where all of the maiden women take part in an outdoor feast under the light of the moon.