Common Conflicts

A number of ongoing conflicts can serve as a backdrop to your Moonshae campaign. These can also provide the major adversaries for your PCs.

Northmen vs. the Ffolk

The raids of the northmen have gradually become oriented toward conquest, and the kingdoms of the Ffolk have succumbed one after the other to the enemy longships. Now that the threat has been realized, it is nearly too late.
Whether you want to use this conflict to create an isolated threat to your PCs, or to make it the centerpiece of your campaign, the rivalry between these two cultures should be present in any Moonshae setting.
The raiders generally embark in summer to plunder and raid the kingdoms of the Ffolk, or to range farther afield and strike targets along the Sword Coast. Often several kingdoms of northmen unite to stage a massive raid.
If the attack succeeds in driving the Ffolk from their homes, the northmen are likely to move in and settle a region, bringing their families, livestock, and other possessions by longship before winter sets in.

Firbolgs vs. Humans

The firbolgs are the scourge of the remote areas of the Moonshaes. Huge, ugly, and mean, these monsters are prone to attack anything that is not of their race.
Fortunately for the other inhabitants of the isles, the firbolgs rarely leave their remote domains. This makes them primarily a threat to those who venture to explore these areas.
The firbolgs do, however, occasionally muster a large force and venture into civilized areas for raiding and plunder. These outings consist mainly of slaughter and destruction as the firbolgs are not much inclined to stealing or enslaving. A raiding party of firbolgs is something all sensible characters try to avoid, or at the very least, challenge only with a sizeable force.

Clerics vs. Druids

The clerics from the Sword Coast strive mightily to bring word of their gods to the Ffolk of the Moonshaes. The Ffolk, steeped in their traditional worship of the goddess as the earthmother and guarded jealously by the druidic councils, tend to resist this conversion.
This conflict is primarily a peaceful one -- it is not uncommon for a community of Ffolk to include one or two clerics, while most of the populace still pay their respects at the druidic grove nearby. Occasionally, however, violent disputes flare up -- the followers of some of the more war-like gods have been known to torch a grove, driving its druids into a religious frenzy.
The druids are not without recourse. Many a worship service of the new gods has been disrupted by the sudden appearance of spiders, rats, or bats -- creatures summoned by the druids to invade a temple and scatter the congregation. While the healing powers of the clerics cannot be denied, and their wisdom is great, the druids retain control of the Moonwells. Through these pools their link with their goddess remains strong. The conversion of the Ffolk, if it is ever successful, will take many more decades, perhaps even centuries.

Interkingdom Squabbles

Many small kingdoms are scattered across the isles, both those of the Ffolk and of the northmen. Even among rulers of the same culture, rivalries and wars are not uncommon.
These political conflicts have the potential to spread over several isles as each participant gathers allies to his banner. On the other hand, if a strong ruler can succeed in bringing several weaker rulers under his protection and leadership, the end result could be a more peaceful and united nation for all concerned.
Because of the relative balance of power between the various kingdoms, however, most of these petty wars are not resolved with any clear victor. The result is that grudges are carried, wounds grow deeper with time, and even people of the same culture find themselves inexorably drifting farther from their neighbors.

Magic-Users vs. the People

Neither the northmen nor the Ffolk readily accept the presence of magic in their societies. Both cultures are highly superstitious, taught that arcane power is a tool of the gods and their agents. The people tend to view wizards as untrustworthy, if not downright evil.
The primary magic-users of the Ffolk serve on a council for the High King, at Caer Callidyrr. While ostensibly under the High King's control, the mages in reality practice their arts for their own ends, allowing the High King just enough control to convince him that things are not getting out of hand. These wizards are a patient bunch, and are content to watch the forces of society at work, only prodding these forces occasionally to move them in a desired direction.
The Ffolk, by and large, are suspicious and fearful of the council. It is the fear that gives the High King useful leverage in retaining his post as the mightiest king among the Ffolk. However, the mages are notoriously fickle about helping the High King extend his domination over the rest of the Ffolk.
Wizards are uncommon among the northmen and generally persecuted when they are found. It is not unusual for a king of the northmen to enlist the aid of a sorcerer—there are many things that a spell can accomplish, after all -- while keeping it a secret even from his own people.

External Cultures vs. the Moonshaes

Because of their isolated location, the Moonshaes do not suffer a lot of interference from nations on the mainland. Only occasionally do men from Calimshan, Tethyr, Amn, or Waterdeep visit the Moonshaes.
Sometimes a group from one of these nations lands at a kingdom of the Ffolk or the northmen and conducts several days of trading while agents secretly reconnoiter the local town or fortress. Then, a day or two after the visitors leave, a boat puts several thieves ashore in the dead of night. These skulk their way into the targeted areas, steal whatever is valuable and not nailed down (including attractive young women), and slip back to their ship to be gone before sunrise.

Monsters vs. Humans

Certain parts of the Moonshaes are home to vicious tribes of orcs and goblins. These humanoids are commonly found in the northern reaches of the isles -- most notably in the Korinn Archipelago, as detailed in module N5, Treasure Hunt. Smaller groups of these monsters inhabit some of the other islands, and often a tiny and remote islet is populated exclusively by orcs or goblins. These humanoids also dwell in some of the mountainous regions, occupying huge underground caverns and dungeon complexes that they have stolen from the dwarves or excavated with slave labor.
Trolls present another common threat throughout the islands, including marine trolls (scrags) that have the advantage of retreating back to the sea after their terrifying raids. Dreaded sahuagin also occasionally emerge from the sea to terrorize and kill the peoples of the coastal communities.
Other monsters rarely plague the civilized portions of the isles. Wyverns and perytons fly over remote wild places, striking without warning if they sight a victim below. Norland and Moray reputedly shelter a few of the largest rocs ever known, though no one has actually seen these massive birds. Lizard men inhabit some of the darkest and dankest marsh and swamp reaches.
An entire assortment of horrifying monsters can be encountered in remote areas of the isles, including, but not limited to, beholders, lycanthropes, giant centipedes, ropers, shambling mounds, giant weasels, dire wolves, giant leeches, poisonous toads, harpies, water weirds, and giant snapping turtles.
The section on Moonshae topography lists a sampling of the types of encounters, including monster encounters, that characters can run into in the various terrain types on the island. These lists are not intended to be all-inclusive; feel free to change the lists as necessary to fit your campaign.