Shadowmoon clan

The Shadowmoon clan, also spelled Shadow Moon clan, was a relatively peaceful and highly spiritual and shamanistic orcish clan. Their last known chieftain, Ner'zhul, was deceived by the demon into forming the Horde due to the manipulations of Gul'dan and his master, the demon lord Baphomet. Following the Horde's defeat during the Orc War, the Shadowmoon came to be extinct.

Culture

The Shadowmoon were known to be the most spiritual of all the Orc clans, and were relatively peaceful compared to other orcs. Fascinated with the starry sky, the Shadowmoon believed they could glean the future from stellar movements. They were a deeply mystical people, and they developed traditions and rituals centered around astrology and ancestor worship. A key source of the Shadowmoon clan's power came from their understanding of the stars and their omens. For centuries, they recorded the patterns of the stars and their interpretations.
Shadowmoon mystics often inscribed secret runes into their flesh using ceremonial bone needles to more clearly speak to their ancestors and the elemental spirits. Consultation with the spirits of previous generations was considered essential to Shadowmoon shaman whenever an important decision was to be made. Talismans and other relics that were important to an ancestor during life provided a more clear spiritual conduit for shaman to speak to them in the afterlife. The clan's shaman frequently journeyed to the Throne of the Elements to commune with the elemental spirits.

Diplomatie

History

Early History

Around 2015 BD, the orcs began to migrate out of from the eastern region. The Shadowmoon clan formed far from the other settlements, allowing them to live in relative peace.
Shadowmoon mystics frequently set out on pilgrimages across the world, hoping to hear the will of the divine. Many of these travelers received strange dreams and visions near the mountains of in between the eastern region and Green earth. The first Shadowmoon visitors to the location learned about the world's primordial spirits. They treated these beings with utmost respect and named the site of their discovery the Throne of the Elements. The orcs learned to guide the elemental spirits with a sense of harmony, becoming the first orcish shaman. The Shadowmoon were the first to dedicate themselves to the elements. They soon began spreading their teachings to the other clans, nearly all of which adopted the practice. The shaman became highly trusted spiritual leaders among the orcs, able to peacefully solve conflicts between clans. The Shadowmoon clan began a biannual gathering of shaman called the Kosh'harg festival, which soon grew to include all orcs.

Rise of the Horde

In 1226 BD, the Shadowmoon were led by the wise chieftain Ner'zhul, who was respected by every clan. He acted as an advisor to all shaman and helped foster the loose bonds between the different clans. One day, Gul'dan, an orc exile who had agreed to a pact with the Demons, approached the Shadowmoon and claimed that his home village had been destroyed by ogres. The Shadowmoon took pity on him and accepted him into their clan. Gul'dan managed to win Ner'zhul's friendship, even convincing the chieftain to accept him as his own apprentice. This allowed Gul'dan's demonic master Baphomet to begin manipulating Ner'zhul by appearing in the elder shaman's dreams disguised as his deceased mate, Rulkan.
However, as the months of the Orc War, Ner'zhul gradually began to feel doubts about the Horde's purpose and the increasing bloodlust of his people and secretly seeking the guidance of the spirits. Baphomet was aware of this and ordered Gul'dan to gather allies to take control of the Shadowmoon clan, since Ner'zhul could no longer be relied upon. Gul'dan recruited the young shaman Teron'gor and taught him the ways of demonic Magic, and slowly won other shaman to his side as well. Ner'zhul was condemned by the real Rulkan and the other ancestors, who told him that he had been deceived by Baphomet. The shaman fell into despair and was captured by Gul'dan's new followers. Gul'dan treated him as little more than a slave, and as Ner'zhul gradually faded from the public eye, his usurpers became the voice of the Shadowmoon clan. Gul'dan's trusted Shadowmoon warlocks would later form the initial members and inner circle of the secretive order known as the Shadow Council.
Shortly after Blackhand was named Warchief of the Horde, he assigned specific roles to the various clans. The Shadowmoon were among the clans assigned to act as scouts, raiders and auxiliary forces that could quickly move from one region to another.
Following the Horde's defeat, most of them scattered, but the shadowmoon clan, at the center of this war, was desroyed

Geography

Region
Green earth
Capital
/
Aliases
/

Society

Government
Tribal Kingdom
Leader
Ner'zhul (last known leader)
Races
Orc
Population
/
Timeline
History of the Orcs

2015 BD - 1207 BD

Type

Geopolitical, Clan