#moonshadow elf assassin

[wheretwofacesmeet]

Breathtaking scenery

[halyasgirl]

One thing I loved in season 7 is the reexamination of the Moonshadow Assassins’ oaths, culminating in Rayla preparing to give her heart (Callum) for Xadia, both of them with full understanding of the compromise and sacrifice they’re willing to make to save their world.

But I also want to highlight the reexamination of Runaan’s oath. During the original bloodribbon binding in season 1, the assassins offer up vital parts of themselves for the ideals they believe they kill for, the self-sacrifice element clear in their pledges. At first, Runaan does not appear to swear an oath himself, only officiate the ritual. But at second glance, his oath is actually the most severe: "Tonight we bind our lives to justice." Symbolically, Runaan has given up his life, and the lives of every participant in his ritual, until their mission is completed. If they cannot secure (vengeful, bloody) justice, their lives are forfeit.

But Runaan’s view of justice, and his own life, shifts with his character development. What kind of justice requires its executor to give up all they are and symbolically enter into a state of death? And what have they done, when they completely dissociate from their moral compass in service of their mission? When Runaan comes face to face with the harm he’s done, for the first time, he’s shocked. But after he reflects, realizes all the pain he’s caused, he’s remorseful, and with the support of his loved ones, he tries to make amends.

Runaan returns to Katolis not because he had to, but because he chose to. Justice will not be denied and Runaan never breaks his promises. But this is a different justice than he brought before. He offers his life, not as an agent of death, but a living, breathing person who loves and is loved. And that offer means so much more now that both he and Ezran truly understand how valuable life is.

[darkcrowprincess]

This is a we love Rayla tumblr blog on here. We do not disrespect the moonshadow elf warrior.

[dragon-susceptible]

Moonshadow Headcanons

A collection of random headcanons about Moonshadow Forest and its culture, which will be relevant for the Different Path Taken universe.

Moonshadow Forest is dangerous. Runaan talks about this a little bit in Bloodmoon Huntress; it's full of illusions and plays tricks on the mind even at the best of times, and it can be a killer during the Blood Moon for even the most experienced of warriors. Children in Moonshadow Forest go nowhere alone, and are taught from the time they can talk and move around under their own power "Five is company, four is enough, three is a test, two is a risk, and one is a death" in reference to leaving the safety of the village. Only assassins and rangers move outside the village boundaries alone, and even they don't go far on the blood moon, because the illusions get extra aggressive.

That said, the Forest is never quite safe, especially for someone who is struggling with grief. It plays tricks on the mind, shows you want you want to see, draws you into its dangerous depths. Ethari saw Runaan around every corner and heard his voice constantly after his death in canon, and never left the village because he knew it was a trick meant to pull him in. Others have fallen for it and never returned. Moonshadow grief is often focused less on remembering the dead and more on preserving whoever they left behind.

The ritual of ghosting requiring a unanimous vote from the village is not unique. Moonshadow villages are run on democracies, with every able adult casting votes for who to fill various roles. Keeper Lyrennus earned his place as the leading Keeper of the Silvergrove's sacred places, just as Runaan earned his as the leader of the assassins' guild. Guilds are unique in that they are not voted on by villages, but by the people inside the guild. So while both Runaan and Ethari voted on Lyrennus' election, neither Lyrennus nor Ethari had say in Runaan's election as the leader of his guild. Guilds are done like this because they span multiple villages and must coordinate over longer periods of time as a result.

Because of the danger of the Forest and the generally fairly casual view Moonshadow elves have of death, it's a quietly accepted fact that Moonshadow elders sometimes just wander off into the trees alone of their own volition. If they are tired of living, they go into the forest and let the illusions take them, and generally are never found again. They leave behind anything of importance in a shrine for their loved ones. Generally, this is considered a respectable enough choice, as the elf just cannot take this phase of existence anymore, and they have no cultural fear or shame around the concept of death. It is considered a shame (as in, regrettable that it happened) if a younger elf is driven to this mental state, and they do try to help each other through mental struggles that will lead to it. If the support of the community simply isn't enough, there's no shame on the elf who wandered away. Wandering into the woods is a euphemism for death for Moonshadow elves as a result of this.

The Mooncubs is a system the Moonshadow developed to deal with their heavily decimated numbers and new, incredibly dangerous home ground after the Mage Wars drove them to Moonshadow Forest. Prides of Mooncubs are small groups of children (around 3-5 of them) in roughly the same age group, which the adults of the village take responsibility for on rotation. Pride leaders' job is to keep the children safe, primarily, though different leaders may offer them different life lessons too. Pride leaders are separate from teachers though. The children in a Pride tend to be within 5 years of age of each other, but if say, the village has 9 kids of 5-10 years, they'll be separated into a Pride of 4 kids 5 through 7 and 5 kids 8 through 10. Prides are kept deliberately small because a single pride leader is expected to keep track of the entire pride at once. Assassins are often exempt from the rotation of pride leaders because they spend so much time away from their home villages, but they are allowed to volunteer for rotations when they're home, and expected to participate if they have their own children.

Moonshadow elves are said to be largely vegetarian, but their primary mounts are shadowpaws, moonstriders, and gryphons, all of which are carnivorous animals, so either they just let the animals hunt for their own food or they do have some hunting culture to feed those mounts. This may be why they don't seem to keep smaller pets all that much, though.

After the Mage Wars and the war over the Cult of the Blood Moon had decimated their numbers twice over, the Moonshadow invented the concept of marriage as separate from romances. Marriage was initially a contractual deal to partner two compatible elves in order to produce children; they weren't required to stay together after the fact, except in that they were both responsible for the child or children, but it was considered something of an obligation to ensure their people would survive. Because they also prioritize personal choice so much, though, the concept of a Challenge was also brought up, where if an elf's love was contracted to be married, they could challenge their betrothed for their hand. The elf being fought over had to validate the challenge for it to be considered binding, and some effort was made to level the playing field if the challenger or betrothed had significantly more training than the other, and the winner of the challenge was granted the privilege of marrying the elf they were fighting over.

Privileges of the challenge were not granted to gay couples during this time, until the magic that allowed them to produce children was invented by Earthblood elves and made its way into Moonshadow Forest. After that magic was discovered, the Challenge was broadened to everyone, and as tensions cooled with other elves and their available pool of partners broadened, the concept of marriage became just a way to officially recognize mated couples.

In the modern day, Challenge Season (longer post about it here) is largely just a big game, as its purpose is now defunct. It can sometimes be used to make a point about thinking your friend's partner is bad for them, but mostly it's all in good fun. Lethal weapons are now banned, as is using too significant of force; leaving scars is fine, they do have fangs and horns so it's somewhat to be expected, but no permanent or severe damage. It's considered somewhat rude by some to leave horn scars on one's opponent's chest, arms, or face, as those are regions most often scarred by sexual partners who throw their head back too quickly.

Connected to that, Moonshadow elves have a sort of "we all know, we just politely don't talk about it in front of the kids until they get old enough to figure it out" mentality towards some minor exhibitionism in the form of visible marks and some noises. It's considered more eyebrow-raising if neither of a couple have any scars from horns or fangs somewhere visible, because it tends to indicate either they're Incredibly Soft with each other or they're immobilizing each other (through pinning or ropes) as a kink.

Women tend to have more slender horns than men, which led to their horn cuffs in marriage being more like armored plates as we see with Tiadrin. This is also largely just a personal choice now, though longer cuffs that cover more of the horn have a remnant of a "feminine" connotation. Ethari's cuffs are more typical of a masculine fashion despite being more intricate, because Runaan's are longer. Lain's were similar.

Moonshadow elves also still practice duels. They value preservation of their people too much to allow duels to the death, but if two Moonshadow are having too deep a disagreement and they are too heated to solve it with words, they are allowed to challenge each other to fight it out. It often just leads to them shouting while they fight and eventually burning themselves out enough to actually discuss their problems like civil adults, since the same rules apply to duels as to challenge season - no permanent damage, no deaths.

The leaping up into the air to come down on an opponent trick that Runaan, Rayla, and Skor do is a highly traditional form of Moonshadow combat, which is reminiscent of the style they used when they lived in the mountains near the Moon Nexus. It was far more practical back then, when they could often just drop from a higher ledge like mountain lions. Because of their cliffside origins and habit of climbing anything that looks vaguely climbable, they're also very hardy when it comes to blunt force impact, and often don't take as much damage from falls as humans do. Their horns work as shock absorbers when they strike them against things, as well.

Coming of age ceremonies are done when the adults in an elfling's life have judged that their horns have reached their adult stage. Horns continue to grow throughout a creature's life, but elflings have dull nubs that sharpen with age. When they are sharp enough to cut, they are "fully grown", so to speak, though their angle can still be adjusted somewhat with metal caps if they grow too far directly backward and become unwieldy. At this age, the elfling's parents wash their hair and stain their horns with a faint color (Runaan's and Rayla's are stained pink, but Ethari's are purple, and Lujanne and Andromeda's are blue), and the wood grain stripes we see on most of the adults. Children will sometimes draw stripes on too, for special occasions, but the staining is a ritual using the same henna as their tattoos and lasts much longer. What color their horns are stained with does not really mean anything in particular, though it often runs in families with children choosing a color that reflects someone they admire. (Runaan came to terms with being Rayla's father because she didn't even think to ask about Lain filling the role at her coming of age, she just came straight to him and never mentioned her birth parents)

Hollow Wood is one of the more open villages in Moonshadow Forest and has a handful of elves living in it who are not Moonshadow, often partners or children of Moonshadow elves. It's where Ethari is from; his mother was a Sunfire weaponsmith, who met his father, a Moonshadow jeweller, at Moonshadow Market on the edge of the forest. The Silvergrove is shrouded more than the other villages because it was explicitly established as a base of operations for assassins, and simply grew later to include their families and eventually a community beyond them. They generally do not have outsiders in the Silvergrove. However, their tenets of loyalty are so strong that if one does enter, as Callum does, without setting off any magical defenses, it's safe to assume they have earned the trust of a local, which means they are also safe to be around. That's why no one batted an eye at Callum taking Ethari's rotation with the Mooncubs.

Edit to add: Moonshadow Market is a bazaar/outdoor market with stands that is posted on the edge of the forest, and is the primary location of trade with other types of elves in Xadia, because most avoid Moonshadow Forest and the illusions get more dangerous the deeper in you go. It remains behind the treeline, in the forest, but there are clearly marked, roped off paths to get to it and indicate its boundaries. Guests are generally advised not to duck under or go over the ropes into the actual forest, but Moonshadow elves do it with impunity because they live there, and the illusions on the edge of the forest are like shitty AI images to them compared to the more convincing/dangerous ones further within.

might add more later, just wanted these consolidated in text.

[moon-sky-sun-earth-ocean-stars]

Ezran just blamed Runaan for killing his father while Zubeia is the one who sent them to do it but he doesn't care Zubeia has a part of that as well?

I really pissed off on Ezran right now.

[jedi-lothwolf]

Whumptober Day 3: "Make it Stop."

Fandom: The Dragon Prince

Summary: Runaan is sent to deal with an Earthblood Cartel.

Warning: Character Death

    Runaan moved swiftly around the tree line of the forest. He was near an Earthblood elf camp. He was there to kill the ring leader of a shroom cartel. The gang has been nothing but trouble, killing the people who displeased them.

    So Runaan was there to shut it all down. Unknown to him, he has a visitor. As he approached the camp, he pulled his bow over his shoulder and scouted the area.

    Then he turned around. It startled him, seeing Rayla. She had followed him. How the assassin didn't notice, he didn't know. Maybe he just taught her well?

    "Rayla" Runaan whispered harshly.

    "I came to help."

    "I'll be fine."

    "Why can't I help?"

    "You don't know what you're doing! You're too young."

    "I'm 12! I'm sure it's fine."

    "Stay here."

    "Fine." Rayla sat at the base of a nearby tree. She crossed her arms and sighed.

    Runaan sighed. "Stubborn child" he whispered. "Stay out of trouble."

    "I will."

    Runaan looked back then started towards the cartel. He was nervous but not for himself. Rayla was young and now she was alone. Too many thoughts crossed his mind. But for now, he would just have to focus on his mission.

    He reached the edge of the village and snuck in using the moon's shadow. It took longer than he expected to find the cartel but that should only be a minor setback.

    Sneaking into the building Runaan hid near some stairs. Pulling his bow apart, he nabbed the first elf quickly and slit their throat. Blood fell to the ground as Rannan placed the stranger behind the stairs.

    As he made his way further into the building he carefully killed the members he had been instructed to and left the others knowing that they would rather be too scared or wanted out to begin with.

    Then came the last few rooms. There was screaming from the last room. It has only just come into earshot. The victim sounded young. 

    It startled Runaan. He walked past the few other rooms he had left and stood outside the door. Inside a deep booming voice spoke, "tell me where they are!"

    A small voice answered. "I don't know!" A little girl. Runaan almost broke the door. Children were his weakness.

    The girl was around 12, and looked just like Rayla. Her hair was a little bit shorter, her eyes a bit lighter, and her skin a bit darker. She had multiple wounds all over her body.

    Runaan knew the girl. Not by name but he had seen her around the village. He pulled his knife as the leader of the cartel pulled the girl up by her hair.

    The assassin saw red. As he got ready to attack a man grabbed him from behind. One of the most important rules of being an assassin crossed Runaan's mind, never get distracted.

    The leader grabbed something from a table, "you little bitch! You brought this fucker here!" The shine of a blade could be seen as Runaan fought the bastard that held him.

    The knife slid into the child's side. Runaan finally got the man off of him and grabbed his knife that had fallen to the ground. He ran it though the leader's chest making the rest of the drug deals stop with fear.

    Runaan swiftly executed the rest of the Earthblood elves that surrounded him and the girl. He neglected his own body, doing anything to keep the child safe.

    The remainder of the cartel members fled once they decide that they cared more about their lives than their dead boss.

    Runaan moved to take care of the girl. She lay, bleeding out on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. "It hurts!" Her voice cracked in a way that made the assassin's blood run cold.

    "I know." He tried to sooth her.

    "Make it stop! Please, make it stop!"

    "I" Ranaan paused. "it's okay." 

    "Make it stop!"

    "It's okay." He couldn't stop the pain. As badly as he wanted to there was nothing he could do to help her but hold the wound and pray he could get to a doctor in time.

    He wanted nothing more then to switch places with her. If he could take the pain, taking it from her and feel it all for her he would.

    It didn't take long for the screaming to turn to turn to just heavy breathing. Then nothing at all. It stopped. Her pain, her screaming, her heart, it all just stopped.

    Runaan picked her up gently and stumbled to his feet. Her pain may have stopped but his didn't. He didn't think it ever would. He walked out of the building and back into the woods. There he met Rayla who had fallen asleep against the tree.

    He sat the girl's body down out of view and kneeled to wake Rayla up. He shook her lightly and she began to stir.

    "Oh you're back" she spoke.

    Runaan didn't say anything instead he just grabbed her into a tight hug. It was the only time Rayla would ever see the man cry. He held her for a while before letting her go. "Let's, go home."

[comicaurora]

Hello! As a thorough enjoyer of Overly Sarcastic Productions and also a rabid fan of The Dragon Prince… was there anything that you did like about S7 or thought was especially well done? Obviously it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and there were certainly parts of the show that were disappointing, but I’m curious to see what you might have enjoyed. (If there’s not anything that’s fine too!)

I think the premise of Aaravos's zombie army, "any soul that died with unfinished business is fair game," was a brilliant way to constantly gutpunch the audience with surprise heartbreaking cameos from tragically dead loved ones. I was not expecting Zombie Avizandum, but it made perfect sense - he died in terror for his wife and son, desperately reaching for them! Of COURSE he got to be a rage zombie! Sir Sparklepuff, Betrayed Revenant? Poetic justice. It's just a shame Viren wasn't there to see it.

Ezran having complicated feelings about the guy who killed his dad? Good! Let the paragon process messy feelings like grief and rage! Even if I thought the execution was made awkward by looping it into the Magic Nuclear Deterrant arc, I thought letting Ezran confront Runaan directly in the end was excellent and well-earned.

Runaan's arc going from accepting his death to tearfully embracing his life? Excellent! Runaan immediately being ride or die for his daughter's cringefail human boyfriend? Hell yea! Runaan taking continuous L's all season? Honestly kind of hilarious jfc let my man live

Prince Karim is another very interesting villain whose death I think is cool but whose absence from the story I think will broadly strip it of much-needed depth. Karim thinking he's so profoundly important to the story, clearly convinced he's the tragically betrayed rightful heir, utterly nonplussed when reality fails to cooperate with his vision - fascinatingly narcissistic in the most classical sense. He's infatuated with his own story to the point that he doesn't realize he's not even a player.

Every time Aaravos does one of his Count of Monte Cristo style monologues where he reveals horrible secrets to an old enemy he's about to kill it's extremely fun and rad

Rayla being forced to confront the nameless cannon-fodder moonshadow elf assassins who died offscreen back in season 1 was a nice way to narratively reaffirm how difficult, painful and courageous it was for her to make the call to spare the princes and save the Dragon Prince. It cost real lives, and she's deeply regretful of that, but not of the choice she made which ultimately united the kingdoms and ended the war. Also I feel like Rayla didn't get much else to do this season so it was nice to let her actually confront some emotional stakes.

[raayllum]

Something I really appreciate about TDP's worldbuilding is the way it gives enough detail to reasonably connect some pieces, while also leaving plenty of space to play. I feel like the example in show that I come back to most often are the Earthblood elves in S4 (and a bit in S5).

For example:

Given that the Uncharted Forest seems to be where the majority of Earthblood elves live, they likely use the forest as an inherent form of defense. They are also much further east into Xadia compared to Moonshadow and Sunfire elves. Therefore, it makes sense they're less overtly militaristic compared to the other two (cloaked villages and assassins vs weaponry, strong military presence integrated into day-to-day interactions and laws) groups of elves.

The fact that the Uncharted Forest is uncharted indicates less emphasis on written works (unlike Sunfire elves with the Great Bookery). This likely means that oral tradition and storytelling is how their knowledge is passed down and recorded.

The riders of the Drakewood would have little reason to ride drakes unless they were 1) hunting, 2) trading, or both. Their affinity for nets, chases, and ensnaring, as well as having to feed the drakes (who would likely be omnivores or carnivore leaning) means a lot of meat is passing through their hands. They also seem to hunt more than other elves we see (Moonshadows foraging and carrying moonberry juice > hunting while on the road). This emphasis on hunting for food for the Drakeriders, with meat then likely being traded to allies, possibly reflects why Earthblood elves we see are more willing to use (and abuse) animals (the Drakeriders) and subsequently why Terry is maybe more okay, overall, with dark magic. Terry clearly came from a different village, but we can see a consistent thread of how they treat and frame nature between them, making N'than the only true exception.

Being so far into Xadia likely protects them from the more imminent threat of dark mages that western elves have to deal with, at least culturally/in theory. The Drakeriders, at least, are "known for viciously protecting their turf," using N'than as a cultural exception of bonding with outsiders and being willing to. While other Earthblood elves might be friendlier, Terry being willing to leave before or after meeting Claudia is likely more odd; this isn't true for just Earthblood elves, though, as it seems inter-community travel isn't common for any group of elf, furthering their collectivist leaning isolationist tendencies ("they always told me outsiders were dangerous, but—").

Lastly, Terry mentions that there a lot of synonyms for cinnamon in traditional Earthblood language(s), indicating that—if not in general, then at least for his regional dialect—there is a lot of emphasis on food and cooking.

And idk. I just think it's all neat, and makes me wonder what Earthblood elf lives/communities are like for those outside the Drakewood, and if they used to be more dependent on Rex Igneous in the past before he started (seemingly) really withdrawing from the wider world on a more consistent basis.

[never-ending-fanfic]

The Dragon Prince x Rebels AU

I'm excited to announce I officially finished drawing the designs for the Spectres in The Dragon Prince universe! I already talked about it in this post, but made a few changes. Their elf race is based mostly off of their personalities, not appearance so:

Hera- Skywing Elf (she loves flying and as a pilot, she needed to have wings, so she's in this small percentage of Skywing Elves who are born with them)

Kanan- Startouched Elf (both he and Erza fit with this, because Startouched Elves are the most myselterious and powerful race

Ezra- Startouched Elf (^)

Sabine- Sunfire Elf (I mostly went with the fact that I can give her a bow and she could shoot flaming arrows at her enemies- you know, like bombs. Also Mandaloria s kinda remind me of Sunfire Elves in general)

Zeb- Earthblood Elf (that should be obvious- he's big, he's strong and I don't know if that's because of all the headcanons about Lasats being very close to nature, he fits with Earthblood Elves the most)

Kallus- Moonshadow Elf (perfect for an assassin spy, who would join up with the Spectres later on- and also by the light of Lothal's Moons- COME ON, IT'S PERFECT)

Also I'm so so so excited for their marks to match with their Rebels designs- Hera's lekku markings, Kanan's Jaig eyes, Sabine's helmet designs, Zeb's stripes and Kallus' freckles- the only problem was Ezra, I had to get a little more creative

[wheretwofacesmeet]

"Hmm.."

"... okay."

"Hope they haven't only got, say, one twin bed or something..."

[halyasgirl]

Live footage of me watching “Unfinished Business”

[jal-the-jinxed]

MOONSHADOW MARKINGS S7

a maybe mildly comprehensive rambling

Whenever we meet an elf in the show I stare at their markings and this is what I've got from season 7

Lets kick it off with the Moon Cubs!

First off there's the cub who's making embarrassing Callum her new favorite hobby

From what I've seen, her markings are most like Callisto's

Then we have the cub with the yellow eyes

The only moonshadow with markings I'd call similar is this friend from the tabletop game

But they're only a little bit similar and I don't know too much about the tabletop game so I'm not sure what such markings might mean 😅

Either way, what the elves paint on themselves has meaning, which leads up to the cub I really want to talk about-

Last of all is this little guy, who's got a nose stripe like Runaan

Past Runaan specifically

I'm fairly certain this sketch is of the past bc I'd find it confusing to change up his facepaint and mend his horn for no reason, on top of that Ethari is wearing his og outfit and also has different markings. The markings stay for a long while, I think the creators described them as like extra-long lasting henna's, so the fact that 2/3 cubs might have assassin markings is Interesting to me. There's a lot of moonshadow markings that go across the cheeks like the oldest moon cub's does, so it could be only one cub with possible assassin markings, but i find it curious either way. Like how and why are marks picked for elf children, especially marks that seem to have correlation to roles/careers/etc? Do kiddos get markings similar to what their parents have to kind of show familial connection? Or do parents paint the markings based off what they'd like their kid to be or what the kid seems enclined for? And if so then how often do the markings get swapped? People can change their mind on what path in life they want as they grow, and kids can change their mind on something like that every day.

On the note of swapping markings-

In that past sketch, it looks like Ethari has fewer marks on his cheeks and shoulders, then in the episode we meet him, he has these circle-y markings filling up the space on his cheeks and shoulders.

And then in season seven he has very swirly-ee markings

Similar enough that I didn't notice on my first watch but different enough that I'm staring wanting to know the meaning

Since it seems like markings correlate to roles/jobs/whatever and also the rank the elf has in that position, I'm guessing the increasing amount of circles on Ethari and the second nose stripe on Runaan is to show their moving up in the ranks. But the change from clean, geometric markings to more organic swirlies for Ethari feels like a more personal thing. We know home boy has a steady hand, so even if Runaan painted his markings before they wouldn't look this different now. Maybe he wanted something more spiral-y to lowkey match the mark over Runaan's heart or the patterns he adorned his husband with?

I think I actually know why, though: "Similar but different."

When there's stuff you did with someone and suddenly you don't have that person anymore, doing that stuff is hard. To put it lightly. There's this part of your brain that screams something's incorrect, something's off, something is wrong. Because this isn't a you thing, it's a you and that person thing. But they're not here. It's not supposed to be like this.

That's were the "but different" comes in. If you change it up then it's no longer what you did with that person, at least not exactly, and that can be enough to make it manageable. You still achieve whatever the objective is, just differently.

So if Runaan and Ethari painted each other's markings, then I believe that this is one of Ethari’s Similar-but-Different's. Painting them the way his husband did was painful, it was supposed to be Runaan's hands creating those shapes, but now it was his own. So he changed them. He couldn't just stop wearing them, they're kind of like a uniform, so he made them similar but different.

More on changing markings- As far as I'm aware, no elf has changed markings more than Runaan. Not canonically, but in the Xadia phone game. The game was never compatible with my phone so everything I know about it is from other people's posts, but from what I've seen it looks like Runaan has the most marking changes out of all the elves. He's got different markings in his moon phoenix skin, the wasteland skin, the halloween skin, the theif skin, featherblade skin, another one that idk the name of, and maybe more? No idea how many skins the characters have, but I don't think I've seen major marking changes in the other elves skins? Could totally be wrong though

Either way, I think Runaan's markings are going to change and I think the game might have hints as to how.

Runaan no longer believes in precision violence, hell the boy just realized he's alive, too. So he's probably got a career change coming, which means a uniform/markings change.

So what's a stabby boy who no longer believes in precision violence gonna do? Probably protect, I think. There's a whole brand new city/kingdom and undead souls running rampant every time the sun goes down, so between that and more, there's tons of stuff to protect and defend. And I think he's going to become some type of guard or something like that.

How will this change his markings? I think they'll look most similar to his moon phoenix skin markings

Our guy was "already dead", actually died, came back to life, and realized he's actually alive. That's just got phoenix vibes all over it. We're also introduced to moon phoenix's by a guardian in the show. But besides vibes, I want to point at the marks on his cheeks in this skin. They're these two little lines beneath his eyes atop his cheeks, kind of like...

They're slanted at different angles and I think the dragon guards markings are supposed to remind you of dragons its the shapes for me but I think Runaan's new markings are going to be similar, sort of twin little lines across his cheeks under his eyes like his old friends and his phoenix skin.

I think his arm markings will probably change too, but I'm too sleepy to go on about that, goodnight ✌️

[dragon-susceptible]

I really enjoy your posts and fanfics. Do you have any headcanons about the "Master of Blades" title? It just feels like such a cool detail.

I have two mutually exclusive thoughts about the Master of Blades title, and I haven't 100% decided which one I like best, but thanks for giving me an excuse to talk about them.

One is that Master of Blades is a title equivalent to the Keeper - they're the leaders of their respective guilds and likely both have a voice on the democratic council that runs the Silvergrove. Runaan leads the assassins' guild, and the Keeper is the Keeper of the Silvergrove's magical knowledge. Given the Moonshadow elves tend to revere their magic in a similar way as we would a religion, the Keeper could probably translate roughly to a high priest type position. (So, Lyrennus is Opeli's equivalent, and Runaan is Soren's).

Alternatively, a more angsty and potentially less practical route, the Master of Blades title isn't a consistent one. It's borne by the assassin who currently holds the record of oldest of their kind, as it's implied Runaan is impressive for making it to his mid-late thirties. It's decorative more than practical in this sense.

On a level I really like the first one better, but Lyrennus explicitly remarks on Runaan as being the Master of Blades despite not having seen him for three years, and there's no implication made that he's been replaced. So that title is somehow still his after a three year absence, which implies that rather than a position to be filled, it's a title that Runaan specifically earned.

It could also be, now that I'm off talking about it, that he earned it through some trial by combat ritual, or from mastering a certain numer of weapons. He may have earned it from some great deed like escaping an enemy by stealing their weapon, or from making a reputation for himself as a man who disarms his enemies specifically to steal their weapons - master of blades indeed if he takes those weapons and uses them.

[moon-sky-sun-earth-ocean-stars]

Moonshadow Elves characters 🌙

Here is a list of all the Moonshadow elves characters I found, if I missed someone please let me know.

Agricultural workers:

Biffy (she/her)

Maive (she/her)

Somma (she/her)

Vankan (she/her)

Artisans:

Ethari (he/him)

Perris (he/him)

Assassins:

Andromeda (she/her)

Callisto (he/him)

Eljaal (they/them)

Fayln (she/her)

Pandyne (she/her)

Ram (he/him)

Runaan (he/him)

Rayla (she/her)

Skor (he/him)

Dragonguards:

Lain (he/him)

Tiadrin (she/her)

Mages:

Draylenn (she/her)

Lujanne (she/her)

Tylluan/Feathershawl (they/them)

Others:

Fara

Fentheth (he/him)

Gwenyn (she/her)

Kim'dael (she/her)

Laaner (he/him)

Redfeather (she/her)

Lira (she/her)

Maggs (she/her)

Shiv

Rangers:

Neva

Remmi

Daav

[ask-runaan-anything]

Moonshadow elf, staring at Ethari's pecs: soooo... is your husband around? how would I recognize him?

Ethari, pointing to the gems in his horn cuffs: his eyes are up here

Runaan, in the tree above him: a bit higher than that, my heart

Ethari: oh that's nice, he's let you know he's here instead of simply shooting you. he's in a good mood today

Runaan: yes I am. the garden's in need of fresh fertilizer.

Ethari: ahaha, assassin humor, amirite? Run.

[fandom-susceptible]

Moonshadow Ages

So I could go on for hours about what we know about the culture and history of Moonshadow elves, but yk what would be really funny?

Rayla is 15 in season 1 and nobody seems to bat an eye at her being on a high-profile assassination and treated the same as anyone else on it. When she was 9, Runaan noted her horns were sharpening and would be fully grown soon (the short story Lunabloom). Additionally, the art of baby Rayla in Lunabloom is the only time we see a young Moonshadow elf with horns that aren't fully grown that have the wood grain sort of markings that the adults have in the show.

Theory: Moonshadow elves have a different standard of majority than humans do. Once their horns are fully grown and marked, they may still live with your parents (as Rayla does), but they're effectively adults within a larger societal sense. Rayla's been considered sort of the equivalent of humans between 18 and 25 this entire time - adult enough to be treated as one, but with passive acknowledgement that she does still have growing up and stabilizing to do.

Which produces the sheer comedic value of post-season 7, at Callum's 18th birthday, someone congratulating Callum on finally being a grown man and Rayla just having this record scratch moment

"What do ye mean I've been datin' a teenager!" "Rayla, you are only a year older than me??" "I've been a grown woman since before we met!!" "I think - and stay with me on this - I think we might be having a culture clash moment, honey"