Moonlit King

**Searc Shadiel**, better known by his title the **Moonlit King** is a fiendish arch-fey notorious for being devious and wicked using his fey trickery for ambitious and selfish gain. He is the well-known as the ex-husband of the Winter Queen Boreala and once lorded over the moon known as Lycus. He has many forms that he can take and despite having been slain multiple times, he still has managed to persist.

He became a nemesis to the Emerald Caravan when he orchestrated the events that led to Emi's death. He is Ezara's maternal grandfather and often enjoys mocking and toying with her. He is working with the rakshasa Belial to obtain chaos hearts in competition with the Emerald Caravan.

## Moonlit King

### Titles & names

* the Moonlit King
* Oberon Eversummer (redeemed form)
* Searc Shadiel
* Star's Emissary
* Skullbump Nogginthump

## Worship

### Associated domains

* Illusions
* Magic
* Moonlight
* Night
* Trickery

The Moonlit King was featured as an antagonist NPC in the *Agora's Bells* campaign as well as a spin-off oneshot.

As an NPC, the Moonlit King is played by both GMs, Puddins and Chris.

## Description

### Appearance

The Moonlit King takes on a variety of forms ranging from very humanoid to monstrous. As Searc, he appears as a handsome, elven fey man wearing blue and violet robes with a cloak resembling a pair of butterfly wings. He glows with lunar light in this form. The Moonlit King may appear as a demonic fey creature with strange features and colorations that resemble a less fiendish creature and one that is more fey in nature. He has a third form not common to historical record and only appears after the Sunless Era were he resembles a mothman-esque monster with iridescent, purple wings. As the Emissary, he drapes himself in robes containing an image of the night sky in them to deceive followers of the Astral Star.

### Personality

The Moonlit King is believed to have been a once noble fey creature, as he was the husband of Boreala the Winter Queen, but perhaps the DeRunes family and their wicked tendrils are impossible to escape out from. As a fey creature, Searc is naturally a devious trickster, which he takes to a wicked degree compared to many other fey creatures. He is prone to fits of jealousy, primarily targeted at his ex-wife or at Lycus, who stole his moon from him. He has learned from his past mistakes and knows better than to become overconfident in his schemes and to keep his cards close to his chest until he is confident he will not be bested, but when he does choose to flaunt his victory, Searc does so in a degrading manner hoping to further dismantle the self-esteem of his victims. The Moonlit King, although a dangerous adversary to most mortals and armed with magic, acts almost with cowardice, preferring self-preservation over valor. The arch-fey does know when to set aside his differences with his foes, especially when he know he has already achieved victory or when there is something to be personally gained as seen in S3E2 'Parting Gift' when Ezara agrees to his terms.

Searc Shadiel is loyal primarily to himself, which is evidence by his carousing behavior even when married to the Queen of Winter. Despite his disloyal and self-serving tendencies, the Moonlit King owes his allegiances to the DeRunes family. The Moonlit King has shown the odd act of compassion such as granting Tamlin mortal form to be with Benjamin Solaris, which suggests that he was possibly a kinder individual at some point.

## History

### Background

Searc Shadiel was created when the fey part of Goerwyr's soul were torn from them by Kovar when he was exiled from heaven. Due to the moon's affiliation as a wedding gift to Goerwyr's wife, the arch-fey derived his lunar power from it. He had married Boreala, the Queen of Winter at some point to solidify his power in the Seelie Court while also heading the Unseelie Court. Eventually, their marriage ended in a bitter divorce. Most the legends point toward infidelity on the Moonlit King's part. In truth, the marriage had ended after the Moonlit King's incarnation of Oberon Eversummer found true love with the Lady of the Lake.

During the Sunless Era, after the arrival of the dreadlords, Lycus challenged Searc for the moon and had slain the arch-fey. The demon lord is said to have painted the blood moon red with the Moonlit King's blood in accordance with the demonic Iron Law. Searc's return was a mystery to the Emerald Caravan for quite some time before the events in Castle Nightflame during Season 3's 'Legacy of the DeRunes arc,' Oberon Eversummer was born with the soul of the Moonlit King, and the green knight's actions redeemed Goerwyr's exiled fey aspect, allowing the god to join the fey gods and his wife in their realms. As Oberon Eversummer, the Moonlit King fathered Tamlin Solaris (born Nihn Eversummer), Ezara's mother. Oberon had utilized the Mark of Fate to allow his daughter to be with her lover with the Mark exacting a cruel fate on both; Tamlin forgetting her history and the Moonlit King aspect being set free in Oberon.

### Agora's Bells

In the *Agora's Bells* webseries, the Moonlit King served as a primary antagonist who initially was a villain from Sarryn's past. A member of the DeRunes dynasty, Searc Shadiel worked tirelessly against the Wrong Turns to ensure Matriarch's plan would come to fruition, eventually falling to the Wrong Turns. After the convergence, likely through Absinthe's machinations, the Moonlit King joined with the god Goerwyr and became the soul who would embody Oberon Eversummer.

### Campaign

#### Season 1

The Emerald Caravan became aware of the Moonlit King early in their adventure when delving into the Severed Hand ruins. The baelnorn Lich Larrel Ar'Tel'Qessir had informed the Emerald Caravan that the Moonlit King was the one who spirited away with the Heart of Life. The 'Dawnstar' arc of Season 1 (S1E10 - S1E16) saw the Emerald Caravan following after the Moonlit King and learning of what chaos he had sewn. In the Wight Wilderness of Old Pashnew, the Moonlit King was appearing before fervent monk followers of the Astral Star's masquerading as an entity known as the 'Emissary' to deceive them into accomplishing his twisted goals. It is suggested in S1E15 'Dawnstar' that he has been doing this for quite some time, suggested by the fact he claimed to orchestrate the events that placed Ezara in the care of the folk at Sprucewall. It was the Moonlit King who convinced Abbess Song that Ezara was a chosen one. Using his power of the moons, he was able to influence Artemis the Huntress to do his bidding and try to halt the progress of the Emerald Caravan. This led to the death of Emi, marking the Moonlit King as the Emerald Caravan's mortal foe.

Larrel placed a powerful curse upon the Moonlit King and the Heart Acorn as they fled the Severed Hand, slowing his progress and forcing him into the form of Skullbump Nogginthump, a badger. When the Emerald Caravan had reversed the *Nevertree* spell, the Moonlit King revealed himself to be working with Oinksbane the Deadly and absconded with the Heart of Life. It was while the Caravan was staying at Brightstar Abbey did he reveal the truth to Ezara that he was in fact her mother's father, making him her grandfather. Placing her in the cocoon was his way to try and claim her over to his side. He described to Ezara how in order to physically manifest in the material plane, he needed a body and that the abbess set up a ritual where he was able to possess Benjamin's body to manifest, deeply disturbing the young cleric. With the Heart of Life secured, the Moonlit King worked toward his goals without colliding with the Emerald Caravan again until the went to Briar.

#### Season 2

The Moonlit King returns in Briar, possibly related to the grimstone issue plaguing the city. He ambushes the Emerald Caravan while they are investigating the matter, battling them to supposedly reach a chaos heart. After the showdown and the party ending up in Hex, the Moonlit King yet again absconded to not be seen again until after Fenris' death.

#### Season 3

The Moonlit King taunts Ezara while she pleads to the Astral Star for an answer, but instead of appearing as her adversary, he offers her his help. Claiming to have cheated death multiple times at this point, he offers a hand in getting Fenris' soul back, provided that he can use the cursed tiefling to reclaim his moon from the demon lord Lycus. Ezara agreed to these terms, stating after their agreement is fulfilled that she will kill him.

Throughout Season 3, Ezara continued to follow the words of Oberon Eversummer, pointed toward a Mark of Fate to help get Fenris' soul back. In S3E8 'The Lady of the Lake,' Ezara was told by the titular fey as well as Oberon that her mother is the daughter of the Lady of the Lake. In S3E9 'Castle Nightflame,' The Emerald Caravan learned through Soren's book interacting with the Castle that Oberon Eversummer was in fact born from the same soul as Searc Shadiel, redeeming Goerwyr's fey aspect.

## Relationships

### Allies

The Moonlit King has been shown to be in league with Belial with both being after the chaos hearts. As a member of the DeRunes family, he is a part of their web.

#### Enemies

Due to his orchestration of the events that led to Emi's death, the Moonlit King is one of, if not, the Emerald Carvan's arch-nemesis. This rivalry may have a temporary truce as he aids Ezara in getting Fenris' soul back. The Wrong Turns also considered Searc a great foe with Kangjax particularly having a distaste for the arch-fey.

Boreala, the Queen of Winter, is his ex-wife, and she is well known for the grudges she holds. The Moonlit King despises Lycus not only for stealing his moon, but also, previously eating him. Due to his interference with the moons of Evarencia, he often finds himself opposed with various moon deities like Celeste.

## Known Worshippers

* Brocktree Monks, tricked into worship
* Brightstar Abbey, tricked into worship
* Ironsworn

## Notable fey bearing heritage

* Ezara Solaris
* Tamlin Solaris/Nihn Eversummer
* King Leon Eversummer
* Lucasta Eversummer, Lady of Myr

## Forms

* **Searc Shadiel**: The Moonlit King's 'standard form' is a handsome fey man wreathed in blue moonlight. He bears fey features, has long, Stygian blue hair and mismatching eyes. As an ill-fated, his appearance is like that of a vampiric fey. He wears a cape that resembles ornate moth's wings.
* **Fiend**: The Moonlit King may take on a fiendish form that resembles more so devils and demons than that of a fey. Notably, his wings bear the markings of his ornate moth wings.
* **Oberon Eversummer**: Also known as the Witch-King and the Green Knight, Oberon Eversummer was the reincarnated, mortal form of the Searc's soul that redeemed the Arch-fey and allowed that portion of Goerwyr to rejoin with the god.
* **Oberon Nightflame**: This form looks like a twisted version of Oberon Eversummer but wears a spiked indigo armor and carries the sword known as Nightflame.
* **Mothman**: The Moonlit king takes on a form reminiscent of the mothman cryptid from American folklore. It is more of an in between form of the fiend form and a more typical fey form.

## Relics

* Nightflame
* Eversummer Armor