Arilyn Moonblade

Arilyn Moonblade is a half-elven assassin from the Forgotten Realms fantasy world, created by author Elaine Cunningham and introduced in the Songs and Swords series of novels.

Appearance
Like most half-elves, her ears are pointed and she has retained her youthful appearance and vitality even into middle age. Her eyes are blue, flecked with gold, and she has a more human build than elvish, though her skin is still quite fair. She has black hair and a hint of blue beneath her skin and generally looks more like an elf rather than a half-elf. In 3.5 Edition Dungeons & Dragons game terms, Arilyn is rated as a 1st-level rogue/4th-level fighter/5th-level harper agent.

History
Arilyn was raised in the elven city of Evereska, but was never really accepted by the community due to her half-elven nature. When she was fifteen years old, her mother was killed by a pair of common street thugs. From that time on, she carried her mother's sword, a moonblade from which she has adopted her surname. For the next decade or so, she studied swordsmanship under the tutelage of one of the teachers for the academy in the city. Afterwards, when she left, she became an assassin for the Harpers, though she herself did not join the organization until later. She was a Harper for a while, but left them after undertaking a rescue mission for Isabeau Thionne, a noblewoman from Tethyr, whom she considered to be not worth rescuing.

Arilyn's moonblade is a hereditary elven sword, which has many different powers. Perhaps the most notable is that it tries to kill any unsuitable wielder who tries to hold the sword. It has nine different symbols on the blade, each representing a different power given to it by one of the wielders. The moonstone in the hilt enables each successive wielder to grant a power to the sword over a period of time. The different powers include: An abnormally fast swing to the sword, protecting the holder from fire, glowing blue to warn of close danger, silent warnings of danger, dreams warning of danger, projecting illusions to disguise the wielder, a portal between Faerûn and Evermeet known as an elfgate, and the ability to call forth the shadows of those who previously held the sword, or the wielder's own shadow. Arilyn's mark grants the blade the ability to warn her of when the wild elves of the Wealdath have need of a hero's sword by glowing green. She uses the two-handed style of wielding the sword in honor of her deceased mother.

Relationships
Arilyn's mother was Princess Amnestria of Evermeet, and her father Bran Skorlskun, a human ranger. Amnestria's power that was added to the sword was the elfgate, which was judged extremely dangerous should word of it ever escape, so the moonstone was removed from the hilt and replaced with a topaz, and Bran took the moonstone with him, away from Amnestria, who moved to Evereska under the name Z'beryl. As mentioned, Amnestria was killed by a pair of thugs. Bran continued to wander Faerun until in the novel Elfshadow, he returned to Arilyn in the city of Waterdeep, where the moonstone and the moonblade were reunited. He has maintained sporadic contact with her ever since.

Arilyn meanwhile became romantically involved with the noble Danilo Thann, whom she travelled with and later married. Arilyn had kept Danilo at a distance for some time, until she managed to make peace with her past, her elven side and family, and with herself, finally able to accept Danilo's honest affection and love for her. Along the way she had a brief, but passionate, relationship with the wood elf chieftain Foxfire while helping defend his tribe in Tethyr in the novel Silver Shadows.

Arilyn has established links with her family on Evermeet, at first through the young and liberal Prince Lamruil and later with Queen Amlaruil, when Arilyn proved herself by thwarting the machinations of Kymil Nimesin to bring about the end of Moonflower rule on the Island of Elves. Arilyn herself was unexpectedly assisted in this by the ambiguous Waterdhavian crime lord Elaith Craulnober, who is fond of her.

It is in the novel Dream Spheres that Arilyn and Danilo finally formalize their relationship, overcoming their past issues and the opposition of his formidable mother, who disapproves of her son's half elven love, an opposition hinting at secrets in the family.