What is a Moonchild?

Introduction to a secret supernatural race

Children of the moon are a very secretive supernatural race. They never considered to make their existance public, even after the vampires came out of the coffin and people learned about shape changers and other creatures. They are respected and revered by other creatures of the night.

They live in the human world and they have the perfect disguise: whatever their skin colour might be, whatever their personal style might be – if you’d see them in bright daylight you would forget them the second you turned away. The memory of their faces would fade like a dream. The only way to really see them and remember them is if you’d have the chance to see them in the light of the moon.

You might wonder what supernatural abilities they have. They can fly, though they prefer not to do it, since they like to keep up their disguise as normal humans.

And they can make themselves light enough to waft a few feet above ground in a warm night breeze, they like to do that at full moon meetings. It’s their ritual dance.

But most importantly: they can control dreams. They can make you dream anything they like, they can make you happy, make you fall in love or drive you mad. This usually only works on humans.

Children of the moon are distant relatives of the Fay and they often have a mischievous sense of humor.

A young Moonchild usually leaves home at the age of 13 to stay with relatives and learn how to adapt to new surroundings, learn new languages and a profession or two.

It is not really needed, since the houses and fortunes are passed on through generations, but children of the moon are curious and like to learn new things.

Children of the moon don’t marry, although couples sometimes stay together for centuries. They don’t need last names since they can feel each other’s lineage, but they use to pick a last name to live amongst humans.

Their second name is always Luna, wether they are male or female. Tristania goes by the name of Tristania Luna Morrigan.

They are a very old race, and their life is controlled by the lunar calender and the tides, and it is the maternal bloodline that defines rank and identity. They live for centuries, but are mortal, most reach an age of 650 – 700 years. Their rank is heritable.

Bloodlines from the old world are called elders, they are more powerful and even though children of the moon do not often gather in groups, elders chair important meetings.

A Moonchild is always full blood, though they can have children with humans, half blood children are never in full possesion of Moonchild powers. They are often overlooked and tend to be sleepwalkers.

There are perks though to being a Moonchild. Loneliness, for a start. Only other supernaturals can see and remember a Moonchild, even in daylight. That’s why some hang out with vampires or werewolfs, like Ruben did in the past.

There are not that many children of the moon, and even though they can sense each other if there’s another Moonchild in town they usually just meet if they gather for the annual meetings.

Another problem is the impossibility to work in a job were interaction with humans is inevitable. That’s why children of the moon love the internet. A lot of them have jobs were they can work from home, since the disguise of being forgettable just applies to real life contact.

But there are some who use this in their favor and choose life as a criminal. No scrapes with the law if witnesses just forget about you. But although children of the moon like mischief, they are usually quite honest.

Moonchildren are also usually healthy, there are not many human illnesses that can affect a Moonchild. They heal fast if they’re injured. But there are some medical conditions like eclipse syndrome, chronic insomnia or unusual variations of the normal Moonchild powers that make special care necessary.

Moonchildren with eclipse syndrome start running a fever every last quarter of the moon. Although the ability to control dreams usually just works with humans, the fever that comes with the syndrome can lead to a loss of the ability to differ between reality and dreams and a general loss of control of this special Moonchild power.

Untreated it may lead to a form of lunacy that has similarities to schizophrenia. It’s one of the conditions that only affects Moonchildren and that can only be treated by Moonchild healers. Healers have the heritable gift of healing power and are trained in herb lore, but without the gift the herbs wouldn’t work.

Author's note

The creation of the Moonchild world dates back to my childhood days, long before the internet, computer games or movies. I used to invent bedtime stories for my younger sister. That’s how it all started, it was an idea of a phantasy world that stayed with me over all the years. I used to have reoccurring dreams about them. The Moonchild realm took shape not only in my imagination but in various drawings and short stories. I never published any of them, but I still have them somewhere in a drawer.

When I started with the dolls they seemed to inhabit the Moonchild realm almost naturally. The invention of their characters merged with the familiar idea of the Moonchild world. Their imagined personalities and their roles in the realm grew and changed the idea of the world over time. Every character adds their own detail to the world, and vice versa.

I am aware that there have been movies or games using the name, and the idea of mythological moon-powered creatures is part of some culture’s folklore. They have nothing to do with my Moonchild realm, so if you came here in search of an answer to the question “What is a Moonchild”, I can only offer you my answer.