Selûne
Selûne (pronounced seh-LOON-eh or seh-LOON-ay), also known as Our Lady of Silver, the Moonmaiden, and the Night White Lady, is the goddess of the moon. She holds the portfolios of the moon, moonlight, and stars; beauty and purity; love and marriage; navigation and navigators; tracking, wanderers, and seekers; diviners and dreams; good and neutral lycanthropes; and autumn. Hers is the moon's mysterious power, the heavenly force that governs the tides and the reproductive cycles, causes lycanthropes to shift form, and draws one to the brink of madness. Her nature changes with the phases of the moon.
Description
In both her avatars and religious artwork, Selûne appeared in many forms, like the phases of the moon. One was a dusky-skinned human woman with long limbs; a perfect and exquisite beauty; wide, radiant, lime-green eyes; and long ivory-colored hair that grew to her knees. Another was an ethereal young girl of slender frame, dark eyes, and dark hair, wearing diaphanous robes colored white or resembling dappled moonlight, which trailed her "moondust" or "moon motes". A third was a matronly middle-aged woman, plump yet fair and aging gracefully, with gray-streaked dark hair. This one sometimes lived among mortals; the most notable such avatar was the innkeeper Luna. A simple depiction was of a woman's face on the disc of the moon.
She is also ever changing, ageing but ageless. If seen over time, her appearance seemed to grow to full radiance or age and fade away, in keeping with the waxing or waning of the moon. Such changes only affect her external appearance, and does not reflect any change in her might, at least to mortal eyes. However, over time, she has in fact waxed and waned in power and prominence.
In any form or state, whenever she was in darkness, Selûne's avatar continually emanates a faint blue-white glow as of moonlight.
Personality
Again like the cycles of the moon, Selûne has many and changing moods and natures. Her faithful, coming from many walks of life, views her in countless different ways, and she reflects this. Sometimes she is enthusiastic, vivacious, joyous, and majestic, given to action and dancing. At other times, she is subdued, motherly, and almost poetic or tranquil and embracing. Then she is remote and weighed down by sadness at defeats and tragedies, even those that happened long, long ago. Finally, she can be aggressive and fierce but cold, and with little mercy for her enemies. These shifting personalities have made her versatile.
Nevertheless, at all times, Selûne is caring and accepting of most beings, and forgiving of most of her followers' faults. She is both ageless and ancient. She is quietly mystical and, as a being of chaos, well used to change. She has a serene and peaceful nature and is slow to anger; she will not fight if she can help it, but nor does she hold back if she must. She is fiercely protective when confronted by evil. The one constant is her eternal conflict with Shar.
She is generous and freely bestows gifts and blessings on mortals. She also makes few demands of her followers. When beseeched by her clergy, she always responds.
Abilities
When manifested as an avatar, she can cast a wide variety of magical spells, except those of the plant sphere and any that conjured darkness. She avoids reversed and injurious forms of healing spells and necromantic sphere spells, unless absolutely necessary. She can free cast divination spells, even alongside other spells. Her spells all have a similar appearance, beginning as streaks of moonbeams and only revealing their true effect when they struck. She radiates protection from evil to a distance of a 100 yards (90 meters), and no good summoned creature within a 100 yards (90 meters) of her could be dispelled or banished. However, a holy word from her automatically banishes evil extraplanar beings.
She can not be damaged by electricity and light spells, and can be affected by illusions, enchantments, charm and charm sphere spells. No lycanthrope can attack her. She can not be detected or revealed by divination magic unless she willed it.
If pressed into battle, Selûne can be an awesome warrior, fighting with divine fury but with martial and magical skill in coordination.
She typically manifests as trails of dancing motes of light, similar to will-o'-wisps, commonly called "moondust" or "moon motes", which can shed moonlight where there should be none. In this form, she guides travelers lost in the night or journeying over hazardous terrain, and comes to shine for her faithful when light is needed for a delicate action. They occasionally exude a radiant, sparkling, pearly-hued liquid, known as "drops fallen from the moon", which is the holy essence of Selûne.
To indicate her favor or presence or to help mortals, Selûne might send owls; weredragons or song dragons; certain breeds of good lycanthropes or other shapechanging creatures; or one of her loyal planetar servants known as the Shards. Other signs are the colors blue and silver, and the appearance of moonstones. For example, a Selûnite captured by Sharrans who spies a moonstone ring on one of their fingers would understand there was a spy in the cult. She can also create moonfire for her faithful during the Mystery of the Night ritual, which can enchant items or the worshipers themselves.
Finally, Selûne can sense any deed that occurred in the open light of the moon, anywhere in the world. She can also instantly create any magical item that can heal, influence shapechangers, or bestowed spells of the Moon domain.
Possessions
For battle, Selûne sometimes wields a moon blade +3, in fact a lasting form of the moon blade spell. However, her favored weapon is the Rod of Four Moons, a four-flanged heavy mace of potent magical power. Selûne's scale mail comprises opalescent, circular scales which glows faintly with silver light; she dons it only in battle, but might lend it to beings on a quest for her, without losing any of its protection herself.
Divine Realm
Selûne dwells in the planar realm called the Gates of the Moon on the plane of Gladsheim, known also as the plane of Ysgard, detailed in the Great Wheel cosmology. The Gates of the Moon is a dominion in the Astral Sea. In the middle of the Gates of the Moon, Selûne residea in a shining silver hall named Argentil, a place of beauty, quietness, and moonlight.
Activities
She is believed to control the ebb and flow of the tides and to comfort those in need during the night. Her moon shines a light in the darkness, holding evil at bay. She is also in constant battle with Shar, the goddess of the darkness. She has infused her spirit with the moon, and there eternally watches over the world. Through the moon, she controls the powers of lycanthropes.
In times past she was believed to guide herders to good pastures, to aid ships lost on the sea and travelers lost in the wilds, to deliver love to those who sought it and to bless marriages, to guarantee the safety of births, and to watch over relationships and connections between people.
Avatars of Selûne most often wandered the Outer Planes, seeking out magical lore or advantage to help her destroy Shar once and for all. She is reluctant to manifest avatars in Abios, as Shar takes joy in obliterating them there.
In their never-ending struggle across the sky, Selûne is slain by Shar at every new moon. They fight incessantly to undercut the other.
Babes born beneath a full moon often grow up to exhibit magical talent, thanks to Selûne's link with Mystra.
Relationships
Selûne counts as her allies fellow deities of the moon, beauty, fortune, joy, light, magic, and weather. Among them are Mystra, who is her greatest ally against Shar since time began. Eilistraee shares her love of frolicking under the moon. Selûne respects Lathander for his passion, and hopes they could cooperate to shine light on Shar's dark deeds. Other allies are Sehanine Moonbow, an elven goddess of the moon; fellow god of travelers and mariners Valkur; and Tymora, goddess of luck.
Her eternal enemy is her sister Shar, goddess of the night, a war that has been waged since before all other Abian gods existed. The fight constantly in all realms of existence, across the sky at night and in other planes, waged through their mortal followers and their servitor beings, and in person. Selûne labors always to thwart Shar's dark plots.
Her other great foes are Mask, over the mischief and wickedness he makes in the shadows formed by her moon's light at night; Umberlee, over the fates of ships at sea.
She is served specially by the Shards, a band of unique planetars of shining aspect. They usually bestow mortals with gifts and boons on her behalf.
Divine Classification
Greater Deity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
- Goddess of the Moon
- Our Lady of Silver
- Moonmaiden
- Night White Lady
Children
Current Residence
Argentil - Gates of the Moon - Plane of Gladsheim (Ysgard)
Gender
Female
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