GATES OF THE MOON

Celestial Plane

Forgotten Realms

The Gates of the Moon was SELÛNE's divine realm. In the WORLD TREE cosmology model, it was considered a celestial plane attached to the WORLD TREE and in the WORLD AXIS cosmology model, it was considered an astral dominion. One thing that all the cosmological models agreed upon was that the Infinite Staircase was based here.
WORLD TREE MODEL This plane was primarily a seemingly endless ocean of luminous liquid light under an equally boundless night sky full of stars and a moon. The moon waxed and waned but was always present. In the middle of the ocean was an island of stone with SELÛNE magnificent silver acropolis known as Argentil at its crown. Travel to the Gates of the Moon could be accomplished in various ways:
-The usual methods for mortals were by astral projection, plane shifting, or a gate spell. -For those with good connections, the eladrin maintained a permanent portal to ARVANDOR to connect with the other large enclave of their race. -The upper branches of the WORLD TREE reached this plane and could be used to travel to other Celestial planes if negotiations with the guardians of the Tree were successful. -The Infinite Staircase appeared every full moon inside Argentil when fog rose from the water. It was said to connect to every city in every plane and perhaps in every time. Traversing this mysterious conduit was known to be quite hazardous and unpredictable.
The inhabitants' moods shifted dramatically with the phases of the moon.
WORLD AXIS MODEL
The SPELLPLAGUE caused the Gates of the Moon to be cast adrift in the ASTRAL SEA and SELÛNE shared this plane with some allied deities. In addition to the island that held SELÛNE's realm, there were other stony islands that floated in the silver sea and in the sky above as earthmotes. Each was naturally beautiful and contained dwellings from rustic cottages to graceful mansions. SUNE's city of romance, BRIGHTWATER, was built around Argentil's island. The cycle of day and night was observed here, but the moon was usually visible regardless of its phase even during the daylight hours. It was a world of beauty and happiness.
The Infinite Staircase survived the SPELLPLAGUE and connected Argentil to cities across the multiverse, but reportedly most of these allowed travel in only one direction. SELÛNE was known to keep portals to the astral dominions of ARVANDOR, the DEEP WILDS, GREEN FIELDS and a parallel version of the world of men.
GREAT WHEEL MODEL On the first layer of YSGARD, magic was altered such that most wizard spells required a school-specific rune to be inscribed on the material components, and if a spell had no material component, the rune had to be incorporated into the verbal component. A visiting wizard would have to learn the correct runes from the local inhabitants, or come by the knowledge some other way, in order to cast any spell other than strength or melee combat spells (i.e., enlarge, fly, haste, jump, polymorph, stoneskin, strength, etc. all worked as normal without engraved runes). Another quirk of this plane was that any summon monster spell only summoned einheriar. Divination, necromantic, and wild magic spells were enhanced in SELÛNE's realm, but weather-related spells that could cause the moon to be obscured failed utterly. Divine spellcasters did not have the runic restriction, but started to lose their higher level spells if their deity was far removed from YSGARD. It was a misty realm, where the ever-present moon waxed and waned, causing regular tides in the sea surrounding SELÛNE's palatial hall called Argentil as well as shifts in the personality of the inhabitants. The brighter the moon, the more happy, friendly, and stable were the natives. As the moonlight faded, the locals became sullen, withdrawn, and even angry or hopeless. The River OCEANUS was faintly connected with the sea surrounding the realm. The connection was tenuous and its strength varied with the tides, but it was possible for explorers to get directions to the river from @LILLEND's, if they so chose to help.