Selûne

The Moonmaiden Selûne (a.k.a. Our Lady of Silver, The Night White Lady, She Who Guides)

Selûne, 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, stars, navigation, navigators, wanderers, questers, seekers, and non-evil lycanthropes.
In the time of ancient Netheril, when she was a greater goddess, she held 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 world's tides and a mother's reproductive cycles, causes lycanthropes to shift form, and draws one to the brink of madness, and back again. Her nature, appearance, and mood all changes in turn with the phases of the moon.
Her name is shared by the moon of Altoa, Selûne; it is unknown if the moon was named for the goddess or the goddess for the moon. Regardless, most Altoan dwellers believes the moon to be the goddess herself watching over the world and the lights that trailed behind it to be her tears, from both joy and sorrow.
The moon Selûne is followed in the sky by the Tears of Selûne , a constellation of very small celestial bodies that was often identified as composed of nine stars, but which in reality consisted of hundreds of asteroids a fact only very few scholars and astrologists has uncovered.
An incalculably ancient deity, Selûne approaches existence with the placid calm of dappled moonlight. Like the moon itself, the quietly mystical Lady of Silver has many faces. At times, she seems distant, cloaked in the sadness of past defeats and tragedies. At others, she dances joyfully, her lithe form glowing with majestic radiance. A chaotic being well accustomed to change.
Her legendary weapon is called The Rod of Four Moons (Heavy Mace)

Divine Domains

Major: Knowledge & Life Minor: Moon, Stars, Navigation, Questers, Stars & Wanderers

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Her holy symbol is a bright pair of eyes of a darkly beautiful human woman, encircled by seven silver stars.

Tenets of Faith

Selûne and her teachings of compassion and guidance are appealing to all folk who lives their lives by the moonlit night sky, and hence her faithful are and were a very diverse group. She is followed by those who were lost and those who are questing. Sailors and navigators, who travels by the stars, often prays to the Night White Lady to protect them from the perils of the depths. Others who labors by night at honest work prays to her for similar reasons. Some seeks her for protection in the dark or from the dark forces of Shar. Lycanthropes, whether those of good heart, neutrality, or a few who relishes their condition, honours the Moonmaiden as the mistress of their nature. Astrologers, diviners, fortune-tellers, mystics, and those just curious about the future acknowledges her as a ruler of fate. Female spell casters revers her, particularly those born during a full moon or who has an interest in divination, and a few dedicated themselves to her. She is also worshiped by illusionists, some sages, and good thieves. In particular, she's been worshiped by human women. They look to Selûne for guidance, courage, and strength, while couples hoped she would bless them with children when the time was right. The church's ideology of female empowerment has made her rise in popularity in resent times. Clerics in her faith wander Altoa in search of potential worshipers, always keeping an eye out for those afflicted by lycanthropy or madness. Those with the capability to heal sufferers do so; others accompany them to the nearest temple of Selûne, where they are cared for by senior clerics. Wanderers of the church also subtly spread an ideology of female empowerment entwined with Selunites homilies, which is growing popular among alewives, laundresses, seamstresses, and servants. Those clerics who remain bound to temples (usually but not always due to age) dispense healing, earn coin for the church by telling fortunes from star charts, and minister to residents of the sanatoriums and asylums that frequently abut Selunites temples. Both types of clerics unite when evil lycanthropes threaten the community, doing everything within their power to root out the magical affliction and cure or destroy it. The appearance of Selune’s temples vary as much as her clerics, from small shrines in the wilderness to huge open-air or skylit buildings the size of great mansions. Reflecting ponds, small gardens, and feminine zymology dominate Selunite architecture. Everybody under the goddess moon are welcome, it is an all-inclusive faith who believes in converting/change and that people are all in all different but all the same. Moonstones are believed to be sacred to Selûne by her followers. Some folk believes silver to be Selûne's hardened tears

Holidays

The Feast of The Moon,or Moonfest, is an annual festival, occurring between the final night of Uktar (November) and the first day of Nightal (December)l. It was the last great festival of the calendar year. The day traditionally marks the onset of winter. It is also a time to celebrate and honour the ancestors and the respected dead. On this day, folk blesses their ancestors' graves and performed the Ritual of Remembrance. And pay homage to the Moonmaiden.

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

In her avatars and her religious artwork, Selûne appears in many forms, like the phases of the moon. One was a dusky-skinned human woman with long limbs; perfect and exquisite beauty; wide, radiant, lime-green eyes; and long, ivory-hued hair that fell 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 of the goddess was of a woman's face on the disc of the moon. She was also ever changing, ageing but ageless. If watched over time, her appearance seemed to grow to full radiance or to age and fade away, in keeping with the waxing or waning of the moon. Such changes only affected her external appearance and did not reflect any change in might, at least to mortal eyes. But, over time, she did indeed wax and wane in power and prominence. In any form or state, whenever she was in darkness, Selûne's avatar continually emanated a faint blue-white glow like moonlight.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Relationships: Selûne can be count on for at least one constant--her ceaseless war against her arch nemesis Shar . Together the two created Altoa and infused it with life, and ever since, they have battled over the fate of their creation. Her other great foe is the god Mask , for the mischief and wickedness he makes in the shadows formed by her moon's light at night. Selûne counts as her allies fellow deities of the moon, beauty, fortune, joy, light, magic, and weather. Among them are the first Mystra and the second Mystra, who has been her greatest ally against Shar. Lliira , meanwhile, shares her love of frolicking under the moon. Selûne respects Lathander for his passion, and hopes they can cooperate to shine light on Shar 's dark deeds.

Religious Views

Dogma: "Let all on whom Selune’s light falls be welcome if they desire. As the silver moon waxes and wanes, so too does life. Trust in Selune’s radiance, and know that all love alive under her light shall know her blessing. Turn to the moon, and she will be your true guide. Promote acceptance and tolerance. See all other beings as equals. Aid fellow Selunites as if they were your dearest friends."