Moons and Stars of Aurea

Far above the ground, the expanse over Aurea holds two bright stars, and many moons (or planets in their own right, in a couple cases). Herein you'll find relevant information pertaining to each.

Rainbow Moon

A strange moon that appears to change the color each day in a cycle of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and finally Violet before repeating. Due to some magical interference by a Monday hating archmage, when the moon would normally be Red, there is a good chance you will see it as one of the other colors at random. So far, anyone who visits the surface of this moon has had their equipment change to match the current color (note that even if you see it as a different color, on red days your stuff turns red.)

Mun

The Mun is a large rocky body similar in appearance to Earth's Moon but smaller. Its rocky, highly reflective surface has occasional marking from crashed vessels of pioneering small green idiots. Most seem to have died either from crashing into the surface, or while exploring it. Several, natural arcs are scattered across the surface of the Mun along with a mysterious rectangular slab near the north pole in a deep crater. Some who've gazed upon it swore it was full of stars. There are rumors the Mun is native to a void adapted species of Kraken.

Animex

When viewed from outside of the moon's atmosphere, the viewer sees whatsoever they most desire to see. This is an illusion effect (DC 35 will to disbelieve). In fact, the moon is an ocean of intelligent and malevolent gleaming silvery metal. The metal freezes in extreme cold, but in liquid form can make itself dense enough to walk on or take any varied appearance. It attracts sentient creatures with its illusionary lure to feed off of their psychic energy by subjecting them to a dizzying variety of simulations calculated to illicit the greatest emotional reactions.

Tel’Ung

It is a large moon that can been seen half the year. It has a noticeable ice cap on the northern side of the planet and a reddish hue to the terrain. It has vast deserts with some lakes scattered about the moon. The lakes are sulfuric and randomly have geysers blast out from their depths. The geysers are caused by the volcanic activity below the surface. A few small forests also dot the planet. The few small lifeforms on the surface seem to not be bothered by the otherwise intolerable sulfuric atmosphere. If if didn't orbit Aurea, it would be a wondrous planet all on it's own.

Alan 13b

Orbiting further than any other known moon is a dim hard to see moon. Alan 13b was only discovered because of its most peculiar feature. In addition to a strong magnetic field (Which is obscured by those of other moons and thus virtually undetectable from Aurea), it produces a strong arcano-magnetic field. Discovered by Alan Riverfoot accidentally when he was conducting experiments. A wand dropped into a basin of water and it happened to align on a specific axis, returning to the same alignment even when disturbed or the basin was moved or rotated. By pure good fortune this happened while the moon was low on the horizon, allowing the effect to be observed without competing with the wand's buoyancy. Alan was a smart enough halfling to notice the effect in the first place, and then devise a inertial navigation system that would lead to the pull's origin. Once he knew where to look, it became a relatively simple matter of focusing a telescope at the right spot with the right atmospheric conditions and magical enhancements, and the discovery was made, allowing him to claim the right to name it after himself.
This dense body has roughly half normal gravity and almost no breathable atmosphere.This renders non-magical flight almost impossible and sounds are disturbingly muffled. The dry surface is similar in texture to clay and can readily be sculpted into air tight structures. The moon's crust is dense enough that no natural caves exist. It has a solid mantle with no tectonic activity, but a liquid core, producing a strong magnetic field that protects anyone on the surface from cosmic radiation. Peoples transported to the surface of Alan 13b frequently suffer from pressurization sickness unless they are accustomed to such phenomenon.

Manus-Calvaria

A large moon often simply refereed to as The Hand and Skull, one half light blue and one half dark blue, cut straight down the middle. Its sobriquet is taken from the geological features. On one side is a massive crater in the shape of an open hand print. On the other side, a mountainous region the shape of a skull. Manus-Calvaria, was not originally a moon - instead it was once two pieces of two separate planes, Axis and The Boneyard. Those denizens who live here from their original planes tend to leave each other in peace.
On the Axis side lives worshipers of Irori, the god of self perfection and balance. On the Boneyard side lays worshipers of Groetus, the god of the end of everything. Both sides lost connection with their home planes when the pieces merged during an incident involving one of the deities of the Dark Tapestry, Hastur, thousands of years ago. However despite losing their connections, these two groups of devotees have not lost faith in the normal meaning of the phrase. Instead, they live their lives in the ways of tradition - carrying on their ways of life through passed down thoughts and ideals. Each successive generation changing and adapting their codes to what matters most in that time.
The faithful of Irori still strive for greatness, both in mental and physical perfection, but that does not define their lives. In a similar vein, the worshipers of Groetus do not fall to the Chaos and Insanity of endlessly pondering the end times, instead finding comfort that an end will happen and living their lives for themselves until that it arrives. The moon it seems, fluctuates with the lives of its inhabitants. The sides darkening or brightening depending on the cultures that live there.

Asalia

A rogue moon that has traveled close enough to Aurea to be seen at night. It's trajectory suggests that it will eventually leave the orbit of Aurea. In its atmosphere you can see large auroras of dancing yellow lights. The actual surface of the planet is quite barren with its dominant features being large craters and hills. With enough searching, you can find small motes of yellow light traversing the moon's surface. They are curious and will follow anyone they encounter. If you study these motes long enough you will see when they meet another they display a brilliant display of blinking light, before one absorbs the other.

Derleth Sea

The Derleth Sea is a large gas giant which would be remarkable on its own, hosting lifeforms and supposed treasure within. But its rings of ice and rocks, named Parhelion by those that live there, is the real jewel. A colony of Yaddithians use the rings as their home to both farm and hunting grounds. The ice in the rings reflects sun light so strongly that the actual planet is often difficult to see in its shadow. Tales of outer dragons, Oma, and Shantak abound, along with a legend of a secret hidden incubating Yarthoon egg hidden in the planet's core.

Inneal

This black, metallic moon is hard to spot in the night, a small dark patch of slighter darker inky sky. It's also the answer to why Aurea continues to function. The truth is that Aurea is a broken world, cracked, ruined. Those poor souls who have seen it from one of the moons can see why. A massive hole has been torn in the crust. Inneal generates a field, one that is currently keeping the planets structure stable, neither collapsing in on itself nor splitting into ever small sections. Whatever else Inneal can do is a mystery, even to the few that know this function. But for now, its presence makes sure there is an Aurea left to live on.

Munuvchez

This mostly barren moon with a diameter of less than 4 miles is inhabited by mice, rats, a small number of similar creatures like Ratfolk, and nothing else. It's also made entirely of cheese. Somehow any object dropped on the surface and left alone for a day turn into regular cheese of a randomly chosen variety over time. Secretly this is the work of a wish gone wrong, creating a lesser artifact that is presently the center of this small moon. The closer you get to the center of the cheesy mass, the easier and faster things become part of it. Touching the artifact, it is said, can even cause a creature to spontaneously 'cheesify'. Of course no one has ever been reported to have seen what the artifact is, or even confirmed its existence.

Asmodia

There are many ways into this world, but the ways out are much rarer. A gnarled knot of space the size of a moon and a mire from which few escape easily. This moon is frequently arrived on by mishap, whether planar or teleportation but often simply slipping through the walls of reality. Sometimes simply because creatures that cannot be safely housed in normal space must still be contained. A labyrinth of eerie, inconsistent, and strange environments. Entire sections may appear to all the senses to be a forest, and instead only be dead wood and sheet leaves. Fruits that are succulent and fragrant, only simple paste and paper. Entire regions may have strange exits and entrances interweaving between them without any respect paid to space, and a flat map would be utterly useless much like a compass.
Its magical nature is as chaotic as its arrangement and casters find all their spells subject to random metamagic and wild magic effects. Some regions only support particular types of magic and block all others. To the monsters trapped there, the random magic effects are commonplace and they have adapted to using such to their advantage while hunting.

Vertros

This bronze colored moon is of a fairly decent size, being quite large. The gravity though repels you away from its outside, except for an area around a hole into the side of the moon. The hole leads to the inside, where there is two flat regions opposed to each other. Weird gravity keeps the inhabitants of the moon grounded on either side, except for a handful of crossing over points. There is a bridge in the center that can be climbed to the other side. There are two points off center on either side of the bridge where one can jump from the mountain located there to fall to the other side. A miniature sun orbits near the bridge providing day and night to the inhabitants. Strangely, although it creates daylight, the sun is not hot. Only being warm enough to keep the temperature inside comfortable.

Celstan

Formed from one giant crystal, this moon is pitted and cratered. The crystal itself blocks magic, but there are still those who make their home amongst the jagged peaks, preferring the lack of magic to the excess on the other planets or moons. Although visitors are welcome, they're rarely allowed to leave. Both by the locals, and the lack of magical assistance. Gravity on Celstan is high, making it hard for those not used to it to move about. The older inhabitants seem to be slowly mutating to forms more capable of survival on the moon's surface.

Al-Gorath

The Red Moon is a strange phenomenon to astrologers who always questioned why it was bright red. Once visitors arrived on its surface though they quickly realized why, blood. The whole of the moon's surface, its clouds, mountains, even grass is soaked with dried blood. It's geography suggests though that it in fact is merely a small section of a larger planet that had been broken off at some point. There are landmarks like mountains and plateaus, and breathable air. The gravity of Al-Gorath is extremely heavy though.

Ahroonguard

Generally considered a lesser moon of Aurea, this moon is mostly desolate except for a few craters having slowly swirling dust storms. The moon is known only for its strange effects on iron, having a strong magnetic pull. Underneath the dust storms, massive spinning fans conceal the only remaining entrances to the interior of the structure. The whole moon is actually a decommissioned death star type weapon. No way remains to actually use it for it's intended purpose, but the darkness inside is still haunted by the remains of the crew. Ghosts, a ghoul monarchy, and robotic servitors still move about (the robots have long since malfunctioned and now repair themselves with parts from the vessel itself. Anything new is seen as a threat and they hunt it down to destroy). Of the eight sectors, one still remains sealed and semi-functional enough to maintain life. A simple nomadic tribe of Ratfolk exists within, living off hunting fungal beasts and having evolved to lose their Rodent Empathy and Tinker traits for the alternate racial options of Unnatural and Skulk.

Puellaritate

This planet's water is a weird composition. It remains drinkable, however touching the water creates a copy of those who touch it. The ocean is alive and surrounds one land with thick gross slimes that are not acidic. The rain on Puellaritate is acidic though and one must make seek shelter or suffer from blisters and burns. The trees are massive blue fir trees, and most of the planet seems to team with life when visited. The feeling one has of being watched does not seem to go away here. At first glance you will only seem to find wild boar and small game, however with more exploration you will find small green dragons that flee when seen on the surface. There is a small cave on the only land mass that leads to a dragon civilization. these dreagons are ruled by a solar dragon (Solaris) and their twin lunar dragon (La Lesion). These two bicker constantly about how to rule the other dragons, even going so far as to make a public show of it. The underground city is special though as it has a massive skylight which allows for them to look out and light to come in. Symbols of The Watcher are everywhere and that is the god they worship.

Bredbeddle

One of the moons, seen through a telescope it is best described as a green ball of writhing vines. Not much is known about the moon but the air there is breathable and it is full of plants. Its possible there might be a city on the moon but so far no visitor has been able to find one other than some ruins. The green moon has a connection to Mt. Gwalchmei on Aurea. It is said the mountain holds the knight who created the moon from cutting off the head of the green knight. Every month the moon seems like it hovers over the mountain, looming and angry. A circle of druids in the past, used to be able to visit the moon, but their circle is now destroyed and corrupted.

Type

Expanse