Seluné/Shar (sey-loon-UH, sh-ARR)

Summary

Also known as the Twins, Seluné/Shar is a "duogenous" celestial-- a goddess whose two aspects are equally powerful and both separate and the same. Technically one being, her mind is twofold: Seluné, the goddess of the moon, reflection, and light, and Shar, the goddess of darkness. Her domain is shared with Pelor, and she is considered his dark reflection. She is deeply connected with elven culture, especially to Wood Elf and Moon Elf societies, and considered the patron of all elves.
It is said that Seluné/Shar and her partner Pelor were brought into being by Istus's wish-command to light the sky for the first living creatures of Talonn, before the rest of the celestials (with the exception of Sune) came into being. The goddess/es appear as two very dark-skinned women with long, black hair. Seluné's face is so bright it cannot be seen and wears a robe of silver and white, and Shar's face is obscured by impenetrable darkness and wears black. Since the age of Silver, her presence has faded significantly from the The Material Plane, as she has secluded herself in The Shadowfell.
Seluné/Shar's conduit, the Half Moon, has not held an official rank since the age of Crystal. It is unknown how one comes into the grace of the Twins, but the current Half Moon is Soa Mahaz.

Historical Basis

The Silver-age catastrophe that sundered Seluné/Shar is still unclear to historians. It is known that the proto-elven civilization of Queen Taladriel vas Holeven was obliterated and its people scattered as refugees at sea. Some evidence suggests that the disaster was flood, but bizarre record from the time also imply that the flood was accompanied by some kind of invasion, but the name of the invaders is untranslatable by modern scholars and has caused many physical altercations at universities. Either way, during this disaster, the clergy of Seluné/Shar began to feud, sometimes ending in mass bloodshed.
Most recently, Abiyr Arsolum, Alden Blackwell, Katarine de Masque, Bill Stoneheaver, Gneiss, and Soa Mahaz discovered the secrets of the cursed The Archipelago of Kos, which was doomed by the goddess's power and abandoned in a hellish limbo between life and death. Seluné/Shar's priestesses Io and Ianthe are fantastic examples of the rift between the clergies. Temple mosaics they found on the islands suggest that strange creatures chased the proto-elves from their home.
The horrific nature of Lunar Madness suggests a level of aggression in the Twins that has never before been recorded. Soa Mahaz's contact with the goddess revealed that she regrets and mourns her decision, something very rarely admitted by a celestial.

Spread

The clergy of Seluné and Shar have been split since the age of Silver, when an unknown catastrophe sundered ancient proto-elven civilization and the followers of Shar went underground. The priesthood of Seluné is deeply secluded and ritualistic, and hedge worship of the goddess is common because of their inaccessibility. Meanwhile, worship of Shar is deeply entwined with the treachery of Lolth, who has largely co-opted the goddess's worship by stealing her image. Many devoted priestesses of Shar become driders, effectively selling their souls to Lolth unknowingly, and as a result the leadership of Shar's cult has grown cruel and depraved.

In Literature

The twins are often referenced as celestial bodies in poetry by name, as a shorthand for the night sky or the moon. "Seluné's gaze" is a phrase that means "moonlight", and the "voice of Shar" is shorthand for absolute silence.

In Art

Seluné is a very popular subject in art, often in an ensemble or in tandem with Pelor. Shar is depicted ad nauseum in the Underdark, in spider, celestial, and elven form, to the point where it is said that "you can walk to any street corner and find the goddess upon you".