Selûne

Selûne (pronounced seh-LOON-eh  or seh-LOON-ay ), also known as Our Lady of Silver, the Moonmaiden, and the Night White Lady, was the goddess of the moon in the Faerûnian pantheon. In the 14th and 15th centuries DR, she held the portfolios of the moon, stars, navigation, navigators, wanderers, questers, seekers, and non-evil lycanthropes. In the time of the ancient empire of 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 was the moon's mysterious power, the heavenly force that governed the world's tides and a mother's reproductive cycles, caused lycanthropes to shift form, and drew one to the brink of madness. Her nature, appearance, and mood were said to change with the phases of the moon. She was also known as Bright Nydra in the Farsea Marshes; as Elah among the Bedine of Anauroch; and as Lucha, called She Who Guides, in the Shining Lands, where she was part of the Adama. Her name was shared by the moon of Toril, Selûne; it was unknown if the moon was named for the goddess or the goddess for the moon. Regardless, most Faerûnian humans believed the moon to be the goddess herself watching over the world. They also believed the lights that trailed behind the moon to be her tears, from both joy and sorrow.

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-hued 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 of the goddess was of a woman's face on the disc of the moon.

She was also ever changing, ageing but ageless. If seen 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 her 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 as of moonlight.

Personality
Again like the cycles of the moon, Selûne had many and changing moods and natures. Her faithful, coming from many walks of life, viewed her in countless different ways, and she reflected this. Sometimes she was enthusiastic, vivacious, joyous, and majestic, given to action and dancing. At other times, she was subdued, motherly, and almost poetic or tranquil and embracing. Then she was remote and weighed down by sadness at defeats and tragedies, even those that happened long, long ago. Finally, she could be aggressive and fierce but cold, and with little mercy for her enemies. These shifting personalities made her versatile. Nevertheless, she was viewed as a calm power circa 1489 DR.

Nevertheless, at all times, Selûne was caring and accepting of most beings, and forgiving of most of her followers' faults. She was both ageless and ancient. She was quietly mystical and, as a being of chaos, well used to change. She had a serene and peaceful nature and was slow to anger; she would not fight if she could help it, but nor did she hold back if she must. She was fiercely protective when confronted by evil. The one constant was her eternal conflict with Shar.

She was generous and freely bestowed gifts and blessings on mortals. She also made few demands of her followers. When beseeched by her clergy, she always responded.

Abilities
When manifested as an avatar, she could cast a wide variety of magical spells, except those of the plant sphere and any that conjured darkness. She would avoid reversed and injurious forms of healing spells and necromantic sphere spells, unless absolutely necessary. She could freely cast divination spells, even alongside other spells. Her spells all had a similar appearance, beginning as streaks of moonbeams and only revealing their true effect when they struck. She radiated protection from evil to a distance of a 100 yards (90 meters), and no good summoned creature within this range could be dispelled or banished. However, a holy word from her automatically banished evil extraplanar beings.

She could not be damaged by electricity and light spells, and could be affected by illusions, enchantments, charm and charm sphere spells. No lycanthrope could attack her. She could not be detected or revealed by divination magic unless she willed it.

If pressed into battle, Selûne was an awesome warrior, fighting with divine fury but with martial and magical skill in coordination.

She typically manifested as trails of dancing motes of light, similar to will-o'-wisps, commonly called "moondust" or "moon motes", which could shed moonlight where there should be none. In this form, she guided travelers lost in the night or journeying over hazardous terrain, and came to shine for her faithful when light was needed for a delicate action. They occasionally exuded a radiant, sparkling, pearly-hued liquid, known as "drops fallen from the moon", which was 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 were the colors blue and silver, and the appearance of moonstones. For example, a Selûnite captured by Sharrans who spied a moonstone ring on one of their fingers would understand there was a spy in the cult. She would also create moonfire for her faithful during a ritual, which could enchant items or the worshipers themselves.

Finally, Selûne could sense any deed that occurred in the open light of the moon, anywhere in the world. She could also instantly create any magical item that could heal, influence shapechangers, or bestowed spells of the Moon domain.

Possessions
For battle, Selûne sometimes wielded a moon blade +3, in fact a lasting form of the moon blade spell. However, her favored weapon was the Rod of Four Moons, a four-flanged heavy mace of potent magical power. Selûne's scale mail comprised opalescent, circular scales which glowed faintly with silver light; she donned it only in battle, but might lend it to beings on a quest for her, without losing any of its protection herself.

Activities
She was believed to control the ebb and flow of the tides and to comfort those in need during the night. Her moon shined a light in the darkness, holding evil at bay. She was also in constant battle with Shar, the goddess of the darkness. She had infused her spirit with the moon, and there eternally watched over the world. Through the moon, she controlled the powers of lycanthropes. Lycanthropy was often known by the euphemism "Selûne's Kiss"; one so touched was said to be "kissed by Selûne".

In the time of Netheril, and in the Shining Lands under the guise of Lucha, 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. In Netheril, Selûne blessed all things beautiful purely for the sake of their beauty, and granted visions to people who desired them for good purposes.

Avatars of Selûne most often wandered the Outer Planes, seeking out magical lore or an advantage to help her destroy Shar once and for all. She was reluctant to manifest avatars in Faerûn, as Shar took joy in obliterating them there.

In their never-ending struggle across the sky, Selûne was slain by Shar at every new moon. They fought incessantly to undercut the other.

Babes born beneath a full moon often grew up to exhibit magical talent, thanks to Selûne's link with Mystra.

Creation
Selûne was believed to be one of the oldest deities known in Faerûn. Many legends were told about her, the central one being that of her conflict with her sister Shar at the beginning of all things. It was repeated in so many religions in Faerûn it was widely held to be true.

According to one of the most ancient myths of the creation of the world and the heavens, after the universe and its crystal sphere were created by Lord Ao, there was naught but the primordial essence, the protoplasmic raw stuff of existence. Described as chaos and timeless nothingness, the sphere was filled with no more than dim misty shadows, neither light nor dark, for such things had not yet separated. (All that moved here were the shadevari, the thirteen lords of shadow, whose origin, whether from elsewhere or from the shadow itself, is unknown. ) In time, Selûne coalesced from the primordial essence, alongside her twin sister, Shar. The goddesses were beautiful, identical but polar opposites, silver-haired and raven-haired, one representing the light, the other the dark in the manner of yin and yang. Yet they so close they saw themselves as one being, known later as the Two-Faced Goddess or the Sisters-Who-Were-One. They complemented each other and brought order out of the chaos.

Together, they created Abeir-Toril and the other heavenly bodies from the cosmic ether and infused these areas with life. In the process, they formed the goddess Chauntea (at that time, the embodiment of all matter in Realmspace, later only of the world of Abeir-Toril), whom they worked with to bless the worlds with life.. This universe was illuminated by the cool radiant face of Selûne and darkened by the hair and welcoming embrace of Shar. However, there was no fire or heat on any of these bodies. Desiring to nurture life on the worlds that formed her body and limbs, Chauntea asked the Two-Faced Goddess for warmth. Then, for the first time, Selûne and Shar were divided, being of two minds on whether they should let there be more life on the worlds.

The War of Light and Darkness
The two goddesses then fought over the fate of their creations. From the residues of these struggles emerged the original deities of magic, war, disease, murder, death, and others. Seizing an advantage, Selûne reached out of the universe altogether and into a plane of fire and, though it burned her painfully, brought forth a fragment of ever-living flame. She ignited a heavenly body—the Sun—in order to give warmth to Chauntea.

This greatly enraged Shar; she renewed her assault on her injured sister and began to blot out all light and warmth in the universe, or the lights of Selûne, gravely weakening her. Desperate to protect the early life, Selûne tore out some of her own divine essence, though it nearly killed her, and hurled it at her sister. Selûne's essence tore through Shar, bonding with some of Shar's essence and pulling it loose. This magical energy combined to form the goddess Mystryl, the original goddess of magic. Although Mystryl was composed of both light and dark magic, she initially sided with Selûne, her first mother, giving her the upper hand. Mystryl balanced the conflict and mediated an uneasy truce. Shar was cast into her darkness for centuries, enabling light and warmth to bathe Toril and the other worlds.

However, the battle had left Selûne deeply wounded, and thereafter her power would wax and wane with the ages, though she would gain strength from alliances with her daughters and sons, as well as interloper deities from other planes. Meanwhile, Shar, who'd retained much of her might, once again grew strong, and was aided by the shadevari. Consumed with bitterness and loneliness, she vowed to have revenge and lurked in the darkness until her time to strike. The war between the sisters would go on forever more, but while they did, life struggled and flourished on the worlds, watched over by Chauntea.

The Dawn War
When the primordials began to attack the newly born worlds of Realmspace, Shar and Selûne both set aside their differences temporarily and moved to defend those worlds against the primordial threat. Other gods were born from the conflict or were summoned from other universes, to aid the native gods in their struggles against the primordials and their servants. This conflict was later known as the Dawn War.

In the Time of Netheril
Selûne was worshiped by the Netherese in the ancient empire of Netheril, where she was known as part of the Netherese pantheon, alongside Shar, Mystryl, Jannath (later known as Chauntea), Amaunator, Jergal, Kozah, Moander, Targus, and Tyche. A temple dedicated to Selûne, the Abbey of the Moon was established in −3847 DR.

In the Year of Sundered Webs, −339 DR, Karsus's Folly triggered the death of Mystryl and caused the cataclysmic Fall of Netheril. The city of Opus was believed to have escaped the destruction visited upon the other Netherese enclaves. It wasn't clear how this happened, but some sources told that Selûne herself saved the city. She did indeed, spiriting the entire city and its citizens into the Gates of the Moon, where it was named Selûnarra.

The Dawn Cataclysm
During the divine conflict known as the Dawn Cataclysm, Tyche, the goddess of luck, was covertly corrupted by Moander, the god of decay, whilst on her travels. She returned to her realm and found Selûne, a dear friend, had come to speak with her, as well as the god of the dawn Lathander, Tyche's ex-lover and instigator of the Dawn Cataclysm, and the god of mages, Azuth, who'd come to mediate. However, seeing the rot within Tyche, Selûne began to weep great tears and swiftly struck her with a bolt of light intended to purify her. However, Tyche instead split down the middle, producing first Tymora, the goddess of good luck, and then Beshaba, goddess of bad luck. The twins immediately fell to fighting and were separated only by Selûne, Lathander, and Azuth. In Tymora, Selûne had saved all that was good and pure in Tyche.

Afterward, Selûne grieved the death of Tyche, her close friend and ally. In her weeping, she shed one crystalline tear, which fell as a meteorite to ground in the land of Thar. It became a great and sacred artifact, called the Tear of Selûne.

Modern History
Selûne was an independent deity for millennia, but her might waned and in time she came to serve Sune, goddess of love, for several centuries.

During the Time of Troubles in the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, Selûne battled against Shar in the streets of Waterdeep. Following the Godswar of 1358 DR, Selûne and Sune parted on good terms and Selûne was free to do as she willed again.

Since then, she set out on her own once more, making new alliances in her unending war against Shar, such as with the new Mystra. With her growing faith, theologians of the 1360s DR predicted Selûne would once again be elevated among the gods, possibly within their own lifetimes.

Around 1367 DR, there were frequent stories of people sighting Selûne gliding above the waters of the Moonsea. Meanwhile, sailors defending the goddess's name in tavern brawls saw their blades glow softly with a pale violent light. Her worship flourished in Thentia.

When the city of Zhentil Keep in the Moonsea lands was ruined by the mad god Cyric's actions in the Year of the Banner, 1368 DR, the sacred Tear of Selûne and the Seekers who found it were reported to have been in the city at the time. It was theorized by some theologians that Selûne had engineered this, to ensure the Tear was present during the terrible events, but, if true, her reasons were unknown.

The Spellplague happened in the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR. Selûne helped Kepeshkmolik Thymara to aid the other dragonborn survivors from Tymanchebar. She also entrusted Thymara with Nanna-Sin's holy weapon, the Black Axe of the Moon's Champion. When Thymara asked Selûne what she was expecting in return for her help, Selûne only answered that she wanted the dragonborn to thrive on Toril. Thanks to Selûne's help, the dragonborn survivors were able to gather and found the city-citadel of Djerad Thymar.

After the Spellplague, Selûne became a popular deity across Faerûn, as her priesthood made pilgrimages to every corner of the continent, wanting to bring hope to people in those desperate times.

Divine Realm
Selûne dwelled in a planar realm called the Gates of the Moon. Under the Great Wheel cosmology, her realm stood on the plane of Ysgard, also called Gladsheim. Under the subsequent World Tree cosmology, the Gates of the Moon was considered its own plane. Under the World Axis cosmology, the Gates of the Moon was a dominion in the Astral Sea. In the middle of the Gates of the Moon, Selûne resided in a shining silver hall named Argentil, a place of beauty, quietness, and moonlight.

Relationships
Selûne counted as her allies fellow deities of the moon, beauty, fortune, joy, light, magic, and weather. Among them were the first Mystra and the second Mystra, who was her greatest ally against Shar since 1358 DR. Eilistraee and Lliira, meanwhile, shared her love of frolicking under the moon. Even after parting ways, Selûne continued to have fully cooperative and amiable relationships with Sune and Lliira both. Selûne respected Lathander for his passion, and hoped they could cooperate to shine light on Shar's dark deeds. Other allies were Sehanine Moonbow, an elven goddess of the moon, whom she worked closely with; fellow gods of travelers and mariners Shaundakul and Valkur; the goddesses of nature Chauntea and Eldath; and Tymora, goddess of luck. She was also allies with Angharradh, Corellon, and Cyrrollalee. Outside the Realms, she was on good terms with Celestian, Hermes, and Soma, gods of other worlds. In the time of Netheril, she was an ally of Mystryl, Jannath, and Tyche. Mystryl saw Selûne as smothering and maternal and sometimes rebelled against her well-intentioned wishes.

Her eternal enemy was her sister Shar, goddess of the night, a war that had been waged since before all other Faerûnian gods existed, before time was recorded. They fought 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 labored always to thwart Shar's dark plots. They would never forgive and never forget.

Her other great foes were Mask, for the mischief and wickedness he made in the shadows formed by her moon's light at night; Umberlee, over the fates of ships at sea; and the rotting god Moander. In the time of Netheril, she was opposed to Moander, Kozah, and Targus. However, Targus, god of war, thought Selûne was too beautiful, in soul and self, for him to hate.

The Zakharan deity Selan was a moon goddess that shared a similar name and outlook with Selûne, but had a somewhat different area of interest, namely beauty. Thus the connection between the two remains a mystery.

She was served specially by the Shards, a band of unique planetars of shining aspect. They usually bestowed mortals with gifts and boons on her behalf.

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

Worshipers


Selûne and her teachings of compassion and guidance were most appealing to all folk who lived their lives by the moonlit night sky, and hence her faithful were a very diverse group. She was followed by those who were lost and those who were questing. Sailors and navigators, who traveled by the stars, often prayed to the Night White Lady to protect them from Umberlee, the Queen of the Depths. Others who labored by night at honest work prayed to her for similar reasons. Some sought her for protection in the dark or from the dark forces of Shar. Lycanthropes, whether those of good heart, neutrality, or a few who relished their condition, honored the Moonmaiden as the mistress of their nature. Astrologers, diviners, fortune-tellers, mystics, and those just curious regarding the future acknowledged her as a ruler of fate. Female spellcasters revered her, particularly those born during a full moon or who had an interest in divination, and a few dedicated themselves to her. She was also worshiped by illusionists, some sages, and good thieves.

In particular, she was commonly worshiped by human women. They looked to Selûne for guidance, courage, and strength, while couples hoped she would bless them with children when the time was right. In the 14th century DR, the church's ideology of female empowerment made her popular with alewives, laundresses, seamstresses, and servants.

In addition, the church's philosophy of self-reliance and finding one's path made her popular with all kinds of mavericks, eccentrics, and outsiders, such as adventurers and outcasts. She was one of those gods worshiped by non-wicked tieflings.

Even those not dedicated to Selûne would pay their respects to her. For example, a band of adventurers on a night-time raid might make an offering to Selûne for guidance. Most goodly folk paid homage to Selûne during the full moon. Even evil thieves would try to placate her.

In the Shining Lands of Durpar, Estagund, and Var the Golden in southeast Faerûn, Selûne was known as Lucha, She Who Guides. Here, she was seen as part of the Adama, a unifying world spirit that included all gods, the world, and everything. Almost everyone in Durpar worshiped Lucha, in the belief that she personally watched over all marriages performed by her priests, as almost marriages in Durpar were. It was also believed she guided traders to the best customers.

The itinerant Gurs of the Western Heartlands followed Selûne, for she was a goddess of wanderers and navigation. They thought of themselves as "children of Selûne".

Beliefs
According to Moonsea superstition, one who mocked Selûne while aboard a ship would never complete their voyage. The sailors of Thentia took this very seriously. Furthermore, Thentians saw the whole Moonsea as sacred to the goddess. Another Moonsea legend held that couples who came to Point Moonsea on the first night of Selûne's first day and exchanged their vows would suffer no strife in their marriage.

Moonstones were believed to be sacred to Selûne by her followers. Some folk believed silver to be Selûne's hardened tears.

Heresies
Those who believed in the Dark Moon heresy held that Selûne and Shar were two faces of the same goddess.

By 1489 DR, some tiefling followers of Selûne claimed to have received visions of her in their own image, describing her as the "pale horned goddess of the moon". (Such visions were claimed by tieflings of several faiths, such as Tymora's. Though disturbing to mainstream churches, the tieflings argued these visions meant the heart and soul meant more to the gods than appearance and bloodline.)

Connections
Selûne