Luna

Luna was a female human who managed the Selûne's Smile tavern in Waterdeep in the 1350s DR. Luna was in truth an avatar of the goddess Selûne, the Moonmaiden, who dwelled among mortals occasionally.

The Song of Selûne
Luna's past was a part of legend, told in the Song of Selûne. The story began with Selûne as a youthful and beautiful goddess, residing in a mystic realm populated by deities. Turning aside from a life of ease, she was impulsive and grew tired of life in her own plane. Thus, she "borrowed" a wand of power from a god known only as "her father" and used the wand to fly away in a bubble of force, so that she might experience life in other realms.

In time, she traveled to a plane with a forbidding blood moon palely glowing over a barren land. There, Selûne was smitten by a mysterious and attractive warrior, a lord of his people. The stranger persuaded her to use the wand to transport him and his followers to Toril, riding upon winged beasts, where they planned to settle. However, once they landed, he revealed his true form and intentions—he was the monstrous Imgig Zu. He and his people were hideous shapechanging monsters, set on conquest and ruin. He seized her father's wand of power and intended to kill the deceived goddess.

Fortunately, help arrived in the form of a young wizard, Ostus Agrivar, who rode to her rescue, hurling a spell at Imgig. Although he was not powerful enough to defeat the monsters, he was able to cause enough confusion and chaos that Selûne could escape, climbing onto his horse. The goddess, now freed from her subjugation, used the only thing she had left: her own life force. Draining her life force away, she imprisoned the monsters inside a pocket dimension within a gigantic moonstone, which should contain them for all time. She reduced the gem, now known as Selûne's Eye, in size and gave it Ostus for safe keeping.

However, the price of victory had been great. By using her life force, Selûne had weakened herself and sacrificed her immortal youthful vitality and beauty, aging thousands of years. This was a fact she kept hidden from the young wizard. The story had a few alternate endings. In some, Selûne learned her lesson and went back to her home, and brought the young mage with her. In others, Selûne died because of her sacrifice, but was resurrected come the next full moon. Still others told that the young mage loved her, but she rejected his advances because she was no longer young or beautiful.

The Selûne's Smile
Luna managed the newly established Selûne's Smile tavern in Waterdeep in the 1350s DR. Vajra Valmeyjar took work as a bouncer there and became friends with Luna, with the two developing a good working relationship. Even after she left her employment, Vajra remained friends with Luna, who sometimes contacted her with unusual jobs that suited her abilities.

In the Year of the Prince, 1357 DR, Cybriana (the daughter of Ostus Agrivar), Timoth Eyesbright, and Onyx the Invincible had been seeking the paladin Priam Agrivar (son of Ostus) when they finally arrived at Selûne's Smile. Luna summoned Vajra to help them and introduced them. Vajra led them to Priam—the drunken beggar outside, whom they rescued from thugs. They all stayed in the tavern's common room that night, as Luna mused on the destiny of the five adventurers, and that of the world, before meeting with her "father". Not long after, Luna greeted Conner and a young boy, who'd been threatened by dire wolves when a shaft of moonlight transported them to the street outside Selûne's Smile. Luna put the boy to bed, but he was still afraid of the wolves, so she told him a bedtime story, the Song of Selûne, which Luna and Conner found rather personal.

Meanwhile, Vajra, Priam, Cybriana, Onyx, and Timoth had become caught up in Imgig Zu's schemes. Imgig had escaped Selûne's Eye and now plotted to release the rest of this people to conquer the Realms. As the heroes battled through Imgig Zu's minions and confronted him, Luna looked on from the Smile via a magical image of events, hoping they would succeed against her nemesis. When they were overwhelmed and subdued, threatened with death, Luna sent the moon to help. The roof of the cavern tore open and the brilliant light of the full moon shone through, blinding the ogres. Priam slew Imgig Zu and Cybriana merged into Kyriani to trap Imgig's people back within Selûne's Eye. The victorious adventurers returned to the Selûne's Smile, where Luna placed the powerful Selûne's Eye gem on a shelf over the bar, then bestowed treasures on the heroes.

At one point, Luna cut off Onyx's bar tab, again. Shortly after, Luna felt a foreboding of danger, a secret that shook the heavens, and prayed to her father for answers. Just then, an interdimensional wormhole (from the Great Door) opened in the darkened skies over Waterdeep, disgorging a swarm of gargoyles and kenkus. Vajra and Timoth battled the flying creatures until they were overwhelmed; Luna urged them back into the Smile. As they watched the City Guard and Khelben Arunsun hold them off, Luna noted that this was not the danger she'd sensed.

On the hottest day of summer, 1357 DR, Vajra and Timoth arm-wrestled in the Smile as watched on and Onyx collected bets. Little did they know that their contest was magically enhanced, releasing Aviss and Fellandar from their extra-dimensional prison to wreak a path of destruction through the city, beginning and ending at the Smile. Khelben Arunsun suggested Luna use her "special powers" to thwart the villains, though Luna feigned ignorance. Still, in the end, she reflected moonlight from a silver dish into their eyes, dazzling them long enough for Khelben to hurl the villains back into their prison. Khelben thanked Selûne for their good fortune.

Description
Luna appeared to be a short, plump woman with long, curly gray hair. She was of middling years but fair, with a matronly aspect.

The young goddess Selûne depicted in the Song of Selûne was a slender, beautiful young woman, also with long curly gray hair, wearing a purple dress.

Appearances

 * Comics:
 * "The Gathering"
 * "The Bounty Seekers Of Manshaka"
 * "The Secret of Selûne's Eye"
 * "Sorcerer's Moon"
 * "Day of the Darkening"
 * "Summer in the City"