Tears of Selûne

The Tears of Selûne is an asteroid cluster, visible from the surface of Abeir-Toril that follows the moon Selûne in its orbit around the planet.

Description
From Toril, although Selûne appears to be about the size of a human fist an arm's length away, the Tears of Selûne span almost three handspans wide and three fingers deep at the same distance. From the ground, the Tears appear as stars and are often identified as nine stars (the other bodies are too indistinct to make out). The Tears are only bright enough to be seen at night, and even then they are not seen every night. The first tear appears above the horizon about four hours after Selûne rises, and it takes about three hours for the entire set of Tears to rise or set.

History
Circa -3500 DR an astronomer from Shou Lung, Tu Pi Chei, reported seeing many objects 'pop' into existence. Soon, all of Toril's oceans were wracked by massive tidal waves. The Emperor was informed and the next night he too looked at the sky and saw the new objects. Twenty astrologers were tasked with determining their meaning. Most said that Shou Lung would expand inland, some said that a member of the emperor's family would soon die, one claimed that the emperor himself would become pregnant (that astrologer was immediately put to death). Shou Lung did indeed expand inland soon after and is now one of the largest countries on Toril. The emperor's wife also died in childbirth later that year.

The elves of Evermeet took it as a sign that the gods were pleased with their magical research and view the Tears with pride, while the goblinoids believed they were part of a plot by human mages to bathe the night in moonlight. They feared that the night sky would soon be filled with moons thus eliminating their precious darkness. Many have set out to kill as many humans and elves as they could for just this reason.

Spacefarers tend to believe that they were created by a deity new to the sphere to hide the castle in the center of the cluster where it lives. Many have attempted to investigate the castle but none have returned alive.

Most human legends tell of the goddess Selûne who fell in love with a handsome warrior who turned out to be an evil shapechanging monster bent on destruction and conquest. She sealed the warrior and his minions in a gem made of her life essence and wept with the tears coming to rest trailing the satellite of her namesake.

The popular belief amongst those versed in such matters is that they are just a normal asteroid cluster that got caught up in the wake of Selûne. There are hundreds of them, circling each other, though the focal point of their revolution is actually a castle.

The truth however, is that the tears are the result of a magic-fueled weapon created by dragonkind to destroy the King-Killer Star but when they fired it, the weapon missed and hit Selûne instead.

Climate
Most of the asteroids are too small to have an atmosphere, several dozen though have air envelopes that can sustain life quite comfortably.

Mercenary Companies

 * The Gauntlet are a group of 14 members who see themselves as the police force of the Tears.

Areas of Interest

 * Dragon Rock : The most active of all the Tears lies on the edge of their formation. Its ten mile surface is dedicated to trade. A single silver piece allows trade in up to a ton of goods at one of the asteroids hundreds of docks. Should a trader not wish to stick around, the cargo can be left with one of the twelve very trustworthy owners where it will be sold on commission.


 * The Cave : Found near the center of the Tears, an opening in the underside of a small rock covered in blue-green grass-like plants leads to the lair of the infamous Batship as well as the unsold plunder accumulated by its pilot. More often than not, the pilot is aware of the presence of intruders nearby and will try to draw them away from the cave.


 * Journey's Legg : A Neogi stronghold. The nearly eight mile wide rock is well fortified and always further protected by at least 10 varying neogi ships. Nearly all neogi attacks in this section of Realmspace originate from here and all slaves captured by the neogi are sent here before being sold.


 * Eye of the Sky : This is a Beholder base two miles wide and containing hundreds of Beholders in a labyrinth of tunnels and caverns. No one has ever successfully attacked the asteroid.


 * The Citadel : All dwarves leaving Toril's atmosphere for the first time make their first port of call here. No other races are allowed to set foot here unless accompanied by dwarves. This is where new dwarven travellers are informed of the dangers of space travel. All dwarves staying here must pay a fee of three gold pieces.


 * The Castle : This castle doesn't have a name but it is marvelous to look at. It is beautifully constructed with magically lit spires that reach a hundred feet above the ground. The grounds themselves are covered in long green grass and constantly blooming bushes. An overturned magical chalice pours water constantly which flows out of the citadel's doors and eventually out into space. The asteroid is populated by ravens (who are prevented from escaping the air envelope) and brown puddings which prey on the ravens. No sentient being would want to live here once they discover that fact as the puddings are extremely difficult to dislodge when not hungry, making complete eradication of them near-impossible.


 * The Rock of Bral : This asteroid was the longtime home of the wizard Gamalon Idogyr, before he returned to Toril to become the Count of Spellshire in Tethyr. Elminster and his scribe Lhaeo used to visit him there.