Selûnarra, also known as Opus in Loross, was a Netherese enclave whose patron was Selûne. The city's population escaped the phaerimm and Karsus's Folly by the grace of Selûne in the Year of Sundered Webs, −339 DR.[4][3][2][5]
Description[]
Unlike many of the other enclaves of ancient Netheril, the arcanists of Opus founded great magical universities, libraries, and other repositories of arcane knowledge, rather than the schools that were meant to allow spellcasters to gain additional power and personal knowledge. Residents of the enclaves eschewed such uncivilized practices such as public arenas or the allowance of spellcasting duels.[1]
History[]
The enclave was founded in −1926 DR by Chever, the famous mentalist that spent much of his life in pursuit of a spell that would allow him to reach out to other planes of existence. After his death in −1899 DR, other arcanists of Opus vied for leadership of the enclave.[1]
Over time, Selûnarra became home to some of the most well-renowned artists, performers, and scholarly minds that were known in ancient Netheril, and a favored cultural hotspot of the Netherese elites.[1]
In the Year of Weeping Minstrels, −341 DR, Lady Arilain discovered that the arcanist Karsus was formulating some unknown spell of tremendous power and went to warn her colleagues in Selûnarra. She even went so far as to confront Karsus himself, but disappeared shortly thereafter.[1]
At the moment of Netheril's destruction in Year of Sundered Webs, −339 DR, just as Karsus began casting his great spell to seize the Weave, many residents of the enclave detected the oncoming danger and teleported to safety elsewhere in the world. They were scattered across Faerûn and faced incredible hardships as they were forced to survive in a hostile wilderness, with many of Netheril's spiteful neighbors luxuriating in their doom. Of those who were not able to flee, Selûne took them up from their falling enclave and deposited them safely on a distant, unknown continent on Toril, where they proceeded to live comparatively simple lives with little magic as they built new homes in the uninhabited wilds. A few wished most of all to remain in their lost city, and so Selûne recreated the enclave within the Gates of the Moon for them to live in. While the original enclave was destroyed, the folk of Low Netheril who witnessed it presumed that the Selûnarrans had escaped through some means, and this became the commonly understood history, though the story grew in the telling to include the entire enclave being transported intact to Selûne's realm.[2][5]
Centuries later in the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, the mortal avatars of gods were set against one another on the face of Faerûn. During the Time of Troubles, Selûne fought the goddess Shar in a great battle in Waterdeep and an artifact known as Selûne's Eye was left with Kyriani Agrivar, half-drow owner of the tavern Selûne's Smile. The artifact, which had the power to temporarily open portals to other planes, was eventually revealed by the goddess to be intended for a special ceremony known as the Ritual of the Waxing.[6]
Rumors & Legends[]
It was widely believed by scholars that Selûnarra had avoided the cataclysmic effects suffered by so many other enclaves during the event that came to be known as Karsus's Folly. Some legends spoke of how the goddess Selûne intervened directly in the enclave's salvation,[1] and it was said that the entire population of Selûnarra had been transported to the Gates of the Moon, the divine realm of Selûne, where they eventually became aasimars.[3][4]
According to legend, if the Ritual of the Waxing was performed correctly at Elah'zad, a holy site in the Hills of Scent in Anauroch, a portal would open that would summon Selûnarra back from the Gates of the Moon so as to combat the shades of Thultanthar. But apparently the correct time and manner of this ceremony was never discovered, since such an event never took place.[6]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 slade, Jim Butler (October 1996). “The Winds of Netheril”. In Jim Butler ed. Netheril: Empire of Magic (TSR, Inc.), p. 82. ISBN 0-7869-0437-2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ed Greenwood (2020-05-26). Fate of Selûnarra (Tweet). theedverse. Twitter. Archived from the original on 2020-05-26. Retrieved on 2024-02-21.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 47. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 109. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ed Greenwood (2020-05-26). Fate of Selûnarra, Part 2 (Tweet). theedverse. Twitter. Archived from the original on 2020-05-26. Retrieved on 2024-02-21.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 111. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
Connections[]
Eraka • Illuskan • Marsh Drover • Night Parade • Tunlar • Uthgardt
Realms & Cities
Anauria • Asram • Court of Three • Halruaa • Helbrester • Hlondath • Illusk • Indoria • Karse • Nimbral • Philock • Selûnarra • Thultanthar • Warlock's Crypt