Selûne (deity)

This article is about the deity Selûne; if you are looking for the moon of the same name see here.

Overview

Selûne personifies the mystical power of the moon, the celestial body that influences the tides, causes lycanthropes to transform, orders reproductive cycles and pulls at the edges of sanity. Selûne is an incredibly ancient deity, and her unceasing war with her twin sister Shar, goddess of loss and darkness, are legendary. Together they created Toril and infused it with life, and ever since they have battled over the fate of their creation. Like the moon, Selûne has many faces: at times, she seems distant, cloaked in the sadness of past defeats and tragedies; while at others, she dances with abandon, her lithe form radiant with joy.

Description

Selûne's physical appearance changes like the phases of the moon. Sometimes she appears as a dusky-skinned, long-limbed human woman of exquisite beauty, with long, ivory-white hair framing a perfect face marked with radiant lime-green eyes. At other times, she appears as a ghostly, lithe young girl with dark hair and eyes who wears diaphanous robes the colour of dappled moonlight. She also appears as a matronly woman, aging gracefully with with ample softness around the edges and gray-streaked hair. In all cases, Selûne's chosen form always grows more radiant or more subdued in line with phases of the moon.

Holy symbol

Selûne's symbol is a pair of female eyes surrounded by a circle of seven silver stars.

Celestial symbol

Selûne is associated with the moon Selûne.

Favored weapon

Selûne wields a heavy mace known as the Rod of Four Moons (also known as the Wand of Four Moons). She has also been known to wield a moonblade.

Realm

World Tree cosmology

In the World Tree cosmology of Realmspace, Selûne resides within Argentil, her shining silver palace which is located in the center of the outer plane known as the Gates of the Moon, The Gates of the Moon resemble a boundless ocean of shimmering light, in the center of which rises a rocky island crowned by a shining hall of silver.

Great Wheel cosmology

In the Great Wheel cosmology, Selûne resides within her planar realm, known as the Gates of the Moon, which is located on Ysgard, the first layer of the Heroic Domains of Ysgard (also known as Gladsheim). In the center of Selûne's realm is a shining hall of silver called Argentil. The hall of Selûne is a place of quiet beauty, where all sound is muffled and the moonlight suffuses everything and everyone with a soft silvery glow.

Worship

Selûne boasts a highly diverse body of worshippers. Women make up a large part of her lay worshippers, as well as her clergy, and many of her church's rituals extoll a woman's role as a teacher and role model in the home and in society at large. Seafarers who rely on the stars above to safely navigate their way through the sealanes frequently pray to Selûne to protect them from the attentions of Umberlee. Non-evil lycanthropes venerate the moon goddess as the mistress of their fate, as do astrologers and fortune tellers, albeit for different reasons. The common folk know the servants of Selûne as the enemies of evil werebeasts and undead, and caretakers of lunatics and the infirm. Few understand the intricacies of her ancient religion, but most good-hearted people respect her clergy and venerate her when the moon is full.

In Spelljammer

Selûne is considered a native deity of Realmspace. Priests of Selûne make excellent navigators, since they are incapable of getting lost while in Realmspace, unless their minds are magically or chemically clouded. If they have travelled through the Flow to another crystal sphere, they are always able to make their way back to Realmspace. They are unable to cast magic within the Flow, and are unable to recover mid-to-high level spells, except for those related to divination, the sun, and weather, until they return to Realmspace.