Gates of the Moon

Character

The Moon Gates is a tranquil place compared to all the battle-hungry plains of the Asgardian mainland, but it shifts under its own rhythms from the bright calm of a moonlit night to the howling terror of the moonless dark. Ebb and flow, light and dark, all aspects of the moon are revealed.

Power

Selune. The goddess of moon and stars rules here, though she shares her realm with Soma, the male half of the moon.

Description

Selune's home, where Loki and Thor have both come to woo the moon goddess, is a shining hall of silver called Argentil. It sits on a rocky island in the midst of an ocean of light and effervescence, guarded by gigantic sea serpents and kraken. The powers of the plane gather here often for feasts and celebrations. Her realm changes as the moon does, going from a bright land of joy and celebration to a darkened realm of deep gloom and despair.    Somehow, the sea surrounding Selune's home also connects with the River Oceanus, though this connection's tentative. A lillend can usually direct a traveler, if she takes a liking to him. Otherwise the poor sod is liable to wander through the swamps for days.    The Infinite Staircase is a strange conduit that appears within Selune's hall of silver when the moon is full and the fog creeps up from the water. Stories say that it leads from Argentil to all the cities that exist, anywhere in the planes, or to all the cities that ever were or will be, from the cities of the devas (where they have no need of stairs) to the darkened halls of Dis and the other anthills of Baator. The staircase doesn't just lead up and down, but in all directions, and its gravity changes from landing to landing. Each landing is said to lead to a different city.    Some say that the Infinite Staircase is the best shortcut on the Great Road, but here's the chant. It'll take berks where they want to go, but they've really got to want to go there. Groups can travel the Staircase as many times as they want, as long as all of them agree on a destination. The real dark's that if a cutter travels the Staircase alone, it'll take her to the city of her heart's desire. This can be a disaster, because if a basher finds her heart's desire she'll rarely have the strength of will to leave. Thing is, the Staircase (like the universe) doesn't give second chances; a berk can only travel the staircase once on her own, and if she passes up that one chance to reach her most desired place, she'll never reach it — by the Staircase, anyway.    The Staircase is a quick way to get PCs involved in an adventure, especially if they're trying to reach someplace that the DM doesn't want them coming back to easily, as they might if they found a portal to it from Sigil.

Principal Towns

Selune's female servitors are the shards, enchanted creatures said to have been created from equal parts of fire and moonlight. Their great metropolis is called Mahogany, a swampy river delta of bayous and hidden inlets. The town's buildings are all on stilts, and the slow decay of the place makes it seem less cozy than it is. The town is best known for its beautiful masks and new-moon carnivals.

Special Conditions

Werecreatures are fully able to control their transformations under the light of the Moon Gates, and they're never compelled to change forms against their will. Light in any form is too sub-dued to cause harm: this includes spells such as continual light, prismatic spray, and prismatic wall. Likewise, creatures that normally do so suffer no penalties from ordinary daylight; even vampires can walk abroad in the realm's sunlight.

Principal Non-Player Characters

The moon gods' principal proxy is Ulena the Fox (Proxy/female lillend/Fated), a suspicious, conscientious guardian who personally questions all visitors to the realm. She's particularly interested in keeping the violent and glory-seeking Ysgardians out, for the lillendi and the shards aren't reborn as the petitioners are. The chant's that her moods are viler during a new moon than during the full.    Ottar Long-Leg (Planar/Male werebear/Rogue 7/Ring-Givers) is a bit of a glutton and a coward who wandered in through the Moon Pillars during a full moon and never left. He enjoys guiding visitors through the realm, pointing out berry patches, good dry caves for winter slumbers, and fast-running streams for salmon. He hopes that in this way word of the realm's beauty and abundance will bring other Ysgardians into the realm and divert them from their violent ways.

Services

Food and drink are plentiful in Selunes realm, but little is available in the dark times around the new moon, when all good creatures shut themselves in their homes and lairs, hoping that the lycanthropes pass them by. The real treasure of the Moon Gates are things half-remembered from dreams: frozen, bottled moonlight, ice that never melts, sand from the shores of the fabled plane of Time (though those who sell it won't tell how to get there), and flowers that never wilt. Caveat emptor.