The Moon and Magic

#### The Moon

She is called Seluna by the elves, or sometimes The Lady of Night. People in the Feywild can't help but give her a position of prominence in their stories; her vast pale visage dominates every landscape in this world. For visitors, it's worthwhile to note several differences between the moon of this world and that on Prime. First, her size; Seluna has an apparent size more than 20 times larger, dominating the sky and casting her silver light brightly enough to read by when full. Second, although she rises in the east and sets in the west each night, she changes her phase much more slowly that the moon of Prime, taking a full year to cycle from new moon to full and back again. Elven astronomical records indicate that the phases cycle between the Spheres of Seasons, so that as Seluna wanes over Summer she waxes over Autumn. The challenge this poses in tracking dates is obvious, and has given rise to the colloquialism 'Seluna knows when' to mean 'it will happen when it happens'.

In practice, most business is conducted when the moon is up, and the habit persists among many of the Children of Light to call this daytime, though the accepted designation would be moon time; with sunrise, noon and sunset being replaced with moonrise, high moon and moonset.

#### Magic

Seluna, in the Fey traditions, is said to be the source of all magic. Her light (as they say) has infused every rock, root, and river, plant or person with an innate magical essence. While available evidence supports some arcane influence of moonlight over the energies of life in the Feywild, Magisterium research has failed to identify any mechanism by which this takes place. Obviously it is one of the highest priorities of the Dwarven scholars in the Citadel to study this.

#### Dragons of Myth and Legend

Elven mythology explains the vast variety (and strangeness) of life in the Feywild as being the result of the first elves experimenting with a limitless range of forms before each gradually settled on a form that suited them best. In this way every flower, every animal and insect, every gnome and firbolg and centaur was, initially at least, an elven spirit. A curious and compelling exception exists however: dragons are said, in legends, to have arrived from the moon to educate the elves in the arcane arts, in science, and technology. In these stories the great metallic dragons, fonts of wisdom and benevolence, could take the shape of people and lived among the elves for many years. Some even fell in love and had children, though what became of these offspring typically dissolves into obscure mystery by the end of the tales.

The Reveliths themselves are a commonly attributed creation of the Lunar Dragons, though other legends describe Correllan Latherian creating them himself without mention of assistance.

Study of this dragon lore was very much en vogue in the early days of the crusade; the promise of a hidden clan of kindly benefactors with advanced learning to share had obvious appeal. But study and exploration turned up an utter lack of evidentiary support. No remains of deceased dragons, no artifacts of obviously otherworldly origin or advanced design, no hidden draconic bloodlines manifesting in scaly elven progeny. These days the study of these myths is relegated to curiosity and not serious scholarship.

There is no debate however about the elevated nature of Elven artifice during their golden age. Prior to the decimation of their populations by The Severance, their cities were by all accounts places of pure marvel, and many of the relicts of elven manufacture that are occasionally unearthed cannot be replicated by any human artisan (any surviving elven experts would surely be disinclined to share the secrets of their craft with scholars from the Church of Light).

#### Lycanthropy

One field of active lunar research is in the infection and spread of the lycanthropic plague. Lycanthropy is endemic among elves, but they seem to possess some natural resistance that will allow them in many cases to gain some control over their transformations and over actions while in beast form. Among the other species of the Elven alliance, and every species represented among the Forces of Light, lycanthropy is a death sentence. It's virulence and the severity of its consequences mandate immediate execution by members of the Church. The tracking and extermination of those afflicted is carried out by a special branch of the Inquisitors at the behest of the Hierophant himself.