Pantheon Elfico

[DM Artemis]

Sehanine Moonbow

Daughter of the Night Skies, Goddess of Moonlight, the Lunar Lady, Moonlit Mystery, the Mystic Seer, the Luminous Cloud, Lady of Dreams
Intermediate Power of Arborea
CG
PORTFOLIO: Mysticism, dreams, death, journeys, transcendence, the moon, the stars, the heavens, moon elves

ALIASES: Angharradh
DOMAIN NAME: Olympus/Arvandor
SUPERIOR: Corellon Larethian
ALLIES: Baravar Cloakshadow, Cyrrollalee, Dumathoin, Eilistraee, Kelemvor, Leira (dead), Lurue, Milil, Mystra, Oberon, Savras, Segojan Earthcaller, Shaundakul, Selune, Titania, Urogalan, the Seldarine
FOES: Cyric, Gruumsh, Malar, Myrkul (dead), the Queen of Air and Darkness, Shar, Talos and the Gods of Fury (Auril, Umberlee, and Malar), Velsharoon, the drow pantheon (except Eilistraee)
SYMBOL: Full moon with moonbow (opaque milky crescent)
WOR. ALIGN.: LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN
Whereas Corellon's symbol is the crescent moon, Sehanine Moonbow (SEH-ha-neen MOON-boe) is the elven goddess of the moon or, more specifically, the full moon. She governs divinations, omens, and subtle magics and protects against madness.
She watches over the dreams of the elves, keeping them from harm while in reverie and sending omens to protect them from future dangers. Sehanine watches over the passage of elven spirits from the world, and she is protectress of the dead.
The Daughter of the Night Skies is also a guardian and guide to those elves whose days in the mundane world of mortals are done and who seek to travel from the lands they know and love to distant refuges such as Ever-meet. She also watches over such refuges and ensures they are kept safe from intrusion.
Sehanine governs long journeys, both physical and spiritual, and in elven cultures that proclaim the reality of reincarnation, Sehanine and Corellon work together to guide the spirit to its best subsequent incarnation as it works its way toward perfection.
Although Sehanine is venerated by all the Fair Folk (including half-elves and a handful of gnome illusionists), she is particularly revered by moon elves, who view her as their protector, and gold elves, who are the most withdrawn from the world of all the elven subraces. Tel'Quessir seeking to explore transcendental mysteries, awaiting passage to Evermeet or Arvandor, or undergoing physical or spiritual journeys pray to the Goddess of Moonlight, as do mystics, seers, diviners, and weavers of illusions.
Alternately called the wife and daughter of Corellon, Sehanine is the mightiest of the female powers in the elven pantheon.
Identified with the mystic power of the moon, Sehanine's tears are said to have mingled with Corellon's blood and given life to the elven race. The elves do not forget this. Sehanine is both the primary aspect of Angharradh and one of the three elven goddesses-the other two being Aerdrie Faenya and Hanali Celanil-who collectively form the Triune Goddess.
This duality tightly binds Sehanine with the two other senior elven goddesses, and the three collectively serve alongside Corellon in leading the Seldarine, just as the Goddess of Moonlight is said to do in other myths. Sehanine has excellent relations with all of the Seldarine, and it is her kind-heartedness that soothes the anger of Shevarash in his darkest fury and her welcoming nature that brings Fenmarel back to Arvandor on occasion. The Luminous Cloud has few strong relationships outside of the Seldarine, for her otherworldliness is beyond even most other deities. Sehanine works closely with Selune, for the two share similar concerns, and the Goddess of Moonlight is a strong ally of Eilistraee, whom she considers an adopted daughter of sorts. Sehanine has also forged alliances with some of the other human and demihuman powers who oversee death, but she has no tolerance for those who practice in the black arts of necromancy. (Sehanine does tolerate careful experimentation in white necromancy, and it is said that she vigilantly oversees the creation of baelnorn as a necessary, if undesirable, practice.) Sehanine's antipathy for Lolth has existed since the latter was Araushnee, consort of Corellon and the mastermind who nearly engineered the death of the Protector and the defeat of the Seldarine. The Lady of Dreams actively opposes the nefarious schemes of the Spider Queen and the other drow powers. With the rise of humanity and its rapacious expansion into traditional elven homelands, Sehanine has found her energies increasingly occupied by thwarting the destructive ravages of gods such as Auril, Cyric, Malar, Talos, and Umberlee.
Sehanine rarely concerns herself directly with events in the Realms, aside from weaving illusions around secret elven retreats such as Evermeet, Synnoria, Rucien-Xan, and Myth Dyraalis and guiding elves coming to those lands. Her power waxes and wanes with the phases of the moon, growing strongest when the moon is full. As befits the elven goddess of mysteries, Sehanine is cloaked in secrets and illusions and rarely speaks her mind directly, preferring to communicate through a process of dreams, visions, and other mystic experiences.
The Goddess of Moonlight is truly spiritual and ephemeral being who evades any attempt to define her and whose serenity surrounds her like a mantle of moondust.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, crusaders, mystics, specialty priests
CLERGY'S ALIGN.: NG, CG, N, CN
TURN UNDEAD: C: Yes, Cru: No, Mys: No, SP: Yes
CMND. UNDEAD: C: No, Cru: No, Mys; No, SP: No
All clerics (including multiclassed half-elven clerics), crusaders, mystics and specialty priests of Sehanine receive religion (elf) and reading/writing (Espruar) as bonus nonweapon proficiencies.
All priests of Sehanine ma' pray for and receive the 1stlevel wizard spell sleep as one of their 1st-level spells if they desire. Their casting time for this spell is 4, not 1. All other aspects of the spell remain the same.
The church of Sehanine is generally perceived as removed from the daily concerns and outward expression of everyday life. As such, little is known of the Lady of Dreams and her clergy members by the N'Tel'Quess Among elves, Sehanine's faith is closely held and deeply cherished, for th( Luminous Cloud envelops and binds together all the Tel'Quessir. For the Fair Folk, Sehanine embodies the joy at the heart of the elven spirit, and her priests serve as guides to the next world or life that one may achieve through transcendence.
Sehanine's temples are soaring monuments open only to elves and a few pious half-elves. Most such temples are constructed of white stone (often marble) and shaped so as to suggest imminent flight. Symmetry and circles are highly prized by the faith, reflected in the architecture of Sehanine's houses of worship.
The central chapel is always perfectly circular and is usually open to the night sky or covered by a retractable or transparent dome. Great gardens and hedgerow mazes often encircle the main structure, their formations imitating the paths of the heavenly bodies in the night sky above. Near long-standing temples, megaliths form great stone circles for use in tracking the position of the moon, fixed stars, and wandering stars by elven astrologers.
Novices of Sehanine are known as the Mooncalled. Full priests of the Daughter of the Night Skies are known as the Heavenly.
In ascending order of rank, the titles used by Sehanite priests are Stargazer, Moondancer, Sky Seer, Vision Seeker, Omen Teller, Dream Walker, Transcendentalist and Reverent Dreamer.
High-ranking priests have unique individual titles. Specialty priests are known as starsingers. The clergy of Sehanine includes moon elves (54%), gold elves (34%), wild elves (5%), half-moon elves (4%), half-gold elves (1%), and half-wild elves (1%), and a handful (1%) of dark elves, sea elves, winged elves, and half-elves of those ancestries. Sehanine's clergy includes specialty priests (40%), mystics (35%), clerics (20%), including multiclassed half-elven clerics, and crusaders (5%) and the priesthood is nearly evenly split between females (52%) and males (48%).
Dogma: Life is series of mysteries whose secrets are veiled by the Luminous Cloud. As the spirit transcends its mortal bounds and new mysteries are uncovered, a higher form is achieved and the cycle of life continues. Through contemplation and meditation, communion with the Lady of Dreams is achieved.
Through dreams, visions, and omens revealed in sleep or the reverie, the Daughter of the Night Sky unveils the next step along the path and the next destination on the endless journey of mystic wonder that is life and death and life. Revere the mysterious moon, who draws forth tides or being from us all.
Day-to-Day Activities: Sehanine's priests are the seers and mystics of elven society. They serve as the spiritual counselors to elves and half-elves who seek to embark on journeys in search of enlightenment so as to transcend their current state of being. As shepherds and protectors of the dead, Sehanine's priests organize and administer funeral rites and guard the remains of the fallen.
They seek out and destroy undead creatures, for Sehanine holds such creatures-with the notable exceptions of baelnorn and other good-aligned undead beings who voluntarily prolong their existence in order to serve their kin-to be blasphemous. As defenders of elven homelands, Sehanine's clergy are responsible for weaving and maintaining the illusions that guard those sanctuaries that remain and for divining potential threats to their continued existence. The prime task of adventuring priests is the retrieval of lost arcane and magical knowledge, especially if it pertains to illusions and/or divinations. Other seek out isolated elven enclaves, bringing them news of the Retreat and practical assistance in preparing for such a journey if they so choose. (Sehanine's priests do not provide any guidance along the journey itself, as this is done through direct intuitive revelation by the Lady of Dreams herself.) Holy Days/Important Ceremonies : Sehanine's faithful celebrate a wide variety of holy days, all of which are tied to the position of various heavenly bodies, particularly the phase of the moon and various types of eclipses. Many of these celebrations occur once per decade, once per century, or even once per millennium.
The most frequent celebrations of Sehanine's faithful are held monthly beneath the light of the full moon. Lunar Hallowings, as such holy days are known, are marked with personal meditation and collective entrance into a communal trance. On occasion, Sehanine manifests through her assembled worshipers, knitting together their spirits in a true sharing of minds. Such holy days are concluded with a joyous freeform dance beneath the most visible manifestation of the Goddess of Moonlight (the moon) that lasts until the first rays of dawn.
Once per year, Sehanine's faithful gather on the night of the Feast of the Moon for the Mystic Rites of the Luminous Cloud.
Similar in many ways to the monthly Lunar Hallowings, the Mystic Rites of the Luminous Cloud are notable for the visible manifestation of the Lady of Dreams whereby the assembled worshipers are enveloped in a mantle of shimmering, silvery light that then rises up and darts across the heavens. During such mystical flights across the sky, the sacred mysteries of Sehanine are revealed to the participants, with each participant learning secrets appropriate to his current level of spiritual development. The ceremony concludes when the nimbus of light returns to the earth and the forms of Sehanine's worshipers coalesce.
When the time comes for an elf to leave the ordinary lands of mortals and pass on to Arvanaith, it is common for the individual elf to spend several days in vivid daydreams and waking reverie. Exactly when this happens is unknown to any elf, even to Sehanine's own priests. It is usually obvious to other elves when one of the Tel'Quessir is undergoing this change, but two marker events are definitive indicating that the Transcendence has begun. First, Sehanine sends the elf a vision where she or he must go to begin this journey from the world. Second, within the lens of the elf's eye appears a telltale opaque milky crescent, the moonbow of Sehanine's honorific name. When the time comes for an elf great in wisdom and accomplishment to depart, an accompanying full moon may display the moonbow as an event in nature. On rare occasions at such a rime, other elves join with the one about to depart in a shared trance state, sharing memories and knowledge in a direct telepathic communion known as the Circle of Transcendence. In some elven cultures this departure is a physical one, that is the elf walks off alone into the wilderness and his or her body is never found. In other societies, the elf's spirit departs its material body, leaving behind a lifeless husk.
In cases of violent or accidental death where the spirit is not utterly destroyed, Sehanine's priests serve in the stead of the departed spirit in the ritual of Transcendence. A Ceremony of Recovery involves one or more days of meditation and mystic communion with the natural and spiritual worlds. If successful, the priest channels the lost spirit through his or her own link with Sehanine, enabling the spirit to transcend to Arvanaith.
During such ceremonies, after contacting the lost spirit, Sehanine's priests display the characteristic moonbow within the lens of their eyes, but such manifestations of the Lady of Dreams vanish immediately upon the ritual's conclusion.
Elven funeral rites vary widely from community to community and from individual to individual, reflecting the nature of the departed spirit. If the elf has simply answered Sehanine's call, as opposed to death by accident or violence, death rituals are more often a celebration that the elf has achieved the joys of Arvanaith than a time of mourning. In either case, if the body remains, the method of disposal varies as well. In some communities, the assembled mourners gather with great pomp to watch the body be interred in the ground, with examples of the late elf's artistry and passions displayed and speakers expounding on the merits of the deceased. Other elven societies bury the body immediately, regarding it as a mere husk from which the life force has departed. After disposing of the shell, they celebrate the spirit of the elf who once resided there. Still other elves believe that burning is the only way to truly rid the spirit of its earthly ties. Not only does it free the spirit for Arvanaith, it also prevents anyone from using the body for nefarious purposes.
Elven cultures that bury the bodies of the fallen with great ceremony leave the most durable archeological evidence of their funeral rites, and thus the practice of interring the bodies of elven dead in formal tombs is less widespread than commonly perceived. Of all the elven subraces resident in Faerun, the remains of gold elves, and to a lesser extent moon elves, are most commonly interred within burial vaults, but that practice is by no means universal within those subraces, nor is it restricted to them alone. Elven tombs are typically hewn from bedrock and warded by powerful magic. Whereas the Stout Folk typically trust in mechanical traps to ensure the sanctity of their fallen kin, the Fair Folk weave protective mantles into the construction of tombs and eschew false tombs and extended gauntlets of traps. The Luminous Cloud is said to gather elven tombs to her bosom, and most are cloaked in enduring illusions designed to obfuscate their location and to mislead grave robbers who would violate the sanctity of the elves interred within.
Elven tombs are typically subdivided into three chambers, each of which is of circular or rectangular shape with an arching dome-shaped or semicylindrical ceiling, respectively. The first such chamber represents the world from which the elf has departed and is dominated by carvings of the natural world including plants and animals from sylvan settings. Commonly a pool of crystalline water, enspelled so as to prevent evaporation or stagnation, is set in the center of the first chamber. The second chamber is dominated by a stone bier on which rests the body of the fallen elf. The Fair Folk rarely place their dead within a sarcophagus unless the body is badly mauled, as they feel to do so restricts the freedom of the spirit in Arvanaith. The walls of the second chamber are adorned with examples of the fallen elf's gifts, and the ceiling is carved with a depiction of the heavens as they were at the time of the elf's death. (By analyzing such records, sages are sometimes able to date the age of a particular elven tomb.) The third chamber represents Arvanaith, the destination of the elf's spirit. The walls of the chamber are carved with depictions of the Seldarine (as the pantheon is perceived in the culture that created the tomb). The ceiling is carved with a stylized depiction of a crescent moon within a full moon, symbolizing the combined role of Corellon and Sehanine (or Angharradh) in overseeing the passage of the spirit to Arvanaith. The third chamber is otherwise empty, but all who enter are overwhelmed with a feeling of great peace. This is not a magical effect but a collective manifestation of the Seldarine.
Violent action or thought is impossible within the third chamber of an elven tomb. Items of magic and other riches are rarely entombed within an elven tomb when they could be better used by those elves who have not yet journeyed to Arvanaith.
Nevertheless, ancient elven tombs are sometimes filled with artifacts of elven artistry, including examples of magical items or spells developed by the elf interred within the tomb.
Sometimes the elves of a single house are interred within the same crypt. In such cases the first chamber may be shared by the individual tombs, with the second and third chamber housing the body of the fallen and representing the destination of the spirit.
Major Centers of Worship: While the largest temples of Sehanine are found on the Green Isle, in the Vale of Evereska, and in the woods of the Elven Court, the site most sacred to the Lady of Dreams is the Tears of Aloevan. This is an otherworldly cloud of magic accessed through a mystical pool of water found in an unearthly sylvan glen at the heart of Ardeep Forest. Much like the dark elf Qilue Veladorn serves both Mystra and Eilistraee today, Aloevan was once the Chosen of both Sehanine and the Lady of Mysteries. The moon elven queen's descent into madness and her eventual death was a tragic loss for both the Fair Folk and the other human and demihuman races of the region caused by her inability to control the silver fire that raged within her. Upon her death, Aloevan's spirit was unable to pass on to Arvanaith and was instead enmeshed within a nimbus of silver fire that hovered between Faerun and Arvandor. To assuage the madness of their queen who had sacrificed so much, seven priests of Sehanine created a link between the natural world and the spiritual limbo in which Aloevan's spirit was trapped.
For centuries, Sehanine's priests have labored to ease the torment of the mad queen and in the process have recreated the long-lost court of Ardeep within the pocket dimension formed from the silver fire Aloevan could no longer control. Aloevan's spirit is now capable of manifesting in a form similar to that of a spectral harpist within the Court of Silver Fire, as the mystic temple is known, but her laughter and tears are tinged with madness and only the beneficence of the seven priests enables her to hold on to the vestiges of her sanity. During times of a solar eclipse, passage between the glen in Ardeep Forest and the Court of Silver Fire is possible. At such times a priest of Sehanine may make his or her way to Aloevan's mystical court at Sehanine's request to replace one of the seven priests who is ready to pass on to Arvanaith. Although many others have sought entrance to Aloe-van's court, none have returned to tell the tale, so it is unknown if any who were not called there by Sehanine have ever succeeded.
Affiliated Orders: The Knights of the Seven Sacred Mysteries are well known for their service in defense of elven homelands from N'Tel'Quess invaders as well as their ongoing efforts to retrieve tomes of long-lost elvish lore and items of elven artistry from the ruins of fallen realms. The order is composed of elves and a few half-elves, most of whom are of moon elven or gold elven ancestry, and it includes many crusaders, as well as a handful of clerics, fighters, and rangers, in its ranks. The order's entrance requirements are kept secret from nonmembers, but it is generally known that there are seven tiers in the order's hierarchy and that it can take a century or more of faithful service to Sehanine before the next mystery is revealed. Knights of the First Mystery are the lowest ranking members of the order, while Knights of the Seventh Mystery are some of the most powerful agents of Sehanine in the Realms. No half-elf has ever risen higher than the rank of Knight of the Fourth Mystery, but it is not known if that fact indicates the difficulty of ascending the order's rarefied ranks and the small representation of halfelves in the order or if it is a manifestation of a bias against those who have some degree of N'Tel'Quess ancestry. The order's preeminent chapter houses are found in the city of Ruith on Evermeet, the Vale of Evereska, and amidst the Tangled Trees settlement of the Elven Woods.
The Sentinels of the Moonbow are a small fellowship of rangers pledged to the service of the Goddess of Moonlight. Sentinels watch over animals that may hold the reincarnated spirits of elves of ages past and that may once again assume elven form.
These rangers in the service of Sehanine are also pledged to the tracking and destruction of undead creatures whose existence is a blight upon the land.
The Veiled Choir is a mysterious sisterhood of elven mystics whose very existence is obscured by a veil of legend, mystery, and rumor. Sisters of the Veiled Choir are renowned for their prophetic ability, and their visions are revealed in an unending chorus of song. Only a handful of these ancient elven seers are believed to exist, residing in ancient temples of the Lady of Dreams whose very existence has long been forgotten by even the Fair Folk. Young elves in search of adventure often attempt to find the sisterhood's oracular redoubts of which, curiously, none are located on the Green Isle. On rare occasions a lucky and persistent elf discovers a Veiled Cantoria, but those who seek to simply follow in their footsteps always fail in their quest.
The reward for reaching a sanctuary of the Veiled Choir is always the blessing of the Luminous Cloud and a mysterious prophecy, the unraveling of which may consume the rest of the recipient s life.
Priestly Vestments: Members of Sehanine's clergy favor silvery- white diaphanous gowns (for the priestesses) and togas (for the priests). A silver diadem is worn on the head, oftentimes with a moonstone pendant dangling above the brow.
Simple sandals are worn on the feet, and a silver lace sash is worn around the waist. The holy symbol of the faith is a moonbar crystal carved in the shape of a small flat disk (approximately three inches in diameter), and such devices are often worn around the neck on a delicate-looking silver or mithral chain.
Adventuring Garb: Priests of the Daughter of the Night Skies favor mail over leather armor, and most carry round shields whose unadorned, reflective fronts are polished mirror bright.
Such armor is typically fancifully adorned, emphasizing the grace and bearing of the wearer. Senior priests are well known for the elaborate suits of elven chain mail or elven plate mail they favor, although many such suits were lost with the fall of Myth Drannor. Sehanine's clergy favor missile weapons, particularly short and longbows, and staves. Staffs of the moonlight and rings of shooting stars are particularly prized.