Eluna
Lesser Deity
Symbol: A crescent moon with a smaller silver sphere within it.
Colors: Argent and Blue
Alignment: Neutral Good
Celestial Symbol: The Silver Moon
Home Plane: The Border Ethereal
Portfolio: Elves, Moon, Good Lycanthropes, Magic, Sorcerers, Seers
Domains: Knowledge, Magic, Good, Rune
Cleric Alignment: NG, LG, CG
Favored Weapon: Star of Tears (Sickle)
Other Names: The Dreaming Goddess, Ni’essa, Sky-Singer (Elves) The Huntress of the Heavens, Brightlady (Dragonier) Sky Dancer, The White Magician (Rune), Mistress of Dreams, The Prophetess, The White Disc (Orcs, Beastmen) The Pale Eye (Evil Monsters), The Silver Moon
The mysterious Silver Moon has long been an icon written about, gloried in and sung to in the writings of men and elves for ages. For as long as any can remember, its light has shone down upon Gaea, giving peace to the night and light to darkness. But only those true immortals and gods can remember the day that the Silver Moon first rose into the night sky and the heavens celebrated the creation of Eluna, the Dreaming Goddess and daughter of Daeus and Althea. The light of the Silver Moon brought an immediate presence of the gods of light to the darkness of the night and hindered efforts of the evil gods in the days of the War of the Gods. She is beloved by many nationalities and walks of life, from diviners who seek to divine past and future through dreams to the nocturnal Grey Elves who revel in her light. Even many sailors and air-pilots and travelers make offerings to Eluna for she also patrons the night sky and the great constellations that pattern the midnight blackness of the heavens. The power of the moon is a mysterious power that influences dreams, the tides and the power of transformation as well. Though Neutral Good, Eluna represents multiple facets and her face turns towards both law and chaos equally. An inheritor of a shard of the vanished god of magic, Eluna has embraced the governance of the Sea of Mana in her domain and she bathes the volatile powers of Arcane Magic with her light to still and calm the raging portents of the endless sea. Her eye is vigilant in searching the world for those who would abuse the gift of magic and bring harm to the world and she patrons the wise just use of the power and urges the tempering of the quest for knowledge with foresight and wisdom.
Dogma
Eluna's followers are often kind, knowledgeable and very magical people. They love their goddess and she is extremely kind to them and tends to her followers very well. Traditionally, the elves, more then any other race, followed Eluna, though in recent years many have turned to worship of the Sun as well. Her followers are told to be bold; do not fear the night but embrace it. The cool of the evening is comforting and sleep is a time to renew your spirit and restore your soul. Diligently hunt those who would use the cover of night to bring harm to others and patron the good and kind use of magic. Magic is a gift and it is not to be abused. Cultivate it and use the power it provides to aid those who cannot aid themselves. Seek knowledge, for it is very precious, and use it to uplift others. Eluna has always patroned the wise and just use of magic but in recent years some have administered to her the title of Goddess of Magic in the aftermath of the fall of Animus and there are those who follow in her tenants while also pursuing the growth of the arcane arts. She urges those who do to temper their quest for power with wisdom, to use magic to enhance the qualities of life and to combat cancerous growth of necromantic power and the corrupted use of arcane magic to bring harm to the world.
Clergy and Temples
Clerics of Eluna pray for spells at night, always facing in the direction of the moon. In general, females out number the men and elves out number any other race in terms of census. However, she sports a highly diverse group of worshipers. Eluna's clergy is organized at the top, but grows much looser in organization as it reaches the interface with the followers. Given that most followers have very long lives, the worship is more communal than flock and shepherd, with those that follow into the orders just seen as men or women of wisdom that a follower can go to for guidance and advice, not leadership in the faith. Because Eluna is followed by such a variety of cultures, her clergy tends to reflect this and so centralized structure tends to be non-existent as opposed to independent cells and groupings of the faith to reflect regional needs and outlooks. Garments that elegantly mix white, silver and night blue are common among the clergy of Eluna. Eluna encourages elegant dress and loose clothing. Travelling priests favor armor of silver or blue with the symbol of Eluna engraved upon it somewhere. White hooded cloaks trimmed in silver are common for clergy that remains at scrying pools.
Avatars
Eluna has many faces and in some culture she and Tarien are unified as a type of trickster deity who changes shapes often. In Eluna’s case, her association with dreaming and the dreamscape causes all images of her to tend to be fleeting and quick glimpses that come and go, swept away into the ethereal sea. At times she seems distant and stern, cloaked and armored in white and mithril. Other times she is youthful, exuberant, and joyous, revealing in light, dance and magic. Other times she is a radiant aged being, given the wisdom of time and the ability to perceive the fates of others most clearly. Traditional artwork of Eluna in the Sacred Kingdom tends to focus on her youthful aspects and her nature as the daughter of Daeus and Althea.