Luna

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Luna / The Moon
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Type: Arcane Temperate
Affiliation: Moon Kingdom
Planetary Information
Population: 32 million
Day Length: 29,5 Earth days
Year Length: 365 days
Surface Temp: 8° C
Gravity: Low
Atmosphere: Nitrogen, Oxygen
Societal Information
Races: Silver elves, Werewolves, Moonkin, Lunar giants, Doppelgangers, Cetalia

Luna, often called just the Moon, is Earth's only moon. Technically an aether-sailing world due to possessing magic allowing it to cross between Earth and Luna, it doesn't use this magic for further travel and is in practice a groundling world. Unlike most celestial objects, its attendant god is active and powerful, having taken on many personalities and names throughout history. Luna's surface is also covered in a powerful magical mineral, known only as moon rock, saturated with magical power.

Inhabitants[edit | edit source]

The dominant race of Luna are the silver elves, a race created by the Moon Goddess from various elven refugees from Earth. They possess silver skin, platinum-white hair and eyes glowing with arcane power. Naturally saturated with power of the moon rock surrounding them, all silver elves know magic to lesser or greater degree. Ruled by philosopher kings with nearly unlimited political power, the people lead fairly comfortable lives that are quite splendid compared to Earth below. Nevertheless, political dissent is not tolerated, though the King of the Moon always claims he's the best possible king, as upon death of the previous king, his successor is chosen from among his family for his wisdom and magical power. In practice, the election is often rigged in favor of previous king's favorite son. When silver elves leave the Moon, they lose most of their power (but still remain powerful mages for Earth standards) and maintain a small portion of it in moonlight. Upon returning to the Moon, they return to their full former power.

Wilderness of Luna is stalked by werewolves and a few other, less numerous breeds of therianthropes. Living on the surface of the object which radiates the source of their power, lunar therianthropes never transform back into their original forms. In fact, most of the local werewolves have lived and bred here for so long they have never even been in their human or elven form. All therianthropes are stronger and more aggressive while on the Moon and bringing a native to Earth or further out would undoubtedly confuse them, forcing them to face their human side.

Lunar giants are unrelated to other giants, which are Titanic creatures. Created by the Moon Goddess to fight Titans, they are towering creatures of glowing stone, larger even than most Titanic giants. Elemental in nature, lunar giants possess innate magical powers but lack the creativity to train as mages. As a result, they all know a stock number of spells that enhance their physical might. Not aggressive by nature, and sometimes used by the Kings of the Moon for counsel, these gargantuan creatures nevertheless are easily provoked by those unfamiliar with their strange, unique taboos, like stepping on their shadow or making effigies of them.

Doppelgangers are strange creatures that arose on the Moon spontaneously after the creation of the silver elves. Emerging from pools of quicksilver, these creatures can take any shape they wish and most often, use it to murder people and take their place, badly imitating the real person. Shunned and feared because of this animalistic urge, the few doppelgangers capable of higher reasoning try to throw off the bad reputation of their kin and attempt to live in peace, sometimes escaping for this purpose to Earth.

Cetalia are massive, powerful whale-like creatures who live in the lunar seas. Although intelligent, long-lived and commonly said to be extremely wise, they do not possess a material culture. Cetalia live in families who swim together through the seas and occasionally bless Moon natives when asked, even though they do not see a reason why people keep pestering them about it. Silver elves usually revere the cetalia, but infrequently they're hunted down for body parts and oil which contains power in concentration even higher than moon rocks.

Other than these sapient creatures, many other exotic animals live on Luna, including giant, colorful lunar moths, geodes, landsharks, owlbears and so-called "witch-cats".

History[edit | edit source]

When the Titans came to the Sol System, Luna's god was already an active spirit worshiped under now-forgotten names by the native races of Earth, but its surface was largely barren and uninhabited. The Titans however detected the unusual power emanating from Luna and sent their researchers to study it. The Moon Goddess reacted with aggression, seeing these strange, alien beings treading upon her surface as a violation. Elementals made of moon rock arose spontaneously from the ground and began fighting Titan construct workers. To give themselves an edge, the Titans made their golems from the same moon rock, but the lunar forces remained at an advantage.

One of the Titans came up with a plan to weaken Luna's goddess. Using powerful magic, they tore the spirit in two, severing the goddess's aggression, envy and other darker impulses from the main personality, and proceeded to imprison the ensuing entity on the far side of Luna. Despite this disability, the goddess still managed to fight Titan forces to a standstill, forcing them ultimately to retreat and leave the silver globe alone.

Because of the Titan retreat, Luna was largely spared the horrors of the Titan Apocalypse. The few inactive Titan golems remain on the surface, unchanged, in large complexes current inhabitants avoid. Mixing her influence on Earth with fey power, the moon goddess eventually created a race of silver-skinned elves, born with innate magical abilities thanks to growing up surrounded by moon rock. Molding her own world on images seeded by the Titans and the growing faerie plane, the Moon itself has also gained a vibrant, although somewhat monochromatic biosphere.

For most of the following thousands of years, the silver elves lived in a disorganized society, led by the moonkin, or semi-bestial high priests of the Moon Goddess, who maintained only minimal order and obedience towards their goddess. However, approximately 7000 years ago, a number of princes arose. Those princes refused to follow the previous rules of non-aggression towards other silver elves and eventually, a series of bloody wars threatened the numbers of the slow-breeding silver elves. The Moon Goddess stepped in once again and ordered a match between all the remaining princes to determine the most powerful of them. The winner of that match, Ehlekitta I, was said to win through trickery and magic. As a reward for his victory, he was appointed the first King of the Moon.

In time, the kings came to isolate themselves and their families from the everyday lives of their people nearly as much as the moonkin or the Goddess herself. Behind a closed-off court, the royal family only saw the faces of their servants and advisors. The kings began the tradition of facing their people only through a magical avatar resembling a giant, floating head. This isolation led to a prophecy that one day, a princess would see the woes of her people and escape the Moon in grief, only to bring the kingdom to ruin. The prophecy eventually came true with the daughter of Pahiaton II, the princess now best remembered as Kaguya.

Kaguya ran to Earth, where she slowly adapted to local life by transforming into a human, which also cost her most of her power. Being seen as an unearthly beauty, she attracted many suitors she sent away on impossible tasks. Eventually, the Emperor of Japan took interest in her. Still not wanting to marry an Earth ruler, she cried out to the Moon for help. Alerted in this way, her father arrived on Earth with magical silver chariots and offered to take her home. Kaguya did not want to leave behind the Earth life she came to love, so her father gave her a magical cloak which took away her memories. The princess came back with her father to Luna, but the Emperor did not give up on her. He burned a message on the highest mountain of Japan, attempting to reach Kaguya. Instead, Pahiaton got the message and while he attempted to destroy it, Kaguya intercepted it and curious about its sender, she came back to Earth.

Not remembering the Emperor or her life on Earth, she was determined to get her memory back. Using one of her father's silver chariots, she and the Emperor traveled across the planet in search of a mythical magic well which would bring her memory back. When they found it, Pahiaton descended to Earth with his whole entourage and forbade her from drinking on the pain of death. When she defied him anyway, Pahiaton ordered his army to fire, only for the Emperor to block the arrows with his body and dying for Kaguya. Finally falling in love with him for the act of selfless sacrifice, Kaguya wept for him, bringing the attention of the Moon Goddess. It's said the Moon itself wept over the tragedy and tears of the moon brought the Emperor back to life.

While Kaguya and the Emperor allegedly lived happily ever after, Pahiaton returned to the Moon with a newfound hatred for Earth and humans. In the centuries since, his descendants strengthened the regime and prepared the natives for an invasion that would never come, nevertheless presenting humans as bogeymen to the silver elves, who still fear and hate inhabitants of Earth.

Sol System
The Sun - Mercury - Venus - Earth (Moon) - Mars - Asteroid belt - Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Neptune - Kuiper belt - Nemesis
Related nearby worlds: Helias - Panchaea - Taprobana - Sigu Tolo - Polaris System - Hebdom System