Seshay-Selene, patroness of the Hollow Moon (Blue Moon 3)

Though long forgotten by many cultures and races on the surface of Mystara, Seshay-Selene has played an active role during much of that planet’s history, and continues to do so with her work on the Hollow Moon.

Level, Alignment, Sphere

Symbol

Portfolio

Materan weather, Materan seas, tides, whales, migration, natural and biological cycles

Worshipped in

[Sidebar: Acknowledgments]

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of the work that Sharon Dornhoff did over the years on the Hollow Moon material, particularly at this time, her creation of Seshay-Selene, one of the driving forces behind the setting. More information can be found out about the immortal by gleaning information from the many Hollow Moon articles on the Vaults of Pandius, but I have attempted to accumulate here all of the major facts and events of her life (both mortal and immortal), as well as add some touches of my own.

I would also like to thank Marco Dalmonte for compiling the Codex Immortalis, the format of which I have chosen to use for this entry.

Appearance

In life Seshay-Selene was a humpbacked whale, and to many sea races she still appears as such. Other times she takes the form of a giant whale of indiscriminate type, combining the traits of blue, gray, right, and sperm whales (and sometimes even sharks). To land dwellers she appears as a young woman (Nephthisi) with pale skin and curly white hair that dances across her face as if waves crashing upon rocks. Silver jewelry adorns her body amidst flowing robes and gowns of blue and white. Whatever form she chooses to take, her eyes remain the same - stark white orbs of moon rock.

History

Long before the rise of Nithia and Blackmoor, or even mythical Lhomarr, Seshay-Selene’s people lived a simple life in the Great Ocean¹. The whales of the Great Ocean spent their time harvesting krill, tending to their family pods, and frolicking in the sunlit waters. That life was not to last however, as ancient evils rose from abyssal depths to torment them… krakens. The young matriarch of a modest pod, Seshay-Selene was ever vigilant against the threat, and eventually united the pods into a common nation so that they could defeat their foes. During her twilight years Seshay-Selene developed the Unending Sojourn, a ritual of migration (followed by whales even to this day) from one pole of Mystara to the other, the creation of which eventually lead to her ascension to immortality in the Sphere of Time.

Not long after having attained immortality, Seshay-Selene was invited to the newly formed Hollow Moon Council, replacing a vacancy left by Ixion when that immortal refused service in a world that would remain mostly dark. The immortal whale’s vast knowledge of tides and seasonal changes proved invaluable in the creation and maintenance of Matera’s internal environs, and her sympathies with Time, and or innovation helped shape the cultural makeup of the moon.

Intrigued by the Hollow Moon experiment, Seshay largely abandons interests on Mystara to devote all of her time to the new project. Her early career is filled with trials and tribulations over managing the saurian races placed in the moon near the end of the Carnifex Wars (and after the Outer Beings had been imprisoned). Though the troglodytes were prolific, Seshay-Selene constantly fought to keep the ur-carnifex tribes from being wiped out by the more advanced pteryx. The Saurolunarian conflict finally came to an end in BC 5100, when the immortal moved the ur-carnifex to the distant Jura Peninsula, and wisely invited a remnant of her Mystaran followers, the cryions², to populate the Crystalbarrens between them.

Although still a young immortal by comparison, Seshay provided a much needed insight in developing the Spell of Remembrance, an analogue to the Hollow World’s Spell of Preservation that would not only keep cultures safe on the Hollow Moon, but would allow them to continue to grow and advance. When the spell was finally cast by the Hollow Moon’s Council in BC 4950, the immortal’s real work began, and since then she has saved dozens of cultured by placing them inside of Matera. Some of her most devout followers include the shark-kin (of both Mare Crisium and Mare Humorum) who she moved on two separate occasions, and the Nephthisians of the Haemus Isles who fled Nithian persecution under her guidance in BC 691. It was shortly after that occurrence that Seshay-Selene achieved her current rank of Hierarch in the Sphere of time and assumed leadership of the Hollow Moon Council.

Personality

As the creator of the Unending Sojourn, Seshay-Selene is a planner, albeit one that revels in the unknown. She has a soft spot in her heart for the sea races, especially those facing persecution from malignant evil. In Ka she sees a kindred spirit, and often thinks fondly of him, even if she does consider him to be overly stuffy and rigid. With Korotiku she has a friendly rivalry, one which involves the immortal analogue of playing practical jokes on one another - while Korotiku is thoughtfully proactive with his antics, Seshay simply waits for the right time and place to strike. Of all the immortals on the Hollow Moon Council, she has worked most closely with Ordana. Over the millennia she has come to appreciate zeal and dedication of that immortal, even if the two share vastly different interests.

Though she occasionally has spats with Sasskas and Slizzark over the fate of seafaring Mystaran races, she feels less antipathy for them than they do for her. Seshay-Selene’s greatest enemy in the Hollow Moon is also a being that she looks upon as her greatest failure - Demogorgon³. The two immortals constantly struggle for the spiritual center of the Hollow Moon cultures, particularly that of the pteryx, though should Demogorgon ever win that contest it would spell doom for the entire Hollow Moon.

Patron

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Enemies

Followers' alignment

Favoured weapon

Clerics' skills & powers

Seshay-Selene’s clerics can cast find the path once a month. This enhanced version will location specific creatures as well as destinations, however all targets of the spell must be connected in some way to the sea (or to the Void of space).

Domains

Source:

Appendix: Sources

1 The Great Ocean is located on the far side of Mystara (opposite the continent of Brun) and before the days of Blackmoor spanned the globe from pole to pole with scant more than distant islands to break up its vastness.

2 The cryions are one of a very few cultures that know they are inside of Mystara’s moon, Matera. The cryions built void ships under Seshay-Selene’s instructions that were capable of leaving Mystara and traveling across the cold void to Matera. Other cultures who have performed similar feats are the Taurus gnomes, and the Nephthisians.

3 Demogorgon has a history directly tied to that of the Hollow Moon. Once a crazed pteryx, she was corrupted and enticed by Thanatos who sponsored her bid for immortality. Now her sole purpose is to destroy her former people, and anyone and anything else inside of the Hollow Moon.

4 In all probability Proteus sponsored Seshay-Selene to immortality, though there is no direct mention of this in any of Sharon’s original material. Although Khoronus is also mentioned as a “friend” that immortal (typically portrayed as a Blackmoorian in his mortal life) would be too young to act as her sponsor.