#53 The Low Moon

Age: Geologic

Hidden or Lost?:No

History: Perched perilously and impossibly atop the highest peak on the continent is a colossal sphere of strange stone. Only inelegantly carved holes and a massive crack mar the otherwise perfectly spherical anomaly, evidence of the thousands of years of attempts to understand the oddity known as The Low Moon.

Millennia ago, the Low Moon was seen as a forbidden terrestrial wonder. The stone emitted a cool, otherworldly glow that shone out over the land. However, as zealots and explorers tried to decode the origins of the rock, it became riddled with tunnels and caves carved by fanatical worshipers, many of whom believed it was an egg containing a sleeping god, a holy temple sent from beyond the stars, or even a vault holding treasures unknown.

At some point in its long history there was even a great battle for control of the site that resulted in the Riven Cleft at the top of the sphere. Yet for all the destructive probing and violent battles, the Low Moon has never given up its secrets.

Once the Riven Cleft was broken in the Moon’s surface, it ceased glowing as it once did, but the unnatural light can still be found emanating from the interior walls, illuminating the corrupted halls and blasphemous altars that can now be found residing within the Moon’s tunnels. Dangerous throngs of mad pilgrims now stalk the corridors on insane missions they claim to have been given by the voice from within the Moon itself.

However there are also places of respite from the madness that infests the Moon. A delegation from the Urda Scholara has managed to create a research station near the base of the sphere, using their unique brand of militant fact-finding to protect themselves from the feral cultists. And there is also a chamber near the center of the sphere where a figure known only as the ‘Stone Dreamer’ sits. A seemingly immortal wiseman, the Dreamer claims to have stolen the Moon’s secret purpose from the dreams of the stone itself.

There are also secret, uncharted ways into the stone that lead to the Moon’s true core, but only liars and fabulists claim to have actually seen it. Some say its center is a gem the size of a small hill that’s either a demon’s heart or a holy reliquary. Either way, the draw of the Low Moon’s enduring mystery continues to lure fools, believers, and dreamers into its deadly halls.

1. Lunar Temple Gate

2. Urda Scholara Base Camp

3. Moonworm Hollow

4. Pilgrim’s Spree

5. Darkest Corner

6. False Heart Gem

7. The Last Crater

8. The Broken Chapel

9. The True Core

10. Lunatic Rune Chamber

11. Weeping Kiln

12. Skylight Portal

13. The Empty Cell

14. Strange Water

15. Stone Dreamer’s Silence

16. The Riven Cleft