Raenei

Raenei
Basic Information
Other names	Luna The Mistress The Great Moon
Crystal sphere	Greyspace
Type	Moon
Size class	D
Shape class	Spherical
Type class	Earth Body
Satellite of	Oerth
Day length	8 hours
Year length	28 Days
Population summary	Various non-sentient lifeforms, miscellaneous settlers
Orbit distance	30 million miles (7 hours)

Raenei, also known as Luna or the Mistress, is the second celestial body in orbit around the system primary Oerth in the crystal sphere known as Greyspace. A size D spherical earth body, Raenei is the larger of Oerth's two moons.

Technically, everything that revolves around Oerth could be considered a "moon", but only Raenei and her sister planet Kule, are close enough for observers on Oerth to discern their surface features. Also, as they are the only planets to lie within the orbit of the Sun, they are the only celestial bodies to cause eclipses. For these reasons they are the only celestial bodies considered to be moons.

"Raenei is a world of rapacious predators...not unlike Oerth.
The only difference is that, on Oerth, the most vicious predators have two legs... "
- from a conversation with Galen Towers "the Bard of the Void".

Overview

"Don't talk to me about foul weather. Until you've weathered a lightning storm in the Polar Ring, you haven't seen foul weather"
- from a conversation with Captain Trevor Wilburhampton

When viewed from the surface of Oerth, the Great Moon appears as a white, almost featureless orb, with high-altitude cloud formations appearing as mottled patches of brighter or grayer white. However, from wildspace Raenei resembles Oerth itself, a white streaked sphere of blue approximately half the size of its primary.

Although Raenei is considerably larger than its sister moon, it is also further away from Oerth. The overall effect is that Raenei's apparent size in the sky is not that much larger than that of the Lesser Moon. Like Kule, Raenei orbits in the same plane as the Sun, and also causes eclipses. However, because of Raenei's larger bulk, the eclipses caused by the Great Moon are far less spectacular than those caused by Kule.

Raenei rotates about its' own axis relatively quickly, resulting in an 8 hour day. However, Raenei's axis of rotation is perpendicular to the plane of its orbit, meaning that with respect to the ecliptic (the plane in which the planets orbit the primary), Raenei appears to be lying on its side. This means, that from Raenei's surface, the Sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west, while the disk of Oerth crosses the sky from south to north (or north to south, depending on the season).

Raenei's makeup is very similar to Oerth, in that the surface is mostly dry land, with oceans, seas and lakes covering less than a third of its surface area. Its topography is as diverse as its primary, and includes grassy planes, deserts, verdant forests, rugged scrublands and jagged mountain ranges, including the Worldspine Mountains which girdle the equator. Raenei's atmosphere is oxygen-poor compared to Oerth, meaning that oxygen-breathing lifeforms become fatigued twice as fast as normal. The atmosphere is thick enough to refract light, so during eclipses, when conditions are right, the dark bulk of Raenei is surrounded by a halo of green light.

Because Raenei's axis is perpendicular to the ecliptic, temperature variations are a result of altitude and proximity to large bodies of water, rather than latitude. This means that the poles are not cold, and the equator is not hot; instead the greater the altitude, the colder a region is and the harsher its weather. Temperature ranges and weather variations are more extreme for inland areas than coastal regions. The average temperature at sea level along the coast is 70° F (21° C) during the day, which drops down to 45° F (7° C) at night. In the middle of the great inland desert known as the Anvil of God, the temperature ranges from over 110° F (43° C) during the day to 10° F (-12° C) at night.

Raenei's rapid rotation also produces extremely powerful and destructive storm patterns, similar to hurricanes and tornadoes, but much more extensive. The two largest mountain ranges, the Worldspine Mountains, which girdles the equator, and the Polar Ring, which wreathes the northern pole, are almost constantly whipped by brutal storms. The storms that wrack the Polar Ring are usually accompanied by massive sheets of lightning.

Inhabitants

Raenei has no sentient lifeforms. Although its native flora and fauna are virtually identical to that of Oerth, the process through which certain species attained sentience apparently never took place on the moon. However, Raenei does have a disproportionate number of 'monstrous' creatures, including purple worms, carrion crawlers and ankhegs. There are believed to be a small number of green and black dragons living on Raenei, although rumors suggest they are remarkably unintelligent.

There are a small number of intelligent creatures on Raenei; all of them settlers that came from elsewhere. Most of the sentient inhabitants of Raenei prefer a life of solitude, though a few small settlements have been established.

Trade

There is no organised spelljamming trade on the moon. The settlement of Triumph, located in the high mountains girding the north pole, known as the Polar Ring, is the closest thing to a town on Raenei. Originally founded by the survivors of a crashed spelljammer, the inhabitants are insular to the point of xenophobia, and do not welcome visitors.

Rumors

There are recurring rumors that the band of spacefaring pirates calling themselves the Black Company maintain a fortified base somewhere in the Worldspine Mountains that girdle the equator of Raenei. However, no such base has ever been discovered. Those who believe the rumors claim that the shear size of the Mountains prohibit any expeditions from doing a thorough search. In addition, they point to the mysterious disappearance of the Steelhands, an adventuring company who had dedicated themselves to finding and eradicating the pirates. The fact that the Steelhands never returned is ample proof, these people claim, that they found the Black Company and were defeated. More rational voices point out that the storms that frequently shatter the Worldspine Mountains are more like to have killed the adventurers than any hypothetical pirates.

Appendix

External Links

• Raenei article at Greyhawkonline.com, a wiki for the Greyhawk campaign setting.
• Oerth article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
• Greyspace at Beyond the Moons (the official Spelljammer website)