Perilous Gateways
Moon Portals
By Eric Haddock
Lycanthropes from the Moonwood have expanded in number and aggression -- dramatically so. Word of lycanthrope attacks originating from Mithral Hall, Nesmé, Everlund, Sundabar, and, it's suspected, the Cold Wood have reached Silverymoon.
These reports are misleading. Farmers and traveling merchants often report the same kinds of attacks, perhaps even by the same types of beasts, in each of these areas. If the reports are studied together, it can be determined that the same small group of lycanthropes is conducting the attacks. Instead of a massive multi-pronged attack, a few move all over the Silver Marches seemingly at will. How have they done this? There can be one answer for a group so disorganized as they: portals.
Long ago, in a conflict that has been forgotten, Selûne had a hand in creating a network of portals that had its nexus in the Moonwood, a forest in the Silver Marches. Currently, Malar-worshiping lycanthropes in the Moonwood have discovered the key portal in Selûne's forgotten network. Unfortunately, they're disorganized enough that they didn't put the portals to as good a use as they could even after they discovered the key (speaking Selûne's name in most cases). And that was the kind of opportunity Selûne's nemesis, Shar, would like to exploit -- especially since it means using Selûne's own portals against her. Preying on Malar's jealousy of the other gods and eagerness to gain power of his own, Shar has convinced Malar to let her organize the lycanthropes by suggesting a clever plan and short-term agreement that will benefit them both. Although the number of lycanthropes in the Moonwood are too low to assault Silverymoon, if organized and if they take advantage of the portal network, they can make their numbers seem much larger, which indeed they have.
Each of the parts of the article describes one of the Moon Portals in the Silver Marches, culminating in the description of the nexus portal deep in the Moonwood.
All of the portals in the Perilous Gateway are keyed. They operate only on the two nights before and after the full moon (including nights of the full moon).
Seek Selûne's portals.
- 10/01 Mithral Tree Portal
- 10/08 Cold Portal
- 10/15 Ever Portal
- 10/22 Oloster's Portal
- 10/29 Moonwood Portal
About the Author
Eric Haddock has held creative and technical writing jobs for large and small companies like Wizards of the Coast, Microsoft Games Studio, and Game Designer's Workshop, and he continues to freelance. Right now he's helping Wizards folks as an assistant producer of online media, which means he gets to insidiously sneak his favorite 3E word ("war pony") into the Wizards website without anyone being the wiser...