RE: Appearance of Red Moon

From: Nick Brooke <Nick_at_...>
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 22:30:24 +0100


Sben asks:

> I envision a Moon which is red on one side and black on the other,
> and which rotates weekly... Is this how other folk envision the Moon?

Yes, that's how I envision it. Various articles at www.etyries.com/moonie flesh this out. And the draft HeroQuest MS. says that "the available power [of Lunar magic] is directly related to the phase of the Moon visible from their location. Thus, although it might be a Dark Moon day for an observer in one part of the Empire, a magician in another part might be experiencing a Full Moon day."

Note that the "official" version is a bit more confusing than a rotating moon. According to an article by Greg Stafford in "Tales of the Reaching Moon" #16, the Moon is red all over (no Dark Side), and does not actually rotate: instead, she stares fixedly southwards [1], while a black shadow is "projected" onto her by an invisible orbiting body called Destix. The shadow moves across the face of the moon, and *this* is what creates the phases. (Yes, it hurts my head too!).

> On a related note, how big does (your campaign's version of) the Moon
> appear to be? Does this vary depending on one's location (i.e. bigger
> the closer one gets to Glamour), or is it always the same size?

The former.

> (I have a hazy recollection of reading that it appears to be lower in
> the sky the farther one gets from Glamour, until it's at the horizon
> when one reaches the Glowline).

That was a very old description, from "Cults of Prax", often superseded since. (There were some bizarre notions in the early days of RuneQuest, e.g. that the Red Moon could not be seen outside the Glowline and always appeared Full within it... luckily, all this has been junked over time).

The description in the draft HeroQuest MS. makes it plain that the Moon is still visible outside the Glowline: it lacks, however, the red nimbus that some (but not all) observers can see surrounding the Dark Moon within the Glowline.

Cheers, Nick

[1] Interestingly, ILH-1 describes Rufelza's gaze "sweeping across Her Empire" (p.15), which is hard to reconcile with a non-rotating Red Moon whose face always stares in the same direction.

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