Page 49 - Mordenkainen's Tome Of Foes

her followers, such as silver arrowheads, knife blades, there. Lifelong friends might share a laugh over food
and wooden shields, are often decorated with a stylized and wine, cross blades over a mutual lover, and write
image of Sehanine's eye with rays coming out of it- a songs celebrating each other's courage and integrity,
warning to the elves' enemies that Sehanine's gaze has all in a single evening. Elves who live on Arvandor are
fallen upon them. no different from elves living anywhere else, except for
the intensity of their passion. All manner of elves can be
D EEP SASHELAS found there, including eladrin and even a few extraor-
Deep Sashelas, sometimes known just as Sashelas, is dinary drow. The splendor of the Seldarine illuminates
the elven deity of the sea, seafaring, and knowledge. their days, and their trances are filled with the intoxi-
Sashelas is called the Knowledgeable One. His aware- cating, blissful feeling engendered by their nearness to
ness of all lore, not only that about the sea, is seemingly Corellon's magnificence.
limitless. He is especially beloved by sea elves, dolphins, When an elf's soul reincarnates, the elf might return
and elf sages.
to life on any world or on Arvandor. As a result, many
Most of Sashelas's most devoted followers are sea
elves alive today have latent memories of a previous life
elves, as are his priests. Many seafarers toss offerings of
spent on Arvandor. Because of the deep feelings associ-
gold and jewels overboard, beseeching Sashelas to calm
ated with those memories, they are often among the first
storms or provide favorable winds, and he is inclined
previous-life recollections to resurface at the beginning
to aid them even if they aren't fully dedicated to his
of an elf's Remembrance. Recalling such an existence
worship. His sea elf priests often lurk in the water be-
can stir up a great longing to visit the place once again.
neath ships when these offerings are made. They catch
Like most Outer Planes, Arvandor can be perilous
the treasures as they sink and use them to decorate
for outsiders, including mortal elves who were not born
Sashelas's underwater shrines, to purchase items from
in the place. The native elves are boisterous, tempestu-
coastal merchants that can't be manufactured underwa-
ous, and ready to draw blood over the slightest insult or
ter, and to bribe dragon turtles into their service. Cere-
lapse of tradition. The plane's beauty is both overpow-
monies honoring Sashelas are held underwater at times
ering and bewildering. Fey spirits lurk everywhere, and
of uncommonly high tides or during electrical storms,
they're even more unpredictable and more easily pro-
when flashes of lightning above the waves provide illu- voked than the elves.
mination to the calmer realm below the surface.
Those are the obvious dangers. The subtle danger
S ea of Knowledge. Over time, much of the world
of Arvandor is that it can act like an addictive drug on
sinks to the depths of the oceans and is thought to be
visitors: the longer they remain, the more likely they
lost forever, but it isn't lost to everyone. Sashelas gleans
will never want to leave. Anyone who stays more than
much about the world above the waves from that which
a month might need to be dragged back to their home
sinks beneath them: every shipwreck, every offering,
plane by well-meaning friends, then guarded or confined
and the wealth and knowledge of every seaside city until Arvandor's pull on the person wanes.
swallowed by a giant wave are added to Sashelas's
Because of all these difficulties, many elves resist the
ever-expanding library of lore. Knowledge that has dis-
urge to visit Arvandor and instead make a pilgrimage to
appeared from the surface world might still be known
the Feywild, which feels like a realm very similar to the
to the priests of Sashelas, gained through communion
home of their gods.
with their god. Messengers who never reached their des-
tination, ships filled with scrolls from an ancient library, EVERMEET
scholars whose works were lost at sea- all of these add -----
to Sashelas's storehouse. UAUL'SELU'KERYTH. IN YOUR TONGUE, THE NAME MIGHT
Away from the open sea, many lagoons, reefs, and be translated as ''At War with the Weave." When twelve
grottoes have shrines devoted to Sashelas. Many come
High Mages last performed this ritual, the world was torn
in reverence to bathe in the waters in the hope of receiv-
asunder. It is a power no mortal should possess and no god
ing visions from the god, since it is known that Sashelas
is fond of sharing knowledge with those who are true should use.
seekers. Scholars, monks, and clerics visit these elabo- - Ecamane Truesilver, High Mage of Silverymoon
rately decorated seaside temples, immersing themselves
in the blessed waters and looking for enlightenment.
At one time or another, every surface elf, during every
Because the god also dispenses lore through dreams
lifetime, pines for Arvandor. They might not know of
and reveries of memory, many artists and poets worship
Arvandor or be able to fully define the longing, but they
Sashelas. They seek his creative insight by spending
can't escape it. Getting to Arvandor, on the other hand,
time floating on the waves, then return to shore to write
is extraordinarily difficult for most mortal elves, requir-
down or sketch out the gifts bequeathed to them.
ing magic far beyond what most practitioners are capa-
ble of. Yet even if one could manage to open or find such
ARVAN DOR
a pathway, Corellon doesn't look favorably on elves from
-----------~----
Arvandor is the ancient elven name for the home of the mortal world who get near to him in this way. He suf-
the Seldarine, one of the realms on the Outer Plane of fers their presence only for a short time, forcing them to
Arborea. It is a place where the unfettered passions of vacate the realm or be overcome by it.
elves run free. joy, lust, rage, contentment, jealousy, and It was, in part, this situation that led to the creation of
love in all their extremes are on spectacular display Evermeet. By means of a cataclysmic ritual, the greatest
CHAPTER 2 I El.YES