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Moon (Golarion)

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Golarion's Moon (Somal)
Moon (Golarion)
(Cosmos)

Titles
Somal
Type
Adjective
Lunar
Gravity
x 1/6
Atmosphere
None except in pockets and the Moonscar
Inhabitants
Source: People of the Stars, pg(s). 11

Golarion has one large, gray, crater-scarred moon,1 which was called Somal by the Azlanti.23 Golarion's moon is tidally locked, and thus always shows the same face to its planet, causing much speculation about what actually is on the dark side of the moon.4 Size-wise, the moon has a surface just seven percent that of Golarion's.5

Moonscar

From Golarion, the moon is seen to have a shadowy area on its lower quadrant. Astronomers document this as a mountain range or a canyon; they are wrong. The Moonscar was formed over 12,000 years ago during a disaster which led to an invasion of the moon by the Abyss: the Moonscar is an horrific forest home to demons, Abyssal plants, and monsters. The Moonscar is dominated by succubus-mothered half-fiends who are a great threat to the peoples of Golarion. The fiends are capable of travelling from the moon to Golarion to snatch victims to return to the Moonscar, there to corrupt and breed and further the half-fiend population. Even more insidious is the return of some of the victims, after corruption, to twist their earthly homes to chaos and evil.6

The Starstone

An ancient rumour exists that when the Starstone plunged to Golarion thousands of years ago, parts of it broke off in the planet's atmosphere and ended up landing on the moon.5

Lunar calendar

Golarion has a lunar calendar which follows the phases of its moon. Each full moon is given its own name and, in order through the year, their regular names are:7

  • Long Moon
  • Fated Moon
  • Rebirth Moon
  • Flood Moon
  • Blossom Moon
  • Sweet Moon
  • Lover's Moon
  • Swarm Moon
  • Harvest Moon
  • Hunter's Moon
  • Black Moon
  • Cold Moon

Any thirteenth moon occurring is usually called the Spirit Moon.8

Travel

See also: Space travel

Travel to the moon from Golarion is difficult, but possible. Flying to the moon from Golarion's surface takes about 2 years when traveling at about 10 feet per second and requires breathable air and protection from the vacuum of space, which can be granted by spells or magic items.9

Specialized spells can teleport a being from Golarion to the moon,10 and creatures such as shantaks can traverse space with humanoids as riders.11

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An Azlanti portal to the moon called the Somal Gate remains intact but dormant beneath the Growling Skald ridge in the Mindspin Mountains.12

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.

  1. Erik Mona & Jason Bulmahn. Time, The Cosmos, and the Great Beyond” in Gazetteer, 18. Paizo Inc., 2008
  2. Richard Pett. The Moonscar, 2. Paizo Inc., 2012
  3. Richard Pett. The Moonscar, 30. Paizo Inc., 2012
  4. James L. Sutter. “Into the Black” in Children of the Void, 49. Paizo Inc., 2008
  5. 5.0 5.1 Andrew Penn Romine, et al. Lashunta” in People of the Stars, 11. Paizo Inc., 2014
  6. James Jacobs. “At Your Door” in Lords of Chaos, Book of the Damned Volume 2, 63. Paizo Inc., 2010
  7. Tim Akers, et al. Blood of the Moon, inside back cover. Paizo Inc., 2013
  8. Rigby Bendele, et al. “The Stars” in Travel Guide, 121. Paizo Inc., 2022
  9. Richard Pett. The Moonscar, 5. Paizo Inc., 2012 The module suggests a necklace of adaptation from Pathfinder First Edition as an example.
  10. Richard Pett. The Moonscar, 5. Paizo Inc., 2012 The module suggests the interplanetary teleport spell for Pathfinder First Edition as an example.
  11. Richard Pett. The Moonscar, 5. Paizo Inc., 2012
  12. Richard Pett. The Moonscar, 30–31. Paizo Inc., 2012