The Three Moons
Work in progress: this page describes the lunar domains we are building toward, and current game content differs in places.
Blackmar has three moons: Dailos, Markas, and Tekal. They are visible in the sky, woven into calendars and omens, and reachable as separate domains. To most people they are celestial powers. To adventurers they are also places with roads, cities, monsters, shrines, and rules.
Each moon has a color, a temperament, and a divine or cosmic association.
| Moon | Color | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dailos | Magenta | Disease, chaos, plague, savagery, and the God of Disease |
| Markas | Red | Strength, stability, beauty, healing, and sanctuary |
| Tekal | Green | Knowledge, balance, Luna, cybernetics, and advanced technology |
Lunar Travel
The lunar gate near Darkwind's center uses three moonstones: magenta for Dailos, red for Markas, and green for Tekal. The moons matter as bodies in the sky and as destinations underfoot.
Moon phases affect travel time, but no phase closes a route. A visible destination moon opens its gate immediately. If the destination is new, the Afterlight Relay borrows light from the brightest visible moon and opens after three seconds. During the rare alignment when all three moons are new, the Eclipse Reserve releases stored afterlight and opens any route after eight seconds. These slower passages cost nothing; the traveler only needs to remain still, alive, connected, and out of combat while the route forms.
The gate and each portal chamber describe their current travel mode when examined. Return travel from a moon to Darkwind remains immediate.
Each moon moves through eight phases on a real-time clock. Markas changes phase every 2.5 hours, Dailos every 3.75 hours, and Tekal every 10 hours. Their complete cycles take 20, 30, and 80 hours respectively, and continue independently of game reboots.
Lunar stories connect especially well to Acolytes, Druids, Garou, Mages, omens, portents, and pilgrimages. A character does not need to belong to a lunar tradition to feel the moons acting on the world.
Dailos feels sickly, savage, dangerous, tempting, and corruptive. Markas feels luminous, restorative, guarded, beautiful, and sacred. Tekal feels clean, strange, electric, precise, and almost impossible by Blackmar standards.
Player Hooks
The moons matter in several kinds of play.
- Travel through lunar gates and moon-linked thresholds
- Omens and divine timing
- Acolyte patron work, especially Luna and Gaea-adjacent rites
- Druid moon rites and natural cycles
- Garou tension between Gaea, rage, and lunar influence
- Mage research into lunar runes, residues, and impossible domains
- Calendar, night sky, and seasonal flavor
Tone
| Moon | What It Feels Like |
|---|---|
| Dailos | Fever, threat, rot, hunger, mutation, and forbidden vitality |
| Markas | Safety, restoration, ritual strength, guarded beauty, and hard mercy |
| Tekal | Signal, glass, metal, machine thought, Luna, and calm impossibility |
The moons are not just remote lore. They give the world a larger ceiling: a medieval adventurer can look up, see three lights, and eventually walk under alien skies.