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Chyron
Learned Scribe
Hong Kong
279 Posts |
 Posted - 18 Jun 2007 : 18:00:09
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Hi All,
I have a question regarding the Infinite Staircase. I was recently reading the Realms based article Volo’s Guide: Outsiders of the Forgotten Realms (Dragon 353). In the ecology of the Celestial Sliver it is written: “Slivers also serve as guards and guides along the Celestial Staircase at the behest of Selune.” (pg. 68)
Now I am confused on several points:
• I find no mention of the Celestial Staircase in the FRCS, PGtF, or FaP. Talk concerning of travel among the planes is of colored pools via plane shift or astral projection magic (PGtF pg 139).
• If I recall, the 2E adventure For Duty and Deity features players traveling on the Celestial Stairway.
So my questions are;
Does the Celestial Stairway exist in the 3E ‘Tree’ cosmology or is this a facet of the older Planescape linked cosmology design? (Have I missed some mention of it in the 3E books?)
Why does the task of guardianship fall to Selune’s minions? It was Helm’s task during the Time of Troubles and I would think it would be the charge of the beings in his service. I mean guardianship is not really her portfolio.
Thanks for help in this matter 
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Just My Thoughts
Chyron :)
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Ayunken-vanzan
Senior Scribe
Germany
657 Posts |
Posted - 18 Jun 2007 : 18:30:08
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The Infinity Staircase is mentioned in the Player’s Guide to Faerun in “The Gates of the Moon”:
quote:
The Infinity Staircase is as strange conduit that appears whithin Selune's hall of silver when the moon is full and the fog creeps from the water. Stories say that it leads from Argentil to all the other cities that exist on any plane ... Why this conduit is connected to Selune's realm is a mistery, but it might actually be a function of Shaundakul's presence on the plane rather than the Moonmaiden's.
(p. 155)
Maybe this explains also the guardianship entrusted to Selune. |
"What mattered our lives now? When our world had been torn from us? Folk wept, or drank, or stood staring out over the land, wondering what new horror each dawn would bring."
Elender Stormfall of Suzail
"Anyone can kill deities, cause plagues, or destroy organizations. It takes real skill to make them live on."
Varl
FR/D&D-Links • 2ed Downloads |
Edited by - Ayunken-vanzan on 18 Jun 2007 18:31:45 |
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Chyron
Learned Scribe
Hong Kong
279 Posts |
Posted - 18 Jun 2007 : 18:41:36
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| Thanks for alerting me to that Ayunken....however the obscure nature of the entry seems to leave me with even more questions ha ha... |
Just My Thoughts
Chyron :)
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Gray Richardson
Master of Realmslore
USA
1291 Posts |
Posted - 18 Jun 2007 : 18:47:58
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Correct, the Infinite Staircase appears to begin in Selûne's palace in the Gates of the Moon. Selûne was the first good-aligned deity in the cosmos, and a font of creativity, so the staircase established a link to her realm around the time when the universe first began.
It is speculated that Selûne used the Staircase to seek help from gods beyond the cosmos when Shar attacked her during the War of Light and Darkness.
As such, Selûne takes special care in guarding the Staircase and keeping it a free and open pathway for planar travel. |
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Stairway to Heaven?...or the top of the tree?
