The Ashen Eclipse[]

Divine Realm of Meega, Goddess of Light, Moon, Shadows, Smoke, Darkness, and Revelation

Location: Border realm straddling Gehenna and the Plane of Shadow (Demiplane of Shadow / Shadowfell).

Size: Infinite in scope, but mortals perceive it as a crescent-shaped half-world.

Nature: A land locked in perpetual half-light, where moonlight burns through black smoke and shadows take on physical form.

Realm Traits[]

Planar Traits:

Gravity: Normal gravity, but gravity feels pulled in two directions (upward toward the pale half-moon above, and downward into the smoky abyss). Characters must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw once per hour or feel disoriented, treating all movement as if under difficult terrain until they rest or adapt.
Time: Normal, but clocks, moons, and celestial signs are inconsistent. Divination magic (such as augury or divination) has a 25% chance to return a contradictory or false answer.
Magic:
- Shadow Magic (Illusion, Necromancy): Empowered. Spells of these schools are cast as if with one spell slot higher.
- Moon/Light Magic (Divination, Radiant): Empowered, but all rolls with them are made at disadvantage unless cast under direct moonlight.
- Fire: Any open flame sputters and creates smoke clouds. Torches shed dim light only, and every 10 minutes of use creates a 5-ft smoke cloud.

Environmental Traits:

The Ash-Mist: The realm is choked in smoke that rolls in thick veils. Visibility is reduced to 30 feet unless under direct moonlight.
The Half-Moon Sky: A single crescent moon dominates the heavens, glowing with silver fire, but half is obscured by eternal ash clouds. This moonlight shifts illusions, sometimes revealing hidden things, sometimes concealing them further.
The Smoke-Sea: Vast oceans of black ash and mist flow like liquid, navigable only by moonlit barges and spectral moths.

Hazards[]

Ashen Choking: Anyone breathing the air for more than 1 hour must succeed on a DC 14 Con save or gain 1 level of exhaustion. Resistance to poison or non-breathing creatures ignore this.
Revelatory Mirage: At random intervals, visitors see visions in smoke or moonlight. Some are true, others are lies. A DC 16 Insight check discerns truth from falsehood, failure means believing a false revelation.
Shadow Predators: The shadows of creatures occasionally detach and stalk them. Treat as Shadow demons (MM) or custom “Living Shadows” that attempt to slay their former hosts.

Inhabitants[]

Meega’s Proxies: Smokewalkers, orcish women with silver crescent eyes and bodies of smoke, who act as her hands and voices.
Ash Ravens: Moon-eyed birds who whisper secrets in cryptic verse. They serve as Meega’s messengers.
Moth-Keepers: Great spectral lunar moths ridden by orcish priestesses or shadow creatures, ferrying souls across the smoke-sea.
Moonbound Dead: Spirits of orcs and mortals who sought too much truth. Their bodies are translucent, like pale moonlight, but their mouths pour endless smoke.

Petitioners (The Half-Faithful)[]

Souls who die in service to Meega awaken here. They take the form of ashen silhouettes with a silver crescent heart glowing faintly. These petitioners wander through the smoke, endlessly whispering riddles and half-truths. They crave revelation, but rarely attain it. They can be bargained with, but their secrets are unreliable.

Important Sites[]

1. The Moon-Smothered Throne[]

Meega’s seat of power, a colossal crescent of obsidian and bone wrapped in silver chains, perched on the edge of the smoke-sea. The throne glows only when moonlight strikes it. Those who kneel here may receive revelations—but never the whole truth.

2. The Smoldering Mirror-Lakes[]

Pools of black liquid that reflect only what you do not wish to see. Many oracles come here, but few return sane. Anyone gazing into the lakes must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom save or suffer madness (short-term, long-term, or indefinite, DM’s choice).

3. The Moth Paths[]

Sky-bridges formed of glowing moth wings, allowing travel across impossible distances. They are fragile, crumbling if trod by those who carry lies in their hearts. (DC 15 Insight check; failure reveals the traveler as a liar, collapsing the path.)

4. The Ashen Archive[]

A shifting library of smoke and moonlight where truths and falsehoods are cataloged side by side. Books appear and vanish like clouds. Studying here grants advantage on Arcana/Religion/History checks but imposes disadvantage on Insight for 24 hours (your mind is filled with too much uncertainty).

Access & Portals[]

Portals to the Ashen Eclipse appear in smoke-filled caverns, burning battlefields, and during lunar eclipses.
Keys: A silver crescent amulet, a vial of ash mixed with moonlight, or the whispered truth of a betrayal.

Adventuring in the Ashen Eclipse[]

PCs may come here to:

Seek hidden knowledge or revelations, though the cost may be corruption or madness.
Bargain with Meega’s clergy for smoke-forged weapons or moonlit secrets.
Rescue a soul lost in the smoke-sea.
Prevent (or ensure) that a dangerous revelation spreads through the mortal world.

⚔️ In summary:

The Ashen Eclipse is a realm of contradictions—moonlight and smoke entwined, where seekers of truth risk being devoured by shadows or choked by ash. It is a place where adventurers may find revelations beyond comprehension, but at the price of clarity, sanity, or loyalty.