Conjunctions part 3 - Conjunction junction, what’s your function?

 

Conjunctions part 3

Conjunction junction, what’s your function?

Previously, I wrote about conjunctions on Athas here and here.

So, what happens when the moons of Athas are conjunct?

Ral and Guthay meeting in the heavens

One of the biggest events to have happen in the Athasian heavens is the lunar conjunction or “eclipse” that happens every 11 years.  This conjunction happens on the first day of the year or High Sun. It also marks the start of a new Endlean Cycle.  See 2e Dark Sun Campaign Setting pg 85.

“The endlean cycle is complete when Athas’ two moons, Ral and Guthay, meet in the heaven, a major eclipse that occurs once every 11 years.” 

 The 3e DS rule book contains similar language.  See page 191.  Unfortunately, the 4e Campaign Setting only specified that “Every 11 years an eclipse occurs,” without any relation as to whether it is a lunar conjunction, a solar eclipse, or lunar eclipse. The campaign setting for 2e and 3e make it clear that it is a meeting of the two moons in the heavens.

 One of the best depictions of this conjunction his is found in the short story “Service” by Lynne Abbey in the Black Flames supplement. There, she describes an avangion casting a spell on the same day as this important conjunction as a templar, Gelmin watches on.  If the spell is not cast on that day, the avangion would have to wait for another 11 years.

 “Ral and Guthay met in the heavens as Gelmin neared the pinnacle. He watched in awe as golden light shot up from the shadows toward the moons as they conjoined. The beam brightened momentarily, then faded, but others rose to take its place, growing more intense and lasting longer as pale Ral crept across the face of darker Guthay. Gelmin shivered, but not from the chill air. The legend said that the avangion began its metamorphosis by casting golden light into the heavens to draw down the power of the moons.”

Service

 Here are some things to consider during a conjunction:

What phase are moons during the conjunction?  New, Full, crescent, gibbous, or quarter? During a conjunction, the phases of both moons will be the same.  – you won’t have a full Ral crossing the face of a crescent Guthay.

Is whatever influence during the conjunction more powerful during a full moon conjunction or a new moon conjunction? Or is it a new moon conjunction that also partly covers the sun. i.e a life spell for a full moon conjunction, and a death spell for a new moon conjunction. Balance for a quarter moon.

Are the moons waxing, waning? At the point of conjunction were the moons waxing or waning? Perhaps a waxing moon indicates a growing or increasing spell and waning indicates a shrinking or decreasing spell.             

Dragon Magazine 340 has a great article for astrology and astrological events, specifically when multiple moons are in conjunction:

·         All spells are empowered for the duration of the conjunction.

·         Any conjuration summoning spell cast during the conjunction is permanent, although the creatures summoned are free from the caster’s control after the spell’s normal duration expires.

·         Any divination, enchantment, or transmutation spell cast during the conjunction is not expended and may be cast again.

·         All those in the light of the conjunction suffer from madness, as per the spell confusion with no save, for the duration of the event.

·         All those sleeping under the light of the conjunction receive the benefits of an augury spell with a 90% chance of success.

·         Some rare event, such as a portal opening, a castle appearing, or a dark beast awakening occurs during the conjunction.

 

A Conjunction - Dragon Magazine 185

How long do you let the effects of the conjunction last for?

Really, the duration of the conjunction depends on the apparent size of the moons and the speed the move across the sky as one passes the other.  I’d suggest letting it trigger an effect with a specified duration.  Minor effects could last a full day and major effects last for 10 minutes.

Is the conjunction visible from your location? Only about half of the total number of conjunctions are visible at the exact moment Ral overlaps Guthay.  The other half occur on the other side of the planet.

How often does a conjunction occur? 

Conjunctions will happen every ~44.84 days if using the Merchant Calendar program. This can be calculated by using the length of the phase of each moon per this equation: (125*33)/(125-33)  125 days Guthay, 33 days Ral. Note that these conjunctions will only be visible in the sky about every other conjunction, so in reality, visible conjunctions occur about every ~89.67 days.

Conjunction ~90 days after the "Major Eclipse"

If using different durations for phases just replace the values per the equation above.  (This also assumes the moons are revolving the same direction around the planet. If different, add instead of subtracting in the denominator)

Where are the moons in the sky during the conjunction? Are they rising, at the zenith, or setting?  A rising conjunction may again indicate an increasing influence and a setting conjunction indicate a decreasing influence, while a conjunction at the zenith indicates the maximum.

What zodiac sign are the moons in? Is the effect different for a conjunction to happen in Tasker the Scorpion vs Balamarish the Caravan? Interesting to note:  The “major eclipse” that happens on the first day of the new year of the Endlean cycle (year of Ral) happens when the moons are in Tasker the Scorpion. Five and a half years later (in the year of the Endlean cycle of the Dragon) a new moon conjunction occurs as well, which would also transit the sun, it occurs in Tasker the Scorpion as well. The Conjunctions never happen in the second and third cusps. 

To assist with this, I have created a table that has all 92 of the conjunctions that are possible in the Merchant Calendar program or using 33 and 125 synodic periods.  It also includes which start sign the moon will be in per the diagram in the Ivory Triangle.  (Note: this can be different than the “Star sign” indicated in the program… “Star Sign” indicates where the Sun will be located in the constellation.  Full moons at conjunction will be in the opposite start sign.  Anyway, the table breaks it all out.

Here are some additional ideas for treating conjunctions.

Allow the effects of a conjunction to last for 10 minutes.  All magic cast during the 10 minutes of the conjunction is impacted in different ways depending on the two moons’ phases, whether they are waxing or waning, their position in the night sky, and the constellation they are in.  To use this  would first determine if the conjunction is visible or not. If you are not using the Merchant Calendar program to determine phase of the moon, you can just roll for it.

 

Use the following tables to determine the effect.

Phase	Percent Full*	Effect (Description)
Full	94-100	All variable, numeric effects of a spell cast under this  conjunction phase are maximized.
Gibbous	56-94	All variable, numeric effects of a spell cast under this  conjunction phase are increased by 50%.
Half	44-56	Variable, numeric effects of a spell cast under this  conjunction phase are not impacted.
Crescent	6-44	All variable, numeric effects of a spell cast under this  conjunction phase are decreased by 50%.
New	0-6	All variable, numeric effects of a spell cast under this  conjunction phase are minimized.

*The percent full is provided in the Merchant Calendar program as either a positive or negative number. Positive if it is waxing and negative if it is waning. For the phases full, half, and new, I let there be a 6% range on either side of the exact percentage value of the phase occurrence.  This means that Ral will be full, half or new for about 3 consecutive days.  And also means Guthay would be full, half, or new for about 8 consecutive days.

Additional effects can also be determined with the following:

Position	Effect (Range)	% Roll
Zenith	Spell range is doubled	0-4
Rising	Spell range is increased by 50%	6-24
Setting	Spell range is decreased by 50%	25-47
Below Horizon	Spell range is decreased to 25%	48-100%

 

Waxing/Waning	Effect (Duration)	% Roll
Waxing	Spell duration is doubled	1 - 50
Waning	Spell duration is halved	51 – 100

This treats a full moon conjunction at 100% as waxing and a new moon conjunction at 0% as waning

 Per the Merchant Calendar, there is a conjunction every ~45 days then they occur about 2% of the time.  However, less than half of these will be visible. (48%) Visible conjunctions occur about every 90 days. On a given day, you have less than a 1% chance you have a conjunction that is visible. 

If you are not keeping track of time, or using the Merchant Calendar, or if you don’t know the particular day of the year it is, and if you don’t know when the last conjunction occurred you can use 1d100 to determine how many days until it will occur next.  The number indicated on the dice is the days to the conjunction.  A roll of 91-95 is DM’s choice and 96 or above should be rerolled.

A Conjunction

What happens during a conjunction?

According to Terrors Beyond Tyr Page 109, “Tari mate once per year. The females of a single pack go into heat during the conjunction of the moons, initiating the mating season.”

Also, in Terrors Beyond Tyr, on page 104 Stalking Horrors appear during a specific lunar alignment.  “The only reported sightings are on clear Athasian nights when the moons are in a specific alignment. The stalking horror is believed to be the result of some ancient summoning.” Perhaps these conjunctions are one of those moments.

 Dragon Magazine 185 Water and Ashes tells of a waterfall that was seen when the moons took a certain position, again, this could possibly occur during a conjunction.

The Short Story Service in Black Flames has the Avangion casting a spell on the major conjunction. (Again, see above)

The Crimson Monolith, detailed in the 2^nd ed. boxed set, has certain monsters appear from out of it on certain nights when the “twin moons are high in the sky” – maybe this isn’t a complete conjunction, but the moons are approaching a conjunction.

Enslave Elemental, a spell from Dragon Kings, requires a portion of the spell to have the wizard fashion an amulet and don it and “cast the spell before the next double moon (within 1d100 days) Upon casting the elemental arrives.”

Though not a completely direct Athas reference, the book Domains of Dread contains a reference to portals that lead out of Ravenloft.  The domain of Kalidnay may be found within the Domains of Dread. 

 “While there are no permanent portals out of Ravenloft, temporary gates to the Prime Material Plane do exist. As a rule, however, these gates must be triggered by some natural or supernatural act. Examples of such triggers include astronomical phenomena (like eclipses and conjunctions), the completion of certain arcane rituals, and the fulfillment of macabre prophecies.”

 Another potential tie in, is the number 90 along with the Messenger comet. According to the Veiled Alliance book page 41, 90 is “a sacred number for Tectultitlay.”  The Draji calendar numbers years into groups of 90.  90 could also be important to them since it is the same number of days between visible lunar conjunctions. (~89.67 days).

There are a few ideas that you may find useful to further your use of the moons.