Lunar Waters Material in Skydwellers | World Anvil
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Lunar Waters

Attention, people! This article features a story in which someone is bleeding to death. This is a content warning, so....be warned!

"Are they gone?" she asked, trying to find the strength to look up. Right now, it was taking most of her strength not to slump over in pain.   "No," her Bond said shakily, scanning the sky. He looked back at her, humming anxiously. "Sarah, are you sure you don't have anything resembling medicinal supplies on you?"   "If I did, I would have used them by now," she said through gritted teeth. But, just to be sure, she checked her pockets once more, letting out a moan of pain as she released pressure from the wound in her stomach. Nothing. If only she hadn't been stupid enough to let herself sleepwalk during a time of war. Now their camp had been ambushed, and she and Ray had been forced to flee without her sackpack. Dozens of valuable items and supplies, gone, just like that.   Stupid ambush.   Ray checked the sky again, where their pursuers were circling above. Luckily, these small little meadow clouds had been set up as a safe sanctuary, as promised. There's one thing Erid's...kept his...promise on, Sarah thought to herself. But even her thoughts were starting to feel slow. She shook herself. She was not going to pass out.   "Sarah, that looks bad," Ray said, and she latched onto his words. "I think we need to make a run for it."   Sarah shook her head, grimacing. "We'll never make it. There are too many of them, and they have us surrounded. Maybe if I could think straight, or if you didn't have to carry me..."   Actually, that was an idea. She looked at Ray, who was already shaking his head vigorously. "No. Not an option. You'll be better in the morning, and then we can make our escape."   Sarah took a deep breath. He'd never leave her. But their allies needed what she had. She reached into her pocket and took out the vial filled with gray powder. "Ray. This invention could change everything about the war. Whichever side gets a hold of it will probably win. We cannot let our enemies obtain it!" She tried to put as much energy as she could into the words, but it was getting so hard. The pain was beginning to be overwhelming.   Ray still shook his head, tears glistening in his eyes. "We won't. Just get some rest; our allies will be fine for one more night."   "With a siege going on? Ray, they'll need it as fast as they can get it. I need you to take this and fly out to them. I believe you can do it. You can come back for me once they have it." Both of them knew that she'd be dead by then. If she survived this much blood loss, she'd succumb to infection, starvation, or a wild animal - those could still come into the meadows.   Ray was still shaking his head.   "Ray, I mean it. Take it!" her voice cracked, tears beginning to fall. She was starting to get so tired. Any form of light was making her vision blurry. She could barely see Ray. And her wound hurt so much. The effects of the tablet she'd swallowed were fading, so the pain was screaming from every cell. She'd die fast. But in a war like this, every second counted.   So she set the vial on the ground and removed her hands from her wound, letting the blood flow freely.   "No! What are you doing?" Ray shrieked. He lunged forward, but stopped himself, probably afraid that his talons would just make her injury worse. "I'm not leaving you," he sobbed.   Sarah tried to smile. "You'll leave in a few minutes. It won't take long now." She'd become too dizzy to sit up, so she laid down. "It's a beautiful place to die, really."   It was. Only a few inches of cloudmist, and something in the clouds that made it look like a thousand stars were shimmering inside them. There was a trickling stream nearby, too. It was breathtaking.   And then she saw the clouds part. It really was a blue moon tonight, in the sense that it was the second blue moon that month. And the moon looked so big, with a reddish tint. Fitting for the way she was dying.   She almost didn't hear Ray's gasp. But when she did, she followed his gaze to the stream beside her and...   It was glowing. Glowing with a silvery blue light. She almost didn't believe it, and then, suddenly, there was a small collection of dewdrops hovering in front of her nose.   Water sprite. But she was too weak to run.   Strangely though, this sprite didn't try to hurt her. Instead, a lilting voice spoke inside her head.   'Drink it.'   Yeah, like that wouldn't give the sprite the immediate ability to ensnare her soul or something. But the sprite must've also spoken to Ray, said something that he trusted, because he turned to her. "Drink it," he begged. "Please."   Sarah didn't trust the sprite for a bit. But she trusted Ray, and hated leaving him alone. If she could do something in her last moments that made him happy...   With the last of her strength, Sarah reached over and cupped some of the glowing water in her hands. She didn't hesitate to drink; she was afraid that even a moment would leave her unconscious and Ray forever regretful.   Then something happened she would never have expected. Her dizziness faded, her pain eased. She could feel her thoughts return to normal speed and the blood flow cease. Almost immediately, she knew she was being healed.   Eyes widening, she took another sip from the stream. Another, and another, until she was standing, refreshed, in the meadow. The clouds overshadowed the moon once again, and the water returned to its normal state.   Tentatively, Sarah patted her stomach. It was healed! Comepletely whole. Letting out a single sob of joy, she threw her arms around Ray - well, as much around him as she could manage, with her being so short and him being a dragon. When she pulled away, he was grinning wildly.   "Thank you," he said to that hovering drop of water. Sarah knelt before it as well, nodding her head and professing her thanks. Then she stood, clutching the vial of dark gray powder in her hand.   "Okay, Ray. Let's go get this to the fort."
In various locations across the sky are places often referred to as Lunar Meadows. Each are little havens of peace, and ancient texts hint that spells can be placed around them so they work a little like safe houses against enemies. Special elements in the clouds react with moonlight and starlight to make it seem like there's a galaxy trapped in the fluffy white, and the streams that flow through the meadows will occasionally run uphill.   Something even more special happens in these meadows, however, every time a super blue blood moon is in the sky. These moons are the second full moons of a month, are at the closest point to Earth in their orbit, and are also blood moons - a nickname for solar eclipses. These special moons are extremely rare, occurring about once every 37 years.   When these super blue blood moons are in the sky, the meadows are full of magic. The water in the streams glows a silvery blue, and anyone who drinks it will be healed of any maladies, no matter how severe. However, any attempt to collect this water will just give you a vial of regular stream water - and often, it'll be full of harmful bacteria. Thus, these nights have turned into chaotic swarms of people hoping to be healed from deadly injuries and sicknesses.

It's unclear how the water takes on these healing properties. Some doctors who collect from the streams note tiny water sprites zipping above the streams and watching them, and scholars speculate that these are a harmless subspecies of sprite known as brooklings, who had been reported to even help Skydwellers on occasion.

Although it's impossible to harvest the water itself, a scientist recently discovered that dipping a cloth in the water and then placing that cloth at the roots of a plant will cause the plant to grow quickly and powerfully. Harvesting that plant for magical means creates a powder, dust, or elixir that is at least ten times more powerful than what could previously be created. The general public don't know about this discovery yet, largely because it would create chaos and a massive power rush every time the right moon rolled around, with all kinds of businesspeople fighting for a dip of the water, and things are already crazy enough with all the people hoping to be healed.


From this strange and wonderful phenomenon, it's clear that even the part of the sky that's seperated by an atmosphere still holds immense power. Skydweller astrologers and astronomers alike take the lunar waters to heart and are currently studying to find other magical events that are influenced by the heavens. So far, none others have been found, but they haven't stopped searching and studying.

Comments

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Aug 21, 2023 06:48 by Tlcassis Polgara | Arrhynsia

I really like the story with a sidebar format here - and nice art. Some additional cross links into your world would have helped me with mouse-overs and opportunities to poke and explore!

Follow my worlds: Arrhynsia and Compendium and check out my author website at tlcassis.com to see my latest work!
Sep 3, 2023 16:48 by Reanna R

Thank you for both the kind words and the advice. I'll have to go through this article and add in more links to other pages.

May your worldbuilding hammer always fall true! Also, check out the world of the Skydwellers for lots of aerial adventures.