Moon Goddess Lunvin's related lore and more werewolf lore.
CONTENT WARNING: Spoilers for Divided, I recommend not reading this until you've read up to at least Act 3 Chapter 11.
This is a work in progress.
- Elements of this lore were inspired by Hircine from Elder Scrolls, and also by the lore of the goddesses Selûne and Shar from DnD.
The Moon Goddess is worshipped by many witches in some way or other, but this refers to the Moon Goddess in terms of the specific moon goddess Lunvin, worshipped by the Lunvinchenaîné (pronounced luh-von-shen-ay, meaning 'moon-shackled'), the werewolves.
Lunvin is considered the goddess of the Moon and of werewolves, who She gifted lunar magic to. She has been portrayed in a number of ways over the years. Some see Her as the Moon itself, but other popular portrayals are a half-black half-white wolf, a wolf with the moon upon its back, and a feminine, heavily-pregnant figure wielding a sword with a moonlight core, and wearing a silver mask in the shape of the wolf's maw. This figure is often accompanied by a pack of four white wolves.
Above is an ancient rendition of Lunvin- a giant cosmic wolf that has Her paws wrapped around the Earth to keep it safe, bearing the Moon upon Her back. Likely inspired by Omiscan folklore, the mooncasters of old believed the craters of the moon to be Lunvin's eyes, and that She was always watching when the Moon was out. Many considered Lunvin and the Sun to be mortal enemies, fighting for their rightful places in the sky each day- and that the phases of the moon were Lunvin slowly losing the battle, only to then appear in full again once a month. This day was celebrated with feasting and dancing under the moonlight to commemmorate the victory (or resurrection) of Lunvin by those who didn't have lunar magic but still honoured Her as a goddess. Those who did have Her magic in their blood took on Her rage during those battles, a rage powerful enough to turn them into their beast forms.
Another theory for why they feel so enraged upon a full moon is that the wolves howl cathartically to the Moon, and so Lunvin's ire as well as the wolves is reflected in the Moon's radiance when it is full, transforming Her people into their wolf forms.
A somewhat more recent depiction of Lunvin- supposedly to honour both the human and wolf sides of Her children- is a humanoid female figure with claws, a wolf's feet (and sometimes a tail) and ears, three bright blue eyes, a white dress and cloak, and a silver mask in the shape of a wolf's muzzle. She bears a huge sword made of metal or crystal, with a core of moonlight. Due to lunar magic's association with fertility, She is often portrayed as always being heavily pregnant. Many mooncasters wait until the moon is clear in the sky before trying for children to ensure that Lunvin will guarantee a safe and healthy pregnancy and birth.
In connection to what is mentioned earlier, the general modern belief of how werewolves came around, is that wolves' howls were not just a way to communicate, but a way to offload stressors and concerns, and such powerful emotions became absorbed into the Moon's light. It is believed that certain people who were especially attuned to the Moon's light became 'infected' with the sheer brunt of the wolves' emotions, turning them into manbeasts upon the full moon. However, this is just the result of constantly-changing stories being passed down- there is no true information surviving on the true nature of where werewolves come from, though many consider the dwindling werewolf numbers to be partially because biologists in the past would kill them to study them.
Important facets of the worship of Lunvin are of the importance of family - blood or otherwise- and of the importance of anger and rage- not just knowing when to act upon it, but also the challenge of overcoming such emotions when it's necessary to do so. It is incredibly difficult - often impossible- to overcome the rage a mooncaster feels upon the Full Moon, but it is considered sacred to many mooncasters. Rage and anger are not solely tools of cruelty- they are reminders of what one deserves, and a reminder of their duty to protect themselves and others. It is a connection to the protective aggression of their lupine cousins. During the Full Moon, many mooncasters isolate themselves so they do not say things they don't mean to the people they love. Her focus is mainly on pragmatism, living as close to one's lupine cousins as they can. It is about perseverance, endurance, working through the ever-increasing difficulties of life, and protecting oneself and their family, blood or otherwise, no matter what.
People believe that, in the afterlife of a werewolf, Lunvin judges the life of the werewolf. If they were good to good people and to Lunvin, they would live eternally in wolf form, hunting in the luscious plains of her domain. If they did not, and were vile in their life, they would eternally be in human form, hunted and torn apart by the werewolves, only to reappear in one piece to be hunted again, forever at the mercy of the wolves. It is said that normal wolves also go to Lunvin's domain after death, and that Lunvin claims the souls of anyone who kills a werewolf and leaves them at the wolves' mercy in her domain. In religious texts, her domain is described as a beautiful lush landscape under a veil of eternal night with the moon always being full.