Lunar Capital

Lore & Background

The Lunar Capital is the seat of Selenite civilization, centuries after the original expedition. It is here that Marek, an adventurous young space technology planner from Earth, lands and is hailed as the long-awaited Savior. The capital is dominated by the Temple, where a religious order maintains a ceaseless vigil at the landing site of the original expedition. The Head Priest, Malahuda, resides here; when Marek arrives, Malahuda recognizes the potential for societal turmoil and actively opposes Marek's claims, refusing to declare him the messiah. Malahuda remains Head Priest and is eventually killed by the Szern Awij. The Szern stronghold is not located in the Lunar Capital; the Szerns live in caverns beneath the Moon's surface, and the final battle occurs elsewhere. The head Szern, Awij, is captured by Marek and other Selenites, then imprisoned in the Temple's sacred crypt. Later, Awij escapes from the crypt, fatally electrocuting several Selenites, including Malahuda. The capital becomes a place of doubt and resentment when Marek attempts to reorganize Selenite society along socialist lines and fails to raise the dead, as Selenite religious teachings held their savior would.

In Their Own Story

The silver spires of the Lunar Capital pierced the black sky like needles. Marek stood at the edge of the observation deck, watching the city below pulse with cold light. It was beautiful in a way that hurt his eyes, too perfect, too still. Somewhere within those walls, the Head Priest waited, and the Selenites clamored for their Savior. But Marek, knowing nothing of their prophecies, had merely intended to investigate what happened to the original expedition, then return to Earth.

Reader's Guide

The Lunar Capital sprawls across the livable part of the Moon, dominated by the massive Temple complex at its center. Geography is defined by low gravity and a rugged, desolate landscape with limited oxygen and water. Unlike the Earth of the 27th century, the Lunar Capital is a crudely organized but functional agricultural society. Culturally, it is strictly hierarchical under the religious order, with the Selenites divided by their desperate struggle against the Szerns. The Szerns, devil-like beings with black wings and organs able to produce electric discharges, rule the Selenites with an iron hand, extracting tribute in produce, services, and offspring. They also rape Selenite women to breed human-Szern hybrids known as Deathlings, who are treated little better than dogs. The Selenites hate the Deathlings even more than the Szerns, and any Selenite woman impregnated by a Szern is stoned to death. The technology here is limited; the Selenites have lost most of their knowledge from Earth. Politically, the capital serves as the command hub for the war against the Szerns. Its significance peaks during the climactic battle where Marek leads the Selenites to storm the Szern stronghold and later attacks the Szern homeland across a lunar sea. The city represents the duality of Luna: a place of desperate hope under a religious prophecy, yet morally bankrupt under the tyranny of the Szerns.

Did You Know?

• The Lunar Capital is the setting for the third volume of the trilogy, *Stara Ziemia* (The Old Earth), first published in Warsaw in 1910.
• The Szerns do not have a stronghold in the capital; they dwell in caverns beneath the Moon's surface, and their final confrontation with the Selenites takes place elsewhere.
• The head Szern, Awij, is captured by Marek and other Selenites, not by Malahuda's granddaughter, and is imprisoned in the Temple's sacred crypt.
• During his escape from the crypt, Awij fatally electrocutes several Selenites, including Head Priest Malahuda, who never resigned and opposed Marek until his death.
• The Selenites' religion, the Religion of the Coming, centers around the hope that someone will come from Earth to rescue them from the Szerns.