Ruidus

Ruidus is the smaller and more distant of Exandria's two moons, considered its secondary moon. Its dull reddish color reflects less light than Exandria's other moon, Catha, and it appears tiny in size. This makes it difficult to see in the sky, even at night, during the half of the year it is considered prominent. Exandrian scholarship knows little about Ruidus and puts forward conflicting theories on its origins. Various folklore casts it as an ill omen.

Though often depicted close to each other, Catha and Ruidus have different orbits and can appear in different points in the sky.

Description
Ruidus is less than half the size of Catha and so is small in the sky. When the moon is full, it shines vermilion, but usually appears as a dull color, variously described as brown, reddish-brown, maroon, deep red, or purple. Its distance and color cause it to reflect less of the sun's light. As a result, even when Ruidus is considered prominent, it is often difficult to see at night and near impossible to see at day; it has greater visibility during certain portions of the night. Through a telescope, striations of Ruidus's vermilion hue and topography, which includes mountains, are visible. The moon appears to have an atmosphere, as stormy weather patterns with crimson clouds and light flashes are also visible through a telescope.

It takes either half a year (about 164 days) or "a near six month cycle" (which could be up to about 182 days) to orbit Exandria. In 836 PD, it was visible during the four months between 22 Misuthar and 26 Unndilar; in Unndilar, it was on the opposite side of the sky from Catha. Unlike Catha, it does not wax and wane, and it sometimes glows or flashes at seemingly random times. In 836 PD, Ruidus flared "with bright red light. The moon [Ruidus], which has appeared as a slim crescent throughout the night, suddenly [became] full". Another flare occurred around 840 or 841 PD. It flared again in the middle of the night of Sydenstar 14th, 843 PD.

Folklore
In comparison to Catha, Exandrian scholarship does not know much about Ruidus; however, as of 843 PD, rising interest in Ruidus has led to the funding of new research. The origin of Ruidus's existence is unclear; some believe that it is pre-Founding while others believe that the Betrayer Gods created it during the Age of Arcanum or the Calamity as part of a lengthy but unknown plot that was abruptly halted by the Divergence. A myth places the creation of Ruidus during the Founding. At that time, "an unidentifiable power" was "seeping through the fabric of reality." This leakage of power into the Material Plane presented a threat to the nascent life on Exandria. The myth holds that the "dark power...crystalized into Ruidus". As the gods remain unaware of power's origin, they "agreed to create a tale about Ruidus to conceal its alien origin from the mortals of the world, informing them that it was a moon of ill omen, and its magical influence was always to be avoided." The myth asserts that "the tale concocted by the gods was not a lie." Though Ruidus has its own power, some magic attributed to Ruidus actually derives from Alyxian (see Call of the Netherdeep below).

Folklore across Exandria supplies the information regarding the symbolic association, religious significance, and phenomena connected to Ruidus. It is commonly believed across multiple cultures that Ruidus is an ill omen, and those born while it is bright are said bound for lives of ill fate. As of 836 PD, remote parts of Tal'Dorei secretly sacrifice children born under a full Ruidus, partly as an offering to the dark moon and partly due to their belief that such children will suffer under a lifelong curse. The practice is banned in Tal'Dorei's cities. There is a prominent superstition that meteor showers are parts of a decaying Ruidus that have broken off and fell toward Exandria.

Shortly after the discovery of a "strange mineral in the sunken ruins" of Cael Morrow beneath Ank'Harel by academics of the Allegiance of Allsight, members of the Consortium of the Vermilion Dream misattributed the mineral's origin to Ruidus and named it "ruidium" due to the resemblance of its red hue with the light of Ruidus. The color and properties of the mineral derive from magic which issues from the adjacent planar rift. Despite the misconception, the misnomer of "ruidium" remains the name for the mineral.

Ruidusborn
Individuals thought to be born under the light of Ruidus include:
 * The Raven Queen
 * Alyxian
 * Warren Drassig
 * Liliana Temult
 * Fearne Calloway

Scholarship
Scholars whose focus pertains to Ruidus are few, and study of Ruidus has been difficult because something either about the moon itself or in the sky above Exandria prevents the ability to deeply investigate it or ascertain its nature using magic. Looking at the moon too closely through telescopes causes the looker to lose the ability to focus and ultimately induces a headache. This tendency to "evade" understanding and study has been noted in research for years, but researchers do not openly discuss this quality to avoid stirring anxieties related to popular superstition about Ruidus.

In 836 PD, Demid Sunlash explained that his fascination with Ruidus is due in part to how little scholarship exists. In the summer of 843 PD, Roe Estani mentioned that a growing recurrence of Ruidus flares and curiosity regarding the "abnormal record" of Ruidusborn "instilled further interest in funding into the study of Ruidus". The Aydinlan Seminary in Yios, Marquet is associated with Ruidus studies, given its apparent resources on Ruidus in the Omen Archive and the faculty research activity of Kadija Sumal and Estani, though Estani did not publish his later findings on his theories regarding Ruidus. Balan and Zeyar also took special interest in the sporadic flares of Ruidus, and they were traveling to the Omen Archive at the Aydinlan Seminary in Yios, Marquet to pursue their research but were murdered en route. Members of the Grim Verity, including Estani, Balan and Zeyer, and Hondir, have researched Ruidus, and many of them were murdered for their interest in it.

Magical phenomena
The light of Ruidus has no observed effects on entities with lycanthropy.

Extraplanar phenomena
Members of the Allegiance of Allsight below Ank'Harel in the 830s PD discovered "a gaping [planar] rift that pulsates with sickly red light" known as the Netherdeep. The myth of Alyxian connects the origin of the Netherdeep with his interposition between Gruumsh's spear and the city of Cael Morrow during the Calamity. An extant version of this myth holds that "the Apotheon's connection with Ruidus flared to life" at the moment of his interposition.

Some worry that rare double eclipses, where Catha and Ruidus simultaneously overlap the sun, cause the Material Plane and other planes to calamitously intersect.

Call of the Netherdeep
The introduction to Call of the Netherdeep explains that the story "intentionally avoids discussing [Ruidus's] actual magical power" and that "the true nature of Ruidus is a topic to be explored in other Critical Role stories." The adventure's narrative focuses on Alyxian, the mythological figure of the Calamity. The myth of Alyxian says that Alyxian was born under the full light of Ruidus. At the creation of the Netherdeep in Alyxian's struggle with Gruumsh, the myth holds that "the Apotheon's connection with Ruidus flared to life" when he intercepts Gruumsh's spear. The myth of Alyxian and the veneration of Ruidus hold that "Ruidus's alien magic" is responsible for certain curses of ill-fate. Nevertheless, most acknowledge that the magical phenomena and the ruidium mineral connected to the Netherdeep derive their power from Alyxian. Consequentially, if the adventuring party successfully relieves Alyxian of his bondage in the Netherdeep, all the ruidium in Exandria ceases to exist.

Campaign 3
Imogen Temult, in researching strange recurring dreams she had been having in which she was attempting to escape a red storm, found a paper that indicated such dreams may be linked, among other things, the cycle of Ruidus. She later, with Orym's help, looked at Ruidus through Estani's telescope, and saw that a storm similar to the one in her dreams raged on the surface of the moon.

While in Bassuras, Imogen's dream changed; rather than trying out outrun the storm, she found herself within it and that there were armored figures standing before her. When she woke up, she was drawn towards the window, and upon looking up at the sky saw that Ruidus was flaring.

Birdie Calloway revealed to Bells Hells that Fearne was born in Exandria during a Ruidus flare. She and Fearne's father, Oleander Calloway, were unaware of the significance, as Ruidus did not appear in the Feywild. Later, while under the influence of herbs, Ollie had a vision of Ruidus appearing in the Feywild and destroying it utterly. A year after that, they saw Ruidus in the sky of the Feywild. They began to investigate, and found that the Unseelie Court was concealing Ruidus's influence, and was working with people from the Material Plane, including Otohan Thull, on a machine related to Ruidus. She and Ollie stole the Moontide Crown from this device to create their own machine in Exandria to study Ruidus with the help of Ira Wendagoth.

Trivia

 * In the third chapter of Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, its name is misspelled "Ruidis".
 * References to Ruidus being made of cheese:
 * As part of a ruse, Caleb Widogast tells Demid Sunlash that Whitestone myth and legend understands Ruidus to be made of cheese. Sunlash concludes that this is "strange" and remarks that "Tal'Dorei is such an uncultured land".
 * Ashton Greymoore states that they "grew up thinking the red moon was made of cheese."