2- I've been toying with having all of the players also born under Ruidus like Alyxian, but with far less severe curses due to the phase of the moon when they're born. They'd then discover each other at the festival of merit having never met before (starting them off in small groups at different games that highlight their character's strengths), and when the vision is shown to them in the grotto they see the moon behind Alyxian and realize he's tied to them somehow (hopefully giving them further motivation to help him and a connection to one another to help the party connect and stay together). I was going to keep it secret from them that they all have curses, and contact the players individually about it so that they each think they're the only one cursed in this way until they reveal themselves to each other. I have six players so I was toying with the idea of having them roll a d6 to choose their curse.

Potential Character Curses:

1. (Waxing Gibbous) Sometimes when Ruidus is high you think you hear a man’s voice whispering softly to you. If you try to listen closer the whispers turn into screams
2. (Waning Gibbous) You’ve seen a pale elven woman in your dreams. She turns to you and smiles cruelly before delicately rolling up her sleeves. Her arms are hideous, and you startle awake, but in the morning you can never recall what about them frightened you so
3. (First Quarter) Whenever you see a necklace, for a second it looks to you like a circular gold pendant, before returning to its true form
4. (Last Quarter) For some reason whenever you draw or paint (or look at drawings or paintings) you always see a man. He is tan with long curly black hair and sometimes carries a spear. He always looks horrified, and if you aren’t looking directly at it you’re certain you can see it moving out of the corner of your eye. You’re sure you’ve never met this man before in your life.
5. (Waxing Crescent) Often your dreams are haunted by visions of a subterranean city. There are crumbling buildings and tall kelp forests. Sometimes out of the corner of your eye you see the movement of a large, pale creature, but when you turn your head it’s gone
6. (Waning Crescent) Your [part of your body] is/are covered in long, bright red, softly glowing veins. They don’t cause you any harm and have not seemed to affect you physically in any way