Star Children (species)

Every ten years a star falls and becomes a Star Child. True to their name, the Star Children are eternally young, and carry with them the unique ability to be conscious inside a dream.
==Biology==
Physically, Star Children appear to be humans, though they cannot physically “age” beyond eleven years. Their main distinction from a human comes from their extremely vivid eye colours. In actuality their bodies aren't physical, as while most contact will work normally on them, any attempt to harm a Star Child will phase straight through their body, as if they were never there at all.
Star Children have the unique ability to be fully conscious in the world of dreams. In fact, it is only in dreams that they have a truly physical body. They can be injured in this body, though there is a limit to how much harm they can take (they cannot have limbs dismembered, for example). If they are injured, the Star Child can use a self-regenerative process to heal themselves - they are incapable of returning to the world of the awake if there is any damage to their body.
If a human child (under twelve years old) is touching a Star Child while they sleep, they get to visit the dream world with the Star Child. Humans are known to have incorporeal bodies inside the dream world, much like Star Children do in the awake world, though unlike Star Children they are still fully vulnerable to harm in this incorporeal body.
Star Children are effectively immortal, with the closest to killing them being trapping them inside the dream world with heavy injuries and no chance to recover. They can contract certain human diseases that can cause them discomfort, but ultimately have no effect otherwise. Medicine seems to have absolutely no effect on them.
The first names of Star Children are given by Sienna, the eldest Star Child. When they are adopted in the world of the awake, they receive the surname of their adoptive parents. If their parents give them a first name, it will be repurposed as a middle name (though still may be used commonly in the world of the living).
==Abilities==
Within the dream world, Star Children are capable of the creation and manipulation of a certain element. This element is decided upon birth for every Star Child, and generally speaking their eye colour is representative of the element that they control.
Sienna's abilities are different, being more linked to the dream world itself. She can change the structure of the dream world to minor extent (this power was much stronger when she was very young), can cast celestial magic, and can send messages to any other person through their dreams, provided another Star Child has been in contact with them at least once. She will generally use the third ability after a Star Child has been adopted, to inform their carers of their status as Star Child.
In the world of the awake, Star Children have unique rights to accommodate for their physical and chronological age difference. They are taken into the same education system as humans over the same number of years, and have the option to try for a degree afterwards (which most don't worry about). They are able to take up jobs after their education is complete, though there are restrictions to what jobs they can have as a result of their small size.
Law requires for Star Children to have stable guardians or at least people to look after them in their workplace (assuming they live in the grounds that they work).
==Known Star Children==
*Sienna Celestia (first)
*Ben Nolan (fourteenth)
*Daniel Day (fifteenth)
*Jamie Ayliffe (sixteenth)
==Trivia==
*The Star Children originated from a short story that Mirror wrote, but never published.
Category:Species