Stars Above

*`Humble yourself, bask in starlight"*

The **Stars Above**, also known as the **Gods Above** or the **Watching Lights**, is the collective name for the deities that watch over the world of Adoria in the form of stars. The stars are always visible, both during the day and night, as they provide Adoria with heat and light. Steadily they travel across the sky, dimming and brightening, heating and cooling. Together, they give shape to the world's days, months, seasons and years. Most peoples of Adoria believe that their divine ancestors were the children of the Stars Above, and that it is their destiny to one day join the stars in the Heavens.

## Description

To the naked eye, the stars are but specks of light in the sky, occasionally varying in color and brightness. In the daytime, the stars' intense light makes it difficult to discern individual stars from each other, causing them to appear as a 'belt' or 'snake' of light in the sky. Most stars cluster around a particularly bright star, which the elves have named Turos. Other stars wander far away from their celestial brethren, becoming lone bastions of light in the dark cosmos.

During the night, the stars become more individually discernible. Some of them may emit a greenish glow, while others can glitter with silvery light. Their luminosity also differs greatly, with some stars outshining others. Together, the stars form the constellations. The constellations are believed to be the language of the gods, an ancient tongue of magic that mortals have long forgotten. The ever-inventive astronomers research these constellations and unlock their arcane potential.

Every month, the belt of stars travels from north to south, and then back. This movement denotes the passage of months. Over an entire year, the stars travel back and forth a total of twelve times. During the first six months, the heat emitted by the stars increases, reaching a peak during the end of the sixth month. Then, over the last six months of the year, the light of the stars begins to dim. The warmth they emit lessens, basking the world in cold. This cycle of warmth and cold coincides with the cycle of life and death in Adoria.

## Divinity

Mortals have long attempted to discern the secrets of the stars. Astronomers have carefully studied their strange movements and the patterns they form, hoping to uncover their cosmic plans and intentions. Spirit chanters have invented names for individual stars, hoping to commune with them on a spiritual level, but to no avail. Only the onomancers have been successful in communing directly with the celestial deities. The key to such communion is the knowledge of the god's true name. For the most ancient of stars, such a name has never been spoken aloud, never-mind recorded. However, there are stars of whom the true name is knowable.

### Ascension

In the beginning, when Adoria was first formed, it served as a battlefield between the children of the stars. These celestial children, named the Forebears, fought each other during the Age of Forebears to claim their own seats in the Heavens. Many of these Forebears birthed children during this time; the primordial ancestors of all of Adoria's creatures and peoples.

Then, at the end of their Age, the Forebears departed from Adoria with Gifts for their children. First, their children received the Gift of Mortality, blessing them with the inevitability of death and rebirth. Then they received the Gift of Blindness, mercifully sparing their children from knowledge that should not be known. And finally, the children of the Forebears that claimed a throne in the Heavens received the greatest gift of all; the Gift of Potential. The members of the races that received this Gift gained the chance to prove themselves worthy to join the gods in the Heavens. Those that perform Acts that impress even the gods themselves may be granted the ability to ascend to godhood.

### Ascended Gods

During the many millennia that followed the Age of Forebears, many mortal heroes performed Acts so grand that the Stars Above granted them ascension. These heroes then joined the gods in the Heavens, taking their own seats beside their divine thrones, and becoming stars. By intimately learning the true names of these heroes during life, some could commune with these heroes after their ascension. Those that commune with the stars through true-name magics are known as onomancers, and they are much-revered in many Adorian societies. The Ascended Gods can grant many blessings after their ascension, and can even communicate with their worshipers directly. Those that are chosen to become the prophets of an Ascended God often become gods in their own right.

### The Silent Stars

Whereas communion with the Ascended Gods is possible through the art of onomancy, no method of communing with the other gods has of yet been discovered. The majority of gods are silent, their thoughts and wishes unknown. They do not offer blessings or gifts of magic. They are silent watchers, ceaselessly observing Adoria from the cosmos. However, many mortals praise them nonetheless, expecting nothing in return. Some believe that at the end of time, these Silent Gods will finally reveal their names to their mortal children.

## Powers

The stars keep many secrets. Ever since the ascension of the first of the Ascended Gods, mortals have hoped to discern the gods' true nature. They called upon the Ascended Gods and asked many questions. What did they become after their ascension? What is their purpose? And what are the extensions of their powers? None of these questions have ever been conclusively answered. The Ascended Gods seem to be slumbering, mumbling in their sleep. What they are truly capable of remains a mystery. Nevertheless, through their centuries of observation and worship, mortals have discerned some of the feats that the gods are capable of.

### Aspects

All gods have aspects, elements of their character and history that are imbued with power. While the aspects of the Silent Gods are unknowable, those of the Ascended Gods can be discovered and used. When an onomancer calls upon an Ascended God, they will ask to be granted the power to mimic one of the god's aspects.

For example, the onomancers of the Sythean Church worship the Forebear Sytha. It was believed that Sytha once roamed the world as the elf Elera, and saved the Aori elves from the blasphemy of their heretical brethren. Elera's strategic insight was widely praised during her lifetime, and was considered to be divinely inspired. After her ascension, Elera's tactical brilliance became one her godly aspects. And so, when an onomancer of the Church calls upon Elera's name, they may recall her wisdom and strategy in their prayer. If the goddess smiles upon them, she may grant the onomancer the power to use her tactical insight in return, so that the onomancer may follow in her footsteps, even if just for a short while.

### Prophecy and Arcana

The Stars Above do not wander through the cosmos in an erratic manner. Their movements are careful and deliberate, spelling out constellations in the sky. It is a language of prophecy, foretelling what the future holds. Mortal diviners translate this language to their mortal tongues, divining fate itself.

The shapes that the stars form in relation to each other hold power as well. The constellations are not formed incidentally, for they are words of arcane power. By imitating the shapes of the constellations, one can form arcane sigils that can create a variety of magical effects. Starseekers use the arcane dust in the air to form sigils, while sigil carvers use materials imbued with magic to shape runes.

## Light and Dark

Of all the gifts given by the gods, the greatest gift of all is their starlight. Day and night, they provide the world with light and warmth, ensuring the vibrancy of all life on Adoria. Their glorious luminescence casts away the chilling, cold touch of the Dark Beyond. Whereas the dark brings death, stillness and silence, the light instills the world with novelty and change. The stars linger there, up in the cosmos, to guard our world against the ever-encroaching nothingness of the Dark between the Stars.

But sometimes, the inky tendrils of the void touch the holy Adorian soil. It is the duty of mortals to combat the heralds of darkness that manage to enter our world. Paladins, clerics and other worshipers of the divine therefore wield swords of starlight. They destroy the dark harbingers wherever they may manifest. The gods, ever just, provide them with the weapons to do so.