Black Star

The Black Star is a mysterious cosmic phenomenon that exists in the World of Io series. The Black Star usually manifests itself at cosmological significant points in spacetime, though why this is the case is unknown. The Black Star is usually defined as something akin to a singularity, where many alternate realities converge and things both exist and do not exist simultaneously. The Black Star is also the source of the mysterious Kindled, a race of sapient energy that are mentally connected to one another.

## Properties

The Black Star is typically recognized by its distinctive black hue with a faint white outline. Wielders and entities of Black Star often manifest their powers with this energy. Sources of Black Star are extremely rare. When they manifest, Black Star sources take the appearance of a condensed orb of energy akin to a sun, radiating energy into its surroundings. These surrounding tend to be warped by this energy, causing them to be distorted and drained of color, almost appearing photonegative in composition. The Black Star can also manifest in the form of gates, enormous elliptical portals with a similar photonegative effect.

## History

The Black Star appears to be a fundamental aspect of the universe, though it is not well documented or understood. According to Lagos, the Keeper of the Eight, Black Stars often manifest during events of cosmological significance, suitably called Black Star Events. It is understood that one such Black Star Event occurred as a result of the Jupiter Incident, when Lagos, the Emissary of the End unleashed Kaasma and exterminated his own people. Black Star energy is known to exist in the Nova Hellscape in a number of forms. The existence of Kindled is entirely tied to the Black Star, and their presence in the Hellscape is indicative of its influence. In addition, Lagos informed Zehani that should he succeed in his mission and return to the Nova, he would bathe in the Black Star, implying it existed in great quantities in the Nova.

A confirmed Black Star Event occurred upon the defeat of DIV and VOID by the Fallen Heroes of Io. This victory over the gods was, according to Lagos, Keeper of the Eight, the only instance of this outcome in all of Io's alternate realities. As such, a Black Star was created in the Holy Chapel of Atlas, causing the city to disappear and the Fallen Heroes to be taken away by it. Only one individual, a man named Sterling Smiles, was able to resist the pull of the Black Star through sheer force of will. This Black Star Event drew the attention of Lagos, Keeper of the Eight, who devoted himself to studying it. Lagos then travelled to the Altered City of Atlas, a different reality from his own, and began to study the Black Star that existed there. The Fallen Heroes also came into his custody, implying this Black Star Event was either the same one that abducted them or had been connected to the Altered City in some way. Lagos then manipulated the Black Star, infusing it into the dormant Heroes to turn them into living weapons. Similarly, the Black Star recreated the citizens of Atlas, though none appeared able to acknowledge its presence. The exception was a Lycanthrope blacksmith named Manda, who integrated the Black Star into herself, causing her to have experienced every life time she had lived across realities and granting her control over its power. For eons, Lagos and Manda toiled away at their separate tasks, until one day everything changed.

## Phase 2 Story

### The Chamber of the Eight

Upon the defeat of Kaasma Khara, the barrier protecting Io was compromised. This was the sign Lagos, Keeper of the Eight was waiting for. As he began to finish his preparations to send his bioweapons to Io, the Black Star responded in an unusual manner. It reached out to eight individuals with connections to the Heroes and summoned them to the Altered City. The heroes then confronted Lagos in the Altered Chapel. Lagos explained the nature of the Black Star as he understood it, and inquired about their reality. Determining it was his own, he seemed to come to some conclusion regarding the Black Star's strange activity, but did not share it. He then used the remainder of the dissipating Black Star to finish his weapons and transport all but one of them to Io. With its power no longer sustaining him, Lagos rapidly aged and died. The recreated denizens all disappeared with the exception of Manda. With this, the Black Star source disappeared from the Altered City. However, some of its energy lingered in the chapel. At the suggestion of Manda, heroes that travelled to this reality could attune with the remnants of the Black Star, establishing a permanent connection to the city and also unlocking their ability to access the Memory.

### The Obelisk

In the Nova Hellscape, Lagos, the Emissary of the End, approached the Grand Seer of the Order of the Horn, a tribe of Minotaur that ruled a city there. He presented himself as an ally and told the Grand Seer of the wonderous power of the Black Star. The Grand Seer was tempted by its power and sought to learn of it from this Azure Astari. Lagos then began to teach the Grand Seer and his followers as promised. Some of the first experiments made by the Grand Seer lead to the transformation of their slaves into husks that feasted on light and life alike. As they continued to delve deeper into its mysteries, they locked themselves within the great Obelisk within the city, and completely detached themselves from governance in order further their obsession. However, Lagos was actually manipulating them to his own ends. Though their experimentation, the Grand Seer and his followers started to amass more and more Black Star energy within the Obelisk, infusing it and creating an artificial source of Black Star. The Minotaur were in too deep and they were eventually overcome by its power, killing them and fusing them with the Obelisk. Meanwhile, a tribe of vagabonds had learned of the Grand Seer's experimentation with the Black Star. A Kindled named Geth greatly desired to return himself to the Black Star from whence he came, and his fellow party member also sought its power. Through a convoluted series of betrayals and bloodshed, they arrived at the Obelisk and Geth used his power to tap into it. Responding to him, the Black Star went into overdrive and released a titanic explosion, killing everything in a vast area bar the tribe that had activated it. In its place, a tear in the fabric of reality was opened. Lagos communicated with the tribe, congratulating them and encouraging them to go through to seek a new land of plenty. The tribe, bar Deborrah, went through, passing first through the Altered City of Atlas and then arriving on an island in Io. Geth's connection to the Black Star was severed, which gradually drove him insane. Manda, who witnessed them briefly break through the Altered City, studied the lingering energies and learned how to open tears of her own.

### The Battle with Weyzi

During their battle with the Fallen Hero Weyzi, the corrupted hobgoblin utilized Black Star energy to augment her power and tap into the power of one of her old enemies Brundin. This use of Black Star came to a head when Weyzi suffered a heart attack, causing her to loose control of it. The Black Star then began to run rampant, constantly pulsing out from her in a destructive wave that gradually grow larger and larger. Had her friends and the pirates of the Miss Demeanor not knocked her unconscious, the energy would have eventually engulfed Io in its entirely, effectively destroying it and all life. Through the power of the memory, the boy Alice was able to purge the corruption from her, and the Black Star energy disappeared, reverting Weyzi to how she once was.

## Uses

The Black Star is capable of incredible feats that can alter the very fabric of reality. People that use the Black Star effectively are extremely rare, though it is capable of affecting individuals through even the slightest interaction. Kindled, for example, are inherently connected to the Black Star, being birthed from its energy seemingly at random. Kindled are able to maintain a connection with one another through the Black Star and could even look into different realities to compare how events would unfold in the future.

Users of the Black Star, such as Lagos and Manda, could do all sorts of things with this energy, in addition to using it as a simple source for magic. The Black Star could be used to infuse items and entities with its power, granting them superhuman abilities and altering their very souls. It could also corrupt and warp a person, as seen with the Fallen Heroes and the Light Eaters. In addition, the Black Star allowed individuals to be transported across spacetime and even alternate realities, as seen when the Fallen Heroes were taken away. Lagos and Manda were also able to use it to create permanent tears in reality, which acted as portals by which people might travel between locations on Io and beyond.

The Black Star also appears to have some relationship with the Astari magic of the Memory. By attuning to the chapel in Atlas, a place awash with Black Star energy, heroes of Io could access their Memory, seeing visions of other lives connected to them and grant them new power they had never possessed before. The Black Star in Atlas was also able to reach out to individuals attached to the Fallen Heroes to transport them to them, an unsolicited act that potentially hints at a form of higher intellect.

## Mechanics

Main article: Technical Details

The world of Io is a heavily homebrewed setting with many experimental mechanics working at the same time. As an example, there are mechanics that apply only to certain campaigns, and there are mechanics that can be or are shared between multiple campaigns.

## Trivia

* The Black Star was first mentioned in Astral Academy Episode 12 by Lagos, The Emissary of the End, when he attempted to seize control of Zehani. Its first major appearance was in the campaign, Chamber of the Eight, where it was a crucial plot point.