Stars, as described in the Universal Strata Model, are theoretical products of Natural Personification—specifically Relational Concentration. In practice, however, all known stars are the creations of Gods or organisms. Stars are physical objects that express information in the languages of Starscript and God Tongue. Stars may be observed every night across the entirety of the Plane by looking up to the heavens. Though the number of visible stars is impacted by various factors of the surrounding environment.
Stars have been theorized to be capable of forming naturally as a product of Relational Concentration, in the same way Gods or limn form via Material Concentration and Natural Diffusion respectively. Despite this the natural formation of a star has not been recorded, though the idea has been supported by various interactions with Gods.
Astronomy is the study of stars, how they work, and how they are written. Starforging is the act of forging new stars through the application of astronomical studies, often performed by wizards and mages. Stars are used for a multitude of applications by many occupations across the Plane. The first true star dates back to prehistory, with the creation of the First Epoch Star by the Gods of What Is and Is Not. The first use of an artificial star by a sophont is unknown, but does likely date back to the creation of humans.
Types & Categorization
Astronomers divide stars into two types: true stars, those created by the Gods and which reside in the heavens, and artificial stars, those created by organisms using limn. True and artificial stars are alike in many ways, but waver from one another in many others. The physical characteristics of both true and artificial stars appear to be similar or the same, however their true underlying behaviors and makeup differ significantly.
Stars are often also divided into three categories dependent on the information which they convey:
- Legal stars control the relationship between the Real and Unreal. Legal stars are written in Starscript;
- Index stars tie some kind of action within Reality—or the interaction which creates it—to a new action in Reality. Index stars can be written in Starscript or God Tongue;
- And documentary stars simply detail information and do not have any kind of dictation over Reality. Documentary stars are written expressly in God Tongue.
Unlike organisms, who forge artificial stars through the manipulation of limn, Gods are capable of creating new stars instinctively, without external resources. To Gods the creation of stars appears to be a natural act, requiring little conscious effort or preparation. When a God creates a star they may choose whether to publish it, sending it to the heavens, or whether to keep it on the Plane. Gods are capable of inscribing significantly more information onto their stars than organisms, allowing them to create significantly more powerful stars.
Gods are capable of writing stars in Starscript, allowing them to publish legal stars. Multiple Gods are capable of publishing stars together, and a legal star which would inhibit the domain of one God cannot be published without said God’s contribution—or the contribution of their parental God(s).
Most organisms use organs known as limnary presses to forge stars, though this is not the case for sophonts. Sophonts are special because they are the only organisms who forge stars in the refined art of Starforging—though they are not the only organisms capable of doing so. Whereas limnary presses are only capable of forging specific often pre-programmed stars, starforging allows sophonts to create unique diverse and powerful stars.
Whereas typical organisms have no purpose for documentary stars, sophonts and Gods are capable of using stars in a more abstract and artistic form by publishing documentary stars.
Behavior & Characteristics
Stars are not composed of traditional material, similarly to limn, and so are not true entities. Unlike limn however, stars are much harder to observe, and thus not much is known about their actual structure. It is unclear whether the limn used in forging an artificial star undergoes structural change upon the completion. The shifting surfaces and light-emitting properties of stars make it nearly impossible for astronomers to gather further information regarding their structure.
It has been hypothesized that stars retain at least some degree of their limn’s original structure, as their release of light mirrors that of limn’s own. However, there may be no relation between these phenomenon. The rate at which a star releases light seems to grow exponentially proportional to its surface area, which is not a behavior exhibited in limn. It has been alternatively hypothesized that the release of light by stars is a similar phenomenon to the release of light by certain chemical reactions, wherein light is released in the form of lost energy in the interaction.
True stars exhibit a number of unique properties which artificial stars do not possess. The surface of true stars is often described as more volatile than that of artificial stars, their surfaces shifting in much sharper waves—sometimes described similarly to fire—and releasing much brighter light. True stars expel heat alongside their light. The waves of true stars also exhibit a reaching behavior, wherein waves can be seen reaching out far beyond their typical boundaries, typically in the directions of related child or parent stars. These arms can form what appear to be networks of connected stars in the sky.
While not a property of the star itself, true stars are often more dense in information than artificial ones. This is a result of their method of creation, Gods’ are naturally capable of creating dense and complex stars. Unlike artificial stars, true stars also do not burn out. Unless their creator God passes away a star will last indefinitely suspended in the heavens. True stars’ sizes are often determined simply by how complex the information they are conveying is. This is in contrast to artificial stars’ sizes, which are directly determined by how much limn was used to forge them. An artificial star’s lifespan is dependent both on how much limn was used to forge it, and how complex the information it conveys is.
Observation & Visibility
True stars are observed residing in the heavens, the portion of the sky beyond the atmosphere. It’s unclear how Gods are capable of sending stars to the heavens or how they are actually suspended there, but it appears to be an intrinsic property of the Gods and stars themselves.
From any point upon the Plane over a thousand stars are visible in the night sky at any given moment, and its suspected that there may be many more thousands of stars suspended in the Heavens than are visible with the naked eye. The visibility of Stars in the night sky is impacted by various factors including current atmospheric condition, local light sources, and the elevation of the observer. For these reasons observatories are often constructed at high-altitude low-humidity locations away from urban centers in an attempt to increase the number of stars visible from their location.
Starforging
Primary article: Starforging
Starforging is an act practiced by sophonts in which limn is compacted into an orb and carved intricately with God Tongue. The act of starforging is not simple, and the science behind the languages of God Tongue and Starscript are lightly controlled trade secrets overseen by various organizations.
Starforging is a dangerous practice, as stars activate as soon as the language engraved into them is logical. Once an artificial star is activated it cannot be deactivated or otherwise edited and must burn out. This can create scenarios in which a practitioner has not completely finished engraving the star but the language currently engraved is still logically sound, at which point the star may activate prematurely with undesired effects.
The desired function and complete logic of a star may also not be entirely foolproof in some cases. For example a stars own output may reactivate itself, creating a recursive loop and possible runaway effect. In certain scenarios this may be the desired function of the star, but in others it could lead to catastrophic damage.
Practitioners of Starforging are referred to as either mages or wizards dependent on their affiliation with the government. These individuals can take many years to learn Starforging—and many more years to master it. Young wizards typically begin their first apprenticeships early in their life, often in their mid-to-late teens. Starforging and God Tongue are young and constantly evolving fields, and practitioners often continue studying and contributing throughout the entirety of their career.
History & Applications
The very first true star known to have been published is the First Epoch Star, published by the Gods of What Is and Is Not on the 12th of Winter, 178 BT. Stars documented nearly every major event during the God-War and served as the primary form of mass communication among the Gods. A majority of the stars present in the heavens today, upwards of 90%, are dated as having been published during the God-War Era. Following the end of the era and the start of the Post-War Era the Great Disappearance led to a rapid decline in the number of Gods and thus stars published.
The most notable star of all history is the Harmonic Treaty, which when published marked the end of the God-War and which created the Plane as it is known today. The Harmonic Treaty is responsible for the stabilization of the habitable zone, the formation of weather via the warming of the ocean and atmosphere, the day-night cycle, and seasons.
Sophont use of stars throughout the God-War is defined by knowledge passed down from Gods to sophonts—most often humans. Most of the knowledge for starforging was lost following the end of the war and the disappearance of the Gods. Throughout most of the Post-War Era the only stars forged by humans were those whose linguistic patterns were passed down or otherwise copied from preexisting stars. Current findings suggest that it was only into the 360s that humans rediscovered the use of God Tongue to forge unique stars, and the method by which this was rediscovered is unknown.
See also
This article is considered complete for the moment, but is missing sections which can be elaborated on as the setting develops! If you think it needs expansion now, suggest an edit through a GitHub issue!
This article could use expansion on the history of stars and their cultural impact, especially in regards to elves and dwarves.