The Stars

"...Father?"

"Yes?"

"What is the moon made out of?"

''Lorsann smiled, standing in the main entrance of the manor, overlooking the green gardens of the courtyard. On the marble steps before him, his young son sat upright, with his head tilted toward the night sky above. The moon shone brightly down on the entire estate, and the boy's elven eyes stared back at the great celestial light with a scholarly curiosity.''

''His father folded his hands behind his back, and followed his child's gaze. "Stone and dust, the same as earth," he replied. "Only no living things grow there, for lack of soil."''

''The boy continued to stare for a few moments, before his inquisitive gaze shifted to the infinite void and the twinkling dots of light scattered throughout. "Then what are stars made of?" he asked. "Are they also like the moon?"''

''Lorsann made his way across the threshold, and gently set himself down on the marble stairs beside his son. "No one is certain," he said. "The humans of old thought the stars were perhaps distant suns, shining light on other worlds."''

"Are they correct?"

''The high elf turned his own eyes toward the heavens, searching for constellations. "Perhaps," he said "but astronomers do not think so. In truth, we may never know. Perhaps we were not meant to know."''

''The boy stood up silently, and began making his way to the main door of the manor once again. "One day, I will discover what the stars are, father." he said. "And the moon."''

''Lorsann smiled as his son disappeared. "It is my hope that you are right."''

Overview
The cosmos dancing in the night sky above Glaun Encaru have been a source of mystery since the world was young. Some think they are distant worlds, and some believe they are omens from the gods. Some even think the pictures formed by the stars represent the history of the universe, and the lore known only by the great beings beyond matter and mortality. However, despite hundreds of years of progression in astronomy and magic, the truth of the stars is still far from certain.

The Solar System
Though astronomers discredit the belief that stars are distant suns akin to our own, it has long been understood that at least seven of the glowing bodies seen in the night sky are, in fact, other planets. These planets, like earth, orbit around the gravitational pull of the sun, with two of them circling closer to the sun than us, and the rest orbiting further away. Each one of these planets is named after a great hero, titan or deity from Calbournian mythology, with the exception of planets Earth and Nevareth, the latter of which is named after a Nurnian deity of winter.

-Known Planets-


 * 1) Tarien
 * 2) Valon
 * 3) Earth
 * 4) Malus
 * 5) Herowan
 * 6) Orden
 * 7) Osius
 * 8) Nevareth

"Planets & Spheres... Are Other Worlds Beyond Humanity's Reach?"
-An exerpt from an article featured in the MAGIC & MYSTERIES newsletter, published in IIA 162.-

...Is Earth the final destination of humanity? As advancements in arcana steadily continue, Conjuration expert Patricia Algur thinks not.

"We've made tremendous leaps in the art of magic in the last hundred, hundred and fifty years," she says. "The long-lived remember a time when sending a man to the other side of a continent in the blink of an eye, using simple spellcasting, was absurd. Now, teleportation is the skill of most certified Conjurers. We are moving toward a new age of magic, and if we can send ourselves across our own world and through the planes of existence, I can't see why we couldn't reach Valon or Malus when the time comes."

The concept of leaving Earth isn't anything new for modern magic; since Toben's day, the exploration of the elemental planes has been a topic of much interest. Recently, the Mages Association has even begun conducting studies on the more unpredictable planes of the Feywild and Shadowfell. But in these cases, taking steps on another world is a matter of dimensions of existence, and not of physical distance. As Algur points out:

"Mastering teleportation was huge. We're basically at a point where distance becomes irrelevant, and any place can theoretically be traveled to in an instant... but it's a question of accuracy. Learning planar travel forced us to improve our "pinpointing" when sending objects to a far-away location, but without a very familiar landmark or a souvenir from the destination, precise teleportation becomes tricky, and a slight mistake could send you one hundred into a mountain. I don't know of any sane Conjurers who would ever use teleportation without a proper Waypoint object, unless they were very, very familiar with their target destination. As you can imagine, that kinda rules out places we've never been... like other planets. Is it feasible? Yes. Is it safe? Absolutely not. But then again, when was this sort of thing ever safe?"

Trivia

 * The planet Vulcan was a mysterious object allegedly spotted by a handful of astronomers in IIA 102. It's orbit was closer to the sun than Tarien's, and it was reportedly only seen when it crossed between the sun and the earth, which made it excruciatingly painful to view. Though calculations were made for Vulcan's orbit and when it should be visible again, the mystery planet never made another appearance.