O, to look upon the night sky and see gods…

Here follows the accounts of Raditha, Seer of the Hammerlands and leading arcane researcher of the constellations of Veneon:

First Account: Taken from the written musings of Raditha’s earliest research notes.

“I’ve studied the night sky for three decades and several years more. With the many mysteries the realms hold, it’s little wonder that most never consider the night sky. I consider it though. I consider it a great deal. While the average person looks to the heavens and sees meaningless stars, I gaze upon the night sky and see gods…”

Second Account: Taken from a transcript of a lecture Raditha gave at Mount Olympus.

“…Each realm has a unique system of stars. Their number and placement are consistently varied from one realm to the next. This is known. I put the question to you then, why do the same constellations appear in each realm? And why do they appear during times of great upheaval, only to fade when the challenges are overcome? I posit, that they are watching. Peaking upon the mortal realms to judge us and observe how we overcome these challenges. I’ve tested this theory within my home realm of the Hammerlands. Over a period of 4 years, the Hammerlands sky was graced by no less than 13 unique constellations. Some remained for mere days while others, such as The Rumble, can be seen for years at a time. During times of realm-wide unease, multiple of these constellations could be seen in the night sky at once. Meanwhile, when the realm stood in relative peace, they would come and go, as though merely glancing upon the realm…”

Third Account: Taken from Raditha’s first published theory on constellations.

“…What are the stars? The scholars of Mount Olympus theorise that stars are impossibly distant realms, burning so intensely that they can be seen through the vast infinity. This is, of course, scientific nonsense. The truth is shown in the constellations. The stars remain perfectly motionless. They never move or change from day to day or year to year. How then, do the constellations come and go? Those fortunate enough to gaze upon the night sky at the instant of a constellation’s arrival will know that new stars do not simply appear. No, the existing stars flare with a dazzling brightness and in doing so, shift their hue to become consistent with whatever constellation is visiting, and it’s not even the same stars every time one reappears. If the stars were distant worlds, how would this change in intensity and colour be explained? When I look upon my findings, I can deduce only one answer…”

Fourth Account: Taken from a letter between Raditha and a like-minded student of his theories.

“…The constellations are gods. The stars are not distant objects but cracks in the ceilings of our realms. Cracks into wherever our gods reside. When the constellations appear above our realm to look upon us, the flairs in brightness and colour are the radiant energy of a gods being, visible through these cracks. I understand this theory may seem ridiculous, even blasphemous, to some but let’s consider the evidence. Firstly, this theory would explain how our constellations overpower and augment our existing stars. If the stars are indeed foreign objects in our night sky, there is no knowable reason this phenomenon would occur. Especially if the constellations overwrite a different set of stars each time. Secondly, this would elucidate the fact that they appear most frequently during times of great strife. Times when the gods would have most cause to look upon the realm in anticipation or worry. Lastly, this theory explains the bias that certain constellations have for specific realms. While some seem truly random in their appearances, some constellations have a clear bias for the realms they appear in and how often. To me, this is undeniable proof that that the constellations are sentient, sentimental and exist beyond the confines of our realms…”

Fifth Account: Taken from the published, and now widely accepted, ‘Constellatio Doctrina’, published shortly before his death in the year 1022.

“…After years of personal research and reading a veritable mountain of ancient tomes, I believe I have been able to identify several constellations as well-known gods. My findings are as follows:

This is, of course, only a handful of the many constellations that we have seen over the years. There are many that remain a mystery to me. It does lead to me believe, however, that there are numerous undiscovered realms out there and these rare, unassigned constellations are the gods of those hidden worlds. I shall have to investigate this theory further…”

End of accounts.