Stellanovae

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—

Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night

And watching, with eternal lids apart,

Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite

— John Keats

Stellanovae are sentient stars from the Astral Plane which have fallen to the Inner Planes. They take the form of single stars and amorphous constellations of light. In Pelorian mythology, stellanovae are heralds of change whom Pelor placed among the dark vastness of the Astral Plane.
Ancient sources tell several different stories about the stellanovae; there are two major versions of their creation and several versions of their fate. The most common belief is that the stars were created long ago by one of the Old Gods and abandoned after that deity's death. Many ancient sources tell tales of stars falling to the Material Plane to guide heroes and demigods. Though the stellanovae are often referenced as a collective, sometimes individual stars are named. The constellation Ursa Major, for example, is told to have stomped across the continent of Westreach, creating lakes were her paws fell.
After the Old Gods fell, the stars faded into legend. Though they still light up the night sky, few, if any, fell to the Material Plane as stellanovae. The barrier between the planes prevented falling stars from breaching planes. However, in recent history, there has been a resurgence of falling stars; the stellanovae have returned to the Material Plane, bringing light and dust and bleak omens.
Contents

1. Biological Cycle
2. Social Structure
3. Civilization and Culture

Basic Information

Anatomy

Some stellanovae are individual stars; others are whole constellations of stars making up one entity. The more individual stars a stellanova possesses, the stronger their ambient magic is. Stars are composed of light and range in color from bright blue to a dull red. The spectrum of color also corresponds respectively from hot to cold.
Stars are incorporeal and have no organic body. Some constellations might look like material creatures, however, such as Ursa Major's inexplicable resemblance to a bear. They can consume mass, siphoning off matter from their surrounding environment. This process superficially resembles eating.

Biological Traits

Stellanovae are composed of stardust—hot gas, usually hydrogen and helium as well as trace amounts of heavier elements like carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and iron.
Spoiler

Using sense magic on a star divines an infinite blank void—in addition to having no arcane magic of their own, stellanovae show no evidence of ever coming into contact with magic even after long-term exposure to the Material Plane. Stars consumer arcane and divine magic as they were any other form of energy. This magic is stored within the star until they die. There is no limit to their capacity or hunger.
Using a martial or magical attack on a star results in it absorbing the affected energy and healing itself. Those who touch a stellanova become a thrall of the light, a seed of nova germinating within their body and soul. These embers can only be extinquished by a creature of equal and opposite power, such as a wraith.

Biological Cycle

The term "falling star" was coined to describe these creatures which, once grounded, lose their cohesion and become changed by material magic. Stellanovae on the Material Plane are no longer the stars they once were; thus, they have often been considered a different species altogether. Others describe the stellanovae as a different life stage of the star, like the butterfly borne from a chrysalis.
Stellanovae are extremely rare outside the Astral Plane, and many fallen stars have significantly shorter lifespans, culminating in a supernova which, phoenix-like, births a new stellanova. Stars begin life as a nebula, a formless cloud of dust and light. Eventually, the star forms bright and blue-hot. As a star ages, it dims in intensity and shifts from the bright and hot blue-wave light to a weaker red-wave light. Finally, the stellanova either collapses into a small white dwarf star or explodes in a violent supernova.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Aquila the Star Eagle

Novae in the Astral Plane exist in a hierarchy based on their brightness and how many individuals stars make up their constellation. Most stars are individuals, but constellations have names and the power that comes with a name. The most powerful stellanovae include Ursa Major, Hydra, and Aquila (who is the guardian of the North Star).

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Spoiler

Besides any elements they absorb, stellanovae are composed of pure anti-magic. To mages, they are like a black hole—silent and terrifying. They were created to consume arcana from the Astral Plane, but on the Material Plane they consume without impunity.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

The majority of stellanovae fallen into the ocean and never interact with land-dwelling creatures. Those who do fall onto land can fall on any terrain in any continent. Older stars prefer to stay in a particular biome; younger stars are more prone to movement, sometimes traveling several hundreds of miles per night. They leave no visible trace with which to track their patterns.

Average Intelligence

Stellanovae have no nervous system but have mannerisms that suggest at least animal-level intelligence. Their minds have consciousness that's incompatible with organic creatures. If they have any language of their own, it is unknown. They do not speak Common or any other humanoid language, but it is possible for them to communicate through an uncanny imitation of visual signals, often resulting in a miasma of stimulus that is nigh impossible to decipher.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Stellanovae navigate through gravity and an innate sense of magic, which stars are inclined to seek out. They have no conventional senses (sight, hearing, etc.). They cannot speak audibly, but some can communicate psychically with organic creatures.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Stellanovae did not evolve to interact with any species of the Material Plane. Species with animal-like intelligence might mistake them for natural or anthropogenic lights, avoiding or moving towards them according to their nature. Light-based creatures, such as will-o-wisps, will drift towards a stellanova and be absorbed into its mass of light.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Stars have no names of their own but are given names by observers on the Material Plane.

Major Organizations

The Stargazers are a group of astrologists who follow the patterns and behavior of the stellanovae. They claim to only have a scientific/magical interest in the fallen stars.

History

Starfall by Chris Rahn

The fall of a star never heralds a gentle dawn.

— Old Reacher Proverb

Spoiler

Stars were created by Pelor, one of the Old Gods. They were created to fight back against the great darkness and emptiness of space, illuminating the Planes and wounding the First God, the Anathema, Tharizdun. When Pelor went dormant in his celestial body, the stars were abandoned, left to gravity's whims. Without purpose, the stellanovae lose their trajectory and fall to the Planes. Their natural aura of anti-magic makes them a powerful opposing force to Nerull and his undead magic.

Scientific Name

Nova Elementum

Lifespan

1-100 million years

Conservation Status

Endangered