On Cosmic Events: Comets, Alignments, and Theoretical Phenomenae

Written by a consortium of scholars known only as "The Nexus," On Cosmic Events is a book of astronomical research and theories on cosmological events. Written an unknown amount of time before The Reckoning, this book is one of the most valuable astronomical artifacts in Emaxus; the research within, despite being discovered in the late 6th century AR, shook the fields of cosmology and astronomy to their cores. It took over a decade just to translate the book, having been written in a now-long-dead dialect of a language assumed to be Euxinan's progenitor.
The highlights of this book and its groundbreaking theories are below.

A Glimpse into a Brighter Past

On Cosmic Events is one of the largest scholarly works to have survived the Reckoning and been rediscovered, and it offers a clear---but painfully small---glimpse into how far mortals had gone before the Reckoning. It serves to greatly bolster the studies of the present, but it is also a constant reminder of all that was lost.

Type

Study, Scientific

Medium

Vellum / Skin

Authoring Date

Unknown Centuries BR

Yophasian Cosmological Events: Proven and Theoretical

This section is a summary of On Cosmic Events alongside a handful of direct quotes and sections. There are also, at points, clearly noted additions from modern Emaxian scholars who have added onto the compendium of knowledge within this book.

Comets

"Comets are, of course, one of the most chronologically recorded astronomical events. We have transcriptions of oral histories from the earliest centuries of the Dawn Epoch which describe events that correspond nearly one-for-one with modern comet sightings and influences. To have such a long chronology on some of these comets is truly humbling."

There are over one thousand comets spotted, dated, and tracked within the pages of On the Events of the Cosmos. Most are mundane events, described as icy meteors slingshotting through Ipacia and around Yacrena on their umpteen-year journeys through space. There are a handful, however, that are noted specifically within this book: those that have effects on Emaxus or the planes at large.

These distinct comets number four. All four can be seen from the surface of Emaxus, and some are noted to be visible from the surface of other planes---or all of them, in the case of Fatespinner and The Harbinger. Each of these comets have an ancient history of myths, legends, and events tied to them. This book combines a holistic look at the mythology surrounding each comet and a scientific analysis of the comet itself.

Starfall

Most common of the four comets, Starfall is a large comet that streaks through the sky of Emaxus and the Elemental Planes once every eight years. Its visible path lasts only three days, during which it appears as a bright star of blue with a tail of white. It is seemingly one of the oldest, most visible comets in Yophas, as records of Starfall sightings exist to the earliest annals of history. While many myths and legends of heroism and luck are ascribed to Starfall, the in-depth arcane analyses of The Nexus only revealed a marginal weakening of elemental barriers between the Eight Elemental Planes and Emaxus. It is believed that Starfall rarely causes elemental crises because of planar rifts being slightly increased in number/size, and thus the heroes who deal with said crises are attributed to the comet, as well.

Flamebearer

Largely attributed as a sign of hope---or explicitly a manifestation of Yamma---across most cultures in Emaxus, Flamebearer solely appears in Emaxus's skies once every twenty years. It streaks across Emaxus's night sky for a full week, appearing as a bright orb of yellow with a tail of bright orange. This torch-like appearance earned Flamebearer its name, and it is known to amplify the strength of the lunar-arcane (and thus magic) in Emaxus, but not affect any other planes. This increased magical prevalence creates greater occurences of wild magic and random magical events, and makes spells easier to cast and more powerful in their casting.

Fatespinner

Blazing through every sky in Yophas once every one hundred and sixty years, Fatespinner is a comet of dreams and fate. For the month that Fatespinner blazes a blue-purple trail through the sky, diviners' visions are more clear and further reaching. Myths and legends speak of destinies being revealed beneath Fatespinner's eye, destinies with the power to shape the course of history. Visions of the Plague of Evimerni were received long before it began when Fatespinner blazed through the sky.
(Historians' Note: We have no other records of a civilization named Evimerni, and can thus only speculate that this plague may have occurred in Drumis.)

Harbinger

Most feared of these four comets, Harbinger is associated with many-a disaster and conflict. Coming through every plane's sky once every two hundred and sixty-seven years, Harbinger is a bright comet of white with a trail of red that lasts nearly a whole year, starting as a small red star and growing to be a great orb crossing the sky. With the full name "Harbinger of Dark Tidings," this comet amplifies the lunar-arcane across all planes, and myths tie it to increased violence and rage---both in the planes themselves and their inhabitants. Harbinger is said to have shone when The War of Era's End and the Wintershield Revolt began.
(Historians' Note: We have no other references to the Wintershield Revolt, but we believe it is connected to the Wintershield Baronies of Sylthereth.)

The Perigee Convergence

When all four of the above comets appear at once, an event called "The Perigee Convergence" occurs. Based on the orbital periods of each comet, this Convergence happens once every eight hundred years. There has only been one recorded Perigee Convergence as of On Cosmic Event's writing, but the annals of history bear distinct events every eight hundred years or so that could likely be connected to Convergences. The one confirmed Convergence precipitated The War of Era's End, and as of this book's publication, Yophas is likely due for another within a hundred years or so.

Convergences make the impossible, possible. They weaken the boundariess between the planes, which allows the amplification effects of different comets to overlap. The effects on the lunar-arcane and Yophas itself are truly extraordinary---and, in the case of The War of Era's End, truly horrifying. Convergences must be tracked and prepared for, lest one catch the world off-guard and malefactors pounce on the opportunity.

(Historians' Note: We have no records of a "War of Era's End," but depending on when this book was published initially, perhaps a Convergence aligned with the beginning of The Reckoning? Surely there would have been one late in the Age of Rebirth, for we have had none Post-Reckoning that we know of. This warrants further investigation.)

Alignments

"Alignments are exceptionally rare events, and while they have few discernible effects on Ipacia or wider Yophas, they have garnered a wide body of myths, legends, and literature. As such, we felt it prudent to include what we know of these astronomical occurences, which is regrettably little on account of their aforementioned rarity."

Alignments refer to when the primary celestial bodies of Ipacia align on a single axis. Partial alignments involve two or more of these bodies; complete alignments would involve all of them and are almost purely hypothetical.
Partial alignments occur with semi-regular frequency but go unnoticed to almost all Emaxians. While some diviners, soothsayers, and astrologists believe that these alignments (and the positions of the bodies of Ipacia) are important, our studies have found little to back these assertions. While astounding to view, partial alignments have no discernible effect on magic or the lives of Emaxians.
Complete alignments are practically impossible. Although all the bodies of Ipacia revolve around Yacrena on the same axis, their orbital periods are so drastically different that a time of alignment would only occur once every three billions years---far longer than even the most liberal estimates of when The Reshaping occurred. If there are Emaxians alive to see such a thing, they will look far different from the Emaxians of today.
(Historians' Note: We can say with almost complete certainty that Amosteia and Hinidis no longer rotate on the same axis as the other planets. Perhaps these planets' orbits were changed during the Reckoning? We can think of no other event, save an astronomical event of incredible force, that would cause such changes.)

Theoretical Phenomenae

"Besides total alignments, there are other theoretical phenomenae that, while we have no empirics for, we believe could occur or perhaps have occurred without our noticing. These include the deaths of stars, singularities, and eclipses; we have compiled our theories for these, what they may do, and how they may happen.

Supernovae

The Nexus theorized heavily on the nature of stars, including Yacrena itself. They arrived at the conclusion that stars, like everything, must eventually die. Although they live on astronomical scales, they would eventually burn through the fuel that sustained them and thus fizzle out; however, being stars, they would not just fizzle out. The Nexus coined the term supernova to refer to a star's cataclysmic death, based on the "ghost stars" that they would often observe in the night sky. Stars would appear in the sky and shine brighter than almost any other for months or even years, then fade away, never to be seen again. These, The Nexus postulates, are supernovea---the deaths of stars. Why they are so explosive and if they have effects on Yophas, The Nexus did not know.

Black Holes

Much of the theory surrounding black holes came from a lab in Drumis which experimented with gravitomantic magic---which was eventually discovered by Alindr and destroyed by their Paragonic Perfectus. The Nexus recovered a great deal of their research on gravity manipulation, within which they detailed their ability to create split-second points of such high gravity that they could consume matter. These singularities, they postulated, could be naturally occuring if gravity reached incomprehensible heights; The Nexus connected them to stars, theorizing that stars who grew too large could collapse under their own weight and become massive singularities: black holes.

Eclipses

"One of the most unique aspects of Emaxus's twin moons is the fact that Luna and Lysithea's orbits rotate. In fact, their orbits rotate at a rate perfectly equal to Emaxus's orbit around Yacrena. This keeps Luna and Lysithea at a perfect forty-five and fifty-five degree angle to Yacrena, respectively. This, alongside the fact that the moons orbit north-south to Emaxus, means that they can never interpose Yacrena's light.
This is rare. In fact, we have yet to discover another planet-moon system that mimics this unique movement. Thus, we can assume that other moons occasionally block the light of their planet's respective stars---even within Ipacia. In fact, we know that Yintheral, the largest moon of Amosteia, blocks Yacrena's light almost once a decade. This phenomenon, which we have dubbed an "eclipse" is physically impossible on Emaxus; however, if something were to happen to the orbits of Luna or Lysithea, an eclipse could become possible. We have no idea what effects an eclipse may have, and have yet to organize an expedition to observe one on Amosteia or another planet, but we believe it could have huge impacts on the lunar-arcane---either tranquilizing it or making it incredibly potent---besides the incredible phenomena of blocking Yacrena's light and making day, night.

(Historians' Note: Based off these descriptions, we believe an eclipse may have been possible for the strange darkness described in some accounts as the start of the Reckoning. Sadly, there have been no eclipses since the Year of Divinity's Fall, so we have no empirics to back this theory.)