Stars & Constellations (Currency)

Transcend the heavens.

No man knows the woes of the giants; heavy hands, lumbering souls. Tireless smiths of creation, who traded stars as shimmering trinkets, Now, they trade constellations for novelty. Great tapestries an ode to their works, our very essence standing guard at the maw of oblivion. Art is their currency, and in a way, their art has been made in our image. We transcended the heavens and we never even knew it.

— Spirit Seer

History

Creation

In the beginning, the Gravitons forged the stars as a defense against the gnawing maw of Oblivion. As the stars successfully repelled any approach made by masses of Oblivion, the Gravitons went on to cultivate the rest of the universe.

Aer

Aer was the substance used by the Gravitons to build their projects. Despite its near uniform universal existence, the elemental properties of Aer were diverse. Various types of Aer were found in deposits throughout the universe. The Gravitons were required to manage the various types of Aer in order to build their elaborate designs. As the Gravitons soon discovered, all things fashioned from Aer became a living, thinking entity. Creations were no mere thing, they were effectively children of the Gravitons.

Scarcity

Eons passed, and the Gravitons had built the foundations of the cosmos. Their crown achievement being the sun, located at the center of the universe. The giants crafted planets and their kind
and arranged them into the constellations. The builders fashioned two constellations each. The constellations were arranged in uniform distribution onto a spherical plane that enveloped the universe.

Eons passed, and Aer gradually became more thinly spread and rarer. This resulted in more frugal usage of the substance and smaller scale projects. Soon the only Aer that remained were quantities that existed within the possession of each Graviton. To continue their creative endeavors, they began trading the constellations. With each trade, the Gravitons would shift the constellations towards their portion of the celestial dome. The constellations would remain still while the giants worked. Once more Aer was needed, the giants would do a change of hands with the constellations, acquiring the types of Aer they required and the constellations once again moved. This process would repeat several times. Eventually, the last of the Aer was used. The Gravitons retired to the planet Aquem. Well deserved rest was greatly enjoyed. However, soon, as the ages waned on, they found their reclusive "retirement" to be drab. Looking for some sort of entertainment, they turned their attention towards observing the universe. As they bore witness to the happenings of the universe they had constructed, they decided to memorialize what they saw. From the stars each of them possessed, they crafted their last works, works of art for the entire universe to see.

As the scarcity of Aer become more widespread, the Gravitons were no longer able to enjoy the limitless creative ambitions of their youth. They spent more of their time in careful delegation and contemplation of their plans. Taking into consideration the now finite supply of Aer. The scale of projects became smaller while attention to maximizing efficiency became greater. Despite less Aer being available to them, the Gravitons never sacrificed quality, they choose instead to create smaller constructs.

The decision of the Gravitons to trade stars, and then later, constellations, caused significant impacts onto the inhabitants of the universe’s planets. Navigation, cultural myths, science, and fundamental understandings of the universe for these species were radically affected by the celestial trade.

Influences

Gravitons

The Gravitons regarded stars as tradeable masses composed of primordial radiance. Their nature as being the first objects crafted in the universe made them hold a unique sentiment among the Gravitons. The Gravitons were hesitant to amass too many stars as their vital function was to ward off Oblivion. If too low of a concentration was created in one portion of the celestial sphere, Oblivion could slip its way into the universe and wreak untold havoc.

Caeligenus

Despite being crafted with the intention as serving as an automatic self-defense system, the properties of Aer caused the stars to become self-aware and sapient. They awoke as the first child of the giants. All stars, despite existing as several separate bodies, share one mind and self. They dubbed themselves, Laniakea. As they continued their endless battle against Oblivion and the Gravitons continued to construct the rest of the universe, they soon grew lonely.

Stellar Age

In the earliest times, when the stars were shifted around individually. The only planet with life at this time was Baro. During this age, every few centuries, the Barosians would bear witness to a massive shift of the stars. This often served to spur minor superstitions, bad omens, or full-out hysteria. It was likened many times to signaling the end of the world or cited as the anger of some deity. Gradually, some civilizations came to realize the event was a repetitive celestial occurrence. In time the mass movement of the stars came to be viewed as a once in a lifetime spectacle. Massive celebrations would be held as irregular movement began to be detected.

Sciences

Wayfinding and navigation by use of stars was a skill repeatedly required to be reestablished once the entire night sky went through its reorganization every few centuries. Across various civilizations, it was common to divide their history by each "Stellar Age". Star organizations of the past were almost exclusively based on the star charts provided by ancient civilizations.

Culture

Due to the seemingly random and chaotic nature of the stars, they often became mythological and cultural symbols of chaos, ruin, the unknown, rebellion, and time. One cultural motif that was found amongst virtually all civilizations was that of a sky deity being viewed as a “heavenly sea” and the stars as radiant vessels (whether boat, creature, person, or otherwise) wadding its waters. Throughout Barosian history, titles relating to the stars have been utilized as impactful connotative meaning. Such titles have served to denote great praise and great condemnation. Erratic tyrants dubbed “as insane as the stars”. Revolutionaries and anarchists often regarded themselves as “starly agents of freedom”. A plethora of political factions throughout history donned star iconography and integrated it into their emblems and heraldry. One such prominent group having been the Astral Templar. A political-militant coalition that dominated the geopolitical landscape of the planet for a large span of history, the group conducted dozens of crusades that spanned throughout several centuries.

Constellatory Age

Appearance

Each constellation is comprised of stars, each arranged into a unique design. Originally the individual stars were used. Luminosity, size, and colour were major factors in determining worth. Due to the variation in quantity of type, each type of Aer took on its own worth.