Stardancers

"There are many facets to the world, but the two one must focus on are the ones that currently exist and the ones that no longer do. Once you focus on those, the rest comes easy. Now, you might be wondering what that has to do with the lost stardancers! It's quite simple really, it has nothing to do with it. I was trying out an opening for a philosophy lecture. How was it?"

— Unknown person waxing philosophical

The Small

Amongst the people of the Eight Lands, there are thousands of stories about where the light in the skies come from. Some people say it comes from the dreams of the world, others believe it's the spirits of the dead watching over their families, but few know the real truth.
Buried in tomes long forgotten, in places that no longer exist, sits the story of the stardancers. Small, delicate creatures, not unlike that of a small feathered drake, capable of producing light magic with their paws. The stories say they could prance across the sky, that their light in the darkness led the most ancient of peoples to safe passages when they were in danger. These same stories would have you believe that these creatures are simple minded, innocent, experiencing the world as a child might.
They would be wrong.

The Forgotten

Stardancers were nothing near simple minded or innocent, and their tricks of the light were nothing short of manipulative, causing the deaths of thousands upon thousands of innocents who simply needed shelter and trusted them to guide them as they had done times before.
One fateful day for them, their lights would extinguish, for seemingly no reason at all. Slowly, they began to vanish, dissipating into the light they once played with and called friend.
The gods had called for their pennance, punishing them to be the light they held so dear. In their new role they guide once more, for they are the dancing lights in the sky that the lost use to find their way home.

EXTINCT