Cult to the Stars

Ruh Island by Naelin

The impressive development of the field of astronomy in the otherwise technologically simpler island of Ruh is well known and has a long history. The way to it was paved by the traditions and beliefs that grew from an established, organized religion known as the Cult to the Stars (With its followers being known as Stargazers) that faded away with time through the last millennia. The Cult to the Stars was built around the belief that the celestial bodies had direct influence over the laws of nature on Vhas, their planet, and their rare lives and deaths could change the course of destiny aeons away.

The Stars are Granted

The main dogma of the Cult to the Stars was the concept that the stars are the only thing that is granted. Even these who gave way to the possibility of stars disappearing said that, if the universe would ever reach a point with no stars, it would be way, way past the point with no life. Stargazers considered astronomy to be a sacred profession dedicated to calculating exactly how were the celestial bodies influencing their lives, with the most skilled on the learning of the way of the stars being known as Celestial Masters.

Glorious Vulkenar

During the year 1356 E.Alz the well-known star Vulkenar suddenly turned incredibly bright as it went supernova.
This explosion was visible on the sky of Vhas through eleven months, and focused all of the attention of the Ruhks on it, who named the event Glorious Vulkenar. As the explosion slowly gave way to nothingness, Stargazers were faced with the reality of stars being able to die.
Vulkenar was mourned by the Ruhks for years as many faced a crisis of faith, believing this to be the first of a potential series of events that would end life. However, some astronomers were convinced otherwise. Legend says that a renowned Celestial Master called She Ponders The Skies researched the empty space left by Vulkenar with a marvellous telescope, finding that the remnants of the star had turned into a small ball of concentrated matter with an impossibly strong magnetic field. However, both Ponders and her telescope are said to have been lost to a thunderstorm that burned her observatory, and no other proof to support this theory was ever found.

The Fading

The death of Vulkenar was a heavy blow for the Stargazers, and while many tried to hold on tight to the theory of its super magnetic remanants, most found it to be the condemnation to a heavy reality: nothing is granted, not even your most sacred thing. The Ruhks kept considering astronomy to be the highest of professions, and are nowadays the most advanced nation in regards to their knowledge of the skies, which evolved into their impressive technology in navigation and time measuring tools.
However, the Cult to the Stars faded from existance as an organized religion more and more, until their ranks and concepts became honorific in nature, and their sacred rituals devolved into customs and traditions. While it still influences Ruh's everyday life and it is weaved deep into their culture, past is the time of taking things for granted.