Cyrus travelled along the crowd of people flowing in Ha-Dûna. It had been about a decade since he spent a winter within the holy city. He had since grown out a beard, and was now wearing a worn but well-mended travelling robe that had a design of the kirin constellation surrounded by a circle on the left shoulder. Following him were two others wearing similar dress, a female in around her twenties whose left shoulder had the newt constellation but no circle and a slightly younger male who had a plain robe. The group moved towards the inner town, and afterward, Cyrus once again found himself praying in front of Seeros megalith with his head tilted towards the sky. The young women took a similar position, while the plain-robed man quietly muttered something to himself. A crowd of curious druids soon formed around them, taking particular interest in the shapes of zodiacs on their backs. One of them, a middle-aged woman stepped up to Cyrus and cleared her throat politely. Before turning around, he said something in a language foreign to the highlands then flipped around with a flourish, “Excuse the intrusion, we are of the circle of the guiding lights and we are acting as ambassadors for the starry watcher. I am Constellar Cyrus.” and gesturing over to his companions in turn, “This is Wayfinder Cionn, and this is Initiate Simon.” he nodded his head while saying, “May the stars guide you.” The woman furrowed her brow. “Wait, wait, wait… Cyrus as in… Did, did you visit us a long time ago? Must be a decade by now.” She eyed him up and down again. “Yeeeaah… Yeah, you must be! Do you remember me?” Cyrus smirked, “Yes, I never forget a name, Owyn.” She frowned. “It’s, it’s Aewyn, but, uh, close!” The druids behind her exchanged looks. “So, what brings you back here?” “As always, we are guided by the lights of the night sky. But today, we share the bountiful wisdom of the night’s curator.” stepping back and gesturing to Cionn, she stepped forward, she outreached her hands, tightly cupping them together. She exhaled sharply and light emerged from her hand, shaping it into the visage of a newt made of red, fire-like, ethereal substance. It enamated a kind warmth. The druids staggered backwards from the sight, one of them raising his fist angrily. “What did you do that for?! You had no reason to conjure forth the flames of Reiya at this time! Wanton demonstration is disrespectful, moreso here in the sight of the gods!” Cionn looked towards Cyrus, who was hiding a smile, before sighing. She uncuffed her hands, causing the newt to disappear. While she attempted to hide, her face and tone betrayed her annoyance, her accent was also very typical for the region around Ha-Dûna, “We are the faithful of Seeros and the other seven. That was the heaven’s flame given form by my conviction. I would appreciate it if you did not slander my devotion.” Another druid scoffed hot air. “Favours are not for show. While I’ll admit that it’s pretty, that creation of yours… Actually, what is that? Never seen Reiya’s flames be used to conjure forth an animal before.” Her eyes once again glancing backwards, her lips curled into a crude resemblance of a grin, she seemed to struggle with her words, muttering something just under her breath in the foreign language though the word Seeros clearly slipped through, “It is a newt. And it is neither of Reiya, nor is a favour. It is an expression of my piety, and of my understanding of the great pattern of the sky.” The druids once again exchanged glances. “Explain.” Cyrus stepped forward, causing Cionn to sigh with relief, “Sirius is a god of many names and many virtues, he has extended himself to grant those Hir-blessed with a new power so that we may aid mortal-kind, the familiars. One must understand the zodiac, and devote themselves to one of its virtues, and the star watcher will freely grant his power to conjure these spectral animals. Perhaps it would help if I showed my soul-bound familiar?” he said, once again hiding a smirk, while Cionn shook her head. “A familiar? What?” came another voice, though a number of druids grew increasingly curious, nodding for Cyrus to continue. Cyrus raised his hand, the stars painted on the megalith behind him began to glow. Silver energy appeared beside him before growing and shifting into the shape of a legendary kirin, formed of light in the resemblance of a silvery metal. It stood half of Cyrus height, and as it stood there, the megalith still reacted emitting a slight whitish light. Gesturing over it, “This is my familiar.” Once more, the druids staggered back, unable to believe the sight before their eyes. One of them pointed at the statue and shouted, “Look! The statue!” Many of them fell to their knees in response to the miracle, while others looked on in disbelief. Aewyn shifted between Cyrus and the kirin before asking, “How… How did you do this? What is the zodiac?” Cyrus dismissed his familiar, causing the light to fade from the stone behind him. “You raised this monument without knowing the Zodiac? It is Sirius’ will, his pattern that had wove into the night sky. It is many things, and once you understand it, then you can devote yourself to its virtues, resilience, observance, cunning, kindness, introspection, and loyalty, and then you will have a familiar that is an extension of yourself and your virtue. But familiars are just one of the two gifts which the starry watcher has bestowed upon his faithful, with promise of more.” The druids looked between the kirin and the statue, before one of the others spoke, “Could, could you teach us how to connect with him as you do? These miracles are unfamiliar to us - at least, not seen before here in Ha-Dûna.” Cyrus replied, “I can not teach you how to do it as I do, but I can teach you the fundamentals and guide you how to connect to the pattern as yourself.” The druids had by now all been absorbed by the beauty of this creature, and were edging at the cusp of Cyrus’ words. “Teach us,” Aewyn begged, and many bowed their heads in equal respect. Cyrus spent all day explaining the zodiac and its many features, detailing the six northern constellations of the whale, sheep, wren, kirin, snake, and fox and their locations in the night sky above the highlands. He discussed the six virtues and physical aspects of the heavens. His sermon included bits and pieces of philosophy, astronomy, astrology and a few miscellaneous subjects. While people came and went, eventually the crowd began to clear and the three travelling druids made their way to a resthouse. As the sun began to set and the stars once again became visible in the sky, Simon stood outside looking at the stars. He was muttering to himself in the foreign language, though even to those who didn’t understand the language, it had an obvious, simple rhyming scheme. His fingers traced the air, and he was clearly deep in thought. “It’s getting late, friend,” came a voice behind him. It looked to be a guard of sorts, humble linen shirt and pantaloons worn under a hauberk of padded hides. A flaccid woolen hat sat atop his head, and his thumbs were resting neatly on the inside of a hemp rope belt, from which hung a lumpy copper-headed axe. Simon looked up with a start, saying something in the different language before going, “Understand no, friend.” The guard narrowed his eyes and scoffed quietly. “Come now, friend, you know the rules - only those sanctioned by the archdruids are allowed to stay up after Gibbou’s Curfew. If you have their permission, I’d like to see it.” He offered an open hand. Taking a deep breath, “Understand no, druid foreign apprentice I.” The guard put two and two together and hummed. “Oh, you’re a pilgrim, huh…” He glanced back at the house behind them. “Do you, uh…” He tried his best to convey his words with his hands, clapping himself on the chest first and then pointing at the resthouse. “... Any friends? Family?” Muttering, “Family.” he pointed back to the resthouse, “There constellar.” The guard frowned. “... Constell--... Oh, those, uh, new pilgrims, huh. Understood - I’ll be right back.” The guard turned and stepped into the resthouse. It was a longhouse, doorways at the short ends and pillars along the walls supporting a heavy thatch roof. The centre of the house hosted a hearth half-full of glowing, charred logs, above which was suspended a spit with a goat carcass nearly picked clean. Around the hearth were three small tables flanked with benches on each long end; along the left wall upon entry were a few sealed clay pots of drink; and along the walls everywhere else were straw beds, most full of snoring travellers. Nestled at one of the ends of tables, Cionn was dressed in evening wear and was hunched over a wooden tablet, making precise cuttings into it. The guard approached and bowed curtly. “Gibbou’s peace be with you on this fine evening, friend. Forgive my intruding, but do you know that man standing outside staring at the stars? He doesn’t speak Dûnan, it’d seem, and I’m trying to get him inside.” Bowing her hand, “And stars guide you. I presume you are speaking of Initiate Simon, he means no harm to the peace.” “‘Course, ‘course,” the guard agreed. “However, as you surely know, Gibbou’s Curfew will start any moment, and we don’t allow anyone without the archdruids’ permission to overstay the curfew - the Lady on the Moon wishes everyone a good rest.” Cionn just nodded, “I will make sure he is well-rested. He does have a performance in the morning.” Next afternoon, after Cyrus had discussed more about the zodiac and off-handly mentioned a special spirit-singing performance at this particular hour, Cyrus quickly said a prayer to Sirius before stating, “And now time for our performance of spirit-singing, blessed by the starry watcher.” before stepping back into the background. Simon nervously walked in front of a crowd, looking behind his shoulder and saying something in the foreign language. After a short reply, he took another step forward, closing his eyes before tilting his head up and began to recite a foreign poem. It had a similar rhyme scheme to one he was practicing, but wasn’t exactly the same. After a few moments, the magic within the song followed out and those who listened to it could feel the presence of Sirius, almost as if they were channeling his favor. A new sense began to open in their mind, and suddenly they had a keen awareness of which direction was north. The crowd instinctively all turned northwards and smiled at one another as they tried out this new mental compass. The druids intently listened to the words of the song, nodding and occasionally rumbling along. The performance lasted for a few minutes before reaching its natural conclusion, however even afterwards Sirius' presence lingered with the audience, though the more practiced druids could tell that was slowly fading away with time. Simon nodded, “Thank you for listening.” in a way that sounded about as rehearsed as the poem, before scurrying off towards Cionn. Cyrus quickly stepped back up in front of the crowd, “And that was Initiate Simon’s performance of the zodiac song of the dog. It is just one of twelve songs blessed by the celestial keeper, but sadly along our group we only know of this one.” One of the druids in the crowd raised her hand. “Where would we go to learn more?” Cyrus gave an exaggerated sigh, “I wish I could tell you, however somethings must be handled more delicately. When I have a proper meeting with an arch-druid, then I will discuss it with them.” [hider= Story Summary] Cyrus, now a Constellar, returns to Ha-Duna after spending 10 years in the prairie of sol, followed by Wayfinder Cionn, a native from the area around Ha-Duna, and Initiate Simon, a native from the Prairie who is a spirit-singer with difficulties with the local language. At the megaliths, Cionn demonstrates her newt familiar but it is mistaken for a favor of Neiya. However Cyrus shows his kirin familiar, which caused the stars painted on the megalith to glow in its presence. Now curious to know more, a crowd gathers to learn about the zodiac and astrology. Later that night, Simon is outside trying to learn a new zodiac song when he is stopped by a guard enforcing the curfew. After the guard realizes he doesn’t speak the language, he goes into the rest house and finds Cionn, adding some artistic flourishes to a map. She brings Simon back instead. In the afternoon, after Cyrus taught more astrology in the morning, he introduced Simon and had him perform the zodiac song of the dog, which took the form of a poem. It caused the listeners to feel the presence of the stars, and had their minds opened to sense magnetism allowing them to keenly tell which way is north. The poem ends, and Cyrus walks back in front of the crowd to announce it as just one of twelve songs. Someone asked how to learn the other eleven, but Cyrus responds that he would leave the information in the hands of the arch-druids. [/hider] [hider= Might Summary] Sirius Starting: 0MP/2DP Sirius Ending: 0MP/0DP -2 DP to bestow the extraordinary ability of the Zodiac Songs on to spirit-singers | Silently, often crowded out by the voices of other spirits, the stars sing the song of the zodiac. Some stars or comets may sing differently, but only the unified voice carries to Galbar. By listening to these songs, and understanding their essence, spirit-singers can recite zodiac songs that bestow the singer and nearby listeners an advantage depending on the invoked zodiac, typically lasting for a few hours or until another zodiac song is sung. Groups of six to twelve spirit-singers can perform a song that invokes all twelve zodiacs and conveys all twelve advantages. > Whale: Improved Breathing > Sheep: Improved Jumping > Wren: Improved Vocal Capacity > Kirin: Improved Perception of the Stars and Zodiac Songs > Snake: Infrared Sense > Fox: Improved Hearing > Leon: Reduces sunlight vulnerability, Sight is no hindered by bright lights > Turtle: Improved Tirelessness > Owl: Improved World-song sensitivity > Butterfly: More graceful movements > Dog: Magnetic Sense > Newt: Emanates Warmth [/hider] [hider= Prestige Summary] Circle of the Guiding Lights: Starting: 7 +5 for post length Ending: 12 [/hider]