Under a starlit night

[Freya]

Under a starlit night

10th of Ash, 123rd Year, A.o.S.

Location: Dardouen Dutchy; Some distance from the next village

A chill wind brushed through Freya's hair, causing her to shiver slightly despite the thick cloak she wore around her shoulders. In her hands was a deck of cards, larger and more rectangular than typical playing cards, and she studied the picture on one a moment before shuffling the deck once again.

"Sometimes the answers are not what you would like." Asteri said from his perch on one of the wheels of the carriage. He had taken his owl form again today, the same as yesterday and the day before, but it was to be expected. His other shapes were not suited for the cold.

"I am not looking for any answer in particular." Freya could see her breath as she replied, "I am just being certain."

Her familiar didn't answer, but she could feel his eyes watching her back as she continued to shuffle the cards. She sat on a blanket stretched on the ground before a small fire which crackled pleasantly. Slowly she she drew one card after another, laying them face down in a pattern on the blanket before sitting back and simply staring at the arrangement. Asteri looked at her curiously, but Freya ignored him and looked up at the stars that twinkled overhead.

Maybe she was searching for a particular answer. No matter how many times she asked the cards the answers they gave felt... unsatisfactory. She knew it was foolish to continue to question her own divinations, but Freya couldn't help it. The world was changing, and more and more she felt as if she were meant to be somewhere. Doing something.

After closing her eyes and breathing in deeply Freya finally signed and looked down at the cards, hand moving to turn the first one over.

"10, an ending and new beginning."

[Hekatos]

On her card, a red dragon was pierced by ten swords. An ending, and a new beginning. When a great wyrm died, in invested its power in a younger dragon. The draconic method of passing down power, knowledge, and wisdom was unique to the species. The card spoke of difficult challenges and absolute endings. Perhaps something had happened to her that felt like a betrayal, or being let down. Life often did that. But it also spoke of the continuum of life, its cyclical nature. If this was the nadir of something, that meant the only direction now was up. And her eyes rose to the stars.

A better future awaits you, the card was saying. Whether she was listening was another matter entirely.

A certain star, curious, was watching. It twinkled the palest of blues and reached out to Asteri.

Asteri. Old one. Old friend. Girl. Repetition incorrect. Patterns clear. Hope (not despair). Great things come. Holy, holy, holy! Specificity is key.

Gui-Mao still burned in ways Asteri no longer did, but often looked on, curious about the star whose spirit defied death. The blue star's spirit manifested near Asteri, a wyrmling coiled around the branch. She was a youngling as far as stars went, burning bright and likely to burn out quickly if Asteri was to judge. She would collapse in on herself, become blackness itself, a greedy singularity, or similar. But for now, she burned brightly in the sky.

The next card turned held two serpents twined around two staves.

Possibilities! (Everything) in her hands. Choice coming. Soon, soon, soon!

The last card was a cat-headed woman pouring water from her urn into a pool of water. Her head was crowned in flowers, haloed by stars.

SHE IS HERE.

Asteri was so old, the young star's thoughts seemed disjointed and chaotic—burning brightly, burning quickly. But the last card told Freya that her future held great possibilities for hope, faith, purpose, renewal, and spirituality, but the cards often spoke in metaphor. After all, they were symbols, and the deck was not magical—it was a tool to connect her waking mind to her higher self, the self that was halfway outside the pattern and so could see the pattern with greater ease.

No, no, NO. (Not) transfer-of-concept. Motherstar. Soul evolution. Repeat-of-pattern (new modulation).

Freya, frustrated, reshuffled her deck, then drew Star once more. That was odd, surely purely coincidence. Another shuffle, and Star showed her feline face once more. No matter how many times she shuffled and drew, how many times she tried to cheat the deck with the feel for it she had developed over the years, it stubbornly spat Star back at her. She wasn't asking specific questions, and so the cards told her what her higher self wanted her to know. Something was coming, and it had a great potential to be beneficial for her future.

Asteri didn't see the pattern as well from Ransera, bound to a mortal. But Asteri had watched the pattern unfold for eons, and had a knack for intuiting things. Gui-Mao burned brighter than she ought to in the sky. The stars, when they had returned to the eclipsed sky, had spoken of a Recurrence. There was excitement spanning the cosmos. The aidolon was too closely bound to Freya to be entirely objective, but... Hope. Renewal. Faith. Spirit. Purpose. The cards spoke to Asteri as much as to Freya, their souls bound by compact. And the cards rarely spoke with so singular a voice.

Star.

Star.

Star.

What did it mean? What could Asteri say to counsel Freya? What was ascendant upon the horizon?

[Freya]

Under a starlit night

10th of Ash, 123rd Year, A.o.S.

Freya placed the first card down before sitting back in thought.

"An ending, and a new beginning." Asteri ruffled his feathers and looked over at the smaller spirit as it manifested. His head cocked to the side as he listened to words Freya could not hear, not that she noticed as she continued to examine the card.

"A change..." She leaned forward and pushed back the lock of hair as it fell over her eyes, "Perhaps good... perhaps bad..."

"A change for the better." Asteri corrected, still watching the spirit, "New hope on the horizon."

The spirit looked up at the stars as well, eyes wide though he did not see with his physical sight. Bound as he was to the physical plane he felt his connection to the broader universe muted, but he sensed it all the same.

Freya turned over the next card, and a frown touched her lips before she looked up at Asteri who still gazed at the stars above. Looking back at the twining serpents she traced the length of one before her eyes looked at the next card almost hesitantly.

"There is always a choice." her familiar said as if sensing the hesitation, "A choice must always be made, or one shall be made for you."

They were not exactly words of encouragement, but even so Freya flipped the next card over. She looked into the cat eyes of the Star card, and her frown deepened as her confusion grew.

"It doesn't make sense." Frustration grew in her heart as she shuffled the deck after returning the cards once more. She then drew another card, turning it over only to find the Star once more in her hand.

"She keeps appearing, over and over again, but it doesn't make sense."

Asteri was quiet while Freya mused, drawing the Star again, and again. Finally the dragonborn set the deck aside and simply held the card in front of her, contemplative as the frustration melted from her expression.

"Why does she appear night after night? What inspiration am I meant to have?"

It was then that the familiar spoke, his eyes turning to look at Freya, and in those large orbs galaxies spun, "Too small..." he began, the words to describe what he saw seeming too inefficient to capture the meaning of it all.

"A change, and a choice. New faith blooms in a barren field, hope the light to nourish the infant seed. Cycles continue to turn, and what once was is again." In a pause in his words Freya looked at the owl with confusion, but he continued, "Your view... too small, sitting at the center of it. The stars bring a message of change and renewal... for you, but also for us."

"Us?" Freya sat straighter, "For other spirits?"

"She is come." Asteri shivered, his feathers fluffing up, "A new Star, the first Star, the old is become new, and with it the cycle begins again. Darkness gives way to light, and hope brings possibilities to all who stand beneath the heavens."

"A change for the better." Looking at the card in her hand Freya felt an understanding, though fragile, begin to fill her soul, "It is not just for me... for everyone. Something has changed on a larger scale, and its bringing new choices to every one."

The card in her hand seemed almost to smile, though in reality its feline expression did not change.

"But... what changed?"

She reshuffled the deck, the question in her mind as she drew out the cards once more, focusing on the understanding, looking for more answers. What had changed? Who was She who had come? Why did her arrival mean everyone, including Freya, had new possibilities and new choices?

"10, an ending and a new beginning."

[Hekatos]

"But... what changed?" she asked. Given a more specific question, the cards gave a more specific answer, though perhaps all the more frustrating when she lacked the context to understand.

III - The Masked Queen

Though Chaos incarnate often terrified people, Her card meant abundance and... Freya found herself laying card after card, with each, the stellar spirit rang and resonated like a bell next to Asteri, focusing on the keys to each card.

Naori. Mother.

II - The Witch

Mystery. Secret knowledge. For Gui-Mao. For Asteri. For Freya (Asteri pet).

XIII - Death

Transformation. Godbirth.

XX - Awakening

Rebirth. Nazam-of-old. Kala-of-new.

It wasn't unheard of to throw card after card from the Major Arcana, but it was unlikely. Some said the cards were merely a tool for divination, for pulling what one's higher self knows out into the open, to be considered by the conscious mind. Some thought Aelior spoke to the favored few through them.

In either case, a certain star certainly thought the cards were telling Asteri's pet something important.

Abandoning words entirely, Gui-Mao sent an image directly into Asteri's mind. The sending was so powerful, it bled over into Freya's. And ordinary young woman with elfin features and platinum hair. Fair skin. Pale blue eyes. Wings of gold-limned white. Then her eyes lost all color, became pools of black. Tiny motes of light pricked the blackness: a starry sky. The depth of the comsos contained in a frail-seeming girl with wings. Rathari, perhaps. Or an animist who had pulled fantastical wings from her Rune. Or perhaps the youngest of goddesses merely enjoyed the aesthetic of wings.

DANGER.

Freya did not draw a card. Instead, the card slipped out of her deck, spinning until it froze in midair where the light of her lamp shone against it: XVI - Prison. Lightning struck the edifice. The soothsayers who wore rose-tinted glasses always tried to focus on the positive outcomes of things, but this card still spoke of unexpected falls, attacks, and the threat of devastation.

With an ear-piercing skree!, Gui-Mao became manifest, and the wyrmling shape shot through the air in a northeasterly direction.

[Freya]

With every card she drew Freya felt a building sense of anticipation. Each and every one was from the Major Arcana, the significance of which was not lost on Freya.

"Something new, something old." Asteri said softly, his head turning to look at the spirit who spoke to him.

The vision shocked Freya with its intensity, the face of someone she did not know bleeding into her mind along with the sensation of meaning being imprinted on her soul. Asteri did what he could to order the thoughts and impressions, but they were too chaotic for Freya to fully grasp.

"She was reborn." The words were strained as the dragonborn pieced together the meanings both form the cards and the impressions Asteri filtered to her, "An ending, and a beginning. She's come to replace the old... A new divine?"

As she asked the question a shudder racked her body, and a single card floated before her. With it a sense of trepidation replaced the growing wonderment. Her eyes were drawn to the spirit as it flashed by her, its screech rending the quiet of the night as it flew off to the northeast.

Frozen in place, Freya could only stare at the slowly shrinking spirit as it flew into the distance. Her heart pounded in her chest.

"A choice." Asteri said, breaking the trance.

Looking down at the cards she hesitated, but quickly her uncertainty changed to excitement. The beating of her heart became the sound of drums that demanded movement, and without a word Freya stood and kicked dirt on the small fire before snatching up the cards and blankets and jumping into driver's seat of the carriage. She had not untied the horse yet, an oversight which was fortuitous this night.

"Then the choice is made." Freya called back to Asteri before flicking the reins, "We follow that star tonight."

With silent wing beats Asteri took to the sky, circling once over Freya before heading off in the direction the wyrmling sped. Freya turned her carriage to follow, a smile spreading her lips as the cold wind carried away the feelings of stagnation that had haunted her for seasons.

"10, an ending and new beginnings."

[Hekatos]

As Freya quickly broke camp, it was clear that the wyrmling had left contrails in its passing, frozen particles that shone in the starlight as they slowly dispersed. But that was no problem, as it seemed to have shot itself in a direct line, and anyway, Asteri seemed to have no trouble tracking the younger star. It was passing strange enough for any stellar spirits to reduce themselves to engaging on the bits of rock and gas that orbited them, and that left changes in the local aether.

The journey was that of several miles across the duchy, cart bumping across the rural road at speed. Her aidolon could scout ahead on silent wings, sharing images from mind to mind of the road ahead, Gui-Mao's sparkling passage leading into a copse of trees. With the colors of the landscape leached by the watery moon- and starlight, even the faint ruddy tinge limning the trunks belied a hidden fire.

Surely it was imagination, but it seemed as though the stars glittered more brightly above as if trembling in anticipation. Their dance reflected lesser patterns as well, giving hints to what might be based on what had been, but they rarely acted at speed. Gui-Mao was anomalous in that, though Asteri could sense faraway conversation among his brethren like the susurration of a breeze through the branches of a forest.

When Freya could see the copse with her own eyes, the question became: send Asteri in to scout, or park the wagon and walk in boldly to see what her future held? The stars were ancient, and past masters at reading the patterns of things. But this was a cosmos of free will, and the choice was hers - ever her own.

[Freya]

Asteri flew ahead, quiet as the night as he followed a trail that Freya could not quite make out. She received his impressions and focused on maneuvering the cart as the dusty roads grew rougher. Biting cold hit her face, but the smile never left her lips as she pressed her hat on her head and held tight to the reins. The miles passed in moments until the small circle of trees came into view and Freya pulled back and slowed the carriage to a stop. Her horse shook his head as steam rose from his main, exertion clear in its body language as its muscles twitched and his breath became a mist before him.

"Sorry," Freya whispered as she climbed down, passing a hand down his flank, "I know that was rough, and right before bed." She patted him again before turning toward the copse of trees.

It felt too bright somehow, so much so that Freya glanced skyward and wondered if the stars were bright here. It seemed impossible, but then... maybe. It did not take long for Freya to notice the signs of a fire between the trees. Not the start of a blaze, but a campfire. Small, and dancing merrily in the breeze. Someone was there.

Asteri alighted on the carriage behind her, but he did not speak but looked at Freya expectantly. It was then that Freya noticed them. Small lights that danced around the trees, thin lines that extended upwards and fell like ribbons all around. The blood of her mother showed her the spirits that seemed to grow stronger as they neared the trees. Star spirits.

Freya felt a question from Asteri, but it did not need an answer. Snatching the deck of cards from the driver's bench and stuffing it into one pocket, Freya checked that she had a few talismans in one pocket, and made her way toward trees. Asteri flapped to land on her hat, quickly changing shape into a small blue lizards that scurried into the warmth of Freya's cloak. There was no need for a light as the stars gave plenty of illumination, and the spirits she passed gave off a luminescence of their own.

Without hesitation she crossed the boundary into the firelight, eager to see what would be waiting for her.

"10, an ending and a new beginning."

[Hekatos]

!	Message from: Hekatos
	Well, that escalated quickly! I thought this would last longer before PCs converged, but alas. Or huzzah? XP: 15 Lore: The name of Gui-Mao. (We can discuss what this stellar spirit is capable of on Discord and then you can make a Support Forum ticket or I can create a summon profile for them.) The action continues here: Well Met by Starlight. Thank you, come again!