Xio's Book of Stars

[Xio Alcetar]

57 Winter 502 (Xio is 11)
Today a storytelling man arrived at our Tent. He told us a lot of stories about heroes & magic. It was so cool! Some of the mean kids laughed at him because he’s weak and his voice is all weird but I threw rocks at them & then they went away. He’s so smart! He knows so many things about the whole world and he’s so wise and someday I want to be just like him. He knows a lot about the vulterryan but he says he doesn’t like to talk about it because it’s too big for such little ears whatever that means. One of the best stories was that there are these magical throwing stars that a really great magician crafted. There are a whole lot of them and they all have different powers and super cool names and when you throw them and say a spell they do magic. My favorite is called Poolshine and it does water magic and healing. I like it because it can do lots of things and it isn’t a fighting star like most of the rest. He says it’s the only one that never gets thrown and it has lots of ingravings that make it super fragile but also really pretty. It would be really good in the desert because it’s too dry all the time. Also I like Mindlight because it makes you really smart for a while and Shinesphere because it’s really lucky and you can do anything with it and it has a really pretty spell with a lot of illiterateion. Also there’s Polaris which is in charge of all the other stars and has the most magic.
Someday I want to have those stars and use them to help people. There’s a feast tonight for the story man and maybe I can ask him more things then.
59 Winter 502
At the feast the night before last night I couldn’t talk to him because he was telling stories to all the grownups and they only wanted to hear about the velltarien (HELP I STILL CAN’T SPELL IT) so I didn’t get to talk at all. But yesterday I helped him pack all his stuff and he told me a lot more about the stars. He says that each one belongs to a real star in the sky and that Polaris belongs to the North Star which points north so you always know where you are when you see it. I think that’s nice. He also says that the stars were made by a really powerful raymancer and magecrafter before the val-disasterthingy and passed down from teacher to student but after it happened their owner decided they were too dangerous and hid them all over the world. He said I was really smart and would be important someday if I kept asking rude questions which I don’t really understand. But then he had to leave but before he did he gave me a really nice journal but I’m not writing in it yet because it’s too fancy.
I hope I see him again someday because I want to learn more about those stars.

[Xio Alcetar]

39 Spring 505 (Xio is 13)
Today a wandering bookseller came to our Tent looking for scrolls to buy. My father is copying the record of our Tent for him, so he let me look around his caravan while Father wrote. While browsing I found a book on Magecrafted items, and in it was a description of the throwing stars I heard about once and was so fascinated by. It’s funny how I haven’t thought about that in years but everything came flooding back immediately. For months after the storyteller left I daydreamed about collecting all the stars and then traveling around with them fighting evil. I’m not sure who I expected to fight but whatever…
I think what I find most fascinating about the stars is the depth of knowledge they hold. For each one there’s a bunch of spells, a zodiac sign, a bunch of symbolism and individual personality traits, a long history of use and study by many wizards… there’s so much I wish I knew. Unfortunately the section in the book was only a couple of pages, and I don’t have enough money to buy it, but the merchant let me take some notes:
-The stars are crafted with Isurian steel and each has a ring of a different gemstone around the center hole
-There are 21 stars divided into 4 Houses of 5 stars each plus Polaris. Each House has an Elder, a Noble, and 3 Commoners, and there is an extra Noble House of the 4 Nobles plus Polaris. I think this has something to do with the zodiac but I don’t know what yet
-Each star has a set of incantations that activate the spells; at least one combat and one non-combat effect. Every incantation is 4 lines long and has an ABBA rhyme scheme with the star’s name shouted at the end, the book gives one example:
Arc of fire in the storm
Leap from stars to ground below,
Leave not standing any foe,
Pierce them with your fluid form!
STORMLANCE!
It sounds so cool!
-There are also longer incantations for more powerful spells, mainly one for Polaris that returns all the stars you’ve thrown to your hand
-the stars are basically indestructible and never rust or scratch
That’s most of the useful information and the merchant doesn’t have any other books about Magecraft, but someday I really want to learn more!