The New Astrology

In the beginning, the Eshan were free to alter their material aspects and travel between Vussalas and the olûndari realm. It allowed them to reconnect with Ácolitus and build their own strength through the immense power of the celestial bodies, such as cold bodies return to warmth. This was what sustained them and brought them closest together in temperament and thinking. They were additionally divorced from the struggles of Qadal which wrought such magnificent peril. In this ancient and well traveled sky, the celestial bodies were few and far between, merely dormant spheres of flickering life that speckled Vussalas like pale raindrops. The reign of those days has passed into memory, and Kovûnkal has permanently ceased the divine discource between the hither and thither. Eshor yet remain, but they now boast more lifeless beauties than sentient Eshan. The one object in Vussalas that shone before all others was the spirit of Ácolitus, the luminous form of the creator that manifested in a great ball of fire. In the tongue of the Etayen, the Eshor is known as Éshabal, or the ‘Heart Light’. Ácolitus is the font from which olûndari life comes, and his Eshor is the celestial object which allows their continued existence. Neighboring that spectacular power is Kovûl, known as the celestial gate and kin to Éshabal. This is where the Eshanic esseythu of departed olûndi meets Ácolitus for judgement. Thereafter, the essence loses sentience and departs to join their chosen Eshan, Ácolitus, the Naarstor, or some manner of celestial finality. Amidst this eons ancient arrangement stands Kolura, which remained the core of existence after the First Feud. Éshabal and its subordinate luminaries orbit that vibrant collage and its diverse inhabitants with ambitious eyes.

The terms of the Divine Mandates forced the Alor’eshan and Ebal’eshan to choose between the olûndari realm and eternal life among the spirits of Vussalas. The constant movement of the Eshan and the renewal of power granted by Vussalas made the balance of power volatile at best. Indeed, Aebaster had used this free movement to ignite the First Feud, gaining power and making alliances among the other Eshan. Ácolitus refused to have such chaos unfold again. Severing the connection between the olûndari realm and Vussalas was the surest way to ensure order and stability. It was a painful ending to an era that already defined itself through wat between the Eshan. The victory the rebellious children had fought to secure was torn from under them, at least in part. This bitter demand separated the Alor’eshan and Ebal’eshan, but the choices they made were clear. The Alor’eshan were nearly unanimous in their decision to depart the olûndari realm. They had created all they desired from the resources the olûndari realm offered them. Now there was nothing left for them to do but depart to Vussalas and watch on as silent guardians. All of them departed except Atûn, who chosen to remain in the olûndari realm to live among his people and guide them in the harsh and untamed world. Among the Ebal’eshan, many chose to stay in Qadal and Voryndal. They had been given precious little by the Divine Mandates that their kind bled to create. The chance to remain in the olûndari realm and create without the interference of the Alor’eshan was an attractive prospect. In the olûndari realm, the Ebal’eshan were forced to Voryndal, but greedy eyes among their ranks have Qadal in their sights.

The infinite Void that swirls with manifold, luminous lights was made greater with the arrival of Alor’eshan and Ebal’eshan. Unable to maintain olûndari forms in Vussalas, the Eshan returned to their form of birth, pure energy within the embrace of the creator. The Eshan took form around the massive ball of fire that was Ácolitus, themselves becoming orbs of extraordinary light. The Ezontach took the form of four small celestial bodies, arrayed in the pattern of a diamond. Each one was a unique color, brilliant in its own light. The light of Otaoradu was grey and streaked with gold; Duboartu bore the colors of white and blue, specked together in liberal patches; Nahu’s light was black, nearly as dark as Vussalas itself, but ringed with great arcs of fire; and Yada bore the brightest light of them all, for fire was her nature. His light was a molten slurry of fiery red and gold. Together they created a magnificent array of celestial beauty that can be viewed in the nighttime sky. Joining them was Aebaster and Mesian, who in their love of each other chose to dwell close together in endless Vussalas. Their stars are bound to each other, dancing in Vussalas to a soundless song. Mesian’s star is a fair green, while Aebaster’s star is a great mass of blue and gold that is ringed with great arcs of white. Their light is a noticeable part of the night sky, in no small part because of the distance between them and Ácolitus. There has never been harmony between the creator and his eldest children, and when the time came to return to Vussalas, the celestial bodies remained remote and far distant.

Atûn stood apart from his siblings when it came time to decide between immortality in Vussalas or a life among olûndi. He chose to remain in Etal with his people, guiding them and imbuing great strength and power upon them. Historically, this led to the Great Ascension and the rise of Étunas, which lasted for over 1,500 years. That was when Corgastor defeated the Etayen and drove them from Everos in the year zero, signaling the fall of Étunas, the rise of Aemarda’s realms in Everos and Othos, and most importantly the death of Atûn. Unlike the other Alor’eshan, he infused his own essence into the Etayen when they were created, granting them power and him a source of energy. The dilemma was that when so many died during Corgastor’s war to liberate Everos, it destabilized Atûn’s own core energies. He suddenly went from mighty to incredibly weak, and in that short time died, having lost the power to maintain himself. In terms of the celestial bodies and night skies, Atûn is not present in the same way as his siblings. He hosts no great star or ball of energy. What does exist to show the enduring legacy of Atûn is a constant radiation of faint light and energy, growing and diminishing in strength at random. This is the power of Vojûn, which he created to Serve the Etayen, which leaks out into Vussalas. Atûn himself was able to keep this energy within Qadal, but upon his death it began to expand outward in all directions over a potentially infinite distance. This creates a brilliant light effect that is wondrous to see.

The perpetual bleeding of Vojûn from Qadal is an extraordinary show, but alongside it pulses another array of radiant light that swirls throughout the sky. It does not go by a single name, but it known to different cultures by different names. The Karthuuzar call it the Eyes of the Eternal, Vestanir know of it as the Naarstor, or Light Path, and others know of it as anything from the Great Shimmer to the Tears of the Creator. Regardless of the given name, the constellation Servers a particular purpose within the New Astology of Vussalas following the First Feud. Held within those shimmering lights of dazzling beauty are the Half-bound, or spirits that have chosen to reside between this life and the next in order to watch over and give power to their olûndari descendants. It was created by Ácolitus in response to a particularly brazen protest by olûndi against the Eshan called the Eshalasharn, in which olûndi, primarily people of Othos, attacked the faithful of the Eshan and burned their places of worship. Those people were angered by the faithful of the Eshan, who preached that those who failed to worship a deity were doomed to linger in the hands of Ácolitus. The violence that followed did not escape the gaze of the Eshan, some of whom threatened to descend to Qadal and lay waste to the offenders for their insolence. That would have violated the Divine Mandates, but Ácolitus could not deny their complaints. Caught between a rock and a hard place, the Creator compromised and created a place where the spirits of olûndi can dwell in Vussalas and look upon their children for all eternity.

Beyond the preview of the Alor’eshan, there are hundreds of celestial bodies that exist in the vastness of Vussalas. The few Ebal’eshan that returned to Vussalas have their own host of stars, while the celestial bodies created during Olûn that failed to yield life have remained for millennia. In that regard they are mundane, certainly in comparison to the power of the Alor’eshan. Somewhere in between, however, exists a light among the celestial bodies that is like no other. The Etayen were the first to grant it a name, as they knew of it before any other culture set their eyes to the stars. They called it Kovûl, or the Celestial Gate. It orbits the olûndari world and gives it light when night falls. Lesser olûndi took to called it the moon, or the Silver Sun for others. Ácolitus created this place to stand between departing esseythu and the celestial bodies of their creators- a place of judgement. It is there that they stand before the Gates of Creation, taking stock of their lives and of their devotion to the Eshan. Those who are accepted by the Eshan may pass on to the stars of Vussalas, becoming one with their masters. Those who are rejected, or those who worshipped nothing at all, are taken by Ácolitus himself. They become his Servants, and either pass on to the light of Éshabal or remain in Kovûl to act as spiritual protectors. In particular, the spirits of desceased Aemar that were rejected by the spirits of the Naarstor are occupants and warriors of Kovûl, repaying their weakness or failure with Service to the creator. It is an important aspect of Áckesh, for the spirits of the departed provided useful fodder for good and ill. In the summer, the power of these spirits to bolster Áckesh is limited, for the power of Ácolitus’s star is stronger and able to retain them. In the winter, the dynamic changes. The weakness of the creator’s star during that season makes it easier for nemeshari of Áckesh to draw from the celestial bodies. It goes by the dreaded name of winter moon during those months. Kovûl, like Éshabal, plays prominently in the affairs of the olûndi below.