This is a space to make up mythological stories for the constellations we found that make up fragments 8-12. More than one story about a constellation shouldn’t be considered mutually exclusive; different cultures call different start groups on this side of the veil by different names and tell different stories. This doesn’t make an individual myth any more or any less important.
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Gladitor - The Forked Sword
Gladitor was the name of the forked scimitar carried by the hero Asterion during his many journeys across the Fray. His blade was placed among the stars as a remembrance of these exploits, the tales of which do not need to be re-told here.
How did he come to possess such a magnificent blade, you ask? When word of the snake-armed giant terrorizing the mountainside had reached his ears, he knew his dagger and bow would not be enough to lay low such a beast. He traveled to the utmost northwest where he took the hardest piece of bronze from the heart of the crater at the top of the world. He carried it out from the crater, and came across a band of makers from that land. He asked them to forge the bronze into a blade that could defeat even the largest snake-armed giant. They could not, as the sun was about to set, and they needed light to do their work. As they were discussing among themselves how get the light they needed, a group of watchers flew overhead. The makers flagged down the watchers, who lifted Asterion into the sky. He pulled the sun back to its zenith with his very hands, and held it there for hours so the makers could do their work. They forked the end of the blade they made him, so that it would never look like any other blade every made again. As the sun was held overhead for so long, the blade itself would shine with sunlight whenever it was carried through the darkness. This is why we can see it, even now, shining down from the northwestern sky, over the land from whence it was forged.
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Aorthora: The Open Arms
The itinerant tribes of healers, wandering minstrel troupes and other nomadic peoples of the northwest refer to the angular arrangement of stars that hangs over the corner of the sky above that land as “The Open Arms.” To them, it represents the unbreakable bonds of family; when they gaze up at these stars, they tell the story of the high-born lady Zarinya and her younger brother Nanther. Zarinya was the eldest child of a ruler of a far-off land, and stood to inherit his crown. Ultimately, she did, and the passing of her father drew a shroud of mourning over the land for years, such a wise and kind ruler was he. Nanther, out of jealousy, first tried to discredit his sister through slander, which the people did not believe. His lies were turned back on him when they were exposed in the eyes of the people and Zarinya’s court. His sister forgave him for the first time. He made off to another land, where he raised a raucous army to invade his sister’s kingdom. They were easily repelled by Zarinya’s well-trained troops, and Nanther was captured. His sister forgave him again, and begged him to capitulate. He chose exile, and traveled the six corners of the world looking for something, anything that would make quell his rage at Zarinya.
As he journeyed, his thoughts turned back to his sister over-and-over. At first, he blamed her for his exile. Over the years, thoughts of curiosity about his homeland and how she ruled it crept in. More years passed, and his thoughts turned to the kindness she had showed with forgiving his transgressions. He realized, over time, how egregious his acts had been. When he was old and frail, he made the final journey back to his homeland, and saw his nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, celebrating Zarinya’s 100th birthday, realizing that all his anger had done was leave him all alone. He knelt before his sister and begged for forgiveness; she bade him stand and accepted Nanther back with open arms. He was her brother, and despite all he had done, nothing could ever possibly change that.
When the wandering peoples of the northwest look to return home, they simply scan the sky for the Open Arms of Aorthora, and head that way, knowing family will be there to embrace them when they arrive.
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