The wide skies of Avaria are dominated by numerous celestial bodies, and hold great interest not just for astrologers but for all peoples of the world whose sense of time and space are charted through the motions of the heavens.

Overview

Avaria has a single sun, two moons, and six visible planets. It is thought that other important celestial bodies may also exist and exert their influence upon the sublunary realm, but these are the only ones of which there is complete certainty. Avarians feel generally confident in their assessment that Avaria itself is at the center of the cosmos, and that all heavenly bodies revolve around it, and in doing so contribute to the musica mundana. Most Avarians assign a great deal of importance to the heavens, and it is not only astronomers and astrologers who observe the movements of heavenly bodies, take close note of celestial phenomena, and monitor the phases of the moons.

The sun is a potent force, life-giving at times and vitality sapping at others, but powerful in any aspect. The two moons provide their weekly and monthly rhythms while working their changeable will upon tides, plants, and people. Brilliant and insistently present in their nightly rounds, the stars of the ordinary constellations and the zodiac are neither remote nor aloof, but intricately connected to the fortune and destiny of each individual, as are the "wandering stars" or planets that weave their own paths among them. Legend and history reside in the sky as well, as the constellations play out their nocturnal drama for all below to see.

The Sun

Much like Earth's sun, that of Avaria is a mid-sized star with a bright yellow-gold radiance. Avaria's orbit around the sun likewise produces a year of approximately 365 days, and Avaria's own rotation creates a 24-hour day.

The Moons

There are two moons readily visible in Avaria's skies: Celeiri and Niota.

• Celeiri is the larger of the two moons, a pale golden-and-cream-whorled disc whose exact patterning can change subtly over time. Its period from new moon to new moon is 28 days.

• Niota is the smaller moon, with a beautifully mottled teal and grey surface pocked with craters like tiny white starbursts. Its period from new moon to new moon is 14 days.

Planets

There are six planets in the Avarian cosmos, though it is hypothesized that more may exist. The second planet, Maysa, was once thought to be two separate planets, one appearing at dawn and the other at dusk; it is still treated as two planets with distinct influences for astrological purposes. The sixth planet, Silguz, has only been perceived as a planet relatively recently. All the planets, including Avaria itself, are believed to be spherical bodies. The planets were largely named for deities in the ancient pagan pantheon of the Children of Dawn and Dusk, though few people believe them to actually be the gods themselves in these modern times.

• Salesh is a copper-colored planet that appears as a moderately bright pinpoint of light. It is associated with Salesh, the hermaphroditic adolescent deity of boundaries, travel, liminality, and communication.
• Maysa is a brilliant golden-white planet that appears at either dawn or dusk. It is associated with the goddess Maysa, who continually ages and is reborn, and who is the patron of planting, harvest, fertility, sacrifice, rulership.
• Nuru is a bright white planet with a distinct bluish tinge that appears to deepen to flame blue on cold winter nights. It is associated with the goddess Nuru, patron of warfare, glory, valor, pain, athletics, and physical achievement.
• Nthanda is a vibrant reddish-orange planet whose wanderings take it in an arc beneath the polar star. It is associated with the demigod Nthanda, patron of civilization, good governance, valor tempered by wisdom.
• Alharat is a somewhat faint planet that is nonetheless notable for its unusual violet hue. It is associated with the demigod Alharat, disciple of the goddess Kholabi and patron of the sciences, experimentation, asceticism, solitary study.
• Silguz is an aquamarine planet that is only intermittently visible. It is associated with the immortal fish Silguz, harbinger of both good and ill fortune.

Stars & Constellations

The Avarian night sky teems with a seemingly infinite host of stars, splashed across the firmament from horizon to horizon. Many of these stars outline great figures from legend and myth, some belonging to the zodiac, others simply part of the sweeping pageant of the ordinary constellations.

Notable Stars

A few stars especially stand out, either on their own or as part of one of the many constellations of the night sky.

The River of Dreams

Flowing across the heavens in a silvery glowing stream is the celestial feature known most commonly as the River of Dreams. It is a beautifully luminous feature in the night sky, its course seeming to swell and spill over and then narrow again in an endless cycle, as the bowl of the heavens slowly turns from night to night and season to season. The spreading constellation of the Tree of Life sinks its starry roots just below the course of the River of Dreams, and the dark patch of sky known as the Heavenly Isle or the Isle of Souls sits in the widest portion of its argent flow.

Constellations

A host of constellations fill the night with an ever-changing pageant of characters and stories. Although some constellations are known by different names in different lands, their forms at least are instantly recognizable to all.

Zodiac

The zodiac constellations follow the line of the ecliptic, dipping above and back below the horizon with the procession of the night and the changing seasons. As sun signs, the signs of the zodiac represent the constellation in which the sun happened to be located at the time of a person's birth. This means that each constellation is not actually seen in the sky during its associated birth month, and is optimally visible only several months later.