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.

Name	Type	Description	Element	Metal	Primary Trait	Keywords	Sign(s)
Sun	Sun	The sun is a bright golden-yellow star that furnishes light and life to Avaria.	Fire	Adamantine	Strength	Fortitude, presence, strength, nobility, pride	Shield
Celeiri	Moon	The larger of the two moons, a pale golden-and-cream-whorled disc.	Water	Celeirite	Endurance	Steadfastness, diplomacy, protection, guidance, the ocean	Pearl Diver, Porpoise
Niota	Moon	The smaller moon, with a beautifully mottled teal and grey surface pocked with craters like tiny white starbursts.	Air	Silver	Intuition	Changeability, swiftness, mysticism, creativity	Peacock
Salesh	Planet	A copper-coloured planet that appears as a moderately bright pinpoint of light.	Air	Copper	Finesse	Communication, innovation, travel, boundaries, adolescence	Sunspider, Archer
Maysa (Dawn Star)	Planet	A brilliant golden-white planet that appears at either dawn or dusk.	Earth/Water	Bronze	Magnetism	Affection, nurture, fertility, sensuality, materialism, rebirth	Leopard
Maysa (Evening Star)	Planet	A brilliant golden-white planet that appears at either dawn or dusk.	Earth/Fire	Bronze	Command	Passion, possessiveness, pride, strength of will, maturity, command	Jinni Queen
Nuru	Planet	A bright white planet with a distinct bluish tinge that appears to deepen to flame blue on cold winter nights.	Fire	Saramite	Grace	Impetuousity, boldness, zeal, glory, athleticism, adventure	Eagle
Nthanda	Planet	A vibrant reddish-orange planet whose wanderings take it in an arc beneath the polar star.	Earth	Iron	Constitution	Pragmatism, stability, grounding, good humor, naturalism, ethics	Gryphon
Alharat	Planet	A somewhat faint planet that is nonetheless notable for its unusual violet hue.	Air/Earth	Lusine	Logic	Intellect, self-sufficiency, discipline, logic, obsession	Badger, Eye
Silguz	Planet	An intermittently appearing aquamarine planet.	?	Agonel	Luck	Chance, fate, mischief, luck

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.

Star	Color	Description
Aizu	Amber	Cat's eye
Aditris	Green-gold	Firefly or Beetle
Alghal	White	Gryphon's body
Altiraz	Orange-gold	Leopard's tail tip
Arande	Red	The Weaver
Behzad	Bluish-white	Eagle's right wingtip
Bikum	Yellow	Gryphon's beak
Dirgaub	Red	Shield's center
Eridun	Pale golden	Sunspider's pincer
Filipita	Pale green	Shapechanger's head
Hadhebar	Red-orange	Gem in Scholar-King's ring
Iriolis	Bright white	The Pearl
Larghana	Golden	The Explorer
Mizim	Light orange	Lizard's back
Mut	Bright white	Sunspider's pincer
Nabil	Orange	Archer's arrowhead
Narja	Yellow-orange	Fruit from the Tree of Life
Nirzali	Bluish-white	Pole star
Onyr	Blue	Badger's head
Pukkhi	Dim white	The Oliwag
Qaneb	Violet-white	Kingfisher's beak
Rijulis	White	Gryphon's tail
Shahrokh	White	Eagle's left wingtip
Umtaz	Yellow	Jinniyah's hand
Velusiya	Blue	Jackal's paw
Vidiros	Pale blue-green	Dragonfly's head

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.

Constellation	Description	Best Visibility	Notable Star(s)
Camel	A zigzagging arc of six bright stars that form the double hump of a Nishkoli camel.	Spring
Dragonfly	Eight stars of moderate brightness forming the body and paired wings of the Dargonfly, with the blue-green star Vidiros for its head.	Late Winter/Spring	Vidiros
Filipita the Shapechanger	An elongated rhombus with the greenish star also called Filipita forming its brightest corner. Her arms and legs, outstretched and waving, make her look as if she is dancing or about to transform.	Winter/Spring	Filipita
Jackal	A thirteen-starred constellation with a small triangle for a body and several more relatively bright stars for legs, tail, and head.	Summer
Kingfisher	A four-starred rhombus stars with a fifth bright violet star for its beak, perched on a branch of the Tree of Life overlooking the River of Dreams.	Summer/Fall	Qaneb
Lizard	A zigzagging line of five stars with the orange-tinted star Mizim in its back, and two additional stars set to each side like skittering feet. It appears to be pursuing the blue-green Beetle or Firefly star Aditris.	Spring/Summer	Mizim
Minnows	A number of bright stars forming small lines and clusters that seem to swim in the course of the River of Dreams.	Spring/Summer/Fall
Mowraz the Orb	A ring of six whitish stars said to be the mystical orb of power called Mowraz.	Fall/Winter/Early Spring
Norona the Sun Horse	Fourteen stars ranging from white to yellow and orange-tinted, forming the body, hind legs, and outstretched neck and head of the fiery horse Norona.	Summer/Fall
Othmat	Two roughly parallel lines of five stars each form the robe of Othmat the Scholar-King, with the last star on each line bent outward as if the hems of his garment trailed against the sky. The red-orange star Hadhebar gleams partway down the right-hand line, forming the gem of his ring.	Winter/Spring	Hadhebar
Tree of Life	A very large constellation that spans much of the night sky, with its roots on one side of the River of Dreams and its trunk and branches spreading out across the sky on the other side.	Summer, but always at least partly visible.	The Pole Star shines just beyond one of the highest branches of the Tree.

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.

Sign	Birth Month	Best Visibility	Major Star(s)
Peacock	Pavana	Fall	None
Sunspider	Ashbat	Winter	Eridun, Mut
Jinni Queen	Jinniyah	Winter	Umtaz
Shield	Jirguz	Winter	Dirgaub
Porpoise	Lemnis	Spring	None
Archer	Azara	Spring	Nabil
Eye	Kholabi	Spring	Pupil
Badger	Oniris	Summer	Onyr
Pearl Diver	Darshali	Summer	Iriolis
Eagle	Alkhila	Summer	Behzad, Shahrokh
Leopard	Nimrus	Fall	Altiraz
Gryphon	Rashani	Fall	Alghal, Bikum, Rijulis