What the Starlight Reveals – Orianna Èirigh – 14.09.2023

OBSERVATIONS & EXCERPTS from the JOURNAL of SECOND ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST ORIANNA ÈIRIGH of ASHKHA

The last time I spoke to Dr. Haltuhr was when he came to see me at the Academy. He came to ask if I knew anything about marbled stairs, threaded with silver and I-… I lied to him. I owe him an apology at least. I am hoping that by inviting Dr. Haltuhr on this excursion to the desert I get the opportunity to understand why he was asking after the Infinite Staircase.

Beets has preexisting knowledge of Stellarum, which will be good since trying to explain things to her sometimes can be… well, a bit of a challenge.

I have yet had a chance to tell Matches anything about-… where I am from. Which is, of course, where his family is also from. Father could do it. He can speak of that place with ease. Selfishly though, I wish to be the one to do it. He may not like learning of a place that he cannot go to but he seems so isolated. Knowing there is a connection, even if it is long ago, might help. That’s my hope at least. I am also hoping that if he comes, he will see more of the other Archwyrms, which will mean he can understand that perhaps he is not alone in trying to figure out what this all means. That we can figure it out together.

As for Florian, well, I have not seen him in many months. The Cosmos is not clear on this, and perhaps it is more of a feeling than anything, but like my long lost cousin, I would like to have the wisdom of my friend there with me.

Now, to try to sleep and not follow the path of the new star that has appeared in the sky since that vision…


Orianna gazes out the window of her and Gerhard’s room, eyes trained up to the star dusted heavens. He had left earlier that day, the Staircase once again Calling him to walk its marble and silver steps. This was their new norm, yet it still made her ache deep in her heart. It probably always would. But that was what came with loving him and the love they shared soothed that ache every time he returned back to her.

At times like these, she would seek solace in those glittering lights above, imagining them each a new world he was discovering, walking to. The passing thought that, if ever it became possible for her to hold them all within herself just as Stellarum could, then maybe, just maybe, that ache would be no more. They would swirl within her chest, dance on her fingertips, flow through her hips and drip down her legs as she swam through their expanse. She one with them, and they with her, always together, never apart, held within each other for eternity.

But such a fantasy was just that. A daydream, something that would never be possible. Even wishing could not make it so.

She blinked, confused. It took her a moment longer to realise that what she was seeing wasn’t just her imaginings but was, in fact, the stars swirling to rearrange themselves before her eyes. Her heart leapt when she could make out the form of a great dragon. Did Stellarum know what she was just thinking of? Is that why she was appearing before her at this moment?

She began to frown as the draconic body changed shape into a more structured building, something akin to a temple. But then a wave of stars like grains of sands swept up and crashed down, covering it to hide the temple from view. Orianna waited for the next series of images to come but after waiting what may have been moments or hours, nothing did. She shook her head, confused, rubbing at her face. Perhaps it was later than she thought and she ought to go to bed.

Her fingers passed over her eyes one more time and at the same time the curtain of stars in the sky pulled back. A bright flash of light burst across the darkness. A new star, shimmering like a freshly hewn diamond.

Instinctually she knew this was it. Her own call. She must travel into the desert and recover… something.

“You will need something. I gifted my descendants with a staff. My Star Cradle…”

The memory of Stellarum’s words made Orianna’s excited heart still. This was it. Her choice was coming at her, sooner than she had hoped. Was she ready to make it? Was she truly ready to become Stellarum’s Herald? Or would she choose as her father, Thaneni did?

Sometimes, there was only one way to find out…



In the morning as everyone was gathering at my home, I decided to try to divine where it was Stellarum was telling me to go. A temple lost to the sands of the Scorching Badlands was too vague, and the desert too vast. Limiting our area to search would mean we would be better able to survive the extreme heat (or cold if at night).

Gerhard has made many maps since we’ve moved to this new home, for personal use mostly. Taking one of the older versions he did not use anymore, I did my communing ritual and was given this location:

This place… it seems… familiar…



Matches was kind enough to pay for our teleportation to Trecorvum. I had never been to the city across the desert, but I had heard it was where the flying Nethereese city Gaddenthor had originated from before it made its way over to the Dawnlands the year previously. Matches did not know anything about Gaddenthor and so in my naivety I told him what little I knew: it was built by a long lost, ancient, magical society but when it crashed it had landed sideways. Adventurers from the Dawnlands had been helping the different factions of Trecorvum explore it when, somehow, the Githyanki caught wind of its revival (it had rose from the ground and was flying at this point). At some point between describing what had happened as the city flew closer and what the Githyanki were attempting, my cousin grew quiet. It was quite unlike him and I quickly stopped speaking.

Thank goodness Florian was there to help. I did not wish to cause Matches distress, but I know he is also the type to not speak openly about… well, a lot of things. I hope he was not here when the Githyanki attacked…



We decided to fly to our destination. As we did, a feeling of longing kept trying to sweep over me but something would always stop it from fully forming. It’s hard to explain.

There is something about this desert just feels… different…



Beets was the one to spot the first pillar a mile or so away. Florian communed with his own earthen spirits and strange array of gods and got confirmation that something was over there.

Which was all well and good because the moment we landed my head started to feel murky. It was like having an out of body experience, sort of similar to what happens sometimes when I get visions. I was aware of the heat of the sand beneath my cloven feet, of the others looking around at what remained of the ancient structure — Archie in particular was being quite meticulous in his examinations — of Florian and Beets clearing away the sand without ruining the floor beneath but I…

I just stood there.

The others could not help but notice. When they asked I couldn’t-

I couldn’t explain why.

Now, I know, it was because we were so close to- [ink blot] To that place.

I switched to focusing on trying to locate the staff. But in an almost laughable kind of parody of my mind, any time I was able to focus on it, the thing… moved? It’s hard to explain, but the best way to put it is like a bird in a cage, flitting from side to side, trying to get free.

There was a compulsion in me growing too, with each passing moment, like part of me was seeking that which was lost. Of course, the path forward was simple yet blocked with a test of patience. With Archie’s help I was able to determine that the seal set into the slabs of sandstone would not open until starlight revealed the way.

So we waited…



Orianna passed the time in a fugue state of disjointedness that felt timeless. She sat next to the seal, eyes half closed, part meditating, part praying, part dreaming. The sun’s passage across her skin slipped from one shoulder to the other then off her completely, replaced by a blanket of cool night that grew sharper with each star that appeared in the ocean above.

It was like she awoke when her vision came back into focus and saw the same new star shining directly overhead. She did not remember moving her head to be looking up, but she was now, and the light was getting brighter.

“It is time,” she says. To her ears, her voice sounds distant but the others seem to hear her no problem. She was the only one on the stones by the seal, which was good, as they were all starting to disappear.

Instinctively, she stood up, gripping the wood of her staff tightly before taking a breath. When she breathed out, she was transforming, growing spectral wings from her back and almost absorbing the light of the single star above. Then Orianna began to descend down, finally able to move closer towards the thing that called to her…



I don’t quite remember how the others got down, though I feel like Florian or Archie helped Matches who might not have had his own way. Beets would have had no trouble, what with her ability to fly.

The first room was an open space, with a hall that led to a simple wooden door. I went first, opening it, anticipating seeing Stellarum’s gift on the other side. Instead it was another room, the wall covered in stars and constellations, and another larger door made of marble and amethyst with her familiar draconic form on it.

And in front of that, standing in a position of watchful protection, blocking our way forward, was a golem…



They all shared uneasy looks. None of them moved. It’s possible the golem could be inert, the magic so old and so long gone that it would not move if they got closer. Orianna doubted that. There was something familiar yet not about this place and the chance that such a creature wouldn’t react to them was not zero.

That’s why it was her responsibility to step forward and find out.

“Ah, hello?” she says quietly. “We would like to pass through if… if we could?”

Her voice echoed strangely within the chamber. She stopped, wincing. When it should have stopped it didn’t. Instead, it came back towards her but then passed through her and into the golem.

It had been lifeless before, standing hunched forward as if it fell asleep standing. But either her words woke it up or something else in their direct interaction did. It was like watching an old stony bear coming out of its cave after a long winter of hibernation. Orianna did her best not to be frightened. Luckily, Matches, Florian, Beets, and Archie were right behind her, ready to back her up if things took a very sudden and violent turn.

“Hello, guests. Visitors. It has been…” he — at least that was how Orianna thought of the golem since it spoke with a deep, masculine voice — said. “…a long time since anyone passed this way. Welcome. My name is Abinsur.” Abinsur did a gesture that lead into a kind of formal bow. Something about it reminded Orianna of-… something.

“Greetings, Abinsur. My name is Orianna Èirigh.” She returned the gesture as best she could but it was less graceful and really, she was more focused on whether or not they still needed to worry about being attacked if she said the wrong thing or not. “These are my companions and friends. May we pass through the door?” she asks again, with a gesture behind the golem.

“The door?” Abinsur swivels his entire top half to look behind him at the door leaving his feet firmly facing towards them still. “I am afraid not.” He swivels around again to face her, the glow in his eyes getting brighter with each passing moment. “It will only open for the Wyrm Queen and her Herald.”

As if from a distance Orianna hears herself say, “I am her Herald.”

“Oh,” Abinsur says. “Why didn’t you say so?”

This time he uses his feet to turn himself around. As he does, Orianna looks back at Matches, who is looking at her. She didn’t know what she was hoping to find but-

The sound of stone sliding over stone made her turn back. Abinsur had placed his palm onto the door, into a spot that had, up until that point, looked like a five pointed indent. With his hand in it, it was clear that it was some form of lock.

Abinsur twisted his hand to the left. There were a series of clicks, then light spreading out from the lock. Orianna felt another one of those tugs, this one stronger than any of the others and doors that had been sealed for ages unknown began to open…



The room beyond was like a bubble. An endless ocean of stars and constellations slowly spun beyond the windows (or were they just walls?). It had the same sandstone as the room before it, stretching forward to where it stood. The Staff of the Star Herald. My future. My Choice.

I remember thinking, ‘Was I even ready for it?’…



It was just Orianna and her friends in the room beyond the doors. Abinsur did not follow them in. This was not their place.

She had stopped when her eyes fell upon the staff. All the hundreds of millions of thoughts she had been having, the questions, the doubts — it all began to drift away. She was meant to be here with these people: With Dr. Archie Haltuhr, a brilliant man who may be past his prime in body but has only grown more curious with his age, inquiring as only the young can be when all they have wanted is to know more. Beets, with her strength of heart even if she would seem directionless at times, could always find her way home where her friends are. With her cousin, Matches, flighty though he could be, he was becoming a steady focal point of hers as any craggy mountain could be. And Florian, wiser than her in ways she was, always understanding the right questions he needed to ask when she had stumbled.

She was meant to claim her birthright.

With one final look at her friends, Orianna begins to walk over to where the staff stands hovering. She hears Florian say something and looks beside her, only to smile. With a nod of thanks, she continues, resting her hand on the bear made of flames. The spirit does not burn her. Instead as she runs her delicate fingers through its warm fur she feels a surge of strength that bolsters her confidence in each step she takes.


Orianna comes to a stop less than an arm’s length away. Looking at it is a wonder and the power, though dormant, is unmistakable. Yet that is not why she is here. Even now something in her is wanting to reach out and hold it, to take on the mantle that is hers by birthright. But she holds herself back from reaching out if only for a moment.

This was her last chance to turn away, to refuse, to do as her father did and pass it on to another… But is there anyone else other than her?

She takes a breath, reaches out, and takes hold of it.

It was impossibly heavy, like it had its own gravity or was one of those infamous Immovable Rods. Tentatively she tries to tug it but it does not even budge a little bit. Orianna lets out a small, distressed sound. She had been wrong. Of course she had been. She wasn’t meant to be here. It was all a series of lies she had been telling herself. Something to make sense of the guilt for taking too long in finding her fathers. Her earlier thoughts of doubt begin to creep back in but before they could take root, the light of the constellations and stars began to shine brighter. Orianna let go of the staff, taking a small step back. The light gathered together, shifting from that of a very familiar dragon before becoming a tall and luminous column. Stepping out of the light was a woman, her face marked with kind lines, eyes ancient and wise, draped in a deep purple veil of stars that poured over her head, swooped across her shoulders and fell down her back.


“Hello, my daughter.”

“Hello,” Orianna says, stunned. She is mesmerised. Orianna had read once of a rumour that ancient dragons could take on humanoid forms. Zari was proof of that. But part of her could not have imagined that the Night Mother, Stellarum Tenabris herself would deign to show her such a form.

Orianna shakes herself out of her stupor and is about to say something, when she notices the space around them is filled with the semi-transparent starry forms of the constellations that have been on the walls. A rabbit leapt up into the air, chased playfully by a fox, who in turn was being followed by a mountain lion. Animals, beasts, mythical and real were all around them and they were gathering to witness.

“Um, I came here with some friends,” Orianna manages to say, gesturing to the others behind her. A quick glance saw her friends equally bewildered and enchanted by what was happening. Unsurprisingly, Florian had managed to find all the smallest constellations and had them all on his shoulders. That made her feel more at ease than anything else.

“I can’t seem to be able to…” the words fail her as she gestures to the staff. Saying she was going to just take it and leave wasn’t right but she didn’t know how this was meant to work. Or if she was even truly ready for it.

It was like Stellarum could hear her thoughts. “Unfortunately, you are not ready for this,” she says.

“Oh,” was all Orianna could think of to say. She should have expected this. She wasn’t strong, or wise, or anything remotely like-

“There is an Oath that must be made,” Stellarum continues, interrupting Orianna’s intrusive thoughts. “This is where your father decided to proceed no further.”

Her brow furrows slightly. “What kind of an Oath?”

“To protect those that are lost. To shepherd those who need protection. To guard over what you call home. And to represent me.”

She begins to nod slowly when a question comes to her. “What does it mean to represent you?”

Stellarum levels a steady look at her. “To be my Herald. To command and lead as one would, with the presence of the Wyrm Queen.”

“I am not-… I do not have the confidence or charisma to lead. I am… an Archivist, bookish and learned sure, but I don’t have-… Knowledge and understanding are my passions, what I am good at. Speaking? Leading? I-” Orianna glances back at the others. “-I don’t know if I can do that.”

To her surprise, Stellarum smiles.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom, Orianna. It is true, a charismatic leader may be able to gather allies to their side easily with appealing words and audacious promises… But a wise leader listens to her people with curiosity, speaks with them in honesty, and acts with integrity.”

“I think… I understand,” Orianna says, haltingly. “I hope, one day, I will.” She nods.

At her words, Stellarum’s presence changed. When they had been speaking before, it was like a mother or grandmother would to her child or granddaughter. Now, she was the Wyrm Queen. But instead of an aura of fright and malice like other dragons, the Star Mother’s was one of veneration and reverence. Orianna found herself standing up straighter, already falling into the practices her body seemed to remember even when her mind might not from a time before her days in the Dawnlands.

With ease, Stellarum pulls the staff out of the gravity spot. The moment her hand touched it, the whole chamber lit up in starlight. The animal, beasts, and creature constellations surrounding them, almost seemed to dance in a strange hypnotic pattern. But Orianna found her focus drawn to the star-like gem it held at the top of the staff.

In a voice both commanding and guiding Stellarum spoke.

“You are Orianna Èirigh. Do you vow to guard those within your home?”

“I do so vow,” Orianna responds. Her voice was not small. In fact, it sounded steady and strong.

A ringing sound echoes all around her as Stellarum taps the staff on the ground, an acceptance of her vow. A renewed wave of starlight bursts forth from the gem.

“Do you vow to protect those lost in the night?”

“I do so vow.”

Another ringing tap. Another burst of starlight.

“Do you vow to protect those who drift in the starlight?”

“I do so vow.”

A tap. A burst of light.

“Do you vow to be the Herald of the Wyrm Queen, bringing starlight and authority wherever you go?”

With no hesitation, Orianna Èirigh, daughter of Thaneni and Rimmon Èirigh, Second Assistant Archivist of Eknou’s Grand Archive, Seer and Sayer of The Seven Day Watch, and Child of the Lost City of Ashkha did solemnly swear:

“I do so vow.”

One final tap. One final burst of light.

And the stars began to sing.




Continued in ‘Family is Complicated’ 💫