Mundialis - Pages: Special - Recent Page Changes

Page

Version/Date

User

Type

Information

Starborn

#292 8 October 2026, 23:55:30 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 67803 (+3222) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that play and joy must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. A spark or ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire shrines are important gathering places, rest stops, sources of light, and destinations for starborn returning from rebirth. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”, the energy condensed into a special panel on which a starborn can meditate and reach the stars and feel the presence of those they have met.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. If one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Their tone, posture, ear position and tail can tell a lot even without the meaning going across.  They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names, though their energy can give an impression of a name to a creature with a spoken language. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know. If their energy gives the impression of a name and somebody speaks it, they can recognize it.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another from the memories of spirits they have found and freed. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes. They can mimic the subtle movement of breathing, but do not actually breathe. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where it is absorbed into their vessel, and they do this often in the company of other starborn because eating was witnessed in MANY seyren memories and feels important.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn brings out their inner light and hold it out. The other starborn follows suit, bringing out theirs as well. They touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This was very much able to be done with seyren; the single starborn to have been around a living one did it with many of those he held close.  Seyren having that similar light core makes it possible. If interacting with a human, a starborn would be unable to share light. They could offer it and give a faint impression of who they are, but would receive nothing from the human. Starborn, however, are generally quite intelligent and would be able to figure out human language through observation fairly quickly. They could also learn to read and write, surprisingly quickly. They are also very, very perceptive and very good at getting their meaning across and studying another's body language. Humans lack the ears and tail that a starborn has, but they'd quickly learn to study the face and posture.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They entirely lack anything resembling a reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. An 18 inch chibi may weigh as little as three pounds, while an average starborn can weigh around 15 to 20 pounds. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Their internal temperature can get up to 113 degrees fehrenheit. Externally, they are somewhere between 108 and 110. It is not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but noticeably hot. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size.<\/span> The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature. They are more comparable to some classic interpretations of fairies.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is primarily expressive, though it can sometimes aid in balance and steering when in flight. It cannot grip objects. It is uncomfortable or painful if they are lifted by their tail, but it doesn't harm them.  Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRather than gathering winged light directly from the world, they gather the light needed to form one, and it is formed within their core, and that energy is added to their reserve. The number of winged lights a starborn has formed directly correlates with the number of marks they have on their cape and the number of powered flaps they have before they must stop and rest. This light also powers their resistance to darkness, illness, and injury. Unlike in the game, a starborn will recharge from their winged light. It is a great source of energy. The more winged light they have, the more quickly they charge, but it's never instant. They can charge quickly from light sources and other star born, but many simply need to land somewhere safe, wait, then take off again. They are profficient gliders, and older starborn are very good at conserving their energy for light flights. One important skill for starborn to learn is when to use their flight power, and when to conserve it.  Landing and resting in dangerous areas can spell the difference between a starborn that is killed by a krill, and a starborn that survives the attack and makes it to a light source to regain their strength and heal.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating.<\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury.  Their inner light can sometimes be seen through severe cracks. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flaring harshly, then going dim after each surge. It appears to materialize at the front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source. Despite the substance lacking an odor, starborn will recoil away from it in disgust.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will begin to heal, and generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is a beast called a dark dragon, also known as a krill. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Krill used to hunt all manner of light creatures, but many creatures are either very low in population, or extinct. Starborn are among the only food sources left for the massive predators, so they are actively hunted. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks. The problem is not a single crab strike, but rather getting swarmed by a group of them.  Weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed easily by a hunting group of crabs.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship, mating, or pair bonding. They may form close friendships, but romance is not a concept they understand or engage in. While starborn are, at least in a way, aware of the concept of intimacy, it is not something they focus on or find any interest in. As far as they are concerned, it is an activity they have seen in the memories of closely bonded seyren that brought them pleasure, but it does not interest starborn aside from, perhaps, a passing curiousity. Some individuals may try to mimic what they see, but quickly lose interest and move on to something else. The memories do not carry anything sensory, so they do not experience what the seyren in the memories experience, and that's that. They simply just shrug and move on to something else. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who make it past a threshold at the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. Renascents and ascendants can control their descent and choose where to land.  The call to Eden grows stronger as the starborn releases more spirits and gains more winged light. If they deny the call too long, it can actually be detrimental to their health.  They can become listless, weak, and sick. Eventually, they will follow the call, but because they have made themself ill denying it too long, they will often perish along the way. The more marks a starborn has, the longer they can resist the call to Eden. It is not something that is forceful, more like a very deep instinct that they can not deny. Starborn do not know why they are called to Eden, or even really the function of what they do. They are simply following a cycle that is natural and instinctive to their kind.<\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"Encounters with the Sealed One within Eden can actually give starborn new senses they can not get from seyren. This is because starborn share experiences from spirit memories and things learned through sharing of light. Seyren spirits are long dead, none of the sensory side of things comes through.  Resh, the one sealed within Eden that Starborn come across before ascension, carries the sensory side of experiences from actual living seyren.  This means that, under some rare circumstances, he could potentially share some of these experiences. This is very unlikely as contact with him is generally very brief. Starborn interact with him briefly within the seal, and he ejects them from the void-space and into ascension. He isn't supposed to be there, not fully, and when they die beyond the threshold, they are sent into his void-space. Interaction is generally brief. A joining of hands. Occasionally offering a comforting hug. Which he accepts. What the game interpreted as a small glowing child that you help to their feet and hug is only partially, somewhat, right. Rather, the starborn is sharing a little bit of their light with the Sealed One trapped within his own heavily corrupted body, and he sends them along through ascension because he is not willing to interrupt their cycle. This light sharing could potentially trigger some memories to pass over from him, but this is unlikely.  But, this means, that there could potentially be a starborn out there that could actually taste food if they encountered it and manifested a mouth with which to do so.<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that play and joy must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. A spark or ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire shrines are important gathering places, rest stops, sources of light, and destinations for starborn returning from rebirth. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”, the energy condensed into a special panel on which a starborn can meditate and reach the stars and feel the presence of those they have met.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. If one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Their tone, posture, ear position and tail can tell a lot even without the meaning going across.  They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names, though their energy can give an impression of a name to a creature with a spoken language. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know. If their energy gives the impression of a name and somebody speaks it, they can recognize it.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another from the memories of spirits they have found and freed. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes. They can mimic the subtle movement of breathing, but do not actually breathe. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where it is absorbed into their vessel, and they do this often in the company of other starborn because eating was witnessed in MANY seyren memories and feels important.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn brings out their inner light and hold it out. The other starborn follows suit, bringing out theirs as well. They touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This was very much able to be done with seyren; the single starborn to have been around a living one did it with many of those he held close.  Seyren having that similar light core makes it possible. If interacting with a human, a starborn would be unable to share light. They could offer it and give a faint impression of who they are, but would receive nothing from the human. Starborn, however, are generally quite intelligent and would be able to figure out human language through observation fairly quickly. They could also learn to read and write, surprisingly quickly. They are also very, very perceptive and very good at getting their meaning across and studying another's body language. Humans lack the ears and tail that a starborn has, but they'd quickly learn to study the face and posture.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They entirely lack anything resembling a reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. An 18 inch chibi may weigh as little as three pounds, while an average starborn can weigh around 15 to 20 pounds. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Their internal temperature can get up to 113 degrees fehrenheit. Externally, they are somewhere between 108 and 110. It is not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but noticeably hot. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size.<\/span> The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature. They are more comparable to some classic interpretations of fairies.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is primarily expressive, though it can sometimes aid in balance and steering when in flight. It cannot grip objects. It is uncomfortable or painful if they are lifted by their tail, but it doesn't harm them.  Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRather than gathering winged light directly from the world, they gather the light needed to form one, and it is formed within their core, and that energy is added to their reserve. The number of winged lights a starborn has formed directly correlates with the number of marks they have on their cape and the number of powered flaps they have before they must stop and rest. This light also powers their resistance to darkness, illness, and injury. Unlike in the game, a starborn will recharge from their winged light. It is a great source of energy. The more winged light they have, the more quickly they charge, but it's never instant. They can charge quickly from light sources and other star born, but many simply need to land somewhere safe, wait, then take off again. They are profficient gliders, and older starborn are very good at conserving their energy for light flights. One important skill for starborn to learn is when to use their flight power, and when to conserve it.  Landing and resting in dangerous areas can spell the difference between a starborn that is killed by a krill, and a starborn that survives the attack and makes it to a light source to regain their strength and heal.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating.<\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury.  Their inner light can sometimes be seen through severe cracks. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flaring harshly, then going dim after each surge. It appears to materialize at the front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source. Despite the substance lacking an odor, starborn will recoil away from it in disgust.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will begin to heal, and generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is a beast called a dark dragon, also known as a krill. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Krill used to hunt all manner of light creatures, but many creatures are either very low in population, or extinct. Starborn are among the only food sources left for the massive predators, so they are actively hunted. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks. The problem is not a single crab strike, but rather getting swarmed by a group of them.  Weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed easily by a hunting group of crabs.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship, mating, or pair bonding. They may form close friendships, but romance is not a concept they understand or engage in. While starborn are, at least in a way, aware of the concept of intimacy, it is not something they focus on or find any interest in. As far as they are concerned, it is an activity they have seen in the memories of closely bonded seyren that brought them pleasure, but it does not interest starborn aside from, perhaps, a passing curiousity. Some individuals may try to mimic what they see, but quickly lose interest and move on to something else. The memories do not carry anything sensory, so they do not experience what the seyren in the memories experience, and that's that. They simply just shrug and move on to something else. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who make it past a threshold at the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. Renascents and ascendants can control their descent and choose where to land.  The call to Eden grows stronger as the starborn releases more spirits and gains more winged light. If they deny the call too long, it can actually be detrimental to their health.  They can become listless, weak, and sick. Eventually, they will follow the call, but because they have made themself ill denying it too long, they will often perish along the way. The more marks a starborn has, the longer they can resist the call to Eden. It is not something that is forceful, more like a very deep instinct that they can not deny. Starborn do not know why they are called to Eden, or even really the function of what they do. They are simply following a cycle that is natural and instinctive to their kind.<\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"Encounters with the Sealed One within Eden can actually give starborn new senses they can not get from seyren. This is because starborn share experiences from spirit memories and things learned through sharing of light. Seyren spirits are long dead, none of the sensory side of things comes through.  Resh, the one sealed within Eden that Starborn come across before ascension, carries the sensory side of experiences from actual living seyren.  This means that, under some rare circumstances, he could potentially share some of these experiences. This is very unlikely as contact with him is generally very brief. Starborn interact with him briefly within the seal, and he ejects them from the void-space and into ascension. He isn't supposed to be there, not fully, and when they die beyond the threshold, they are sent into his void-space. Interaction is generally brief. A joining of hands. Occasionally offering a comforting hug. Which he accepts. What the game interpreted as a small glowing child that you help to their feet and hug is only partially, somewhat, right. Rather, the starborn is sharing a little bit of their light with the Sealed One trapped within his own heavily corrupted body, and he sends them along through ascension because he is not willing to interrupt their cycle. This light sharing could potentially trigger some memories to pass over from him, but this is unlikely.  But, this means, that there could potentially be a starborn out there that could actually taste food if they encountered it and manifested a mouth with which to do so.<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#291 8 October 2026, 23:50:21 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 64581 (+396) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that play and joy must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. A spark or ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire shrines are important gathering places, rest stops, sources of light, and destinations for starborn returning from rebirth. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”, the energy condensed into a special panel on which a starborn can meditate and reach the stars and feel the presence of those they have met.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. If one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Their tone, posture, ear position and tail can tell a lot even without the meaning going across.  They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names, though their energy can give an impression of a name to a creature with a spoken language. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know. If their energy gives the impression of a name and somebody speaks it, they can recognize it.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another from the memories of spirits they have found and freed. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes. They can mimic the subtle movement of breathing, but do not actually breathe. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where it is absorbed into their vessel, and they do this often in the company of other starborn because eating was witnessed in MANY seyren memories and feels important.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn brings out their inner light and hold it out. The other starborn follows suit, bringing out theirs as well. They touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This was very much able to be done with seyren; the single starborn to have been around a living one did it with many of those he held close.  Seyren having that similar light core makes it possible. If interacting with a human, a starborn would be unable to share light. They could offer it and give a faint impression of who they are, but would receive nothing from the human. Starborn, however, are generally quite intelligent and would be able to figure out human language through observation fairly quickly. They could also learn to read and write, surprisingly quickly. They are also very, very perceptive and very good at getting their meaning across and studying another's body language. Humans lack the ears and tail that a starborn has, but they'd quickly learn to study the face and posture.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They entirely lack anything resembling a reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. An 18 inch chibi may weigh as little as three pounds, while an average starborn can weigh around 15 to 20 pounds. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Their internal temperature can get up to 113 degrees fehrenheit. Externally, they are somewhere between 108 and 110. It is not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but noticeably hot. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size.<\/span> The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature. They are more comparable to some classic interpretations of fairies.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is primarily expressive, though it can sometimes aid in balance and steering when in flight. It cannot grip objects. It is uncomfortable or painful if they are lifted by their tail, but it doesn't harm them.  Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRather than gathering winged light directly from the world, they gather the light needed to form one, and it is formed within their core, and that energy is added to their reserve. The number of winged lights a starborn has formed directly correlates with the number of marks they have on their cape and the number of powered flaps they have before they must stop and rest. This light also powers their resistance to darkness, illness, and injury. Unlike in the game, a starborn will recharge from their winged light. It is a great source of energy. The more winged light they have, the more quickly they charge, but it's never instant. They can charge quickly from light sources and other star born, but many simply need to land somewhere safe, wait, then take off again. They are profficient gliders, and older starborn are very good at conserving their energy for light flights. One important skill for starborn to learn is when to use their flight power, and when to conserve it.  Landing and resting in dangerous areas can spell the difference between a starborn that is killed by a krill, and a starborn that survives the attack and makes it to a light source to regain their strength and heal.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating.<\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury.  Their inner light can sometimes be seen through severe cracks. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flaring harshly, then going dim after each surge. It appears to materialize at the front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source. Despite the substance lacking an odor, starborn will recoil away from it in disgust.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will begin to heal, and generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is a beast called a dark dragon, also known as a krill. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Krill used to hunt all manner of light creatures, but many creatures are either very low in population, or extinct. Starborn are among the only food sources left for the massive predators, so they are actively hunted. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks. The problem is not a single crab strike, but rather getting swarmed by a group of them.  Weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed easily by a hunting group of crabs.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship, mating, or pair bonding. They may form close friendships, but romance is not a concept they understand or engage in. While starborn are, at least in a way, aware of the concept of intimacy, it is not something they focus on or find any interest in. As far as they are concerned, it is an activity they have seen in the memories of closely bonded seyren that brought them pleasure, but it does not interest starborn aside from, perhaps, a passing curiousity. Some individuals may try to mimic what they see, but quickly lose interest and move on to something else. The memories do not carry anything sensory, so they do not experience what the seyren in the memories experience, and that's that. They simply just shrug and move on to something else. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who make it past a threshold at the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. Renascents and ascendants can control their descent and choose where to land.  The call to Eden grows stronger as the starborn releases more spirits and gains more winged light. If they deny the call too long, it can actually be detrimental to their health.  They can become listless, weak, and sick. Eventually, they will follow the call, but because they have made themself ill denying it too long, they will often perish along the way. The more marks a starborn has, the longer they can resist the call to Eden. It is not something that is forceful, more like a very deep instinct that they can not deny. Starborn do not know why they are called to Eden, or even really the function of what they do. They are simply following a cycle that is natural and instinctive to their kind.<\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that play and joy must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. A spark or ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire shrines are important gathering places, rest stops, sources of light, and destinations for starborn returning from rebirth. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”, the energy condensed into a special panel on which a starborn can meditate and reach the stars and feel the presence of those they have met.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. If one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Their tone, posture, ear position and tail can tell a lot even without the meaning going across.  They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names, though their energy can give an impression of a name to a creature with a spoken language. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know. If their energy gives the impression of a name and somebody speaks it, they can recognize it.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another from the memories of spirits they have found and freed. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes. They can mimic the subtle movement of breathing, but do not actually breathe. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where it is absorbed into their vessel, and they do this often in the company of other starborn because eating was witnessed in MANY seyren memories and feels important.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn brings out their inner light and hold it out. The other starborn follows suit, bringing out theirs as well. They touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This was very much able to be done with seyren; the single starborn to have been around a living one did it with many of those he held close.  Seyren having that similar light core makes it possible. If interacting with a human, a starborn would be unable to share light. They could offer it and give a faint impression of who they are, but would receive nothing from the human. Starborn, however, are generally quite intelligent and would be able to figure out human language through observation fairly quickly. They could also learn to read and write, surprisingly quickly. They are also very, very perceptive and very good at getting their meaning across and studying another's body language. Humans lack the ears and tail that a starborn has, but they'd quickly learn to study the face and posture.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They entirely lack anything resembling a reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. An 18 inch chibi may weigh as little as three pounds, while an average starborn can weigh around 15 to 20 pounds. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Their internal temperature can get up to 113 degrees fehrenheit. Externally, they are somewhere between 108 and 110. It is not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but noticeably hot. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size.<\/span> The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature. They are more comparable to some classic interpretations of fairies.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is primarily expressive, though it can sometimes aid in balance and steering when in flight. It cannot grip objects. It is uncomfortable or painful if they are lifted by their tail, but it doesn't harm them.  Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRather than gathering winged light directly from the world, they gather the light needed to form one, and it is formed within their core, and that energy is added to their reserve. The number of winged lights a starborn has formed directly correlates with the number of marks they have on their cape and the number of powered flaps they have before they must stop and rest. This light also powers their resistance to darkness, illness, and injury. Unlike in the game, a starborn will recharge from their winged light. It is a great source of energy. The more winged light they have, the more quickly they charge, but it's never instant. They can charge quickly from light sources and other star born, but many simply need to land somewhere safe, wait, then take off again. They are profficient gliders, and older starborn are very good at conserving their energy for light flights. One important skill for starborn to learn is when to use their flight power, and when to conserve it.  Landing and resting in dangerous areas can spell the difference between a starborn that is killed by a krill, and a starborn that survives the attack and makes it to a light source to regain their strength and heal.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating.<\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury.  Their inner light can sometimes be seen through severe cracks. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flaring harshly, then going dim after each surge. It appears to materialize at the front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source. Despite the substance lacking an odor, starborn will recoil away from it in disgust.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will begin to heal, and generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is a beast called a dark dragon, also known as a krill. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Krill used to hunt all manner of light creatures, but many creatures are either very low in population, or extinct. Starborn are among the only food sources left for the massive predators, so they are actively hunted. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks. The problem is not a single crab strike, but rather getting swarmed by a group of them.  Weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed easily by a hunting group of crabs.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship, mating, or pair bonding. They may form close friendships, but romance is not a concept they understand or engage in. While starborn are, at least in a way, aware of the concept of intimacy, it is not something they focus on or find any interest in. As far as they are concerned, it is an activity they have seen in the memories of closely bonded seyren that brought them pleasure, but it does not interest starborn aside from, perhaps, a passing curiousity. Some individuals may try to mimic what they see, but quickly lose interest and move on to something else. The memories do not carry anything sensory, so they do not experience what the seyren in the memories experience, and that's that. They simply just shrug and move on to something else. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who make it past a threshold at the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. Renascents and ascendants can control their descent and choose where to land.  The call to Eden grows stronger as the starborn releases more spirits and gains more winged light. If they deny the call too long, it can actually be detrimental to their health.  They can become listless, weak, and sick. Eventually, they will follow the call, but because they have made themself ill denying it too long, they will often perish along the way. The more marks a starborn has, the longer they can resist the call to Eden. It is not something that is forceful, more like a very deep instinct that they can not deny. Starborn do not know why they are called to Eden, or even really the function of what they do. They are simply following a cycle that is natural and instinctive to their kind.<\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#290 8 October 2026, 00:40:23 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 64185 (+1324) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that play and joy must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. A spark or ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire shrines are important gathering places, rest stops, sources of light, and destinations for starborn returning from rebirth. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”, the energy condensed into a special panel on which a starborn can meditate and reach the stars and feel the presence of those they have met.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. If one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Their tone, posture, ear position and tail can tell a lot even without the meaning going across.  They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names, though their energy can give an impression of a name to a creature with a spoken language. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know. If their energy gives the impression of a name and somebody speaks it, they can recognize it.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another from the memories of spirits they have found and freed. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes. They can mimic the subtle movement of breathing, but do not actually breathe. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where it is absorbed into their vessel, and they do this often in the company of other starborn because eating was witnessed in MANY seyren memories and feels important.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn brings out their inner light and hold it out. The other starborn follows suit, bringing out theirs as well. They touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human were they to encounter one. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame with their fingertips and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorb their language, and the knowledge to read and write. They may also get bits of the human's experience through recent memories. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They entirely lack anything resembling a reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. An 18 inch chibi may weigh as little as three pounds, while an average starborn can weigh around 15 to 20 pounds. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Their internal temperature can get up to 113 degrees fehrenheit. Externally, they are somewhere between 108 and 110. It is not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but noticeably hot. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size.<\/span> The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature. They are more comparable to some classic interpretations of fairies.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is primarily expressive, though it can sometimes aid in balance and steering when in flight. It cannot grip objects. It is uncomfortable or painful if they are lifted by their tail, but it doesn't harm them.  Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRather than gathering winged light directly from the world, they gather the light needed to form one, and it is formed within their core, and that energy is added to their reserve. The number of winged lights a starborn has formed directly correlates with the number of marks they have on their cape and the number of powered flaps they have before they must stop and rest. This light also powers their resistance to darkness, illness, and injury. Unlike in the game, a starborn will recharge from their winged light. It is a great source of energy. The more winged light they have, the more quickly they charge, but it's never instant. They can charge quickly from light sources and other star born, but many simply need to land somewhere safe, wait, then take off again. They are profficient gliders, and older starborn are very good at conserving their energy for light flights. One important skill for starborn to learn is when to use their flight power, and when to conserve it.  Landing and resting in dangerous areas can spell the difference between a starborn that is killed by a krill, and a starborn that survives the attack and makes it to a light source to regain their strength and heal.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating.<\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury.  Their inner light can sometimes be seen through severe cracks. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flaring harshly, then going dim after each surge. It appears to materialize at the front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source. Despite the substance lacking an odor, starborn will recoil away from it in disgust.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will begin to heal, and generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is a beast called a dark dragon, also known as a krill. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Krill used to hunt all manner of light creatures, but many creatures are either very low in population, or extinct. Starborn are among the only food sources left for the massive predators, so they are actively hunted. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks. The problem is not a single crab strike, but rather getting swarmed by a group of them.  Weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed easily by a hunting group of crabs.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship, mating, or pair bonding. They may form close friendships, but romance is not a concept they understand or engage in. While starborn are, at least in a way, aware of the concept of intimacy, it is not something they focus on or find any interest in. As far as they are concerned, it is an activity they have seen in the memories of closely bonded seyren that brought them pleasure, but it does not interest starborn aside from, perhaps, a passing curiousity. Some individuals may try to mimic what they see, but quickly lose interest and move on to something else. The memories do not carry anything sensory, so they do not experience what the seyren in the memories experience, and that's that. They simply just shrug and move on to something else. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who make it past a threshold at the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. Renascents and ascendants can control their descent and choose where to land.  The call to Eden grows stronger as the starborn releases more spirits and gains more winged light. If they deny the call too long, it can actually be detrimental to their health.  They can become listless, weak, and sick. Eventually, they will follow the call, but because they have made themself ill denying it too long, they will often perish along the way. The more marks a starborn has, the longer they can resist the call to Eden. It is not something that is forceful, more like a very deep instinct that they can not deny. Starborn do not know why they are called to Eden, or even really the function of what they do. They are simply following a cycle that is natural and instinctive to their kind.<\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that play and joy must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. A spark or ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire shrines are important gathering places, rest stops, sources of light, and destinations for starborn returning from rebirth. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”, the energy condensed into a special panel on which a starborn can meditate and reach the stars and feel the presence of those they have met.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. If one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Their tone, posture, ear position and tail can tell a lot even without the meaning going across.  They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names, though their energy can give an impression of a name to a creature with a spoken language. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know. If their energy gives the impression of a name and somebody speaks it, they can recognize it.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another from the memories of spirits they have found and freed. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes. They can mimic the subtle movement of breathing, but do not actually breathe. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where it is absorbed into their vessel, and they do this often in the company of other starborn because eating was witnessed in MANY seyren memories and feels important.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn brings out their inner light and hold it out. The other starborn follows suit, bringing out theirs as well. They touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human were they to encounter one. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame with their fingertips and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorb their language, and the knowledge to read and write. They may also get bits of the human's experience through recent memories. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They entirely lack anything resembling a reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. An 18 inch chibi may weigh as little as three pounds, while an average starborn can weigh around 15 to 20 pounds. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Their internal temperature can get up to 113 degrees fehrenheit. Externally, they are somewhere between 108 and 110. It is not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but noticeably hot. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size.<\/span> The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature. They are more comparable to some classic interpretations of fairies.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is primarily expressive, though it can sometimes aid in balance and steering when in flight. It cannot grip objects. It is uncomfortable or painful if they are lifted by their tail, but it doesn't harm them.  Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRather than gathering winged light directly from the world, they gather the light needed to form one, and it is formed within their core, and that energy is added to their reserve. The number of winged lights a starborn has formed directly correlates with the number of marks they have on their cape and the number of powered flaps they have before they must stop and rest. This light also powers their resistance to darkness, illness, and injury. Unlike in the game, a starborn will recharge from their winged light. It is a great source of energy. The more winged light they have, the more quickly they charge, but it's never instant. They can charge quickly from light sources and other star born, but many simply need to land somewhere safe, wait, then take off again. They are profficient gliders, and older starborn are very good at conserving their energy for light flights. One important skill for starborn to learn is when to use their flight power, and when to conserve it.  Landing and resting in dangerous areas can spell the difference between a starborn that is killed by a krill, and a starborn that survives the attack and makes it to a light source to regain their strength and heal.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating.<\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury.  Their inner light can sometimes be seen through severe cracks. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flaring harshly, then going dim after each surge. It appears to materialize at the front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source. Despite the substance lacking an odor, starborn will recoil away from it in disgust.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will begin to heal, and generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is a beast called a dark dragon, also known as a krill. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Krill used to hunt all manner of light creatures, but many creatures are either very low in population, or extinct. Starborn are among the only food sources left for the massive predators, so they are actively hunted. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks. The problem is not a single crab strike, but rather getting swarmed by a group of them.  Weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed easily by a hunting group of crabs.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship, mating, or pair bonding. They may form close friendships, but romance is not a concept they understand or engage in. While starborn are, at least in a way, aware of the concept of intimacy, it is not something they focus on or find any interest in. As far as they are concerned, it is an activity they have seen in the memories of closely bonded seyren that brought them pleasure, but it does not interest starborn aside from, perhaps, a passing curiousity. Some individuals may try to mimic what they see, but quickly lose interest and move on to something else. The memories do not carry anything sensory, so they do not experience what the seyren in the memories experience, and that's that. They simply just shrug and move on to something else. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who make it past a threshold at the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. Renascents and ascendants can control their descent and choose where to land.  The call to Eden grows stronger as the starborn releases more spirits and gains more winged light. If they deny the call too long, it can actually be detrimental to their health.  They can become listless, weak, and sick. Eventually, they will follow the call, but because they have made themself ill denying it too long, they will often perish along the way. The more marks a starborn has, the longer they can resist the call to Eden. It is not something that is forceful, more like a very deep instinct that they can not deny. Starborn do not know why they are called to Eden, or even really the function of what they do. They are simply following a cycle that is natural and instinctive to their kind.<\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#289 8 October 2026, 00:36:39 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 62861 (+2588) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that play and joy must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. A spark or ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire shrines are important gathering places, rest stops, sources of light, and destinations for starborn returning from rebirth. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”, the energy condensed into a special panel on which a starborn can meditate and reach the stars and feel the presence of those they have met.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. If one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Their tone, posture, ear position and tail can tell a lot even without the meaning going across.  They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names, though their energy can give an impression of a name to a creature with a spoken language. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know. If their energy gives the impression of a name and somebody speaks it, they can recognize it.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another from the memories of spirits they have found and freed. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes. They can mimic the subtle movement of breathing, but do not actually breathe. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where it is absorbed into their vessel, and they do this often in the company of other starborn because eating was witnessed in MANY seyren memories and feels important.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn brings out their inner light and hold it out. The other starborn follows suit, bringing out theirs as well. They touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human were they to encounter one. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame with their fingertips and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorb their language, and the knowledge to read and write. They may also get bits of the human's experience through recent memories. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They entirely lack anything resembling a reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. An 18 inch chibi may weigh as little as three pounds, while an average starborn can weigh around 15 to 20 pounds. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Their internal temperature can get up to 113 degrees fehrenheit. Externally, they are somewhere between 108 and 110. It is not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but noticeably hot. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size.<\/span> The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature. They are more comparable to some classic interpretations of fairies.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is primarily expressive, though it can sometimes aid in balance and steering when in flight. It cannot grip objects. It is uncomfortable or painful if they are lifted by their tail, but it doesn't harm them.  Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRather than gathering winged light directly from the world, they gather the light needed to form one, and it is formed within their core, and that energy is added to their reserve. The number of winged lights a starborn has formed directly correlates with the number of marks they have on their cape and the number of powered flaps they have before they must stop and rest. This light also powers their resistance to darkness, illness, and injury. Unlike in the game, a starborn will recharge from their winged light. It is a great source of energy. The more winged light they have, the more quickly they charge, but it's never instant. They can charge quickly from light sources and other star born, but many simply need to land somewhere safe, wait, then take off again. They are profficient gliders, and older starborn are very good at conserving their energy for light flights. One important skill for starborn to learn is when to use their flight power, and when to conserve it.  Landing and resting in dangerous areas can spell the difference between a starborn that is killed by a krill, and a starborn that survives the attack and makes it to a light source to regain their strength and heal.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating.<\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury.  Their inner light can sometimes be seen through severe cracks. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flaring harshly, then going dim after each surge. It appears to materialize at the front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source. Despite the substance lacking an odor, starborn will recoil away from it in disgust.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will begin to heal, and generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is a beast called a dark dragon, also known as a krill. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Krill used to hunt all manner of light creatures, but many creatures are either very low in population, or extinct. Starborn are among the only food sources left for the massive predators, so they are actively hunted. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks. The problem is not a single crab strike, but rather getting swarmed by a group of them.  Weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed easily by a hunting group of crabs.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship, mating, or pair bonding. They may form close friendships, but romance is not a concept they understand or engage in. While starborn are, at least in a way, aware of the concept of intimacy, it is not something they focus on or find any interest in. As far as they are concerned, it is an activity they have seen in the memories of closely bonded seyren that brought them pleasure, but it does not interest starborn aside from, perhaps, a passing curiousity. Some individuals may try to mimic what they see, but quickly lose interest and move on to something else. The memories do not carry anything sensory, so they do not experience what the seyren in the memories experience, and that's that. They simply just shrug and move on to something else. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow.<\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that play and joy must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. A spark or ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire shrines are important gathering places, rest stops, sources of light, and destinations for starborn returning from rebirth. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”, the energy condensed into a special panel on which a starborn can meditate and reach the stars and feel the presence of those they have met.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. If one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Their tone, posture, ear position and tail can tell a lot even without the meaning going across.  They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names, though their energy can give an impression of a name to a creature with a spoken language. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know. If their energy gives the impression of a name and somebody speaks it, they can recognize it.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another from the memories of spirits they have found and freed. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes. They can mimic the subtle movement of breathing, but do not actually breathe. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where it is absorbed into their vessel, and they do this often in the company of other starborn because eating was witnessed in MANY seyren memories and feels important.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn brings out their inner light and hold it out. The other starborn follows suit, bringing out theirs as well. They touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human were they to encounter one. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame with their fingertips and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorb their language, and the knowledge to read and write. They may also get bits of the human's experience through recent memories. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They entirely lack anything resembling a reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. An 18 inch chibi may weigh as little as three pounds, while an average starborn can weigh around 15 to 20 pounds. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Their internal temperature can get up to 113 degrees fehrenheit. Externally, they are somewhere between 108 and 110. It is not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but noticeably hot. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size.<\/span> The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature. They are more comparable to some classic interpretations of fairies.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is primarily expressive, though it can sometimes aid in balance and steering when in flight. It cannot grip objects. It is uncomfortable or painful if they are lifted by their tail, but it doesn't harm them.  Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRather than gathering winged light directly from the world, they gather the light needed to form one, and it is formed within their core, and that energy is added to their reserve. The number of winged lights a starborn has formed directly correlates with the number of marks they have on their cape and the number of powered flaps they have before they must stop and rest. This light also powers their resistance to darkness, illness, and injury. Unlike in the game, a starborn will recharge from their winged light. It is a great source of energy. The more winged light they have, the more quickly they charge, but it's never instant. They can charge quickly from light sources and other star born, but many simply need to land somewhere safe, wait, then take off again. They are profficient gliders, and older starborn are very good at conserving their energy for light flights. One important skill for starborn to learn is when to use their flight power, and when to conserve it.  Landing and resting in dangerous areas can spell the difference between a starborn that is killed by a krill, and a starborn that survives the attack and makes it to a light source to regain their strength and heal.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating.<\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury.  Their inner light can sometimes be seen through severe cracks. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flaring harshly, then going dim after each surge. It appears to materialize at the front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source. Despite the substance lacking an odor, starborn will recoil away from it in disgust.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will begin to heal, and generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is a beast called a dark dragon, also known as a krill. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Krill used to hunt all manner of light creatures, but many creatures are either very low in population, or extinct. Starborn are among the only food sources left for the massive predators, so they are actively hunted. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks. The problem is not a single crab strike, but rather getting swarmed by a group of them.  Weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed easily by a hunting group of crabs.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship, mating, or pair bonding. They may form close friendships, but romance is not a concept they understand or engage in. While starborn are, at least in a way, aware of the concept of intimacy, it is not something they focus on or find any interest in. As far as they are concerned, it is an activity they have seen in the memories of closely bonded seyren that brought them pleasure, but it does not interest starborn aside from, perhaps, a passing curiousity. Some individuals may try to mimic what they see, but quickly lose interest and move on to something else. The memories do not carry anything sensory, so they do not experience what the seyren in the memories experience, and that's that. They simply just shrug and move on to something else. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow.<\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#288 8 October 2026, 00:27:54 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 60273 (+4574) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that play and joy must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. A spark or ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire shrines are important gathering places, rest stops, sources of light, and destinations for starborn returning from rebirth. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”, the energy condensed into a special panel on which a starborn can meditate and reach the stars and feel the presence of those they have met.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. If one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Their tone, posture, ear position and tail can tell a lot even without the meaning going across.  They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names, though their energy can give an impression of a name to a creature with a spoken language. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know. If their energy gives the impression of a name and somebody speaks it, they can recognize it.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another from the memories of spirits they have found and freed. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes. They can mimic the subtle movement of breathing, but do not actually breathe. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where it is absorbed into their vessel, and they do this often in the company of other starborn because eating was witnessed in MANY seyren memories and feels important.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn brings out their inner light and hold it out. The other starborn follows suit, bringing out theirs as well. They touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human were they to encounter one. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame with their fingertips and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorb their language, and the knowledge to read and write. They may also get bits of the human's experience through recent memories. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They entirely lack anything resembling a reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. An 18 inch chibi may weigh as little as three pounds, while an average starborn can weigh around 15 to 20 pounds. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Their internal temperature can get up to 113 degrees fehrenheit. Externally, they are somewhere between 108 and 110. It is not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but noticeably hot. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature. They are more comparable to some classic interpretations of fairies.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is primarily expressive, though it can sometimes aid in balance and steering when in flight. It cannot grip objects. It is uncomfortable or painful if they are lifted by their tail, but it doesn't harm them.  Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating.<\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury.  Their inner light can sometimes be seen through severe cracks. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flaring harshly, then going dim after each surge. It appears to materialize at the front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source. Despite the substance lacking an odor, starborn will recoil away from it in disgust.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will begin to heal, and generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is a beast called a dark dragon, also known as a krill. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Krill used to hunt all manner of light creatures, but many creatures are either very low in population, or extinct. Starborn are among the only food sources left for the massive predators, so they are actively hunted. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks. The problem is not a single crab strike, but rather getting swarmed by a group of them.  Weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed easily by a hunting group of crabs.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship, mating, or pair bonding. They may form close friendships, but romance is not a concept they understand or engage in. While starborn are, at least in a way, aware of the concept of intimacy, it is not something they focus on or find any interest in. As far as they are concerned, it is an activity they have seen in the memories of closely bonded seyren that brought them pleasure, but it does not interest starborn aside from, perhaps, a passing curiousity. Some individuals may try to mimic what they see, but quickly lose interest and move on to something else. The memories do not carry anything sensory, so they do not experience what the seyren in the memories experience, and that's that. They simply just shrug and move on to something else. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow.<\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that play and joy must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. A spark or ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire shrines are important gathering places, rest stops, sources of light, and destinations for starborn returning from rebirth. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”, the energy condensed into a special panel on which a starborn can meditate and reach the stars and feel the presence of those they have met.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. If one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Their tone, posture, ear position and tail can tell a lot even without the meaning going across.  They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names, though their energy can give an impression of a name to a creature with a spoken language. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know. If their energy gives the impression of a name and somebody speaks it, they can recognize it.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another from the memories of spirits they have found and freed. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes. They can mimic the subtle movement of breathing, but do not actually breathe. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where it is absorbed into their vessel, and they do this often in the company of other starborn because eating was witnessed in MANY seyren memories and feels important.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn brings out their inner light and hold it out. The other starborn follows suit, bringing out theirs as well. They touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human were they to encounter one. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame with their fingertips and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorb their language, and the knowledge to read and write. They may also get bits of the human's experience through recent memories. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They entirely lack anything resembling a reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. An 18 inch chibi may weigh as little as three pounds, while an average starborn can weigh around 15 to 20 pounds. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Their internal temperature can get up to 113 degrees fehrenheit. Externally, they are somewhere between 108 and 110. It is not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but noticeably hot. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature. They are more comparable to some classic interpretations of fairies.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is primarily expressive, though it can sometimes aid in balance and steering when in flight. It cannot grip objects. It is uncomfortable or painful if they are lifted by their tail, but it doesn't harm them.  Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating.<\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury.  Their inner light can sometimes be seen through severe cracks. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flaring harshly, then going dim after each surge. It appears to materialize at the front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source. Despite the substance lacking an odor, starborn will recoil away from it in disgust.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will begin to heal, and generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is a beast called a dark dragon, also known as a krill. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Krill used to hunt all manner of light creatures, but many creatures are either very low in population, or extinct. Starborn are among the only food sources left for the massive predators, so they are actively hunted. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks. The problem is not a single crab strike, but rather getting swarmed by a group of them.  Weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed easily by a hunting group of crabs.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship, mating, or pair bonding. They may form close friendships, but romance is not a concept they understand or engage in. While starborn are, at least in a way, aware of the concept of intimacy, it is not something they focus on or find any interest in. As far as they are concerned, it is an activity they have seen in the memories of closely bonded seyren that brought them pleasure, but it does not interest starborn aside from, perhaps, a passing curiousity. Some individuals may try to mimic what they see, but quickly lose interest and move on to something else. The memories do not carry anything sensory, so they do not experience what the seyren in the memories experience, and that's that. They simply just shrug and move on to something else. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow.<\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#287 7 October 2026, 10:44:32 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 55699 (+300) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. They can manifest a mouth, but they can not taste, for example. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around three feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to four feet tall. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate their emotional state, alongside ear position, tone of their call, and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the energy needed to form their first winged light. When they form their first winged light, they will manifest their cape. Their first cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has gained at least five marks and learned to modify their vessel but has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach eight or nine marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents normally have at least nine marks, though sometimes get up to  ten or  even eleven.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their twelfth mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their twelfth mark around one hundred years old. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least two hundred years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#286 7 October 2026, 10:05:48 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 55399 (+8) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach nine marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#285 7 October 2026, 09:43:27 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 55391 (-68) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light.  Starborn are not aware of this. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#284 7 October 2026, 09:42:12 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 55459 (+13114) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"The seyren, a flesh and blood creature with a core of light within, went extinct around 500 years ago. They once thrived, building a kingdom in the clouds. But they took too much and began to throw off the balance. <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nDarkness started to take hold, corrupting the land and spreading, polluting the water. Animals were driven from their habitat, and the balance of nature interrupted.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nThe seyren, as a result, began to struggle. Their crops failed, they had trouble getting enough to eat. Less and less of their world was livable. <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nThe imbalance was spreading when something strange happened. A small being fell from the heavens. A star, that looked like a small seyren. The seyren who found the fallen star took them in. They were named Aleph, the Starborn Prince. Aleph was raised to be the new king. Prophesied to be the one to save the seyren. He grew large and powerful, and renamed himself Resh. <\/span><\/p>\r\nKing Resh took being the savior of the seyren species to heart. He did everything he could to stop the darkness. He grew large and powerful. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe took everything he could to try to create safety, but things only grew worse. Seyren nations started to fight over what little remained, until there was only a single city left. Surrounded by darkness at the foot of Eden itself. A single city where seyren, stressed and afraid, sickened and died. There wasn't enough food. Wasn't enough light. Wasn't enough space. <\/span><\/p>\r\nHe directed all the light he could unto a great crystal at the summit of Eden, but his strength ran out. Darkness overtook him and he turned on his own people, driven mad by it. The weakened Elders, who were like the gods of the seyren, were forced to turn on the very king they had raised up, and seal him away. It was too late. Everything shattered and the now massive form of the former starborn was locked in a void, sealed away, with the elders falling into the slumber.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nThe last of the seyren died in darkness over the next weeks until not a single one was left. The entire world was overtaken. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Source, known as the Megabird, connected to Eden and the core of the cycle, which has been thrown out of balance, was dreadfully weakened. An ancient cosmic entity thrashing in pain. Though the entity was not conscious in a way understandable to mortals. It was like a nebula. A being that birthed stars. Normally, these beings would rise up into the heavens after spreading their light through the realms and take their place in the sky. But something was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey were dragged down by the darkness, fundamentally broken. Unable to ascend to the heavens. <\/span><\/p>\r\nFor nearly 150 years, every single one of them died. They would succumb to the darkness before they could even gain their second mark. Predators took them, darkness drained them, they starved with no access to light, or failed to form in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\r\nBut then… one day, that changed. One formed unable to form winged light. Dim, unable to fly. Seemingly weak, but what should have been a drawback ended up being a blessing in disguise. Dark creatures ignored them, and they were highly resistant to the effects of the darkness surrounding them. They were unusually resilient, surviving every single thing that killed other starborn. They found somewhere safe, and slowly started to create a place where they could live. They began pushing back the darkness little by little. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey came across other freshly fallen sparks, took them to the safe home they had cleansed. Taught them how to survive. Those others were able to gain their wings, form winged lights, grow stronger, and push the darkness back further.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSlowly, safe patches formed. Then spread. Starborn survived long enough to gain more marks and experience. They took in new sparks, taught them how to survive. Sacrificed gathered light to re-ignite ancient starfire shrines with their own winged light. The more areas that were cleansed and made safe, the more space there was for a starborn to take refuge during their vulnerable early life. More survived. Some even made it to the threshold in Eden to return some of the lost light to the Source, and then guided others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNow, starborn have a higher chance to survive and their population is slowly growing. They are able to become embers, then renascents. Some have lived so long and gained so many marks that they have become ascendants. They are still rare and their mortality rate is startlingly high, but there is now a stable population of the little celestial beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\nIt all started with one unique individual who survived and cleared the way for other survivors to follow. Now, there are numerous safe routes for starborn to go, more light for them to gather, and more safe shrines for them to rest and recover. The Realms are still incredibly dangerous and a vast majority of them do not make it, but some is quite a bit better than none, and the darkness is slowly but surely being pushed back.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn are in a cycle of rebirth, but they are only able to return if they pass the threshold within Eden before they die. If they get past a certain point, their light ascends into Orbit. They are then able to be given strength by the seyren spirits they have freed, then return to the Realms. Because they are fundamentally broken, they are unable to truly ascend and are stuck in this cycle either for eternity, or until they fail to make it far enough to be reborn.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThose who die return their light to the Realms. This condenses elsewhere, where surviving starborn gather it. It is what forms their winged light. <\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#283 2 October 2026, 00:44:30 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 42345 (+42) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land when they first form. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#282 2 October 2026, 00:41:34 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 42303 (+988) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size. The coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land. This causes a fair bit of variation. Most starborn are varying shades of brown to reddisn brown, but they can range from nearly black if they land near dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They can gain markings on their vessel that resemble mineral inclusions. They don't directly copy the stone around them, but they are influenced by it. This is effected by when they first land upon formation. The appearance of their base vessel (Beneath the hair, tunic, mask and cape) doesn't change with rebirth cycles. Their color and markings (Which are usually quite subtle) remain. Those that land near banded sandstone may gain subtle banding along their body. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#281 30 September 2026, 20:33:49 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 41315 (+2270) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land. This causes them to vary widely. Various shades of brown and earthy red are the most common, but they can range from nearly black if they fall on dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet.  A starborn feels very strange to touch, in an uncanny way. Tapping them feels like tapping stone or ceramic, but has give when pressed like flesh. Their feet click and tap as if they are made of rock. They have tufts on their ankles and heels. They feel almost like fur, but not quite. Starborn are incredibly warm to the touch. Not hot enough to hurt to the touch, but very noticeable. Despite seeming to be made out of ceramic, stone, or some manner of clay, they are incredibly light weight for their size.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe coloration of their body is effected by the ground on which they land. This causes them to vary widely. Various shades of brown and earthy red are the most common, but they can range from nearly black if they fall on dark stone to nearly white if they land on quartz or marble.  They first appear completely bare. No tunic, no mask, and no hair. Then the light around them condenses and materializes into their hair, tail tuft, tunic, and mask. The hair varies by individual, but it is always silvery white like starlight. Soon after the rest of this materializes, they wake up and become aware.  <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#280 29 September 2026, 10:30:36 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 39045 - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nstarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nstarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#279 29 September 2026, 09:42:35 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 39045 (+1000) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nstarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, though they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, collect items they find interesting, and store it there. They return to that nest to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather. Theft is not a thing among starborn. If a starborn has decided an item is theirs, others will respect that.  They may take the item and make a game of being chased, but they will always give it back in the end. And if one has claimed a spot as their nest, others will respect that. They frequently visit eachother's nests. Belongings in a starborn's nest belong to that starborn, and other starborn simply respect that and will only take something if it is given to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nstarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#278 29 September 2026, 09:17:47 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 38045 (-5220) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring Starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nstarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced ascendant or elder to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with a winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the Ancestors first descended.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring Starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn share memories and experiences with eachother by sharing their light. A starborn will bring out their inner light and hold it out. Another starborn will bring out their light. They will touch their inner light together, and share experiences and memories back and forth. This could, hypothetically, be done with a human. A human can't bring out any inner light, but they can touch the flame and their soul will respond. They will receive impressions from the starborn. Most importantly, the ability to understand that particular one's calls. And the starborn would be able to absorbe their language, and the knowledge to read and write. While unable to speak, the starborn would understand everything said to them, and the human would understand their calls.<\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nstarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. The first three marks each require one Winged Light, while later wedges require progressively more. The maximum is fifteen marks, though additional Winged Light can be gathered as a buffer beyond that maximum. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened ember, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid from behind the mask. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at the mask because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It appears to materialize just in front of the mask and is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A one-marked ember has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced tarborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They have a strong instinct to seek out the closest winged light. When they find and absorb their first winged light, their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations ends up somewhere else as a winged light.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still embers, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. An ember is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn usually gain their 12th mark around 150 years old. Those who have reached 15 marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys. Returning individuals can be recognizable while having fewer flight wedges; an ember may return with only one. renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Returning stars may form complete vessels, incomplete vessels that do not survive, or only a glow. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to absorb their first winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a simmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#277 29 September 2026, 07:43:16 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 43265 (+332) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember or spark is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the very first seyren ascended to start their kingdom in the clouds.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No sparks are chibi-sized. While an ember can sometimes learn enough control over their vessel to make themselves small or find the item that does it in the world, a chibi is generally an older starborn using an acquired ability or item they have found in the world. Size does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare. They can bring out their inner flame to allow unlimited flight for their companion if they are being carried.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened spark, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort. Many times, their mask disappears\/demanifests.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid over their face, where their mouth would be. Their mask is often demanifested when they are in this state. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at their face because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups. Embers are more resilient than sparks, since sparks are new and barely have any light stored up. Once a starborn has formed a winged light, going through Eden does not take it away entirely, it needs to be reignited upon return. Energy in the world wi restore it, UNLESS they sacrifice it or it is eaten by a krill or other predator. If eaten by a krill or other predator, or lost through severe injury or illness, they must form a new winged light. The amount of winged light restored to them during their rebirth correlates to the number of spirits they have helped to cross over. Those spirits help the starborn who freed them in their next life, and remain in Orbit as the afterlife. A starborn can not remain in Orbit and must eventually go to the rebirth portal, though they can linger for a time. So there are two kinds of winged light loss.  <\/span><\/p>\r\nOne through sacrifice, traumatic injury or illness, and one emptied of its energy when it's returned to the Source. One emptied can be refilled, one lost must be reformed. Starborn who have returned from Eden will usually spend a while recovering their light, and will generally return to the number they had before going through Eden fairly quickly.<\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They form their first winged light within a few hours, causing their cape to manifest itself their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations get absorbed back into the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still sparks, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn with twelve marks are always at least 150 years old, though they can be older depending on the individual and if they've lost some along the way. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield  sparks and embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey to become a renascent can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys.  Renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Unlike in the game, winged lights and thus the marks on their back are gained naturally over time, though this can be sped up by wandering and absorbing the energy that becomes winged light throughout the world. Each mark takes longer to appear than the mark before. Sparks start lacking a cape or mark. Their first will form naturally on its own within a few hours, or when they absorb enough energy to form a winged light. Whatever comes first.  They can get their first three within a year. Winged lights are not something a starborn gathers in the world, but rather something formed naturally within them over time. Each mark requires a certain number of winged lights to form. And each one requires more than the last. A starborn can lose winged light, and losing enough will cause a mark to disappear, but the older they are, the larger their reserve, and the more they can lose before losing a mark.  While they can't develop more than 15 marks, they can keep forming winged light. While they don't actively gather winged light, they form from energy absorbed during their travels and wanderings. There are some sources of energy that can form a winged light very quickly that are much stronger than others, and many renascents and ascendants know where they are. They will often guide sparks and embers there to help them form their first marks more quickly. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThese winged lights can be sacrificed to save another starborn, though it doesn't always work, and can be used to reignite and extinguished shrine. Spirits that a starborn has helped cross over also cause the formation of a winged light. This is why getting up to twelve marks means a starborn has to be at least 150 years old, and why they are at LEAST 250 if they've gained 15. There are NO starborn older than roughly three hundred fifty years old.  After the extinction of the seyren species, things remained stagnant for roughly two hundred years, and at first, no new sparks survived. There are a few that are still around from that very first generation, but they are extremely rare. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to form a cape or winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a dimmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember or spark is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the very first seyren ascended to start their kingdom in the clouds.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No sparks are chibi-sized. While an ember can sometimes learn enough control over their vessel to make themselves small or find the item that does it in the world, a chibi is generally an older starborn using an acquired ability or item they have found in the world. Size does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare. They can bring out their inner flame to allow unlimited flight for their companion if they are being carried.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened spark, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort. Many times, their mask disappears\/demanifests.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid over their face, where their mouth would be. Their mask is often demanifested when they are in this state. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at their face because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups. Embers are more resilient than sparks, since sparks are new and barely have any light stored up. Once a starborn has formed a winged light, going through Eden does not take it away entirely, it needs to be reignited upon return. Energy in the world wi restore it, UNLESS they sacrifice it or it is eaten by a krill or other predator. If eaten by a krill or other predator, or lost through severe injury or illness, they must form a new winged light. The amount of winged light restored to them during their rebirth correlates to the number of spirits they have helped to cross over. Those spirits help the starborn who freed them in their next life, and remain in Orbit as the afterlife. A starborn can not remain in Orbit and must eventually go to the rebirth portal, though they can linger for a time. So there are two kinds of winged light loss.  <\/span><\/p>\r\nOne through sacrifice, traumatic injury or illness, and one emptied of its energy when it's returned to the Source. One emptied can be refilled, one lost must be reformed. Starborn who have returned from Eden will usually spend a while recovering their light, and will generally return to the number they had before going through Eden fairly quickly.<\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They form their first winged light within a few hours, causing their cape to manifest itself their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations get absorbed back into the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still sparks, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn with twelve marks are always at least 150 years old, though they can be older depending on the individual and if they've lost some along the way. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield  sparks and embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey to become a renascent can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys.  Renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Unlike in the game, winged lights and thus the marks on their back are gained naturally over time, though this can be sped up by wandering and absorbing the energy that becomes winged light throughout the world. Each mark takes longer to appear than the mark before. Sparks start lacking a cape or mark. Their first will form naturally on its own within a few hours, or when they absorb enough energy to form a winged light. Whatever comes first.  They can get their first three within a year. Winged lights are not something a starborn gathers in the world, but rather something formed naturally within them over time. Each mark requires a certain number of winged lights to form. And each one requires more than the last. A starborn can lose winged light, and losing enough will cause a mark to disappear, but the older they are, the larger their reserve, and the more they can lose before losing a mark.  While they can't develop more than 15 marks, they can keep forming winged light. While they don't actively gather winged light, they form from energy absorbed during their travels and wanderings. There are some sources of energy that can form a winged light very quickly that are much stronger than others, and many renascents and ascendants know where they are. They will often guide sparks and embers there to help them form their first marks more quickly. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThese winged lights can be sacrificed to save another starborn, though it doesn't always work, and can be used to reignite and extinguished shrine. Spirits that a starborn has helped cross over also cause the formation of a winged light. This is why getting up to twelve marks means a starborn has to be at least 150 years old, and why they are at LEAST 250 if they've gained 15. There are NO starborn older than roughly three hundred fifty years old.  After the extinction of the seyren species, things remained stagnant for roughly two hundred years, and at first, no new sparks survived. There are a few that are still around from that very first generation, but they are extremely rare. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to form a cape or winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a dimmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#276 29 September 2026, 07:35:12 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 42933 - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember or spark is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the very first seyren ascended to start their kingdom in the clouds.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare. They can bring out their inner flame to allow unlimited flight for their companion if they are being carried.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened spark, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort. Many times, their mask disappears\/demanifests.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid over their face, where their mouth would be. Their mask is often demanifested when they are in this state. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at their face because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups. Embers are more resilient than sparks, since sparks are new and barely have any light stored up. Once a starborn has formed a winged light, going through Eden does not take it away entirely, it needs to be reignited upon return. Energy in the world wi restore it, UNLESS they sacrifice it or it is eaten by a krill or other predator. If eaten by a krill or other predator, or lost through severe injury or illness, they must form a new winged light. The amount of winged light restored to them during their rebirth correlates to the number of spirits they have helped to cross over. Those spirits help the starborn who freed them in their next life, and remain in Orbit as the afterlife. A starborn can not remain in Orbit and must eventually go to the rebirth portal, though they can linger for a time. So there are two kinds of winged light loss.  <\/span><\/p>\r\nOne through sacrifice, traumatic injury or illness, and one emptied of its energy when it's returned to the Source. One emptied can be refilled, one lost must be reformed. Starborn who have returned from Eden will usually spend a while recovering their light, and will generally return to the number they had before going through Eden fairly quickly.<\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They form their first winged light within a few hours, causing their cape to manifest itself their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations get absorbed back into the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still sparks, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn with twelve marks are always at least 150 years old, though they can be older depending on the individual and if they've lost some along the way. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield  sparks and embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey to become a renascent can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys.  Renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Unlike in the game, winged lights and thus the marks on their back are gained naturally over time, though this can be sped up by wandering and absorbing the energy that becomes winged light throughout the world. Each mark takes longer to appear than the mark before. Sparks start lacking a cape or mark. Their first will form naturally on its own within a few hours, or when they absorb enough energy to form a winged light. Whatever comes first.  They can get their first three within a year. Winged lights are not something a starborn gathers in the world, but rather something formed naturally within them over time. Each mark requires a certain number of winged lights to form. And each one requires more than the last. A starborn can lose winged light, and losing enough will cause a mark to disappear, but the older they are, the larger their reserve, and the more they can lose before losing a mark.  While they can't develop more than 15 marks, they can keep forming winged light. While they don't actively gather winged light, they form from energy absorbed during their travels and wanderings. There are some sources of energy that can form a winged light very quickly that are much stronger than others, and many renascents and ascendants know where they are. They will often guide sparks and embers there to help them form their first marks more quickly. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThese winged lights can be sacrificed to save another starborn, though it doesn't always work, and can be used to reignite and extinguished shrine. Spirits that a starborn has helped cross over also cause the formation of a winged light. This is why getting up to twelve marks means a starborn has to be at least 150 years old, and why they are at LEAST 250 if they've gained 15. There are NO starborn older than roughly three hundred fifty years old.  After the extinction of the seyren species, things remained stagnant for roughly two hundred years, and at first, no new sparks survived. There are a few that are still around from that very first generation, but they are extremely rare. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to form a cape or winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a dimmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember or spark is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the very first seyren ascended to start their kingdom in the clouds.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare. They can bring out their inner flame to allow unlimited flight for their companion if they are being carried.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened spark, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort. Many times, their mask disappears\/demanifests.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid over their face, where their mouth would be. Their mask is often demanifested when they are in this state. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at their face because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups. Embers are more resilient than sparks, since sparks are new and barely have any light stored up. Once a starborn has formed a winged light, going through Eden does not take it away entirely, it needs to be reignited upon return. Energy in the world wi restore it, UNLESS they sacrifice it or it is eaten by a krill or other predator. If eaten by a krill or other predator, or lost through severe injury or illness, they must form a new winged light. The amount of winged light restored to them during their rebirth correlates to the number of spirits they have helped to cross over. Those spirits help the starborn who freed them in their next life, and remain in Orbit as the afterlife. A starborn can not remain in Orbit and must eventually go to the rebirth portal, though they can linger for a time. So there are two kinds of winged light loss.  <\/span><\/p>\r\nOne through sacrifice, traumatic injury or illness, and one emptied of its energy when it's returned to the Source. One emptied can be refilled, one lost must be reformed. Starborn who have returned from Eden will usually spend a while recovering their light, and will generally return to the number they had before going through Eden fairly quickly.<\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They form their first winged light within a few hours, causing their cape to manifest itself their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations get absorbed back into the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still sparks, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn with twelve marks are always at least 150 years old, though they can be older depending on the individual and if they've lost some along the way. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield  sparks and embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey to become a renascent can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys.  Renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Unlike in the game, winged lights and thus the marks on their back are gained naturally over time, though this can be sped up by wandering and absorbing the energy that becomes winged light throughout the world. Each mark takes longer to appear than the mark before. Sparks start lacking a cape or mark. Their first will form naturally on its own within a few hours, or when they absorb enough energy to form a winged light. Whatever comes first.  They can get their first three within a year. Winged lights are not something a starborn gathers in the world, but rather something formed naturally within them over time. Each mark requires a certain number of winged lights to form. And each one requires more than the last. A starborn can lose winged light, and losing enough will cause a mark to disappear, but the older they are, the larger their reserve, and the more they can lose before losing a mark.  While they can't develop more than 15 marks, they can keep forming winged light. While they don't actively gather winged light, they form from energy absorbed during their travels and wanderings. There are some sources of energy that can form a winged light very quickly that are much stronger than others, and many renascents and ascendants know where they are. They will often guide sparks and embers there to help them form their first marks more quickly. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThese winged lights can be sacrificed to save another starborn, though it doesn't always work, and can be used to reignite and extinguished shrine. Spirits that a starborn has helped cross over also cause the formation of a winged light. This is why getting up to twelve marks means a starborn has to be at least 150 years old, and why they are at LEAST 250 if they've gained 15. There are NO starborn older than roughly three hundred fifty years old.  After the extinction of the seyren species, things remained stagnant for roughly two hundred years, and at first, no new sparks survived. There are a few that are still around from that very first generation, but they are extremely rare. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to form a cape or winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a dimmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#275 29 September 2026, 07:33:48 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 42933 (+632) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember or spark is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the very first seyren ascended to start their kingdom in the clouds.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare. They can bring out their inner flame to allow unlimited flight for their companion if they are being carried.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened spark, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort. Many times, their mask disappears\/demanifests.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid over their face, where their mouth would be. Their mask is often demanifested when they are in this state. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at their face because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups. Embers are more resilient than sparks, since sparks are new and barely have any light stored up. Once a starborn has formed a winged light, going through Eden does not take it away entirely, it needs to be reignited upon return. Energy in the world wi restore it, UNLESS they sacrifice it or it is eaten by a krill or other predator. If eaten by a krill or other predator, or lost through severe injury or illness, they must form a new winged light. The amount of winged light restored to them during their rebirth correlates to the number of spirits they have helped to cross over. Those spirits help the starborn who freed them in their next life, and remain in Orbit as the afterlife. A starborn can not remain in Orbit and must eventually go to the rebirth portal, though they can linger for a time. So there are two kinds of winged light loss.  <\/span><\/p>\r\nOne through sacrifice, traumatic injury or illness, and one emptied of its energy when it's returned to the Source. One emptied can be refilled, one lost must be reformed. Starborn who have returned from Eden will usually spend a while recovering their light, and will generally return to the number they had before going through Eden fairly quickly.<\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They form their first winged light within a few hours, causing their cape to manifest itself their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations get absorbed back into the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still sparks, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn with twelve marks are always at least 150 years old, though they can be older depending on the individual and if they've lost some along the way. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield  sparks and embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey to become a renascent can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys.  Renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Unlike in the game, winged lights and thus the marks on their back are gained naturally over time, though this can be sped up by wandering and absorbing the energy that becomes winged light throughout the world. Each mark takes longer to appear than the mark before. Sparks start lacking a cape or mark. Their first will form naturally on its own within a few hours, or when they absorb enough energy to form a winged light. Whatever comes first.  They can get their first three within a year. Winged lights are not something a starborn gathers in the world, but rather something formed naturally within them over time. Each mark requires a certain number of winged lights to form. And each one requires more than the last. A starborn can lose winged light, and losing enough will cause a mark to disappear, but the older they are, the larger their reserve, and the more they can lose before losing a mark.  While they can't develop more than 15 marks, they can keep forming winged light. While they don't actively gather winged light, they form from energy absorbed during their travels and wanderings. There are some sources of energy that can form a winged light very quickly that are much stronger than others, and many renascents and ascendants know where they are. They will often guide sparks and embers there to help them form their first marks more quickly. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThese winged lights can be sacrificed to save another starborn, though it doesn't always work, and can be used to reignite and extinguished shrine. Spirits that a starborn has helped cross over also cause the formation of a winged light. This is why getting up to twelve marks means a starborn has to be at least 150 years old, and why they are at LEAST 250 if they've gained 15. There are NO starborn older than roughly three hundred fifty years old.  After the extinction of the seyren species, things remained stagnant for roughly two hundred years, and at first, no new sparks survived. There are a few that are still around from that very first generation, but they are extremely rare. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to form a cape or winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a dimmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember or spark is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the very first seyren ascended to start their kingdom in the clouds.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare. They can bring out their inner flame to allow unlimited flight for their companion if they are being carried.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened spark, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort. Many times, their mask disappears\/demanifests.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid over their face, where their mouth would be. Their mask is often demanifested when they are in this state. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at their face because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups. Embers are more resilient than sparks, since sparks are new and barely have any light stored up. Once a starborn has formed a winged light, going through Eden does not take it away entirely, it needs to be reignited upon return. Energy in the world wi restore it, UNLESS they sacrifice it or it is eaten by a krill or other predator. If eaten by a krill or other predator, or lost through severe injury or illness, they must form a new winged light. The amount of winged light restored to them during their rebirth correlates to the number of spirits they have helped to cross over. Those spirits help the starborn who freed them in their next life, and remain in Orbit as the afterlife. A starborn can not remain in Orbit and must eventually go to the rebirth portal, though they can linger for a time. So there are two kinds of winged light loss.  <\/span><\/p>\r\nOne through sacrifice, traumatic injury or illness, and one emptied of its energy when it's returned to the Source. One emptied can be refilled, one lost must be reformed. Starborn who have returned from Eden will usually spend a while recovering their light, and will generally return to the number they had before going through Eden fairly quickly.<\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They form their first winged light within a few hours, causing their cape to manifest itself their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations get absorbed back into the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still sparks, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn with twelve marks are always at least 150 years old, though they can be older depending on the individual and if they've lost some along the way. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield  sparks and embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey to become a renascent can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys.  Renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Unlike in the game, winged lights and thus the marks on their back are gained naturally over time, though this can be sped up by wandering and absorbing the energy that becomes winged light throughout the world. Each mark takes longer to appear than the mark before. Sparks start lacking a cape or mark. Their first will form naturally on its own within a few hours, or when they absorb enough energy to form a winged light. Whatever comes first.  They can get their first three within a year. Winged lights are not something a starborn gathers in the world, but rather something formed naturally within them over time. Each mark requires a certain number of winged lights to form. And each one requires more than the last. A starborn can lose winged light, and losing enough will cause a mark to disappear, but the older they are, the larger their reserve, and the more they can lose before losing a mark.  While they can't develop more than 15 marks, they can keep forming winged light. While they don't actively gather winged light, they form from energy absorbed during their travels and wanderings. There are some sources of energy that can form a winged light very quickly that are much stronger than others, and many renascents and ascendants know where they are. They will often guide sparks and embers there to help them form their first marks more quickly. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThese winged lights can be sacrificed to save another starborn, though it doesn't always work, and can be used to reignite and extinguished shrine. Spirits that a starborn has helped cross over also cause the formation of a winged light. This is why getting up to twelve marks means a starborn has to be at least 150 years old, and why they are at LEAST 250 if they've gained 15. There are NO starborn older than roughly three hundred fifty years old.  After the extinction of the seyren species, things remained stagnant for roughly two hundred years, and at first, no new sparks survived. There are a few that are still around from that very first generation, but they are extremely rare. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to form a cape or winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a dimmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#274 29 September 2026, 07:30:10 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 42301 (+2332) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember or spark is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the very first seyren ascended to start their kingdom in the clouds.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare. They can bring out their inner flame to allow unlimited flight for their companion if they are being carried.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened spark, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort. Many times, their mask disappears\/demanifests.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid over their face, where their mouth would be. Their mask is often demanifested when they are in this state. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at their face because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups. Embers are more resilient than sparks, since sparks are new and barely have any light stored up. Once a starborn has formed a winged light, going through Eden does not take it away entirely, it needs to be reignited upon return. Energy in the world wi restore it, UNLESS they sacrifice it or it is eaten by a krill or other predator. If eaten by a krill or other predator, or lost through severe injury or illness, they must form a new winged light. The amount of winged light restored to them during their rebirth correlates to the number of spirits they have helped to cross over. Those spirits help the starborn who freed them in their next life, and remain in Orbit as the afterlife. A starborn can not remain in Orbit and must eventually go to the rebirth portal, though they can linger for a time. So there are two kinds of winged light loss.  <\/span><\/p>\r\nOne through sacrifice, traumatic injury or illness, and one emptied of its energy when it's returned to the Source. One emptied can be refilled, one lost must be reformed. Starborn who have returned from Eden will usually spend a while recovering their light, and will generally return to the number they had before going through Eden fairly quickly.<\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They form their first winged light within a few hours, causing their cape to manifest itself their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations get absorbed back into the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still sparks, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn with twelve marks are always at least 150 years old, though they can be older depending on the individual and if they've lost some along the way. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield  sparks and embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey to become a renascent can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys.  Renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Unlike in the game, winged lights and thus the marks on their back are gained naturally over time, though this can be sped up by wandering and absorbing the energy that becomes winged light throughout the world. Each mark takes longer to appear than the mark before. Sparks start lacking a cape or mark. Their first will form naturally on its own within a few hours, or when they absorb enough energy to form a winged light. Whatever comes first.  They can get their first three within a year. Winged lights are not something a starborn gathers in the world, but rather something formed naturally within them over time. Each mark requires a certain number of winged lights to form. And each one requires more than the last. A starborn can lose winged light, and losing enough will cause a mark to disappear, but the older they are, the larger their reserve, and the more they can lose before losing a mark.  While they can't develop more than 15 marks, they can keep forming winged light. While they don't actively gather winged light, they form from energy absorbed during their travels and wanderings. There are some sources of energy that can form a winged light very quickly that are much stronger than others, and many renascents and ascendants know where they are. They will often guide sparks and embers there to help them form their first marks more quickly. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThese winged lights can be sacrificed to save another starborn, though it doesn't always work, and can be used to reignite and extinguished shrine. Spirits that a starborn has helped cross over also cause the formation of a winged light. This is why getting up to twelve marks means a starborn has to be at least 150 years old, and why they are at LEAST 250 if they've gained 15. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to form a cape or winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a dimmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember or spark is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the very first seyren ascended to start their kingdom in the clouds.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare. They can bring out their inner flame to allow unlimited flight for their companion if they are being carried.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened spark, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort. Many times, their mask disappears\/demanifests.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid over their face, where their mouth would be. Their mask is often demanifested when they are in this state. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at their face because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups. Embers are more resilient than sparks, since sparks are new and barely have any light stored up. Once a starborn has formed a winged light, going through Eden does not take it away entirely, it needs to be reignited upon return. Energy in the world wi restore it, UNLESS they sacrifice it or it is eaten by a krill or other predator. If eaten by a krill or other predator, or lost through severe injury or illness, they must form a new winged light. The amount of winged light restored to them during their rebirth correlates to the number of spirits they have helped to cross over. Those spirits help the starborn who freed them in their next life, and remain in Orbit as the afterlife. A starborn can not remain in Orbit and must eventually go to the rebirth portal, though they can linger for a time. So there are two kinds of winged light loss.  <\/span><\/p>\r\nOne through sacrifice, traumatic injury or illness, and one emptied of its energy when it's returned to the Source. One emptied can be refilled, one lost must be reformed. Starborn who have returned from Eden will usually spend a while recovering their light, and will generally return to the number they had before going through Eden fairly quickly.<\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They form their first winged light within a few hours, causing their cape to manifest itself their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations get absorbed back into the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still sparks, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn with twelve marks are always at least 150 years old, though they can be older depending on the individual and if they've lost some along the way. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield  sparks and embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey to become a renascent can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys.  Renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Unlike in the game, winged lights and thus the marks on their back are gained naturally over time, though this can be sped up by wandering and absorbing the energy that becomes winged light throughout the world. Each mark takes longer to appear than the mark before. Sparks start lacking a cape or mark. Their first will form naturally on its own within a few hours, or when they absorb enough energy to form a winged light. Whatever comes first.  They can get their first three within a year. Winged lights are not something a starborn gathers in the world, but rather something formed naturally within them over time. Each mark requires a certain number of winged lights to form. And each one requires more than the last. A starborn can lose winged light, and losing enough will cause a mark to disappear, but the older they are, the larger their reserve, and the more they can lose before losing a mark.  While they can't develop more than 15 marks, they can keep forming winged light. While they don't actively gather winged light, they form from energy absorbed during their travels and wanderings. There are some sources of energy that can form a winged light very quickly that are much stronger than others, and many renascents and ascendants know where they are. They will often guide sparks and embers there to help them form their first marks more quickly. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThese winged lights can be sacrificed to save another starborn, though it doesn't always work, and can be used to reignite and extinguished shrine. Spirits that a starborn has helped cross over also cause the formation of a winged light. This is why getting up to twelve marks means a starborn has to be at least 150 years old, and why they are at LEAST 250 if they've gained 15. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to form a cape or winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a dimmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Starborn

#273 29 September 2026, 07:22:51 UTC

Cryptid-Artha

Page Updated

Length: 39969 (-24) - Show Raw Data

{"data":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember or spark is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the very first seyren ascended to start their kingdom in the clouds.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare. They can bring out their inner flame to allow unlimited flight for their companion if they are being carried.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened spark, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort. Many times, their mask disappears\/demanifests.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid over their face, where their mouth would be. Their mask is often demanifested when they are in this state. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at their face because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups. Embers are more resilient than sparks, since sparks are new and barely have any light stored up.<\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They form their first winged light within a few hours, causing their cape to manifest itself their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations get absorbed back into the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still sparks, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn with twelve marks are always at least 150 years old, though they can be older depending on the individual and if they've lost some along the way. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield  sparks and embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey to become a renascent can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys.  Renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Unlike in the game, winged lights and thus the marks on their back are gained naturally over time, though this can be sped up by wandering and absorbing the energy that becomes winged light throughout the world. Each mark takes longer to appear than the mark before. Sparks start lacking a cape or mark. Their first will form naturally on its own within a few hours, or when they absorb enough energy to form a winged light. Whatever comes first.  They can get their first three within a year. Winged lights are not something a starborn gathers in the world, but rather something formed naturally within them over time. Each mark requires a certain number of winged lights to form. And each one requires more than the last. A starborn can lose winged light, and losing enough will cause a mark to disappear, but the older they are, the larger their reserve, and the more they can lose before losing a mark.  While they can't develop more than 15 marks, they can keep forming winged light. While they don't actively gather winged light, they form from energy absorbed during their travels and wanderings. There are some sources of energy that can form a winged light very quickly that are much stronger than others, and many renascents and ascendants know where they are. They will often guide sparks and embers there to help them form their first marks more quickly. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThese winged lights can be sacrificed to save another starborn, though it doesn't always work, and can be used to reignite and extinguished shrine. Spirits that a starborn has helped cross over also cause the formation of a winged light. This is why getting up to twelve marks means a starborn has to be at least 150 years old, and why they are at LEAST 250 if they've gained 15. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to form a cape or winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a dimmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","parsed":{"description":"The Realms of Sky exist, but they are not like the game we know. The game is merely a muddy reflection of a fragment of the journey of a single starborn, filtered through the dreams and imagination of the game devs. They got some things right… but many things, they got entirely wrong. Chief among them being the nature of the starborn.  Starborn are ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as starchildren, lightborn, skykids, and children of light.  They are my take on the skykid, or player character, in the game Sky: Children of the Light.<\/span><\/p>","field1":"Starborn are celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are ageless celestial beings whose bodies are vessels for an inner light, with a core in their chest. Although small and youthful in appearance, they are not human children, and their anatomy retains adult proportions. Their existence follows a cycle of formation, gathering light, exploration, and the eventual journey to Eden. Survival through that cycle is not guaranteed. While a starborn can get into Orbit, and to a unique portal through which they can be reborn, they were broken in a fundamental level when they fell. They are no longer able to ascend fully and are trapped in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth until they die fully.<\/span><\/p>","field2":"-Coming Soon<\/p>","field3":"Starborn are naturally social, curious, playful, and often mischievous. They gravitate toward one another, enjoy physical closeness, carry one another, and enjoy being carried. They have no concept of personal space and no taboo around touch. They have no cultural expectation that playfulness must be abandoned with age, and no stigma attached to remaining playful. Older starborn tend to become calmer and more collected over time, but they do not lose their curiosity or enjoyment of games.<\/span><\/p>\r\nA newly formed starborn will instinctively seek out a starborn with more marks. A starborn with more marks is older and more experienced and can serve as a guide. An ember or spark is much more likely to survive if they find an experienced renascent or ascendant to guide them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarfire Shrines are important gathering places, sources of light, and destinations for returning starborn. Major shrines have access to the stars, while smaller shrines provide safe places along journeys. A dead shrine can be reignited with winged light, though this requires a starborn to give up one of theirs. Often, older starborn with plenty of winged light will do this. Some resemble large bonfires. The portal network is something that still survives from the seyren civilization that once thrived in the Realms. Aviary Village has one of the greater shrines, and is a safe area starborn often stop to rest. Many spirits who are tethered to the Realms remain at the village where they interact with the starborn who visit. It contains a portal nexus. The most powerful Starfire shrine known is simply referred to as “Home”.  Most older starborn return here when they complete the cycle. Home is said to be where the very first seyren ascended to start their kingdom in the clouds.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhile starborn don’t really have a concept of property, they do often claim little nooks and crannies in seyren ruins as a nest, a place they gather anything interesting they find, where they go to rest and recover. Most bring starfire lanterns there to make it somewhere they can recharge their light and heal if injured. They tend to nest around central shrines, in places where many other starborn gather.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are not equipped with the anatomy necessary for spoken language, although they produce distinctive calls, chirps, squeaks, squawks, and other vocal expressions, all sounding musical and resonant. Calls work together with post. They lack a spoken language made up of words, so they don't actually have names. They recognize eachother through their energy signature and can call directly to someone they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn can acquire knowledge of language through memory sharing. They can understand spoken language and learn to read and write very quickly without becoming capable of speech. <\/span><\/p>\r\nMemory sharing is fundamental to their nature. They share memories with one another and encounter the memories of spirits. Those experiences can affect their appearance, and they can learn to reproduce structures observed in a memory. A copied feature does not necessarily come with an understanding of its purpose or all its functions. Memories contribute both to knowledge, and to physical changes.<\/span><\/p>","field4":"The seyren were mortal flesh-and-blood beings with cores of light. They had faces beneath their masks, and wearing masks carried substantial cultural importance. They did not fly or gather scattered light as starborn do. Starborn bodies loosely follow the seyren template. Seyren are extinct, but their spirits and memories remain, and encounters with spirits can grant a starborn permanent strength. They have a warm, clay-like surface and are much sturdier than their delicate appearance suggests. They lack conventional biological organs and do not need food or air. They have no biological reproductive system. Their bodies are extremely light, approximately comparable in weight to a cat. A strong wind may require them to brace against it, while a harsh gust can knock one right off their feet. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn average around 3 feet tall, and they usually form around this size though this can vary. Their broader size range is approximately one and a half to three and a half feet, with the smallest chibi forms around one foot five inches. Older individuals can learn to control their vessel size, and temporary size-changing items also exist. No embers are chibi-sized: a chibi is an older starborn using an acquired ability or item. Size therefore does not reliably indicate age, experience, or power.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThey are small and slender, and can sometimes be mistaken as a child at a glance. Closer look, though, reveals a small non-human creature.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\r\nThe tail is used for expression and is neither prehensile nor a counterweight. It cannot grip objects or support the body. Its movements communicate interest, satisfaction, mischief, distress, and other emotional states alongside ear position and posture. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir mask is basically their face.   Starborn have no face beneath the mask and no mouth. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask where a mouth would be. They simply absorb the light, and the \"food\" disappears.<\/span><\/p>\r\nFlight comes from the cape acting as wings. The first mark grants one powered flap and enables gliding. Marks on the back of their cape represents their available capacity, and further Winged Light increases that capacity. Flight energy recharges over time, and starborn can recharge one another through their calls or close proximity. Fifteen-marked individuals are extremely rare. They can bring out their inner flame to allow unlimited flight for their companion if they are being carried.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLight is their nourishment. They absorb light motes rather than eating. They are incapable of eating. They can mimic eating by placing condensed light against their mask, but it’s just a mimickry of the action. <\/span><\/p>\r\nTheir reserves affect how much strain they can withstand, including the course of injury and illness. A powerful starborn with more marks has substantially more capacity than a newly awakened spark, although a large reserve does not make them immune to being hurt or becoming sick. <\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn do not bleed. Instead, damage leaves their clay-like skin scuffed or cracked, and dark crystals can develop around the injury. The skin also becomes stiff and hard, losing its flexibility until it heals. Illness or depletion can make their colors muted or grey, their eyes and inner light dim, and their movements slow, heavy, and unsteady. They may become lethargic, shiver, curl up, lower their ears, and hold their tails close against their bodies. Thin, quiet, plaintive calls communicate their misery and need for comfort. Many times, their mask disappears\/demanifests.<\/span><\/p>\r\nDarkness can accumulate within an injured or ill starborn and seep as black fluid over their face, where their mouth would be. Their mask is often demanifested when they are in this state. The fluid is unpleasant, deep, clammy cold. It has been described as viscous and oily or tar-like in appearance, but not sticky, and without an odor. An affected starborn may repeatedly wipe at their face because the seepage is uncomfortable.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIf it builds up too much, they may expel this darkness through violent surges of inner light. The process superficially resembles vomiting, but there is no stomach, mouth, or muscular digestive mechanism involved. The light itself forces the darkness out from the position where a mouth would be if they had one. They are loosely based off of the bodies of the seyren who once inhabited their world. When feeling ill, they will react similarly to somebody who is nauseated. They won’t want to move much because they are weak and exhausted. They will often curl, shiver, hunch over, and sometimes let out a miserable little call. Right before it happens, their ears will pin back against the sides of their head, their tail will curl tightly against their side, they’ll press their hands against their chest core, often let out a distressed call because they feel downright awful, followed by a sudden brightening or surging of the energy within them. This forces the darkness out of where a mouth would be if they had one, with their light flashing a bit brighter, then going dim with each surge. It is projected outward and away from the body. It will burn away readily from a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nReserve capacity changes the pattern of these episodes. A spark has very little capacity and has more frequent episodes with less material. An older starborn with more flight power can remain in the earlier shivering and seeping stage considerably longer, and it does not always turn into expulsion if they are strong enough to burn away the darkness with their inner light before it advances too much. If it does happen to an older starborn, it is generally more forceful, but occurs less frequently. Strength can delay obvious deterioration, and an experienced starborn may conceal injuries while prioritizing a vulnerable companion.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAfter the darkness is expelled and no longer growing, the starborn will generally spend a couple days recovering around a light source.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMortality is very high among starborn. Many die before they reach 9 marks on their cape. Starborn with twelve or more marks have lower mortality, but remain vulnerable. A major predator is known as a krill, also called dark dragons. They feed on light and will actively hunt starborn for their winged light. Their behavior after feeding is animal-like, in that they will stop hunting and rest for a time. Dark crabs are also a common predator. Most starborn can avoid crab attacks, but weaker, more fragile sparks and embers can be killed, especially since dark crabs travel in groups. Embers are more resilient than sparks, since sparks are new and barely have any light stored up.<\/span><\/p>","field5":"Starborn are sexless beings and do not reproduce.  They entirely lack any sexual anatomy or reproductive drive. They have no concept of courtship or pair bonding. A starborn starts as a falling star, striking the ground with a loud, resonant, musical ringing, almost bell-like. They initially appear lying down in a curled position. They will lay there for a few moments, before they get up, stumble, and orient themselves. At this stage they are confused and a bit skittish. Curious, but cautious. They have white hair, a golden brown mask, and a simple cream tunic, but no cape. They form their first winged light within a few hours, causing their cape to manifest itself their new cape is golden brown outside and cream within.<\/span><\/p>\r\nNot all falling stars become a starborn. There are many that fail. This can appear in a few ways. One, the star goes out before it hits the ground. Two, the star hits with a resonant ring, but when the light clears, nothing is there. Third, a partially formed starborn can be seen, a silhouette of light, but that fades away leaving nothing behind. All of the unique living light from these failed formations get absorbed back into the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany of them die before they even gain their wings, and many more die when they are still sparks, but those that survive gather enough lost fragments to increase their own power and live longer and hold off the darkness longer. The more wing power a starborn has, the more likely they are to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\nStarborn have four distinct life stages.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWhen freshly formed, up until they have a few marks, a starborn is known as a \"Spark\". Sparks don't know how to modify their vessel yet, though quickly learn how to change how their hair appears. Sparks have the cream tunic, brown cape with the cream underside, and simple mask.  Once they gain a few marks, they become known as embers. A spark is analogous to the \"moth\" stage in Sky. They are new, inexperienced, don't know their way around, and are in danger unless they can find somebody to guide them. Some manage to survive on their own, if they are clever and lucky.<\/p>\r\n <\/span>A young starborn who has not yet gone through rebirth is called an ember. Embers are more experienced than sparks, but are still quite young. Both sparks and embers are known to be very curious, a bit skittish, and afraid to go too far from sources of light. They cling to light, or other starborn. They tend to go towards Eden when they reach 8 or 9 marks. A spark is as close to infancy as a starborn can be, though they do not physically age. They gain experience rather than growing.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn has made it through a rebirth cycle, they become known as a renascent.   Renascents usually have at least 9 marks, usually 10 or 11.<\/span><\/p>\r\nOnce a starborn reaches their 12th mark, they are called an ascendant. Starborn with twelve marks are always at least 150 years old, though they can be older depending on the individual and if they've lost some along the way. Those who have reached fifteen marks are very rare, but are at least 250 years old. They have no known lifespan, but many perish before reaching that point.  Ascendants serve as guides and help sparks, embers and younger renascents survive their trips through Eden’s rebirth cycle. An ember or renascent who has an ascendant by their side is much more likely to survive.  All starborn are drawn toward Eden, but only those who reach the summit return through rebirth. Not every journey ends in a return. Experienced starborn can guide and shield  sparks and embers along the way, and an ember who survives a first journey to become a renascent can continue to receive that guidance on later journeys.  Renascents and ascendants can control their descent toward shrines. Unlike in the game, winged lights and thus the marks on their back are gained naturally over time, though this can be sped up by wandering and absorbing the energy that becomes winged light throughout the world. Each mark takes longer to appear than the mark before. Sparks start lacking a cape or mark. Their first will form naturally on its own within a few hours, or when they absorb enough energy to form a winged light. Whatever comes first.  They can get their first three within a year. Winged lights are not something a starborn gathers in the world, but rather something formed naturally within them over time. Each mark requires a certain number of winged lights to form. And each one requires more than the last. A starborn can lose winged light, and losing enough will cause a mark to disappear, but the older they are, the larger their reserve, and the more they can lose before losing a mark.  While they can't develop more than 15 marks, they can keep forming winged light. While they don't actively gather winged light, they form from energy absorbed during their travels and wanderings. There are some sources of energy that can form a winged light very quickly that are much stronger than others, and many renascents and ascendants know where they are. They will often guide sparks and embers there to help them form their first marks more quickly. <\/span><\/p>\r\nThese winged lights can be sacrificed to save another starborn, though it doesn't always work, and can be used to reignite and extinguished shrine. Spirits that a starborn has helped cross over also cause the formation of a winged light. This is why getting up to twelve marks means a starborn has to be at least 150 years old, and why they are at LEAST 250 if they've gained 15. <\/span><\/p>","field6":"Starborn can control how they appear, so their appearance can vary widely. Their clothing is actually a part of their vessel, though they can appear without it if they really want to. They can modify the shape of their ears, tail, mask, body, height, clothing, cape... they do all have the same basic body plan, but they vary widely between that. They tend to change fluidly based on the memories they have encountered during their life and will stick with looks they enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRarely, a starborn does not have the ability to form a cape or winged light. They remain capeless throughout their existence. They have a dimmer glow compared to normal Starchildren and cannot fly, but are surprisingly resilient. Dark creatures generally ignore them, although they can still be struck and must recover from injuries. They can still guide spirits to the threshold, but cannot complete the usual cycle. They can not gather light to take back to the Source.<\/span><\/p>","field7":"-Coming Soon<\/p>"}},"title":"Starborn","is_visible":"1","summary":"Ageless, sexless celestial beings that can be compared to a fallen star. They are also known as Starchildren, Lightborn, Skykids, and Children of Light. My take on the Skykid from Sky: Children of the Light","utility_tag":["wip"],"page_tag":null}

Special: Recent Page Changes