Test of the Starstone

Iomedae ascends to godhood.

See also: Ascended, Ascension, and Crucible

The Test of the Starstone is a test that anyone can take by attempting to reach the Starstone in the Starstone Cathedral at the center of Absalom's Ascendant Court district. The Starstone is surrounded by a large, deadly maze containing traps, guardians, and wards.

The exact nature of the obstacles changes over time, but constant hazards include magic not always working correctly and prevention of extra-dimensional movement. Those few who pass are granted godhood, while those who fail usually die, although a select few manage to escape, occasionally with great wealth, but no divinity. Hundreds make the attempt every year, with the Starstone itself surrounded by dozens of skeletons of those who failed its test deep within its chamber. Some bony arms still vainly reach up to the Starstone.

As of 4720 AR, Scion Lady Xerashir of House Shamyyid has the role of Watcher of the Starstone, which includes bearing witness to any attempts to reach the Starstone Cathedral. When it becomes known that someone is going to make the attempt, the Starstone Celebrants drink with them and cheer them on in the days leading up the attempt, while also setting up betting pools on how the attempt will go.

History

The Starstone Cathedral from above.

The first known person to ascend to divinity through the Starstone was Aroden, who first found the Starstone in 1 AR, and was subjected to the test on contact with it. His first act as a god was to raise up the stone from the watery depths in which he found it, along with the surrounding earth, to form the Isle of Kortos.✝ Since then, only three of the vast number who took the test are known to have passed: Norgorber, whose life prior to the test is unknown; Cayden Cailean, who took it on a drunken bet; and Iomedae, a worshiper of Aroden who became his herald. Norgorber was the first of these three to pass the test in 1893 AR, with Cayden Cailean passing nearly a millennia later in 2765 AR, and Iomedae in 3832 AR.

The Living God, Razmir, has also claimed to have risen to godhood by passing the test, though those outside the nation of Razmiran doubt this is true.

Clues to the Test

Dyrani prepares to attempt the Test of the Starstone by stepping over the Starstone Cathedral's outer chasm.

The Test of the Starstone is mysterious; the only publicly known part of the test is that hopefuls must cross the bottomless pit surrounding the Starstone Cathedral, known as the Starstone Chasm, without using a bridge. Crossing the pit is a necessary first step, but not sufficient to enter the cathedral and continue the test, and what has worked for one hopeful may fail for another. Hopefuls have leaped across, flown with magic, or used tightropes, and the spectacle of an attempt nearly always draws an enormous, attentive crowd. Each attempt to cross must be unique to the individual, making it more difficult to pass as more people attempt it.

When Aroden was subject to the test, he was assailed with incredible visions, deadly trials, and exhausting moral dilemmas that tested his abilities unlike anything he had previously experienced. Rumors say that a chamber in the Lost Sanctum of Aroden can give those who find it insights into Aroden's experiences during the test.

The Failed

Many of those who failed the test, collectively known as the failed, are lost to time and obscurity. These people are still honored or even worshiped in various ways by the Cult of the Failed. The Shrine of the Failed, located in the Ascendant Court, is a stone monument honoring their hopes and attempts, with individual spaces for each of the failed.

Notable members of the failed include:

• Demuren, a would-be god of others' sacrifices on his behalf.
• Gobru, a would-be god of fish who retains a small, mournful following.
• Mbali, a self-proclaimed aspirant of foresight and planning who failed to plan for a labor strike; her incomplete temple remains in the Ascendant Court.
• Mellag and Plokkis, rival would-be gods of rot and spoil whose simultaneous attempts both failed.
• The Muted God, The Unspoken One, ready to claim silence and serenity as his domains.
• Oggo, Master of the 16 Poses, a believer that some combination of his poses would unlock a person's innate divinity.
• Panelle, who failed a pratfall and fell into the Starstone Chasm during her attempt to become goddess of comedy.
• Sir Reinhart, a prospective god of chivalry who plummeted to his death into the Chasm with his horse.
• Silmore, a gladiator known as the Lord of Blades in the Irorium, who entered the Cathedral and was never seen again.
• Spuchasta, would-be goddess of hallucinogens; she drugged all witnesses to her attempt, and none agrees on accounts about her attempt.
• Thaldei, student of Artokus Kirran, who attempted and failed to cross the chasm using explosives.
• Veelich, The Unwanted, a would-be god of failure.
• Yepyari, a cruel Druman druid of destructive storms who entered the Cathedral but never returned.
• Zimpar of the Screaming Fear, formally known as "Zimpar of the Dreaming Year" before his infamous step and fall into the Starstone Chasm.

While not technically one of the failed, another infamous figure is the Almost Goddess, a woman who arrived in Absalom around 4701 AR and claimed she would take the test. Her incredible charisma allowed her to gain a large following that became a sizable cult as she demonstrated being seemingly gifted in any task she set herself to. However, on the morning of the test, she never appeared. Most think she became scared and left, but she was actually secretly imprisoned in the Tomb of the Living in the Westgate district of the city.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.