Rain of Stars

From PathfinderWiki

The Rain of Stars was an astronomical event that occurred during the Age of Darkness in the land now known as Numeria.12

History

In -4363 AR a gigantic metal vessel from outer space on a collision course with Golarion broke apart in the atmosphere, creating a meteor-like shower that spread across the land. Chunks of the vessel fell to the earth across Numeria, some the size of fists and others as large as cities. The largest piece impacted in the central plains and is now known as Silver Mount, while the next best-known site is called Scrapwall, located near the Sellen River in eastern Numeria.32

Ship's construction and origin

The ship is composed to a large degree of skymetals, which were previously unknown to Golarion.1 The technology found in the Silver Mount and other crash sites is beyond that of any of the existing races of Golarion's solar system. This means that the ship came from an alien culture in deep space, or another time or dimension.4

Effects on Numeria

Many of the events following the Rain of Stars have had lasting negative effects on Numeria. Thousands of years after its impact, the ship's radioactivity continues to mutate, stunt, or kill the region's flora and fauna.56

The local Kellid population explored many of the crash sites soon after the Rain of Stars, a practice that changed soon after an unknown tribal chieftain in the Felldales triggered a catastrophic explosion in -3116 AR. The blast destroyed his tribe, sent a mushroom cloud and shaft of light into the sky, and poisoned the region for miles. Now fearful of the technological items, most Kellids subsequently buried or destroyed any new discoveries.6

Jormurdun and the Sky Key

The dwarves of Jormurdun witnessed the Rain of Stars, which they interpreted as a divine sign, and sent an army to investigate. They returned with a wormhole generator from the Divinity, which they repaired and renamed the Sky Key. The dwarves would later activate the Sky Key in 1600 AR while besieged by hryngars7 and become trapped in an extradimensional bubble outside of the passage of time.8

References

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

  1. 1.0 1.1 James Jacobs, et al. The Inner Sea World Guide, 142–143. Paizo Inc., 2011
  2. 2.0 2.1 Jim Groves, et al. “Gazetteer” in Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars, 4. Paizo Inc., 2014
  3. James Jacobs, et al. The Inner Sea World Guide, 145. Paizo Inc., 2011
  4. James L. Sutter. “Chapter 2: Stellar Adventures” in Distant Worlds, 54. Paizo Inc., 2012
  5. Erik Mona, et al. “Chapter 2: The Inner Sea” in Campaign Setting, 114. Paizo Inc., 2008
  6. 6.0 6.1 Jim Groves, et al. “Gazetteer” in Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars, 3. Paizo Inc., 2014
  7. Paizo referred to hryngars as duergar until the publication of Highhelm and the Sky King's Tomb Pathfinder Adventure Path.
  8. Crystal Frasier. The Sky Key Solution, 3. Paizo Inc., 2015