THE STARVEIL - LEGACIES

Instructions

-….. ☆ ….. - | THE STARVEIL | . ☆ [ St - Ahr | Vay - aL ] -….. ☆ ….. - Chapter one -….. ☆ ….. - Welcome to the Starveil. A foundation of the lost. The forgotten. And the found. Seven faintly glimmering pawsteps wait beneath your paws. You hesitate. Then you follow. One. The cavern stretches onward. Two. The light behind you begins to fade. Three. The stone beneath your paws grows colder. Four. You glance back. The entrance is still there… but it already feels impossibly far away. Five. Six. Seven. The final pawprint disappears beneath your paw. And the darkness swallows you whole. For a moment, there is nothing. Then you notice the light. Seven faint silhouettes stand around you. You cannot see their faces. You cannot see their eyes. You cannot even be certain that they have bodies at all. They flicker at the edge of your vision, appearing whenever you look away and fading whenever you try to stare directly at them. Yet you know who they are. The Seven Deities. Seven shrines surround you, each carved into the ancient stone. Their shapes are different, their symbols stranger still. Some you recognize from old stories. Others mean nothing to you at all. Perhaps they once did. Perhaps the meaning was simply forgotten. At the center of the cavern rests a stone. It is unlike anything you have ever seen. Silver light drifts beneath its surface, curling and twisting like a tiny sky trapped within a crystal. Flecks of light move through it without pattern, appearing like stars before vanishing again. You know this stone, too. The Communication Stone. The place where the living may speak... and the dead may answer. You take a step toward it. Then you notice something else. At the far edge of the cavern, tucked behind the shrines, is a narrow passage. It slopes downward. You cannot see its end. There are no pawprints leading toward it. No light. No stars. Nothing. Just a darkness deeper than the darkness surrounding you. You stare. Something about it makes the fur along your spine rise. "What is down there?" Your voice echoes. Once. Twice. Then there's a shimmer. One of the seven figures becomes clearer. Only for a heartbeat. A shape. A face you cannot quite remember. A pair of eyes that seem to look directly into yours. Then a voice. Quiet. Almost gentle. "The Vices." Your ears flatten. "The Vices?" The figure fades. The other six begin to shimmer. Their voices answer together. "Do not seek them." You glance toward the passage. "Why?" Silence. For a moment, you think they will not answer. Then the seven speak as one. "Because some doors were never made for the living." The cavern falls silent. You look back toward the passage. It seems farther away now. And somehow darker. You don't ask another question. Instead, you turn toward the Communication Stone. Its silver light flickers. Waiting. And behind you, somewhere beyond the seven shrines, the passage remains. Whatever lies beyond it... you were not meant to see. Not yet. -….. ☆ ….. - Chapter two -….. ☆ ….. - ☆ THE STARVEIL EXPLAINED The Starveil is the sacred place where living cats may communicate with the dead. It exists within [LOCATION], and is most commonly visited by medicine cats during their meetings with the afterlife. Within the Starveil are seven shrines, each dedicated to one of the Seven Deities. These beings are believed to have been created by the Divine to judge and guide the dead. At the center of the cavern lies the Communication Stone, a supernatural stone through which the living may communicate with the Everstars. At the edge of the cavern lies a passage leading toward the Gloom. It is strongly advised that living cats do not enter. Nobody knows what lies at the end. At least, nobody who has returned has ever said. TERMINOLOGY Warriors traditionally call this place: Moonstone / Moonpool Legacies calls it: The Starveil Warriors traditionally call their afterlife: StarClan Legacies calls it: The Everstars Warriors traditionally call the place of the condemned: The Dark Forest Legacies calls it: The Gloom Warriors traditionally call its inhabitants: Dark Forest cats Legacies calls them: The Forsaken Warriors traditionally call its divine beings: StarClan ancestors Legacies call them: The seven deities. Warriors traditionally call its first sinners: The Dark Forest's leaders. Legacies call them: The seven Vices. The Seven Deities are not simply ancestors. They are ancient beings created by the Divine, and their purpose extends beyond merely guiding the dead. And above them all is the Divine. What the Divine truly is... is a story for another time. -….. ☆ ….. - Epilogue -….. ☆ ….. - Thanks for reading about the Starveil! Feel free to ask any questions!