ZEITGEIST (Spoilers) Catch a Falling Star?

Wotcher, me again.

In the Zeitgeist universe, stars seem to fall a lot. How, and why? What are they?

Arsenal of Dhebisu
The greatest warrior of her day snatched a falling star and used it to slay a rakshasa.

Skyseer Vision of Avilona
You float, the constellation Draco beside you, and beneath you the planet Avilona is balanced on a pin of white stone.
To your side, the stars of Draco plummet, and then you too are falling, with no wind to hold you aloft.


Book 9 Climax
Overhead, the heavens shift and stars literally fall from the sky, a few every minute. They plunge silently, then flash and sizzle as they strike the water.
When Stanfield is finally cut down, or when the lighthouse is snuffed, he utters a few dying words, and a star falls directly upon the keep.



So, what are stars in this context? Are they, as in our universe (and with Vona), suns? Are they literally falling from the sky? If so, how- why does the Axis Ritual cause this to happen? Why did the Draco constellation arguably disappear? Is this a common event in this universe?

I can live with the answer of 'weird star-stuff happens in this universe'. Stars go out randomly, or due to unknown far-off events. When Axis Ritual-scale chicanery happens, weird stuff like stars falling happens in a symbolic-ritualistic way.

Any thoughts?

Bear in mind stars fall at lot in the real world at least until you get a modern definition of stars. Many legendary blades are meant to be made of fallen stars and possibly are as meteoric iron was a source of high quality iron for a long time (Bog Iron among others).

Arsenal of Dhebisu
That's a legend so may never have happened but easily fits grabbing a meteor and turning it into a magical weapon or in this case as the weapon is a rock the meteor may have been magical already. Alternativly could be a magical ritual which pulled the essence of amagical weapon from another plane. The stars being other planes which just cannot easily be travelled to due to Nem and Apet.

Skyseer vision
It's symbolic no actual stars were harmed in the making of this vision. After the damage to Avilona caused by indeterminate but multiple methods dragons could not fly the skyseer see's this revealed but as mystical visions are never straight forwar he gets a light show

Book 9 climax
The Axis seal ritual just F***** up. This broke the planes link to all of the stars so they fall from the sky, possibly something similar happened at the time of the last axis ritual but otherwise a unique event. Maybe the Arsenal dates back to this event who knows, really depends on if you think meteors happen in this world I think we have evidence they do as they are mentioned as the source for planar fuels for lanterns

Meteors definitely exist in this world. It's specifically stated that they're the source for much of the lantern fuel- and that some of the meteors come from Triegenes calling them down.

I'm just a little confused because the Book 9 climax doesn't seem to describe meteors- it describes the actual, literal stars in the sky falling.

The ending of Book 9 is an existential event, the world changes it is like nothing you or the characters have ever experienced. The only similar event was the original axis seal ritual. During this ritual the tenuous connections to all the other planes which formed the stars go away, the failure of the sun to form maybe linked to that but after the ritual the only planes which can be accessed are the new planets and the Gyre.
Perhaps new stars would form over time but they don't in the time frame before the next ritual.

So as all these connections vanish metaphysically the stars fall from heaven it is a magical and mystical event so the stars literally fall from heaven. Bear in mind this is not the real world Physics has very little place getting involved so a star is not a Self-regulating Hydrogen fusion reaction light years away it is a visible symbol of another plane , perhaps they are all on a crystal sphere which the planets orbit within and one day spelljammers will visit the world, or maybe they exist as stars until reality changes and the universe warps and weeps bitter tears of stars as it sees the end come for this world.

What I am saying is that what you think of as actual literal stars may well never have existed in this universe or if they did the nature of them changes as the world turns on its axis. to quote one of the greatest 'It's a kind of magic'

If you want to get physics-y, my idea was yeah, there are tons of actual balls of hydrogen and helium out in the universe, burning in the vast distance. In addition to sending light to this world, they also deliver tiny amounts of magical energy, much as the planets in the solar system do (but the planets are closer and have a much larger effect).

Then the Ob do the Axis Seal ritual, and the world is pulled away from its previous position and ends up in the Gyre. At the same time, in a spot comparable to where you'd see light from those stars in the night sky, a bunch of meteors manifest and start falling. Those meteors are caused, I suppose, by a metaphysical connection being severed. Like a petrol hose being snapped when a car drives away with the nozzle still plugged in, some essence of those distance stars trickles out, and since it can no longer flow as metaphysical mana, it instead turns into stone or metal.

I can dig that. In this magical universe, stars are not just stars- they have a separate, magical identity as the glimmering lights in the sky. Move away from the actual stars and these identities fall, symbolizing and reflecting the transition.

Thanks.