#ashenstars

[pocketdragonpub]

Missed this week's episode of Weal or Woe Sci Fi? Not to worry- You can watch it on the Pocket Dragon's Youtube channel! Pub doors will be open at 9:45AM PST, so tune in and watch Mitch, Winter and Jayden play in Cosmic Oblivion, an Ashen Stars Adventure!

[hinterland-clans]

hiya! i'm working on charts of all of the clan leaders, and here's part one with glenclan! information about each leader is under the cut, it ended up longer than i expected haha

Sorrelstar (Sorrelfoot, he/him)- GlenClan's founder, he was the ThunderClan deputy in the lake territories before the second migration. He was first to establish his Clan, made up of former Thunder, Sky, and RiverClan cats. He was a total sweetheart and ended up living a SUPER long time. Leader mark is a white tail-tip.

Stagstar (Stagheart, he/they)- Sorrelstar's grand-nephew, a stern and somewhat abrasive cat who holds his Clan's needs above all else, sometimes to the detriment of others. Leader mark is a stripe below each side of their mouth.

Dewstar (Dewripple, she/her)- a kind, patient, but ultimately very naive cat. She established the agreement with PineClan over ownership of the Sunstones, and was promptly killed by her deputy Barkfang. Leader mark is the inner ring on her face stripes.

Redstar (Redgleam, he/him)- was chosen by StarClan to lead GlenClan after Barkfang was poisoned by the healers. Was a wise and determined leader. wears feathers from the cardinal that was the StarClan omen choosing him as leader, leader mark is a grey spot on his back.

Laurelstar (Laurelfrost, they/xem)- no one is quite sure how they became leader after someone as capable as Redstar tbh. xey were vain and a bit lazy, but incredibly charming in a way that made other cats like and trust them. They were eventually poisoned by Dawnshatter so that Hivesting could be leader. Leader mark is dark circles around xeir eyes.

Hivestar (Hivesting, he/him)- oh, Hivestar. For as long as he could remember, he wanted to become leader, and was disilusioned with Laurelstar's leadership. His mate Dawnshatter strategically poisoned several cats to get Hivesting into a leadership position, only discovered after he had successfully killed Laurelstar. Hivesting banished them, and became leader. He was a good leader, but was always followed by the fear that he didn't deserve his position. Leader mark is the dark part of his muzzle.

Ashenstar (Ashenpelt, he/him)- Ashenstar was a proud, powerful cat, and the instigator of the war between GlenClan and RiftClan over rights to the Great River. He became guilty over his actions later in his life, and made attempts to fix the mess he'd made before he died. Leader mark is pale grey paws.

Hickorystar (Hickoryleap, he/him)- a short-lived leader, Hickorystar was a meek, sad cat who lived most of his life with an immune disorder that often left him sick. He began the process of making amends with RiftClan, spurred on by love for his former mate and mother of his kits, the RiftClan warrior Dovesky. Leader mark is large spots down the sides of his tail.

Sandstar (Sandstripe, she/they)- Sandstar was made deputy rather young, with Hickorystar hoping that a young leader would have a different perspective on the fighting with RiftClan. She is the current leader, a proud, humorous, but stubborn cat beloved by her Clanmates. Leader mark is dark stripes along her nose bridge.

Greenstar (Greenshade, they/she)- the future leader after Sandstar, Greenstar is an observant, introverted, deeply intelligent cat. They lead their clan with wisdom and foresight almost unmatched by any cat alive. Their leader mark is a black stripe on each whisker pad.

[asterclan-clangen]

Ashenstar! The very first leader of AsterClan 💫

[finallymothman]

This ended up being more about figuring out how the fuck Blackstaff works than any of my head-canons.

Anyway recently Gale Dekarios has been on my mind and reading other people’s content just isn’t doing it for me so here’s the most recent thing I’ve been rotating in my head

His friend group at Blackstaff was nothing short of iconic, I’m sure

I think he was in Blackstaff under Samark Dhanzcul?? I was trying to find a list of students and while there is a list of apprentices, Gale isn’t on it, and his wiki doesn’t say when/how long he attended. I’m assuming it’s like late high school/college education, 16-24 kinda age range, let’s call him the class of ‘79, assuming he was done by 24

Colton Cardin, Eirik Weskur and Shevarith Kendita are on the list for the 1490’s but that would’ve been just before/during/after the events of the game, but then there’s no one listed after 139-something, so Gale’s classmates are entirely made up. I’m gonna pull names out of my ass and I only have the vaguest understanding of how Blackstaff works… there’s about 50 students at a time, varying levels of study, Blackstaff is a title, something about apprentices??? I’m winging it.

Isolde Ashenstar is a red headed half elf who’s the same age as Gale, who’s twice as brilliant, but works half as hard, and it drives him insane. They started at the same time (and the twins)

Valerian and Mordekai Ramirus, who were only addressed by their full names by their mother, Ian and Kai by everyone else, are a pair of twin sorcerers, who I guess were looking to multi-class.

Conrad Ridgethorn was the “senior Dad friend” of the group, finished school after they all finished.

Kai seemed to have picked Gale out in a crowd, decided “you’re going to be my friend” and just never stopped talking to him. Isolde and Ian were not far behind.

All of them, except Conrad, were 16 in 1473 and they all knew Gale before he caught Mystra’s attention.

Kai, Ian and Gale have study sleepovers- sometimes Isolde joins, but it’s mainly their thing. It started at Conrad’s, and then Gale hosted after Conrad graduated.

Isolde was both the happiest for Gale being named Mystra’s chosen, and the first to catch in that something was up with how Mystra treated him. The family she came from was chock-full of clerics and there’s family lore about godspoused* ancestors and she thinks it’s bizarre that Mystra would take Gale as a lover without making some kind of commitment to him in return.

Ian has been hopelessly in love with Gale since they were 16, but never breathes a word of it.

Gale and Isolde briefly dance around a relationship. They kiss once, but never talk about it again.

Poor Ian has to watch Gale and Isolde, then Gale and Mystra, and how could he ever compete with a Goddess???

After Gale gets the orb and isolates himself, it takes six months for them to stop coming to see him, knocking and waiting, taking shifts on who would try to check on him.

Ian never stopped writing to him, even when Gale didn’t answer. Sometimes, Kai sends a letter along with Ian’s.

Isolde was the last one to try to visit him, and the last thing she says to him was yelling at him through the door for isolating himself away from the people who cared about him, and if he didn’t want to accept their support, then he deserved to be alone. She didn’t mean it, and she never forgave herself.

[magicalgirlszine2024]

✨ Contributor Spotlight ✨

Next up we have ash @ashenstars, ready to create a beautiful page illustration using the power of love, friendship, and sparkles!

[bstrones]

Clan Gen Cats in Picrew

I made some of my clan gen cats in picrew because I’m not in a very “drawing it out” type of mood rn. The cats are Oatheart, Ashenstar (the second ever leader of ElmClan), and Milkpelt! I used this picrew for Ashenstar and this picrew for the others!

[i-likegamesbut-cant-playthem]

TARNCLAN

The Inventive and Venal LEADER ASHENSTAR—a black tom, with short fur, and yellow eyes.

DEPUTY ROOKFACE—a short haired, black and red, classic tortoiseshell-tabby she-cat, with green eyes.

MEDICINE CAT CYPRESSWHISKER—a red ticked "pseudo-tabby" she-cat, with long fur, and yellow eyes.

WARRIORS CHANTERELLESTREAM—a cream mackerel "pseudo-tabby" tom, with sparse fur, and yellow eyes. NIGHTFACE—a black mackerel tabby tom, with short fur, and amber eyes. BREAMFANG—a short haired, blue tom, with green eyes. CORMORANTFACE—a short haired, black mackerel tabby she-cat, with hazel eyes. FROSTCLOUD—a mostly white, blue and cream mackerel calico she-cat, with short fur and green eyes.

APPRENTICES HAZELPAW—a long haired, chocolate she-cat, with gold eyes. MARIGOLDPAW—a cream mackerel "pseudo-tabby" she-cat, with short fur, and hazel eyes. SPIDERPAW—a black tom, with long fur, and gold eyes.

QUEENS SALMONFUR—a short haired, blue mackerel tabby she-cat, with gold eyes. RAVENFOOT—a black mackerel tabby she-cat, with short fur, and yellow eyes. ROWANSTRIPE—a short haired, black and red, mackerel calico she-cat, with hazel eyes.

ELDERS HOLLYHEART—a long haired, red mackerel tabby tom, with copper eyes. SLUGEAR—a short haired, black spotted tabby she-cat, with yellow eyes.

[illuminatinggames]

Characters from our #AshenStars game. It’s a little quirky, but I really love it - it’s actually my favorite Gumshoe game, with Night’s Black Agents a close second (although of course The Dracula Dossier is the best single campaign going). Ashen Stars’ “gritty Star Trek-like reboot” is really accessible as a setting and as a genre, and the terrific Gumshoe rules system is a great fit for the sci-fi procedural. We used the Warp Speed rules from the Accretion Disk supplement to ease in some new players; it did the job but I think it really strips the skill list down *too* much and leaves a few too many holes and a few skills that are a bit too overbroad. It’s doing the right thing but I’d flesh out the skills just a touch if I played it again. Anyway, for me Ashen Stars is super-fun, and I’d definitely recommend it.

[ask-shadowclan]

Appleflower, have your kits met your family in SkyClan?

[inkigo]

But What Will They Say?

How do you make a forbidden inter-Clan romance more forbidden?Have two Clan leaders fall in love.Featuring my own and one of my fellow roleplayer’s characters in A Forest’s Echo

[pocketdragonpub]

We are looking forward to the next episode, when we will see the host and barkeeps try out the game that won our Barkeep's Choice - Ashen Stars! Ashen Stars is by Robin D. Laws and published by Pelgrane Press. This game uses the gumshoe system, which is designed for investigative scenarios. In Ashen Stars you take on the role of freelance troubleshooters and law enforcers operating in a remote sector of space called the Bleed. Amid the ashes of a devastating war that ended with a massive retreat by the Combine, you’ll solve mysteries, fix thorny problems, and explore strange corners of space — balancing the promise of a quick buck against the need to maintain a reputation that wins you lucrative contracts, and pays the upkeep on your ship and your cyber- and viroware enhancements. Join us this weekend as we solve mysteries in space!

[reijnders]

all my clan leaders plus my warriorsona!!!!!!! names and clans in caption! :D

[terryito]

comm || magpiekit, buckstrike, pinekit, asterkit, ashenstar, bearkit

regular commission for apathetic-comatose on deviantart!

[hinterland-clans]

wOOO i guess i never posted the list of Clan leaders! well here it is! i’ll post the healer list next :’)

GLENCLAN

Sorrelstar ♂  (Sorrelfoot) Stagstar ♂/? (Stagheart) Dewstar ♀ (Dewripple) Redstar ♂  (Redgleam) Laurelstar ? (Laurelfrost) Hivestar ♂  (Hivestrike) Ashenstar ♂  (Ashenpelt) Hickorystar ♂  (Hickoryleap) >Sandstar ♀/?  (Sandstripe) Greenstar ♀  (Greenshade)

PINECLAN

Juniperstar ♀  (Juniperbreeze) Duskstar ♂ (Duskshadow) Bumblestar ♂  (Bumblebee) Mothstar ?  (Mothpelt) Snowstar ♀  (Snowcoat) Dovestar ?  (Dovestream) Vinestar ♂  (Vinetangle) >Rosestar ♀  (Roseblossom) Driftstar ♀ (Driftrunner)

RIFTCLAN

Shardstar ♂/?  (Shard of White Stone, Shard) Brownstar ♀ (Brown Falling Feather, Brownfeather) Violetstar ?  (Violetdawn) Quietstar ♀ (Quietleap) Patchstar ♂  (Patchtail) Rubblestar ♀  (Rubblefur) Spirestar ?  (Spirepeak) >Screestar ♂  (Screefall) Slatestar ♀  (Slatesun)

[ashes-to-ashes-official-blog]

highkey best ships so far

Whitebell and Aconiteflight!! Along with Ashenstar and the absolute unit Mooseheart!!

[nextwarden]

A Million Years Before

Nothing. Something. Never. Now. What. Why. All are the same. All are before. Then comes the now, big and bright and bellowing. It comes from whatever was there before, whatever was left of the previous ones, whatever was destined to be in the next. Maybe there was none before, maybe there was none until now. Yet Now is here. It would be here to stay but almost as soon as it is, it must depart for After comes. How Now remains in the after is a question no answer can hope to enlighten. Perhaps it was also before and thus must be after. Now remains and yet it leaves, it comes and goes, never moving. The pull is first, then comes movement followed by waves light, then heat beams and finally sound overshadows them all for an instant before letting its elder, Silence, soothe it back to sleep. Place, where, space. Time, when, flow. They all trickle in, slowly, one by one, many at a time, none moving either faster or slower than the other, and come stand around the great bonfire that marks the beginning of their feast. They stand and dance and sit and laugh and float and sing and then remember the gravity of the morning. Night has friends now. Dawn and Day and Eve. All dancing with. Night likes it. For once the dance is fun and not lonely.

…

Ten thousand years before

They're the first of their kind. Born from ashenstar and darkwater. They rise under the moon and, once their drowsiness fades, walk the world. They see what is to see as day comes: oceans and plains and forests and mountains and deserts and beaches and lands of ice and deep caverns and high skies… Eventually they meet others. They watch, listen, smell, learn and exchange.

When the first departure comes, it doesn't hurt that much. The pain is not in the flesh. Very little is, for them anyway. They think about it for a while and decide to try again.

Same result.

Feeling alone they rouse comrades and invite them to walk with them.

…

Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety years before

A push to one side means a push from the other in response. Where They walk, the Will must follow. And it does. Through the eyes of the prime brave, young and shiny, ready to make wrongs right.

Maybe it is not needed. Maybe it is. It has decided to be, so be it.

…

Four hundred years before

The fire is spreading, far too fast. Something is not right. The lord must have stumbled again.  No matter, she must be kept safe and they vow to do just that. They fight against it, against the world and fate; they feel they are fighting against the Will itself. Perhaps it is true, perhaps not. Who would they be to care? The world may try as hard as it will, the fire burns as hot and wild as it will, the tides may turn around on them, but their mission makes them smile to the face of the gods that have thrown such trials upon them. As long as she beats their salvation matters not. And she beats on. They know it despite their own discordant tempo withering away long before she is found. They know because if they don't, then all means nothing and in whatever reality can all mean nothing if she is present in it? They know because just as the Will is, she is too. They know when they meet, they know when they fall, they know when she appears, they know now, and they will know long after. She is, therefore they know.

…

Thirty years before

Wake. Eat. Move. Work. Return. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

The cycle is endless. It is not disagreeable, although uncomfortable, unfulfilling.

It has not been since the beginning. The bleak days were sparse then. Everything was softer, warmer, more vibrat. Everything was exciting and waiting to be seen, known and discovered. Now they are more frequent. They have not taken over yet, but he fears they one day will. That they will rob what is left of its taste, of its melody.

Is that all there is? All there is to it and everything else?

If there was more he probably would. If he could. Could he? Without time, money, without soul, there is nothing that can be done. If only…

If...

…

Thirteen years before

They rise from the deep pits at the behest of the small creature. They are content to be out and about so they obey. They do not doubt much but when they do it means nothing. Even less than nothing. There is not much to doubt either way. Yet they think- hope? that maybe there is more to doubt about, more to think about than the orders, the missions, the taking. Perhaps they can untake? Perhaps they could run still when it is not necessary? Perhaps they are not what they are? Not entirely anyway. The others don't ask what there is to ask, maybe they shouldn't? But they… they want? Despite the cries, despite the pain, despite the narrow darkness they are set upon. Sometimes they wonder if just beyond the trees there might be no more trees. And other times they know there are. How could there not be? But what if they could go look? What if they could see? But they know. They know they can't.

…

Eight years before

She does not measure it yet but she is already welcomed with smiles and love, so much of both, mirth in myriads of colours and chants and scents and warmth under the touches.

She giggles the first time she opens her eyes - they are big and round and bright, full of promises. She doesn't cry or wail, she giggles. And that is a good sign.

…

Now

Their paths are finally set to meet. It knows. How it knows, many scholars would argue with vastly diverging opinions. One of the foremost being that a house cannot know anything for it does not exist, it is not alive in the ethereal sense of the term, for a house is but a materialistic construct lacking a soul made by those who have. And maybe they would be right. They would probably be right. A house is not alive, it exists but does not exist. And yet, it does. For a long time it has existed in this world, many winters and many summers, many springs and autumns, many a family, many a child, many a farm and a garden and a tide. Many manys. Each, it has experienced with pleasure and interest and, if one were so bold as to qualify it thus, love. It has not a heart and yet its hearth beats to the rhythm of the laughs and the wails, it echoes each step taken, it remembers the Life. And with all of those, lost to memory and time, it has come to understand some of the ways the threads jingle, to read the drops of water that pass along in the endless and deep river.

The hands that placed its beams and rose its walls have long gone but their imprints remain, the coarse warmth and the reverence linger. They are what made it into what it is now, what passed those memories far down into the future.

How exactly it came to be, it cannot say. It remembers things, things written into the threads, things it has experienced, things its body remembers from before. Like the others before itself, in the forest, old and peaceful, under the sun and the rain, in the cold and silence, rocked to lull by the gentle songs of the birds, home to many and a place to rest for all. It remembers and sometimes regrets. Parents and siblings and friends; old ones, even older than they had been; young ones, unknowing and full of energy, vibrant colours all around and the sleep of winters when they all huddled and drew warmth from each other in the deep cold. It regrets, sometimes, a life that had been good. Yet it does not so much lately. Not since the rooms have become lively again, and the cracks are cared for, not when warmth has come back, both in the hearth and in the hearts.

The new flames which burn in it are strange. Mismatched and of colours it has rarely seen before. Sometimes they flow easily, soaring in the air, others they crackle threaten to cool off. Yet they lick the wood without ever consuming it, the fire burns but does not consume. It would never have believed had it not felt the threads binding them all. How such apparent differences could be rendered non-existent before the simple act of caring. And care they do. They are broken, each in their own way, each at their own pace. They blind in the light and conceal in the shadow, yet they are alway found. They have been found, never to be lost again. As mismatched as its rooms have become over the many rise of the Sun. They are mismatched and broken, they are lost and weary, and by all accounts, it should not work. Yet it does. And those who do not see why are fools, it thinks. For there is so much to see, in the glints of the eye, in the careful warmth of the hand, in the loving thrum of the voice, even in those moments when the thread strains against itself the care is never thrown. Not from his mouth, not from her claws, not from the soft fur, not from the delicate giggles. They are mismatched but they have found their fit, and it can't help but be content, for even if none ever knows, it does.

Eventually, though, they do. And never again will it be the same.

…

Long after

When even the last grain of sand on the beach does not remain, then and only then does what someone had once called a home be forgotten. A calm house by the sea on the edge of the world. Remarkable not by its grandeur or its richness, but by the soothing warmth it managed to exude. One that had been for far longer than any inhabitant of the region had been able to remember, one that had stood far longer than any had imagined. One that had been built and forgotten, almost destroyed yet repaired. One that had, one early winter morning, under the soft sunlight and the quiet breeze, found a new breath. And one that had, another early winter morning, simply vanished. How? Why? Whereto? Those who might have been able to enlighten had gone with it. Leaving an empty space in its stead, only filled by the ghosts of memories long passed, yet as vivid as the day they had bloomed. The house by the sea was gone, but the home remained ever warm.

—

PREVIOUSLY

A Hero’s Retirement