Kallyr Starbrow: the Polaris link

Evidence for such a link

At the Brown Dragon episode, one (or two?) of the Lunar ritualists is described as representing the Pole Star. It is specifically mentioned that the folk of Orlanth's Ring (presumably including Kallyr) didn't disturb him/her until they couldn't help it - odd behaviour for a ceremony they were trying to stop!

And in the Wyrm's Footprints description of the High Council meeting just before the rebellion, we have as part of Kallyr's description: "She is known to have visited a star in her Heroquest, gaining a marvelous magic crystal in doing so which holds power and spells, and can lead her (or her soul) back to that star at any time."

It seems likely from this that Polaris is the star she visited.

So what is the link?

Problems and solutions

There is a link between Yelorna and Polaris: Yelorna was known as the Starbringer because it was she who went and asked Polaris for help against the darkness, causing him to send Star-Captains etc.

Nick Effingham has a cult write-up for Polaris that may be of assistance. There is also a write-up in Tales of the Reaching Moon. Both of these describe Polaris purely in terms of the Solar pantheon.

The only link I can find between Polaris and the Orlanth pantheon is in the mythology section of KoS (page 79), describing the first fights between Orlanth and Chaos. Orlanth's stead is attacked, and the people there evacuate. "A dragon was there. Pole Star helped".

Since Pole Star is seen as being the god of precision military manoeuvre and formal drill, I can understand that the Orlanthi would not place any great emphasis on his worship. But he is a very obvious object in the sky: one would expect them to at least acknowledge his existence. The Lunars are noted as using Polaris as the choreographer for large-scale rituals. Perhaps he holds this role in the Orlanth pantheon also: and since few Orlanthi organise such rituals on a regular basis, his worship would necessarily be limited.

How would Kallyr have come into contact with Polaris on heroquest? I find it hard to believe that she would deliberately sought him out, as prior to 1613 she was primarily a warrior, not a ritualist, so Polaris had little to offer her. I am not aware of any contact between her and the Grazers early in her career, much less of any reason for her to gain interest in Polaris from them.

I believe Kallyr fought in the Telmori wars, and would have seen Jomes Wulf, a Polaris worshipper, leading his troops. She might well have learnt something from this, but I find it hard to see how or why she would have done a Polaris-related HQ as a result.

The most likely answer I can see is that Kallyr came into contact with Polaris through the Yelornans in Pavis.

The Yelornans

Comparing this with my examination of the career of Morgeneth Runestar, we find that Morgeneth was known to the family of the Kheldon king, and had relatives living in Swenstown (the city ring to which the Kheldon belonged). It seems likely that she had met Kallyr in the mid to late 1590s in Swenstown. Morgeneth was actively seeking recruits to her group of Yelornan followers by 1596, and may well have approached Kallyr as a likely candidate. In 1596 Morgeneth returned to Pavis and founded the Yelornan temple there, but did not have enough initiates to make herself High Priestess until some time later.

It seems very likely that Kallyr would have encountered Morgeneth again when she went to Pavis herself. She may have been a lay member of Yelorna for a while, or possibly even an initiate (though I really don't see the Yelornan hang-ups suiting her at all!). It seems very likely to me that once Kallyr was herself Rune level (about 1599-1601 by my estimate), she could have been involved in some of the heroquests Morgeneth was attempting in her efforts to increase the power of her temple.

However, a follower position in a Yelornan heroquest (the "starbringer" story seems the most likely) would not have given Kallyr her unique relationship with Polaris. Her crystal "...can lead her (or her soul) back to that star at any time". Morgeneth, as the leader, should have received even more, and there is no evidence that she did.

My suggestion is that Morgeneth attempted a heroquest (again, the "starbringer" seems the most likely), and it went wrong. (We know she acquired geases on heroquest: this often implies less than total success). The heroquest Kallyr led was a rescue mission to get Morgeneth back. Either she repeated the "Starbringer" story (though this implies greater association with the Yelorna cult that I like), or she found a story in which Vinga rescues Yelorna, and used that.

Now, since Vinga was only "discovered" in King of Sartar, we know that no such story has yet been documented. But funnily enough, when I was trying to work out how Polaris fitted into the Orlanth pantheon, I found myself writing a story of how his wife, the goddess of dance, joined him in Orlanth's household. She had been left behind in Yelm's palace, and Vinga rescued her from "captivity" (to the Orlanthi mind) in the womens' quarters. I ended up trying to fit a Mozart plot to the whole thing, and needed another female character - lo and behold, Yelorna popped into the story, and got rescued as well. If this is the story Kallyr used, she would end up with Morgeneth free, and Polaris rewarding her. (And a dancer gaining a change of status).

[Later additional note - I did eventually write up the myth, and a first-person description of how Kallyr used it.]

Polaris Gifts

Kallyr's crystal gives her "power and spells". What are the powers and spells? The only hint I can find in the sources is the statement that at Dangerford she won by "sheer inspiration of her men". Polaris is the god of military leadership, so some connection seems likely.

However, it is worth remembering that very little would be known of Polaris in Sartar. Kallyr is, in 1601 (or whenever it was), in the unique position of being a hero of a god of whom she was not previously even an initiate. She has a very close link with the deity, but no idea of his powers, spells, or rituals. I would imagine she would do her best to find these things out, but the events of 1602 would have made inquiry in her homeland difficult, to put it mildly. So, I suggest that for some time to come, she does not know herself just what powers she has been given. in fact, she is still finding out in 1627. Learning would have been by experimentation and by inspiration from Polaris himself - of course, the gods are well-known for unambigious communication with their worshippers!

The ability to travel to Polaris, either in body or in spirit, is documented by 1613. (The ability to return is not documented - certainly there is nothing to suggest that it is instant!). This may have been one ability that she was told of rather than finding by experimentation, as Orlanthi would normally call on Mastakos for instant transport, not Polaris. There is one occasion when I am fairly sure she used this ability: at Old Top. Physically, she died there. However, she is known to have returned and to have ruled for several years afterwards. This could have been a "simple" Ressurection. Personally I prefer to think that her soul went to Polaris rather than dying. Her friends would then rescue the body, put it in a Chalana Arroy temple, and start attempts at healing the damage and casting Ressurections. Since her spirit was not "dead", but paying a visit to a star, they could not succeed. However, since Polaris does not have access to the inside of a Chalana Arroy temple, nor could she return under her own power. The first time she would have had a chance for her spirit to return from the star to her body would be when they finally gave up on Ressurections: at her own funeral! Very dramatic, and no doubt very disappointing for any rival claimants to the throne.

I would suggest that she has access to any of Polaris' divine spells. Three are documented:

1. "Captain Souls", described in ToTRM #14 , gives a useful leadership ability. "This spell is cast upon one pther person per point. The targets must voluntarily accept the spell. The spell then acts like a sort of one-way MindLink, in that the caster can voluntarily provide magic points and spell knowledge to his targets. Spells that normally operate only at Touch range can be cast at range by the participants on each other. Conscious thoughts may be transmitted by any target to the spells' caster, and vice versa. Unlike Mindlink, INT or morale-affecting spells cast against one individual have no effect on someone linked by a Captain Souls spell."
2. The free-form "Tarsh War" mentions a spell "Celestial Harmony" which "gives you an insight into a battle, as seen from the sky".
3. "Call Star Captain" - described as part of an unpublished write-up. Possibly a Dayzatar spell, but the Polaris version is more useful. It summons a warrior from the stars to help in a fight. Opinions on the strength of this warrior vary, as does the question of whether the spell is effective during the day.

I would suggest that the "Captain Souls" spell, or a variant on it, is one of the earliest powers she learns and uses to inspire her troops. I know of no instances of her calling Star Captains to her aid, so perhaps this is one she never learns. And seeing an entire battlefield makes no sense unless you are engaged in formal battle, which for her happened for the first time in 1613.

In 1607 she would have seen Jomes Wulf in action against the Telmori: he was a Polaris initiate, and thanks to the Lunars, would have been properly trained. This may well have given Kallyr some hints as to the powers she had not yet learnt. Let me add one more power she may have had, and might have discovered at this point. Could she perhaps not only cast any Polaris spell herself, but also control what Polaris spells were cast in her vicinity? Her relationship with the god does seem to have been an unusually close one, much more so than a mere initiate. This would give her the means of learning new spells, simply by having them used against her. It would also give her quite an advantage against Lunars (and others, if appropriate) who were used to relying on Polaris spells. A spell with this kind of effect (Command Worshippers) does exist in the Orlanth Rex write-up: I think we can agree that Kallyr would have been a Rex initiate, at least by the time she was leading the rebellion.

If we accept this idea, some of the oddities of the Brown Dragon episode start to make sense. The Orlanthi seem to have hijacked the Lunar ceremony, being careful not to disrupt it until they could not help it, and used the power from it to summon a dragon. The ceremonial choreographer was a Polaris priest. If Kallyr took control of his "spells", she would effectively have taken control of the ceremony: and, as a result, the kingdom.