A wandering star that appears irregularly — and keeps bad company when it does.
What We Know (all S4)
- Appears irregularly; universally viewed as an ill omen. Sometimes associated with the Deceiver and called the Star of the Deceiver — though that name is not Church canon.
- Last manifested ~5 years ago (~1734) — “when a bunch of bad stuff happened, especially in the west,” i.e. the onset of The Troubles.
- Also appeared right before the Fifth Crusade (1715).
- Haroun remembered it because it’s mentioned in the interrogation notes — the Phoenix/Owl material the party carries.
What Changed (GM timeline, 2026-07-27)
The GM’s dated account of The Fall of the Order of the Owl opens with a single line:
Spring 1731 — the red sun rises; owl knights discover a Sanctum in northern Averoigne.
Two things follow from that.
- A rising and a sanctum discovery in the same season, for the third time. The Abbot: “the red star rose” — then the Dawn sanctum was broken open (~1639). 1715: a rising, then the Fifth Crusade against a Corrupted outbreak. 1731: a rising, then the first sanctum found in centuries.
- The date does not match the party’s own recollection. Haroun placed the last manifestation at ~5 years ago (~1734) (S4). The GM places it in 1731. Either it is one event misremembered by three years, or it rose twice in the decade. Unreconciled — ask the GM or a Hazadi astronomer.
If 1731 is right, the star did not merely accompany the Troubles. It preceded all of them by a season.
What Changed (S5)
- Estelle: the Red Star may indicate the times when certain interactions with sanctums are possible.
- The Abbot, describing the destruction of the Sanctum of Sethariel ~100 years ago, opened with: “The red star rose, they broke the door, they broke my brothers, they broke the chains, they broke the gem…”
Taken together: whoever sacked the Dawn sanctum waited for the star and then went in. The star is not merely an omen of catastrophe — it is (or marks) the window, and the catastrophes may be what people do during it.
Speculation
If a rising Red Star opens a window, then its appearances are a schedule, not a portent. It rose before the Fifth Crusade (1715) and again ~1734 at the onset of The Troubles — and the second incursion at the Dawn sanctum dates to 5–10 years ago, which brackets 1734 neatly. Somebody may be working to the same calendar the party is only now learning to read. When is it due again? That is a math question, and the party now owns an orrery.
Speculation
A wandering star in a campaign where sanctum locations may depend on stellar configuration (Leylines) is not a coincidence the party can afford to ignore. If the Red Star is a variable in the star-chart math, its irregular appearances might mark when certain confluences — or sanctums — become active. That would explain both the interrogators’ interest and the correlation with catastrophe. See The Sanctum Investigation.