Star Signs

"To be sure, it was an inauspicious time to have a baby, I always said... Why, Morrslieb was fat, Dragomas the Drake was in ascendant, and the Big Cross was nowhere in the sky... That newborn babe was pulled from its mother, and I wasn’t surprised to see the babe touched..."

——Lucretia, Wise Woman

Some believe in the heavens are written the tales of what has passed, what happens now, and what shall come to be. For generations, Man has looked up to the firmament to question his purpose and place, casting prayers to whatever deaf gods play amongst the burning torches. Sailors use the stars as guides, helping them navigate the uncharted waters of the Sea of Claws, whilst the Arabyan philosophers stare up at the nightly heavens to discover the secrets of the world, a practice brought back to the Empire by the crusaders.

Over the centuries, certain clusters of stars have acquired names, characteristics, and some supernatural significance. Some, nay most, believe the position of the clusters when a child is born reveals some truth about a person, shaping his personality, outlooks, hopes, and dreams for the rest of his life. Whether dismissed as the foolish superstitions of peasants, soothsayers, and charlatans or embraced as a fundamental truth, no one can deny the coincidences between Man and the arrangement of the heavens.

List of Constellations

Spring

• The Limner's Line -- Sign of Precision
• Gnuthus the Ox -- Sign of Dutiful Service
• Dragomas the Drake -- Sign of Courage
• The Gloaming -- Sign of Illusion and Mystery

Summer

• Grungi's Baldric -- Sign of Martial Pursuits
• Mammit the Wise -- Sign of Wisdom
• Mummit the Fool -- Sign of the Indistinct
• The Two Bullocks -- Sign of Fertility and Craftsmanship
• The Dancer -- Sign of Love and Attraction

Autumn

• The Drummer -- Sign of Excess and Hedonism
• The Piper -- Sign of the Trickster
• Vobist the Faint -- Sign of Darkness and Uncertainty
• The Broken Cart -- Sign of Pride
• The Greased Goat -- Sign of Denied Passions

Winter

• Rhya's Cauldron -- Sign of Mercy, Death, and Creation
• Cacklefax the Cockerel -- Sign of Money and Merchants
• The Bone Saw -- Sign of Skill and Learning
• The Witchling Star -- Sign of Magic
• Wymund the Anchorite -- Sign of Enduring
• The Big Cross -- Sign of Clarity

Trivia

• In The Burning Shore, Florin d'Artaud mentions not being able to see "The Mill", "The Griffin" or the "The Lady's Veil," in the night sky over Lustria's eastern coast. It is unclear if these constellations are Bretonnian names for star signs already mentioned, or if they are their own. However, even in Lustria, one constellation - The Serpent - can still be seen as a bright star (its eye), while beneath it, trails of stars form the fangs. The constellation then spirals over and into the horizon.^[2a]
• Aenarion's Swordbelt is the Asur name of a constellation visible in Ulthuan's night sky.^[3a]
• The Skaven acknowledge thirteen major constellations, under them the Big Rat, the Drowned Rat, the Little Rat, the Black Rat, the Cornered Rat, the Pink Rat and King Mouse.^[4a]

Source

• Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd ED -- The WFRP Companion (pg. 46-52).
• 2: The Burning Shore (Novel), by Robert Earl
  • 2a: Chapter 8
• 3: Sword of Caledor (Novel), by William King
  • 3a: Chapter 15
• 4: The Black Plague: Dead Winter (Novel), by C.L. Werner
  • 4a: Prologue