Chereads / Of the Stars, Sun, and Moon / Chapter 70 - Divine Encryption

Chapter 70 - Divine Encryption

This was a question that Ezer received on a frequent basis.

How did you get your name?

It was never referring to 'Ezer', the name given to him at birth, but rather to 'Ji', the name he received. This was not a name bestowed upon him by someone like a king or master, nor was it something he made up by himself. This was the name of one of his stars, the knowledge of which was given to him by the heavens in recognition of something related to it.

It was a sign of mastery in that star's category, and was not something that could be faked.

Before knowing the significance of a name that is received, one must understand the meaning behind a given name, the name you are born with.

This name, despite how it may initially be seen, is not a name prescribed by the parents of the child. It is a name given directly by the Heavens, engrained into the Nexus of a person. Of course the mother, the one physically connected to the baby, will have knowledge of this name once it exits the womb. Whether this is to allow for a baby to be communicated with before they are capable of speech or is a product of some unknown factor is unknown, people just accept it as it is.

But what is it exactly?

To put it shortly, it is an encryption of a person's three stellar names.

To further expound upon it, it is a way of properly referring to someone without exposing to them or others their strengths and weaknesses. It is philosophized by many to be something that the heavens require to function, as many opportunities are given to people by name directly from the heavens.

The heavens, viewed by many to be a fair entity all things considered, would potentially harm it's own intentions by exposing the strengths and weaknesses of those it punishes or gives opportunity to. Knowing what a star affects can be used against it after all.

Take Jamie and the rest of the Sanguechi family as an example.

Their star, Sanguechi, a lots them a great deal of external control over their bloodline's blood. The counter to such a technique would be to not let them bleed then, and perhaps bludgeon them to death. The problem with this is while YOU may not force them to bleed, what is to stop them from cutting themselves? What is to stop them from bottling some of their blood and opening a vial mid battle?

In that way there is little that can be done.

Alternatively, there are stars that can make someone stronger in the presence of, say, a certain species of tree. The counter to this would be to either not engage them near one of those trees or somehow remove that tree from the equation during the fight.

Life and death can be determined on the knowledge of someone's stars.

The given name does not in any way hand over this information. Once again it is a divine encryption.

Arc serves as the penultimate example of this.

Colaris Dominus Arcturus

Two of these are actual stars, Dominus and Arcturus, while Colaris is perceived as a star but is actually a constellation. In the permutation it is in, it is the encrypted name of another set of stars that actually exceed the limit of three names. Those names in their exact permutation are the encrypted name of ANOTHER set of stars. In turn those are the encryption of another, those are the encryption of the next, and those are the encryption of the next. This repeats itself for some time, reducing and increasing the number of names in each permutation iteration, all the way to the name Stellaris Solaris Lunaris.

Also of note in Arc's particular case is that each of these names is of the same tier as it's slot. Colaris, a constellation tier name who's effect is in regards to cultivation, is only capable of being slotted in the first name as it is of that level of 'power'. Dominus, a Major Star tier name which finds its effects in the domain of control, can be fitted in either the first or second slot. Arcturus, a Minor Star tier name which has an effect on sight in the dark, can be slotted anywhere.

This means that Arc's names are 'legal' in the eyes of the Heavens and he will not receive punitive responses from the sky when he tries to cultivate.

Much like Arc's name, the given names of the normal person will be their stars encrypted down to a single name. Unlike Arc however, there is zero requirement for this name to actually be a star, nor does it even have to be complete. Nofafi and Ezer are actually good examples, with Nofafi not being a star and Ezer being a step further in that it is only a partial encryption, one of his stars 'Ji' has been removed from the encryption.

He used to be called Rjwnd. Go ahead. Try to pronounce that.