3. The Origin of the Twelve

The Twelve standing stones have quietly overlooked the mighty Adrax Sea for millennia. Nothing more than a perennial part of the landscape today and simply passed by by those who happen to wander through the coastal path besides which they stand, they are far more than appears to the eye. 

The home world of the Twelve

Originating in another world long since destroyed in a great cataclysm, they long ago sailed through the fathomless ocean which is the dwelling place of stars far beyond the reach of man. After arriving in their new world, the world in which The Star Stone is set, and after the silent contemplation of epochs, they proceeded to reach down into the depths and substance of their new home and reconstruct memories of the world from which they came.

The Heron's Nest 

Early on in the book, the Heron’s Nest with its "battered appearance that somehow dignified the old inn with the sense that it had thoroughly earned the right to stand just where it was and would...forevermore," paid host to a momentous conversation in which the wandering beer merchant, Jangel Lampstone explains to Thengolis over a flagon of ale that the standing stones are something far beyond what they seem.

“'Listen, if you were a worm, if you’ll excuse the nasty comparison,’ said Jangel with the hint of a smile, ‘and all you knew of the world was wriggling around in the earth, and you had never seen the magnificent world of sunlight, of blue skies, of starlight, and of tall towering trees, then what would a tall towering tree be like to you? You know, if you were a worm wriggling in the ground?' 

'Well, I suppose a tree, to a worm at any rate, would be just old roots in the ground. Nothing more than that.”

'Exactly,’ said Jangel. ‘You see to us, the stones, the Sentinels are just the roots of the tree in the ground, just the wispy hairy ends of them in fact. But what they really are, as is true of much in this world, is actually hidden from view, like a mighty oak tree might be hidden from a worm in the ground. What may appear commonplace and of no account might prove to be the most important thing in reality, Thengol. Take a sip of your ale and I’ll tell you a little more.’ Thengolis took an obedient sip from his ale. ‘As I said, the Sentinels are not from this world, they are from another world, older and more ancient than this world, and they came here long ages ago when the world, this world, was in its infancy.'"

This is from the first book in the epic Saga of the Star Stone