Stars of Nehwon

Nehwon Gazetteer

As astronomy was one of Fritz Leiber’s passions, many stars decorate the heavens of Nehwon in his fiction, and even play important roles in some of the stories. In the Bazaar of the Bizarre, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are supposed to meet their mentors at the Plaza of Dark Delights when the Spire of Rhan stabs Akul’s heart. In The Curse of the Smalls and the Stars[?], Fafhrd is cursed to constantly gaze at the heavens and memorize their multitudes. The following stars are mentioned in the stories:

• Akul shines green and is visible from Lankhmar.
• Ashsha, which is pale blue and the brightest.
• Astorian, which is Nehwon’s greatest star.
• The dim stars of the Ghosts.
• The Star of the Ice Fields is the northernmost star.
• The skinny long triangle of the Knife has blood red star for the tip.
• The star pairs of the Lovers.
• The star Shadah twinkles blue. It also sets just before dawn in Cold Corner during winter.
• The seven spiralled stars of the Targe is Nehwon’s northernmost constellation. We can probably assume that the Star of the Ice Fields is one of the seven of the Targe.