Starstone pendant

The starstone pendant is a mysterious heirloom passed down to Princess Mikoa Lothaen from her mother Queen Callandra, by way of Nurse Belladay. It is Mikoa's most prized possession. She wears it on a leather cord, under her garments, against her skin. She subconsciously and symbolically touches the pendant when she is nervous or when thinking about her mother.

According to Nurse Belladay, Callandra found the starstone in a field in the middle of the night after chasing a falling star. When Callandra died, she gave the starstone to Belladay for safekeeping until Mikoa turned nine. Belladay gave the pendant to Mikoa on the night before Mikoa's ninth solstice-day (the night Belladay died).

At first look, the stone is a dark, empty black. But a closer look reveals thousands of twinkling pin-sized points of light, like a clear night sky captured in the stone. The effect is beautiful and enchanting.

Spoilers!
In Book 1, Mikoa discovers that her starstone pendant acts as a key to activate siabra pathstones, allowing Mikoa to use the siabra paths to travel quickly across Landfall.

In Book 1, Mikoa gives the pendant to Itaebi Fellstaff -- symbolically giving up hope of surviving her journey to Haelfaun. When Mikoa unexpectedly survives, Itaebi returns the pendant to her.