Quote:1. Has the Astrologian always existed and only recently gained in popularity in Eorzea (possibly those dragonface hipsters made it mainstream?) Or is it something that has only just become a thing?
2. Who started it?
It was founded by Sharlayans "thousands of years ago", but only made its way into Eorzea when the Sharlayans set up a colony in Dravania. Three hundred years ago Adaunel the Younger convinced the Holy See to use a portion of Astromancy to predict the movements of the Dravanian horde via observing the Dragon Star.
Despite this, the presence of Astromancy in Eorzea isn't very large. It seems to be a magic alien to Limsa Lominsa, despite that city state (and Eorzea in general) being a hot bed of diversity.
Quote:3. Are there only 6 cards? Or could an astro have more cards than the 6 available in game mechanics? If only those six have abilities, I'd think they have others just for divining purposes.
Some have speculated that there are more than six, but we don't really know, in my opinion if they exist they are outside what's commonly taught in Sharlayan Astromancy.
Levava talks about reading the cards during the Astrologian quest line, but she doesn't state which cards exactly or how many there are.
Quote:4. What kind of things do they do with the giant astrolabe other than use it as a focus?
Aside from the obvious use (casting spells), it's not clear what this is for, it doesn't exactly look like a model of the solar system or anything. If someone else recalls a lore tidbit that I missed about this feel free to correct me.
