<Lore> Cosmos Inquiry

[BumblingSeaBiscuit]

All right so this question is going to be extremely vague because I'm not looking for something in specific. What I am looking for is general lore on the night sky. I've done some hunting, myself, and I have a feeling that more will be added when we have the new expansion. That said, I'd like to know what we have now. 

 

 

Calendar craziness aside, we know that the moon has full phases.

 

I also know that there's constellations in the sky. I found a map. . .

 

 

. . . and I'm wondering if it is something that holds weight in lore? If it is, we have constellations that only show up during specific times of the year. Is this the same for Eorzea? If it is, do we have some form of reference?

 

 

I don't know. SOMEONE TALK TO ME ABOUT THE SKY. IT'S PRETTY AND STUFF. 

Thanks for any information provided. <3

[C'kayah Polaali]

This is all rampant speculation based on in-game observations, but...

 

We know Eorzea has seasons, but they're very mild compared to seasons on Earth. Our seasons are caused by the axial tilt of the Earth:

 

 

You can see from this diagram that each hemisphere has summer when the sun's rays are closer to being overhead, and winter when they're furthest from it. You can also see why the seasons are swapped between the northern and southern hemispheres - the north has summer when the south has winter, and visa versa.

 

The tilt is measured from the plane of the Earth's orbit around the sun. You can see that the Earth has a pretty decent tilt, enough to produce a pretty significant difference between summer and winter. If the tilt was greater, you'd see greater differences between the seasons.

 

Now in Eorzea, on the other hand, we don't see any real distinctions between summer and winter. There's a light snow around Starlight, but *every* place gets that. Other than that, every season seems to be basically the same. Corthas is always cold, Thanalan is always hot, the Shroud is always temperate, and these don't really vary with the seasons. You can assume, then, that Hydaelyn's axial tilt is basically straight up and down, making the angle of Hydaelyn's sun's rays the same for any given spot on the surface all throughout the year.

 

Now, you can imagine you're sitting on the planet, looking up at the sky. You're able to see a circular portion of the sky that's based on the longitude and latitude of the spot you're sitting at, and what time it is. As the planet spins, your visible circle spins with it, which is what lets you see different stars as the night progresses. Now, there are a couple of things that limit what you can and can't see. One of them is the hours of night. You simply can't see stars (except in extreme circumstances) while the sun is shining. The other is your latitude (which is why the night sky is different in the southern hemisphere). You're seeing, on any day, a strip of sky.

 

As the year progresses, you can see different constellations, though. This is mainly a phase thing: As the Earth goes around the sun, you're seeing a different portion of the sky during the hours of darkness. The axial tilt of the Earth plays into this, too, because the days are shorter for winter and longer for summer. Longer night means more stars you can see.

 

Since Hydaelyn's axial tilt is basically nil, the only thing that affects what stars you can see is the phase progression from the planet going around the sun: You can still see a different part of the sky during the night different times of the year. Now, I haven't really studied the sky in depth in Eorzea, but I haven't noticed a seasonal difference in the stars. The only thing we can deduce from this is that there's a strangely coincidental correlation between the length of the day and the year, which means that we're always seeing the same section of sky during the night. That's pretty long odds, but as they say, when you eliminate the impossible, what you have left, however improbable, must be the truth.

 

But what explains this improbable coincidence? Clearly, the answer is magic.

[Naunet]

Now in Eorzea, on the other hand, we don't see any real distinctions between summer and winter. There's a light snow around Starlight, but *every* place gets that. Other than that, every season seems to be basically the same.

 

I'm unconvinced this is really any meaningful thing. Coding seasons into the game world would take a great deal of effort. I don't know of any MMO that does such, and it would certainly be strange to presume that all of those fictional worlds were deliberately built with a completely vertical axis.

[C'kayah Polaali]

Hey, if God is lazy, then God is lazy.

[Oli!]

 

 

Now in Eorzea, on the other hand, we don't see any real distinctions between summer and winter. There's a light snow around Starlight, but *every* place gets that. Other than that, every season seems to be basically the same. Corthas is always cold, Thanalan is always hot, the Shroud is always temperate, and these don't really vary with the seasons. You can assume, then, that Hydaelyn's axial tilt is basically straight up and down, making the angle of Hydaelyn's sun's rays the same for any given spot on the surface all throughout the year.

 

 

Actually, the reason why we don't see any distinctions in several of the places that you mentioned is literally due to magic.

 

Coerthas was actually an unchanging set of grassy highlands. Then Dalamud fell, which reportedly released enough aether to permanently mess with the climes themselves, resulting in an endless and unrelenting winter.

 

As for Thanalan, I can't remember where I heard this, but it's possible that Thanalan isn't actually a desert because it doesn't rain, but because Thaumaturges screwed with the aether at one point and ruined the place.

 

Again, I can't remember where I heard the second one, so take it with a grain of salt. The first bit on Coerthas, however, is accessible information within the game itself.

 

However, based on the Coerthas example, I think we might be able to propose the idea that the reason why we don't see any climate changes is because the world's aether keeps everything locked into certain specific climates, either naturally or due to other reasons. If that's the case, then we wouldn't see climate changes regardless of the tilt of Hydaelyn's axis.

[Blue]

Just going to point out that the picture you found (the costellations map) is actually of FFXI's sky. I wouldn't know if it matches with Hydaelyn's sky though since Vana'diel's costellations are strictly related to the eight celestial avatars, which we do not have. I do not see the eight Prime stars eight in-game, so probably not the same sky.

 

Still, who knows? Maybe we'll get to learn something when Astrologian comes out.

[Mae]

I'm unconvinced this is really any meaningful thing. Coding seasons into the game world would take a great deal of effort. I don't know of any MMO that does such, and it would certainly be strange to presume that all of those fictional worlds were deliberately built with a completely vertical axis.

FFXI actually does have seasons -- it's what dictates the likelihood of certain weather conditions to spawn in certain areas (snow in Batallia, for example, only occurs during winter, heatwaves in Valkrum are more common in summer, double rain in the Jungles is the go-to weather in spring, etc). There's just no coding for actual terrain changes.

 

Anyways.

 

As Blue pointed out, the map in the first post is from XI. The graphic that includes the stars is fixed and never changes -- Odin is always due north, Titan is always due south, and as long as the sky is clear you'll see all the stars.

 

XIV specifically, I -thought- I once observed the star graphics wandering slowly over the course of the night (was trying to get a specific screenshot out in Costa), but I could be mistaken. Even if I'm not, it's probably likely that it's the same wandering path every night.

[FreelanceWizard]

Yep! I noticed that the stars move during the night, which is a nice touch, I think.

 

There's some maps in the Observatorium that I believe some people on the official forums are trying to figure out, but I have a distinct feeling they're largely for show (right now) and don't have a greater meaning.

[Ciel]

I somewhat recall Yoshi P or someone saying the constellations and lore surrounding them will be explored in Heavensward, which makes sense.  So much of it will revolve around Ishgard, and with Astrologian coming with it, I can see this as being a necessary thing to explore in the game.  So sit tight, it's coming.

 

Also, that map you linked is for the constellations in XI, so they may not be the same with XIV.  You would be better off going to the Observatorium in Coerthas and trying to get a good, close up screenshot of the star maps in there.

[BumblingSeaBiscuit]

Thank you everyone for the responses!