Atlantic Roleplay Community Boards

[Xana]

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Many times I have pondered the firmament of Sosaria.

If one were standing and looking up at the night sky, would a person see constellations like those we have from our Earthly perspective?

Would see see periodic, and sometimes predictable, meteor showers? Comets? Eclipses?

In prior years of roleplay, particularly White Wolf (Earth based) there were many times these topics came up and naturally fit into campaigns. For instance, my Lasombra-lady would stand in a certain location and meditate on her problems while looking up at Orion the hunter.

I would love to get some perspective of other Sosarians as to how we might regard the night sky. Especially, for the Gypsy guild, this is an important factor because their 'religion' and many aspects of daily life are so closely related to so-called Earth religions as we know them. If there is any lore posted on this topic, I am not aware of it.

So, fellow roleplayers, let's hear your thoughts on this matter! Much obliged for input you may offer.
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An artist is a creature driven by demons ~Faulkner

[Cezanne Abella]

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I should think there would have to be occasional heavenly shows like meteor showers and eclipses. And there would be constellations, as well - just ones that pertain more to Sosaria.

Like Jeff the God of Biscuits, or Simon, the God of Hairdos. (To quote Eddie Izzard)

[D'thal Morlith]

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On the rim of the Moonglow telescope, you'll notice several symbolic references to real world celestial bodies. I'm sure a slew of Moonglow wizards didn't pull it out of thin air. Not to mention, several EM events ago the Mars in Opposition to the Sun played a role in what went down that evening, as described on their website. I suppose you can take that with a grain of salt. As for Constellations, not sure if it's anything we'd see but a quick glance shows a slightly modified symbol denoting Sagittarius, at least.


Only obscurity that's really blatantly referenced is that brittania has two moons.

[Xana]

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I've looked at that telescope many times and wondered if the symbols were coincidental or not. The event you mentioned doesn't sound familiar to me; it was either before my time or before I knew there were actually events; embarrassingly I played for years before I realized there were even events.

Thanks for the input Cezanne and D'thal.

I think it would be great if, at least as far as ARPC goes, we could come up with some good lore on this.

Even if it means Simon!
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An artist is a creature driven by demons ~Faulkner

[TayM'real]

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The sky has a huge impact on the history of Sosaria (see details from prior Ultima RPG games).

3 comets initially signaled the coming of the Shadowlords
the moons were used as the only way of knowing where a moongate source would be

While there is no mention of specific constelations, I imagine they do exist - but would be tied to Sosarian lore versus mythology...

For example - you could call a constelation 'exodus' or something like that
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To kill a non-believer tis not murder, tis the path to enlightenment...

[Ceinwyn ab'Arawn]

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In Ultima lore, Sosaria was a planet in the same universe as Earth, I would think that although the perspective is different, a similar night sky would exist. Sosaria has 2 moons that I know of, Trammel and Felucca, which is where those two facets get their names.

During the Rift event, it was revealed that certain alignments of the heavenly bodies resulted in new gates and rifts opening on our land.

[Xana]

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Thanks, Tay and Ceinwyn for your input.

Though I did not play the original Ultima games, I have a small understanding of them through my partner. Somewhere I even have moonstones, I'm aware of that part too.

But, like Ceinwyn mentioned...there is this perspective thing.

That's where I'm obsessing on this! Just -what- would we see? Would we see Orion, upside down or would we see something else?
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An artist is a creature driven by demons ~Faulkner

[Cear Dallben ZOG]

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If youve ever played that game Ultima IX

The night sky is beyond start filled. i'll boot it up in a minutes and take a screen shot
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[Xana]

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Oh, wow. Thank you!

I can ask Bill; he played from the first one to the online version until he defected to DDO and STO.

Sadly I can only see the last image. Keep getting authenticate requests from your website, Cear.
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An artist is a creature driven by demons ~Faulkner

[Cezanne Abella]

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No, we would not see any of the same constellations in Sosaria as we do here. First off they were picked out and named through eons to resemble the figures and mythology that applied to ourselves. Another planet would see the same grouping of stars as Orion and see a bear with an upraised paw, or someone picketing for hobbits' right to vote. Besides, unless Sosaria was in our own solar system (circling our own sun) the stars would not appear to be in the same places. They could be in the same universe, and still, say, the OTHER side of half the stars in Orion from us. Hence, some of the stars in our Orion would appear in the southern sky and some would appear in the northern sky. (Sorry. Huge astronomy buff. *pushes up glasses and gigglesnorts*)

As the others have mentioned, it's all a matter of perspective. I would think that if we wanted to define the constellations and heavenly bodies in the Sosarian sky, we'd be best off to get together and decide it for ourselves, save for the few here and there that have been already enumerated.