The answer is the zodiac. You may or may not remember that we were introduced to the 12 signs of the Celestian Zodiac while we were there. The first way in which we learned about the zodiac was the zodiac tomes (the Celestia book quest) where each tome explained one of the 12 signs. The second way was less direct. We were able to view the 12 signs of the zodiac in the wall hangings around The Astral Archives. Each zodiac sign had a wall hanging and the name of the sign written in Celestian script. Each wall hanging also had a glowing shield-like shape at the top of it.
All 12 signs are as follows:
Chariot
Crab
Fountain
Galleon
Hound
Kraken
Loom
Messenger
Phoenix
Serpent
Stag
Warden
Here is a wall hanging and sample of the tome information for the sign of the phoenix: Even though it is small and hard to see, the picture alongside of the quest dialogue matches the picture on the wall hanging.
The signs are in alphabetic order which is the order in which we read the zodiac tomes. And that’s it. We don’t learn anything else about the 12 signs of the zodiac while we are in Celestia.
Now fast forward to Khrysallis. In Radiance Reborn we find 4 towers, the serpent tower, the crab tower, the phoenix tower, and the hart tower. Hart is another word for a stag – both words refer to a male deer. So we have 4 towers, each with a name from the Celestian zodiac. The dialogue for the Radiance Reborn quest indicates that the celestial creatures in the towers are related to star magic.
So what do we think is the connection here? The signs of the zodiac appear connected to star magic, but in what way? How are the actual celestial creatures in the Khrysalis towers connected to the zodiac we learn about in Celestia? ? Did Morganthe bring the zodiac to Khrysalis? (Or did it go the other way? Did creatures from Khrysalis visit Celestia sometime in the past and teach them astral magic?)
And what about the remaining 8 signs? Some of them are a little familiar. The chariot we take to Aquila, The fountain in Wysteria, The loom of fate that Urd and her sisters tend to who live at the base of Grandmother Raven in Wintertusk. Is the messenger us? Are others such as kraken and the galleon a ‘sign’ of what’s to come? How would you explain this?
Kevin Lifewalker
Maybe when The Storm Titan betrayed the Celestians, some of The Signs of the Celestian Zodiac were scattered across The Spiral. One may have landed in Wysteria and when Sir Bainbridge Pigswick arrived to Wysteria, he decided to polish up the Fountain and use it as the 'Bartleby' of Pigswick. He found it to be a good Center of Magic because it was so highly charged, as a Sign of the Celestian Zodiac probably is. Same with The Loom of Fate. If it's a Loom that's attached to fate, it's probably also magically charged, like a Sign of the Celestian Zodiac. Apollo's Chariot is also powerful, but I'm not super sure about this one, although Apollo could have found it and used it.
ReplyDeleteI love how you connected these 2! Overall, Amazing Article and I LOVED reading it.