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  1. Mouthwash

    Mouthwash Senior Member

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    Idea for a fantasy sky.

    Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by Mouthwash, Jan 18, 2018.

    So this is my plan: there are a dozen or so deities (or spirits, or primal forces of nature, or platonic ideals) that fight each other in order to establish influence over the world. Each one has a constellation to represent itself, and the changing position and details of the constellations can give insight into what is going on, but only to trained astrologers. Any tips for crafting a believable sky? I can't take too much from real life astrology because of the element of randomness involved.

    (I'm not going to sketch everything out, obviously, but I just need enough to black-box the complicated stuff.)
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2018
  2. OB1

    OB1 Active Member

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    What's wrong with the sky we have?

    Sorry if this sounds flippant but if you want a believable sky base it on the one we have! You can change the orientation of the stars, you can use planets/moons instead of stars! What stage of technology is your culture in, have they invented the telescope? do they no about astronomy (not to be confused with astrology!).
     
  3. Seven Crowns

    Seven Crowns Moderator Staff Supporter Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    They read the stars as music on a celestial staff. The dominant theme is in ascendance, or some fantasy term like that. That way it's still stars but the interpretation of them is new.
     
  4. Mouthwash

    Mouthwash Senior Member

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    It doesn't take place in our universe or on a round world. I also already have some ideas for what I want the constellations to be. Finally, using a knockoff of Earth's sky would sabotage the alien feeling I'm going for.

    It doesn't follow one culture (but many cultures have developed astrology).
     
  5. OB1

    OB1 Active Member

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    Ahhhhhh @Mouthwash Do you mean sky as being the astrological chart or an actual physical sky? I am unfamiliar with astrological terms!
     
  6. OB1

    OB1 Active Member

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    Could you have a mechanical machine which is calibrated using fictional elements for your planet, that measure the shift in constellations, and can only be interpreted by a high priest?
     
  7. Mouthwash

    Mouthwash Senior Member

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    This isn't a planet, and I'd like something a little more interesting than that.
     
  8. newjerseyrunner

    newjerseyrunner Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    What's wrong with taking parts from the thousands of sky-based religions in Earth history? There are still people on this planet that believe that the location of stars and planets when you were born has some mysterious impact on your personality / "fate." All cultures saw the same stars, but they all had very different constellations. All of them saw changes to the sky to mean messages from the gods.

    If this isn't a real physical sky and you're introducing elements of fake science like astrology anyway, I would think believably is already out the window and all you have to do is sell what you create, not make it believable. Perhaps the first question you should ask, is "what is your sky?" It's obviously not thermonuclear stars that move based on the pull of gravity like our universe, so what is it exactly and how does it relate to the gods?
     
  9. DITF Ninja

    DITF Ninja Member

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    Make the sky chaotic if there is a bunch of dieties up there duking it out. I am talking shattered moons, a sun that its intensity changes all the time. Go nuts cause hell they are gods and why not?
     
  10. halisme

    halisme Contributor Contributor

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    I'd suggest giving them some power on the colour of the sky during the daytime. Then the world has built-in thematic lighting.
     

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