Astrology.

[Anarcoplayba]

So, there is one thing that I've been thinking fir some time: how are the skies in the Core?

I know there is one sun and one moon, and there are eclipses and planetary alignments. Therefore, must be an astrological body of knowledge.

Is there a way to know it ooc so I can think in something IC?

[Vissy]

There are astrological texts you can find by participating in scholarly organizations that will explain this very thing. Examples of this are organizations like the Erudite Society.

[Anarcoplayba]

There are astrological texts you can find by participating in scholarly organizations that will explain this very thing. Examples of this are organizations like the Erudite Society.

The udea would be mire to know in what sky people see. I am not too keen on creating a pc to study in game and disciver wheter or not a line of rp is adequate

[Myrza]

Gazetteer I also mentions that Vallaki houses several astrological cults:

"...Several sages in Vallaki studiously chart the stars and planets of the evening sky, and rumors persist of bizarre astrological cults in the village..."

[Vissy]

There are astrological texts you can find by participating in scholarly organizations that will explain this very thing. Examples of this are organizations like the Erudite Society.

The udea would be mire to know in what sky people see. I am not too keen on creating a pc to study in game and disciver wheter or not a line of rp is adequate

Well, the same as what any layperson would see without astrological know-how. They'd see a lot of stars if visibility was good (which in Barovia, it isn't the case very often). You would presumably need astrological knowledge to discern more from the night sky.

[Anarcoplayba]

There are astrological texts you can find by participating in scholarly organizations that will explain this very thing. Examples of this are organizations like the Erudite Society.

The udea would be mire to know in what sky people see. I am not too keen on creating a pc to study in game and disciver wheter or not a line of rp is adequate

Well, the same as what any layperson would see without astrological know-how. They'd see a lot of stars if visibility was good (which in Barovia, it isn't the case very often). You would presumably need astrological knowledge to discern more from the night sky.

My main doubt is if we can transport our skies (sun, moon, saturn, jupiter, mars and venus - mercury is too hard to observe).

The astrological knowledge is very common. Maybe not with signs and the fine calculations of the arabs and greeks, but the observation of the main planets and its agricultural effects is VERY well documented.

Edit: I mean, documented in real life. Before the babylonians and egyptians. It is expected that most civilizations have one or another astrological practice ("you should trim plants in the crescent moon" and stuff) and I was considering a druid in this line.

[Maffa]

The point is,  is the sky an illusion? The way I imagined the lands of the Mists is like a snowball, where the mists are the glass. Is there a real sun within the mists? Are there any planets, and other stars? And what are those stars? Just shiny points on a painted ceiling, or what?

Questions, questions, questions.

[herkles]

There are astrology books at the University of Dementlieu and classrooms for it.

[Anarcoplayba]

The point is,  is the sky an illusion? The way I imagined the lands of the Mists is like a snowball, where the mists are the glass. Is there a real sun within the mists? Are there any planets, and other stars? And what are those stars? Just shiny points on a painted ceiling, or what?

Questions, questions, questions.

In a way, this is the astrological model, but the veil of the fixed stars is the glass.

[Rainor]

I do wonder what would my character see if I were to look up in the sky at Barovia, and then do it again in Dementlieu, Sithicus, Har'Akir, etc.

I've been told ingame plenty of conflicting information, like the sky is different everywhere, it's the same everywhere, you can see 3,2, or just one moon in Sithicus...

Would be nice to know OOC what we're actually seeing when we look up.

[ladylena]

Well I recall reading that Har Akir has a blood moon monthly. Which is supposedly added in the script to pop n yellow text...

But yeah it could be cool to have a clear idea what our characters would see when looking up. I recall there being a domain that doesn't have a moon, or has two moons?

[Vissy]

It is correct that each domain has a different night sky, to the best of my knowledge. They are different places entirely, all of them. You cannot observe the night sky of Barovia from Borca, and vice versa. Places that are not a part of the Core have even more differences. These are all things you can very much learn in-game, though.

[EO]

Actually all domains in a cluster share the same night sky, with a handful of exceptions (as indicated in the Ravenloft Campaign Setting 3E).

[Anarcoplayba]

Actually all domains in a cluster share the same night sky, with a handful of exceptions (as indicated in the Ravenloft Campaign Setting 3E).

And since this is too much nerdy stuff, can we assume the sky mimicrys our sky?

I mean, you have (as a rule) one sun, one moon, the year is the same year, the seasons are the same, the same gravity and stuff. It would not be too absurd we fill that blank with our world, would it?

[Ryujin]

Call this a question of ignorance but;

Isn't the sky in Sithicus different?
Seeing as there's only 1 moon in the sky there (Lunitari). And a few other things?

[NacreCicatrix]

I know there is a detailed text by Yunon Ambrosius about constellations (available in the Dementlieuse University as afore mentioned), but is that actually canon? Or is that just the player's creative effort? I did have an astronomer character but it felt like everything was already covered by that text.

[Myrza]

Call this a question of ignorance but;

Isn't the sky in Sithicus different?
Seeing as there's only 1 moon in the sky there (Lunitari). And a few other things?

I think that's one of the exceptions mentioned by EO.

[MAB77]

Call this a question of ignorance but;

Isn't the sky in Sithicus different?
Seeing as there's only 1 moon in the sky there (Lunitari). And a few other things?

3e homogenized the night sky for the Core. The rule of thumb is always to consider it is the same all across unless noted otherwise in the rule.

The sky of Sithicus was canonically changed to match the rest of the Core after the events of Specter of the Black Rose. Same sun, same moon, same stars. Sithicus has a single moon, which they call Nuitari. Gazetteer IV, p 120, states that "to the naked eye, Sithicus shares a single moon with the rest of the Core". For most it would look like exactly the same moon as anywhere else in the Core, although it may be felt that it is shedding its light in different hues while in Sithicus. (Something my traveling PCs would just ascribe to "something in the Sithican air")

The only other exceptions I can think of for the Core are Darkest Night in Darkon and the inconsistent sky in Vechor. Any AD&D 2nd Edition facts about the Core's night sky should just be ignored.

//Addendum, for obvious reasons the sun, moon and stars are never seen while on the Nocturnal Sea, but it is assumed they would be there above the clouds.

[Praying Mantis]

As an aside, also recommend looking into a group called the Celestines who study astrology.  There are in game NPCs and with the right RP build up you may be able to garner some attention