So, where's the Sun on the Moon?

[Theozilla]

Heard from others that apparently the Moon only appears in Elpis during Umbral Wind weather conditions, which makes things even more interesting. Maybe there was some proto-spiritual moon existing before Hydaelyn made it manifest physically?

[KageTokage]

Heard from others that apparently the Moon only appears in Elpis during Umbral Wind weather conditions, which makes things even more interesting. Maybe there was some proto-spiritual moon existing before Hydaelyn made it manifest physically?

The moon rather abruptly fazes into existence around 8 PM or so as opposed to being immediately visible like in the other zones, so its presence is definitely not an oversight. Until further notice, I think I'd like to assume that it always existed and that Venat/Hydaelyn simply shoved Zodiark and the ship into it later.

I also find it rather curious that the Umbral Wind weather also manifests both on the moon itself and in Ultima Thule.

Perhaps there are some celestial oddities to be seen in those zones as well...?

[dreamfisher]

Until further notice, I think I'd like to assume that it always existed and that Venat/Hydaelyn simply shoved Zodiark and the ship into it later.

This is inconsistent with Y'shtola's line,

This heavenly body we know to be the moon was in fact created by Hydaelyn! When the watcher said he was created together with this place, I thought he only meant this facility... Truly, Hydaelyn's powers are far beyond anything I could have imagined.

Did I miss something that suggests she was somehow wrong in this discovery?

[KageTokage]

I forgot about that line...but that just suggests that something profoundly weird is going on if the moon definitively isn't supposed to exist at all in that point in time.

The fact that it happens specifically during umbral wind; which as mentioned also is present in the two zones in the Sea of Stars makes me really question what it all means.

Perhaps the moon was a concept in the making that wasn't originally planned to serve as Zodiark's prison and an ark, but would later be repurposed as such, and this "phantom" moon that's fleetingly visible is just an incomplete husk waiting to be made solid and whole with the power of creation magicks...?

[Theozilla]

I forgot about that line...but that just suggests that something profoundly weird is going on if the moon definitively isn't supposed to exist at all in that point in time.

The fact that it happens specifically during umbral wind; which as mentioned also is present in the two zones in the Sea of Stars makes me really question what it all means.

Perhaps the moon was a concept in the making that wasn't originally planned to serve as Zodiark's prison and an ark, but would later be repurposed as such, and this "phantom" moon that's fleetingly visible is just an incomplete husk waiting to be made solid and whole with the power of creation magicks...?

Yeah, that's what I am wondering now too. Because the fact that the moon only appears in the Elpis zone during the Umbral Wind weather conditions, I think suggests that the moon's presence in the Elpis zone is intentional and not just a glitch/typo on the developers part. So it's likely an intentional mystery that remains to be addressed.

[KageTokage]

I noticed something else freaky which is that while the moon phases into existence at around 8 PM or so, it abruptly vanishes again at it approaches the highest point in the night sky around midnight, then doesn't come back for the rest of the night.

At this point I'm wondering if maybe the other parts of the moon that were not rendered habitable by Hydaelyn and Loporrits have some secrets that remain to be unveiled. Some of the Sharlayans expressed in interest in further exploration once they formulate a method of surviving outside of the safe zone Mare Lamentorum exists within.

[Recon1o6]

As far as I understood it, the reason the moon has breathable atmosphere is due to the loporrits being arcane entities, they don't need air but Etheriys population does so they made an atmosphere there.

With regards to the sun, i aint a clue.

[kaynide]

I noticed something else freaky which is that while the moon phases into existence at around 8 PM or so, it abruptly vanishes again at it approaches the highest point in the night sky around midnight, then doesn't come back for the rest of the night.

At this point I'm wondering if maybe the other parts of the moon that were not rendered habitable by Hydaelyn and Loporrits have some secrets that remain to be unveiled. Some of the Sharlayans expressed in interest in further exploration once they formulate a method of surviving outside of the safe zone Mare Lamentorum exists within.

I obviously don't know, but if it just appears without transition effects/fade in/out, I am inclined to think it's a glitch...especially if it uses the same texture as the modern-day moon. I would also be inclined to believe they copy/pasted another zone as their base template for Elpis.. like the Diadem, and just didn't check the specific weather effects.

[dreamfisher]

I obviously don't know, but if it just appears without transition effects/fade in/out, I am inclined to think it's a glitch...especially if it uses the same texture as the modern-day moon. I would also be inclined to believe they copy/pasted another zone as their base template for Elpis.. like the Diadem, and just didn't check the specific weather effects.

As much as I love a good mystery, I'm inclined to agree. After a bit of investigation, I discovered that the constellations also only appear during Umbral Wind.
Though, the fact that the constellations are different post-sundering brings with it its own interesting set of questions, unless I'm forgetting some established lore about the stars and their arrangement in the night sky (which is also pretty likely).

Edit for clarity: The moon doesn't appear after a midnight weather transition into Umbral Wind (as mentioned by others), but the constellations still do.

[KageTokage]

I obviously don't know, but if it just appears without transition effects/fade in/out, I am inclined to think it's a glitch...especially if it uses the same texture as the modern-day moon. I would also be inclined to believe they copy/pasted another zone as their base template for Elpis.. like the Diadem, and just didn't check the specific weather effects.

It does fade in/out, but very rapidly compared to how it does in any other zone.

I suppose barring revelations in quests, word of god and/or a bug fix it's hard to say whether it's intentional or not.