To think that, to the veteran Sky theorist, we find a lore moth's question so preposterous. It's a simple question, an innocent, mildly curious inquiry. But upon hearing it, all of Lorechat and Skyblr collectively feel the imminent, eruptive, and possibly volatile pressure immediately swelling within their throats (on their keyboards). We start investing in an aggressive, passionate plan. We fill our notepads and documents and blogs and create visual graphs and boards and attempts at encyclopedias. And in the end we can't find the words, stuttering and drooling in our dumbfoundedness of the gap between us and the innocent newcomer. And the gap between us and the Answer.
All of this over just one question.
"Can you explain Sky to me?"
~~~~~Old Articles~~~~~
Longform reading isn't everyone's thing, and that's okay, but if you want to practice some reading while also hopefully making some connections about the world of Sky, I recommend checking out the articles posted on the Blog to see if you'd like to send a Follow to keep up with new updates!
}}} Defining the Lore (Bible)
}}} Defining Megabird #1
}}} Defining Megabird #2
}}} Defining Beings
}}} Defining Light (Biomatter substance)
}}} Defining Darkness
}}} Defining Diamonds
}}} Defining Descendants
}}} Defining Ancestors
Random Lore panic attacks and zealousy
}}} Defining Spirits
Overly dramatic philosophical posts now and then
This blog is undergoing constant transformation, as a reflection of discovering who I am and feeling who I am becoming. If you are a fan of philosophy, psychology, and intensive literative analysis, you've come to the right place. And even if you're unsure, thank you for checking it out anyways. What I am doing here will not be a one-size-fits-all, and that's okay. Nobody is any more or any less for being in any given place, and it's best that we be where we want to. 🌊
One thing I've been trying to figure out for a long time is what kind of system of medicine and healing did they have in the past sky kingdom? There isn't a lot to go off of but there are some things we can look at.
First off, it seems they had two different ways of dealing with injuries/illnesses: regular physical medicine--things like medicinal tea and bandages and crutches and stuff--and magical healing using light. First lets look at regular medicine:
There are a number of spirits that show signs of past injuries that have been treated: Wounded Warrior and Marching Adventurer have actual bandages on them so we know that the ancestors had at least some basic first aid knowledge--how to treat flesh/bone injuries and also eye injuries. Another example is Bowing Medalist during the 3rd Aurora memory:
Bowing Medalist falls off their manta during the race, is injured, put on a cot, and given a crutch to help them get around.
Another very interesting bit of lore comes from Peeking Postman's traveling spirit hint (in the past, traveling spirits were teased using lists of random trivia about them):
So in the past sky kingdom, there were infirmaries where people could go for treatment.
We know from Tiptoeing Teabrewer's memory (and Tender Toymaker's quest) that tea was used for treating (or at least for soothing) ill people.
One last thing before I talk about the elephant in the room: during the Season of Bluebird, the grandparent's quest/memory takes place in orbit and is about unborn baby sky kids choosing their life goal/destiny. One of the sky kids that the players assists has the destiny of "I'm going to invent machines that heal the sick."
That immediately got my interest and it brings up the question is Blue Bird taking place in the past (implying that sky kid lived in the past and therefor past sky people had machines for use in medicine) or is it taking place in the present (implying that the sky kid is born in modern times and our current generation of sky people will at some point invent machines for medicine in the future as the kingdom is restored).
It is possible that they had medical technology in the past more than just bandages, crutches, and tea--they did have electromechanical/magical technology such as the light towers in the Two Embers city (and all around wasteland) as well as the forcefields in the Reef/Abyss quests. We don't see any evidence of medical tech through the spirit memories or questlines, but perhaps as the kingdom declined, so did the medical technology and there wasn't much left by the time most of the quests/spirit memories occurred. We just don't know.
Anyways it's time to talk about the elephant in the room: crystallization.
Crystallization is an illness that plagued the civilization in the past and is a constant threat to modern day sky kids as well. Crystallization is caused by lack of light (like a vitamin deficiency). Exposure to darkness can steal/destroy a person's light which causes the light deficiency that leads to crystallization. The only effective way to treat crystallization is with light.
But in the past, Light was also used for defense against the darkness. The land was unsustainably harvested of almost all light (causing the crystallization illness in people) in order to defend against the darkness (and power the Eden crystal??) (watch the in-game Two Embers projector creator commentary for more info). So there were two competing needs for light: defense and for healing. Neither could be neglected but neither could be sustained.
Because of this, I suspect light was rationed--the majority of light collected going to the kingdom's defense and the minority allocated to healing. That's why in the Two Embers, entrance to the Cloister (where the healing light spring is located) was strictly limited and most ill people were treated at the door then sent on their way.
The limited healing light resource was likely distributed in a way that could sustain the most people for the longest time--giving people enough light to prevent their crystallization illnesses from progressing too far/too fast, but once a person's illness got too advanced (crystals on their torso, head, mask, and/or lungs), they couldn't get enough light to effectively treat them and they would die (like Tender Toymaker).
So exactly how was light used to heal people in the past? Two ways: just hanging out in the sacred spring and absorbing the healing light that fills the place, and direct healing.
If you go out of bounds outside of the cloister through one of the windows, you can watch people get healed. First the people stand in line, then kneel down, then they turn shiny, stand up, and walk away.
In the oob, there aren't any vault workers, but we know from Two Embers movie that it was the vault workers who were tending to the sick people (see earlier the screenshot in this post of folks standing in line on front of the cloister)--so I imagine it went something like this:
Finally, let's talk about the people who were the doctors and healers in the past.
Vault workers are the folks who take care of the sick and injured during Two Embers movie and in the Last City in-game. But who exactly are the vault workers? What exactly is the Vault? Is it a university where sky people can learn stuff and be trained in different higher-level jobs like engineer, astronomer, doctor, etc.? Do the healers wear the vault robes because they still belong to the vault even if they live and work somewhere else?
There is one other medical professional in Sky and it is this guy vv #favespirit #savedthebestforlast #myparent
If you know me at all, you've heard me talk about this spirit before--the Seed of Hope is a medic who ran around rescuing soldiers at the end of all things after the city had already fallen to darkness during Aurora's 4th quest. Lore from the wiki about Seed vv
"The poisoned soils of that field tore away all you knew, save one truth. You held fast to it, risking the only thing you had left. Because even the deepest shadows would not stop you from reaching to save what light you could."
Anyways that's all I have for you all today. If you've made it to the end, thank you very much for reading this; it took me all day to put this post together.
@ayngarp-pragnya and I were just recently having a conversation about Light deficiency again, drawing potential parallels to micelles, fats, and crucial protein production, and happening upon this is only stoking the fire. I really hope for further conversations into these topics as the year goes on ❤️🕯️
A user arrived to Lorechat asking if us locals knew "any lore" or at least headcanons regarding the Candlemaker; the first Spirit we ever meet.
I may not know a great amount of headcanons, but this is a good opportunity to outline all of the concrete observations we have made over the years on the Candlemaker, so let's get on it!
The Pointing Candlemaker, like most Sky characters, is a simple character with little canon depth. Both narratively to the Ancestors in their memory, and mechanically to the player; the Candlemaker is immediately a teacher.
They are there to help us understand, if only just a little. Teaching through practice, and application. The tutor of the tutorial.
Something that has always scratched my brain about this character is how much traffic passed and passes through their little space. We do not know if the Candlemaker instructed many travelers or if the two Ancestors in the memory were close to the Candlemaker. But regardless of whether this was a general or personal obligation for them to help those two characters, we can tell that the Candlemaker was passionate about their craft, and their devotion to the traditions of the Isle. And passionate about sharing these wisdoms with others around them!
This passion is our rock, and the stepping stone that all further interpretation and fanbase admiration derives from! Because as they say, putting a little bit of truth into a lie is what makes the 'lie' (beautiful treasure troves of Sky CotL fan fiction writing) feel authentic.
Now we have our framework.
The Candlemaker is passionate about sharing their craft and traditions with others. Boom!
And now we can stretch this framework and grow beautiful stories from it. But more on that later.
It's time for all of your favorite parts: the Grounded Documentation 👻👻👻
I'm sure you saw the bullet points creeping onto your screen from a thousand miles away, but I swear that this part is important! The following list is what allows me to confidently affirm what is definitively 'canon' about the Candlemaker, and what I've always assumed were facts about them. So skip past it, or suffer the fate of analytical reading, and we'll get back to the fun and juicy stuff.
Observations
Their original name was “Pointing Pilgrim”, and was changed as least a year or more after Sky’s public launch.
Their Spirit memory suggests that the cave we find them in once had murals illustrated on the walls, and a worktable for candlemaking.
The first mural depicts Ancestors celebrating and worshipping over candles underneath the stars in the Sky.
The second mural shows groups of Ancestors offering candles to the Elder of the Isle, and the Ancestor’s boats flying up towards the Temple.
During the memory, the Candlemaker shows these murals to other Ancestors, and teaches them how to make candles.
The Candlemaker then sends them away on a boat to the Temple, transporting many candles and pots.
The Candlemaker is also found in the Aviary with their hands in a large pot full of the Light substance that skychildren often call “wax”.
They will sometimes offer the daily quest to “Forge a candle”, which rewards you yet another candle from them in return.
Notes
There is no way of objectively knowing whether the cave their memory takes place in was the Candlemaker’s home, or place of work.
We do not know the relation between the Candlemaker and the two Ancestors shown in their memory; whether they were close or strangers.
Related to the previous note, we do not know if the Candlemaker was a local guide, a renowned teacher within the Isle, or a candlemaker in profession.
We also can’t be sure what the Candlemaker is doing with the pot full of wax Light.
You survived! Not so bad, right?
Now, back to making stories. Here lemme just copy-paste from-
{{{The Candlemaker is passionate about sharing their craft and traditions with others. Boom!}}}
Yeah sure yeah there we go-
Alright- so in order to deepen any character we must find a way to introduce some sort of conflict.
We need to find a way to transform this guy from being a simple plot progression device, into a living person with unique goals, values, flaws, and obstacles. Luckily, thanks to the evil bullet points, we've identified quite a lot of potentially interesting things about them.
Firstly, no matter what they are now, they used to be a "Pilgrim"! No matter what the internal lore reasons they may have changed the name for, there are two mechanical purposes that are obvious to me. Despite being a “Pointing Pilgrim”, this Spirit didn’t clearly leave the Isle or even that cave in any way they expressed to us. So how could they be a pilgrim if they never travelled further? At least when the table first came out, the “pilgrim” was observing the murals themself, and pointing the way to the Temple for us, not Ancestors. Once those two other characters were added to the memory and shown traveling from the cave, it makes the “pilgrim” look ironically stationary in comparison. The second purpose was to give the Candlemaker an official role! That’s right, our guy is licensed in candlemaking now. But definitely not a Pilgrim 😔
Current-canon or not, we can leverage this name-change quite well. Maybe they were a Pilgrim, one with the migration, but through circumstances ended up settling down there below the Temple. Or maybe they never became a Pilgrim in the end, but always wanted to be one! What may sound like theories that belong in the Lorechat stew; are our delicious and relevant ammo for fanfic writing.
Next up, those two Ancestors. If they are family, sending them off on their own pilgrimage while they themself stay trapped in the Isle? Or even if they are just two of dozens, maybe even hundreds of people that they must send up towards the Temple, the Candlemaker is the one who always stays, like a grounded bird watching the rest of the flock fly away without them.
Why do they stay here? What keeps them here? Is there anything that makes them yearn for more than that simple life?
There is so much potential. It could have edge, or not have edge. Be somber or not. The world is your oyster, but understanding the frameworks behind these characters can help you create a runway for you to take off and spread your wings from. So go, writers. Fly! Be free! Unlike the Candlemaker ok im sorry too soon mb mb
If you made it all the way here, thank you for taking the time to read my rambles, and if you skimmed down to here, it's okay I still love you
I hope everyone takes care, and remembers that they are beautiful and wonderful. Take care everyone ❤️🕯️
The core foundation of all of my research lies with a framework we tend to call “the Connection Spectrum”. Most people think that Darkness is an “opposite” force, antithetical to Light substance. The Connection Spectrum offers that *all* things are ‘made’ of Light substance. Light substance that is moving and transforming endlessly along a spectrum between two extremes. These extremes are nicknamed in developer concept arts as “Connection” and “Indifference”.
Light substance, as the glowy stuff we see all around us in the game, is a living magical substance. Theories branching off of the Connection framework offer that this living substance is very emotional; every single speck of glowing dust you ever see anywhere is its own ‘soul’ and ‘feels’.
- When it embraces Connection with the Light around it, it becomes brighter.
- And when it embraces Indifference, it hardens, in a phenomenon the devs nicknamed in early development as “calcification”.
In this framework, any time you see any substance that is hardened in the game- like the forest trees, or the heads of large creatures, or even our own bodies as skykids: That stonelike material is proposed to still be Light, but hardened.
And just in case- many theorists believe it’s a literal ‘light’ like scientific light waves; it’s just a name for the substance TGC uses, before any such speculations. This framework treats it as just a nickname for the substance, not as light waves.
The original concept mentions of this substance called it as “souls” and “motes”. They didn’t start calling the substance “Light” until a year before the beta version of Sky came out, so if there was any intended connection to light waves, it is expressed visually after the fact, rather than in the foundational mechanics of the substance.
The transformative and multifaceted nature of being a fictional substance expressing the wonder of both energy and biological mass results in a unique worldbuilding tool that becomes its own stage; becomes the entire universe, even- which is where the Megabird comes into play!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few weeks ago now, I played through the game Journey again, for the first time in perhaps an entire decade.
My first thought is that I feel bad.
When moths and loremoths have come to the Sky community to proudly exclaim "This game is still like Journey, then!" both others and myself would rush to refute them.
"It's not the same game/story at all!"
But as I interacted with the creatures made of ribbon, the magical energy that seemed to animate creatures and machines alike, and met with the Ancestor at the shrine where the levels ended?
It was harder to catch what was mechanically 'different' between the Traveler's Journey and the moth's journey--- than to accept how much was virtually the same.
[From the Sky: CotL release promo for Steam]
Phase One: Why was Sky made?
1. The Side By Side
The title of the 'first phase' should stir the air quite immediately.
Well- especially if I'd been able to fit the second part of the question into the same line.
Why was Sky made... when Journey already exists?
There we go! Much more polarizing. Much more eye-catching.
But seriously, we are here today to highlight a real question that pops up in reaction to Sky: Children of the Light.
"Oh cool, so it's just Journey reskinned and on mobile."
And while it's understandable to be frustrated at how often these comments pop up, I'd like to clarify that these are valid concerns. They are similar, often in almost one-to-one ways!
The levels follow the exact same emotional curves:
~~~
A mysterious beginning within an endless desert.
A defined area where you must gather the multitudes of the creatures.
A troubled space filled with emotional turmoil.
A dramatic and exciting slide...
Into a dark and threatening trial.
The past is recollected... and the final challenge is revealed.
The perilous descent into the storm tears you apart...
But you are reborn, and ascend into the light to begin the cycle anew.
The basic story premise doesn't shake the foundation up either:
~~~
The Ancestors lived in harmony with the creatures that partake in the Cycle, but they found they could create powerful machines by entrapping the creatures. Without enough creatures, the Cycle never began anew, and the Ancestors fought each other to control diminishing resources, resulting in a tragic downfall.
Their Descendants would enact the Cycle for the rest of eternity, slowly healing the damage left by the ruined kingdom.
If we were to cross-examine our past six years of research and community dispute, this is a description that undeniably describes Sky: Children of the Light.
But it also describes the hit Playstation 3 game Journey.
2. The Reaction
In a way, this revelation stung, as my hooded character trudged, flapped, and slid along their Journey. People have told me every year along my searches- to varying degrees- that my belief that Sky: CotL held something special that nothing else had ever touched on before was just that flair for the romantic in me. But as someone who had been so obsessed with Sky for many, many years, I had the strange and ironic reversed effect of Journey being some kind of strange parody of Sky!
Every single ounce of awareness of the irony stung, as it would and should. I have to wonder how many players who absolutely adored Journey before Sky- in its experience, story, and message- found Sky to be a pale imitation of what was a perfect game.
And from my reversed experience upon playing it as an adult, I was shocked to also find Journey as a far more grounded and comprehensible story than Sky.
Sky's lore requires developer concept art, interviews, and heavy community interaction and discussions to understand.
But Journey conveyed everything I needed to know about its world and story at the cost of just two hours of my time to sit down and feel.
Similarly to Sky, we could explore more of how
- the anatomy of living beings
- the energy that powered them
- the blessings and guidance of the Ancestors
- and the Cycle itself worked.
But unlike Sky, we simply don't have to extract meaning out of these topics down to a science!
Why do we do it in Sky, then?
...good question.
3. Passing on the Baton
I think what makes Journey perfect is its simplicity. There is a mystical aspect to Journey's magic soul power that is far more grounded in functionality than Sky's Light, which is narratively designed to be caught in a dance of endless transformation, ever-changing.
Collecting real evidence from TGC, we can see Sky had a much more complex agenda than Journey, and I think through this evolved agenda, we can find what makes Sky singled out as the heavily-pressured Descendant of all of TGC's games before it.
(This is also crucial for us working in the Lore community, as well.)
[Link to article here]
In another interview with the journalists at GamesIndustry.biz, Chen notes that the deal to create Flow, Flower, and Journey for Sony on the Playstation revealed that working exclusively with
"...a console platform holder like Sony was not an ideal partner for his goals."
Journey and the rest of TGC's prior games were heavily restricted by contractual agreements. The exhaustive work that went into creating Journey and the rest of the games was sold to Sony, and TGC was restricted from accessing and building upon the content that they had created. Not to mention all of the red tape that likely happened even as they were creating them!
A good friend told me that they see Journey as a "proof of concept" for Sky, and I think that may just be a fair assessment. Though he and the team were burnt out, Chen knew all along that Journey was never his complete vision.
From the same previously-mentioned interview:
"Deep down I was always curious if I could tackle this problem with a bigger crowd," he says. "Can I still create emotional bonding with more than two people? So Sky is our challenge to the next step. If you could actually chat and you had more than two people, can you still protect the community and create an environment where people show the brighter side of their humanity rather than what we consider the darker side?"
Within my own interpretation of all this information, Sky was always meant to expand on the Themes of Cloud, Flower, and Journey, in a vast, ever-growing multiplayer setting. His mind has always been set, from day one, on the Connections we can feel to our world and especially to each other. Sky would be the ultimate test of creating unique and powerful new Connections between people. If Journey was a very personal interaction with our environments and more intimate by comparison to its successor; then Sky would allow for both personal togetherness, and a huge collective social platform.
4. A Medium to be Shared
Sky enables you to experience both a personal journey and the societal impacts of belonging to community, and the frameworks behind this game confirm this.
[An excerpt from "The Art of Sky", a artbook collection of concept art regaling the creation of TGC's live-service title.]
As The Art of Sky explains it, the game's structure begins with "The Hero's Journey", also known as a 'monomyth'.
In any usage of the Hero's Journey framework, the 'hero' main character must answer 'the call' and adventure out, meeting guardians and overcoming challenges along the way, until they arrive at the ultimate trial, from which they will emerge from reborn and transformed. They complete their journey and rest, until a new journey calls to them. Sounds familiar enough, right?
This is the framework they used to design both Journey and the initial gameplay experience of Sky; where you begin in the Isle of Dawn and traverse the kingdom to the storm in Eden.
I tend to nickname that initial gameplay as "the moth's journey", with moths being the community nickname for new Sky players, of course. The moth's journey follows "The Hero's Journey" framework to a tee.
But the artbook then says they also implemented a gameplay model reflecting something called the "Collective Journey". What exactly is that?
If the Hero's Journey expresses the transformation of one sole individual as they undertake a personal adventure, then the Collective Journey represents a call to action shared between multiple people, sometimes even entire societies! The Collective Journey is harder to grasp and narrate than the story of one person, which makes it meta. That's right, I said the scary word. It's not easy to write a story about all 270 million skychildren that are or that have ever been around to be another star in someone's constellation.
But in all fairness, TGC can write a hero's journey, but never a Collective Journey. All they can do is provide us a platform to be able to be there for each other, and for all our seasonal and systemic grievances about the quality of the platform, we are given a platform nonetheless.
From there, it becomes our story to write, together.
The blank canvas becomes painted by our Experiences.
And Jenova Chen's vision not only comes closer to being 'fully' realized, but it is expanded- liberated, even- by becoming the shared vision of the Collective. The vision becomes more complex than Chen ever dreamed of- which is saying something, because that guy was definitely a dreamer.
Phase Two: What Does Sky Accomplish?
5. Finding Connections
Unfortunately, there's still some ground we need to cover. We still haven't fully answered that previous question:
Why do we dig through the Lore of Sky with such confusion and discord, when the lore of Journey is that much more self-explanatory?
I could've solved this in full when the question was first mentioned, but I wanted to resolve the very mainstream, primary reasons behind why Sky became the way it did. Now, we can deep-dive into the mind-boggling world of epistemology, ontology, and meaning-based worldbuilding.
We've established that Journey influences the moth's journey to Eden, but why and what changed about this strange Cycle and the soul energy that flows through it, that makes the games different?
We could talk plenty about Chen's "theme park" philosophy for Sky, but today I'd rather stay in my lane and in the meta-structure of the narratives.
Earlier, we addressed Journey's soul energy as a very spiritual, mystical power, brought out by the Ancestor's glyphs.
And meanwhile, Sky's "Light" was some sort of living, shapeshifting, ethereal macrosystem-bearing substance.
Both belong to a mystical Cycle of souls, creating the living beings that spread each force further.
Though the moth's journey matches up very closely to the game Journey, Chen said in an interview that Sky's world encompasses the feelings of virtually all of TGC's previous games!
This is the reason that Sky's Light is infinitely more transformative, flexible, and nebulous.
~~~
It is not Journey's spiritual glyphs, enchanted with the soul energy of millenia of Ancestors long gone.
It is not the petals in the wind, carrying enchanted magics of the earth to bring flowers and life to the world.
It is not the creatures of the abyss, feeding, absorbing, merging, mixing, and dancing in the circle of life.
And it is not the longing of a child to soar and shape the sky.
Instead, it's somehow- in some way? Something attempting to encompass the feelings of all four of those.
~~~
That's what the "Light" of Sky: CotL is.
It is the creatures, the energy that powers the creatures, the plants, the trees, the wind, clouds, storms, rain, earth, skies, sun, moon, dreams, nightmares, love, joy, bitterness, and shame.
Light is all of these things. It is Experience itself.
There is much to say about how TGC lets this experience be portrayed through Sky. It is fair to assert that any profound emotions we get to feel because of Sky is through our own ability to interface with the media, not because TGC necessarily gave us these gifts. As before; all they do is provide the platform. The emotions we experience are ours.
6. Conclusion
And finally, we arrive at the end. TGC has found powerful ways to provide us with mediums and platforms for emotional reception, and every addition to their list of projects has not been 'unique' IPs in the sense of producing content for the sake of it, but for advancing and honing a powerful, intentional dream of reaching out to people and touching their hearts. This, in summary, is why Sky was bound to end up so similar to not just Journey, but all of TGC's games.
But also especially Journey.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you all have a wonderful new year. ❤️🕯️
To start, this post works on the assumption that this -
Is mega bird. The assumption isn't entirely baseless, the image above lines up with the megabird depiction around the office portal, and having the god of Sky at the end of credits/Orbit would make sense.
And, assuming that is Megabird
This, is a representation of the Laniakea supercluster. The Laniakea super cluster is a real celestial object, a galaxy super cluster, home to the Milky Way and about 100,000 other galaxies. It was defined in 2014, when astronomers figured out a new way to define superclusters based on the relative velocity of galaxies.
See the similarities?
This makes me think that Megabird is not a god like entity really, but the whole of the galaxy or universe the sky kids reside in. Our trip through Orbit takes us so far away from home that we are given a view of our galaxy from the outside. The reverence of Megabird within sky is not reverance of a god, but of life itself, and the light that surrounds us.
Ok this post has been in my drafts for a year now so i kinda forgot was i was gonna keep talking about but it's cool right?
A user in Lorechat asked to learn more about the realms, which was a question I haven’t heard in a while!
When lorefolk seek to answer the questions of loremoths, there are so many complications. Loremoths are often not looking for the ‘actual’ breadth of whatever complex answers they could receive, and instead are usually just requesting simple answers. Summaries.
That can difficult for lorefolk to handle. There is so much we can address in each realm!!! Fortunately, there is a way to make simple explanations of each realm a LOT easier.
We can learn a lot about the lore, culture, and history of each realm by examining their respective Elders. So let’s get into it. 🕊️
A Brief Summary of the Elders and their Roles
1. The Isle Elder and his people took care of newborn Ancestors and raised and guided them on the beginning of their pilgrimage; sending them on their way to go to Eden, where all Light returns to. The people of the Isle taught and honored traditions, ritual, and respecting the soul migration. He was eventually outcast by the Ruler, who he disagreed with.
2. The Prairie Elder and their people created boats and pots, and used the pots to store Light for the long journeys ahead. The people of the Prairie acted as shepherds of nature, creating space for the creatures to coexist. While hardworking, these people prioritized community and happiness over economic gain. However, the Prairie Elder had a tendency of hoarding the Light that they stored, afraid of the growing darkness…
3. The Forest Elder worked on a powerful new technology known as Darkstone. Darkstone technology had the power to absorb Light and manipulate Light’s abilities! The Elder and their people worked hard to mine raw Darkstone out of the land and turn it into “charged power diamonds” for their machines. They were an ambitious, curious, and emotional people, always longing for more. They felt they deserved more.
4. The Valley Elders were the propaganda machine for the Ruler; the king of this land. They would create sports and games and challenges, and create statues of nobles and the Ruler. The highest cities in the mountains would be made of gold and be only for the richest, while many poor villages nestled lower into the mountain valleys.
5. The Wasteland Elder was the Ruler’s general. He and the Valley Elders worked together to police the kingdom, enforcing and demanding loyalty and submission from the people to honor and obey the Ruler. Under his watch, the production of Darkstone technology would not slow. He fought multiple wars against rebellions, and even after it all he felt like he could never do enough.
6. The Vault Elder was the lead archivist, storing the memories and wisdom of the kingdom in the Vault. They were able to see the future and foresaw the end of the world, but did nothing to stop it.
7. The Ruler was the king of all of these lands. He used the giant Darkstone crystal as a means to “mine” the soul migration of Light heading towards Orbit. We don’t know exactly how much this correlates with the Darkness that destroyed the world, but it is important. Statues of him were built everywhere across the realms- and perhaps most of the kingdom had at one point thought him to be the prophesied ‘savior’ of this world.
Sources:
The Art of Sky artbook
Skyfest art galleries
Elder encounters
AURORA questline
AURORA concert
Prophecy questline
And more!
And that’s all! If anyone here on Skyblr has any further questions about each Elder and their realms, let me know and I’ll make more posts on that. The next post will actually be another copy-paste from the work in Lorechat, where somebody asked about the wars the Wasteland Elder went to. 👀
Let’s keep exploring, everyone! There is much to Understand. ❤️🕯️
I've been a player of Sky since October of 2019, and as a result, I have gotten into the lore of sky quite deeply over time.
In addition to the conversations I have on the official server's lore channel, I also had an itching curiosity surrounding the medical and physiological sciences of Sky. More specifically, on who we call ancestors in game. Being an undergraduate student majoring in Biological Sciences (at the time of writing this, at least), I want to know how much the knowledge I learn in university (and beyond) translate well into how life proceeded in the kingdom before it all went to ruin. This includes the physical, mental, and behavioral sciences of the ancestors back when they were all alive.
... However, if you really wanted the most honest answer as to why I made this blog, admittedly, it's to attach something I like (Sky) to tedious tasks (studying my subject matter), which is indeed a good study strategy (lmao).
Nevertheless, this blog is meant to help you, the fellow lore enthusiast, as well as aid me in my studies. Additionally, I plan on explaining the subject matter to you so that we can learn simultaneously. Thus, my words are never doctrine, but instead collaboration; you reading my future posts collaborates with my attempts at applying what I learned in school to the dynamic nature of sky lore, allowing us to ponder new ideas together.
As a teaser, the broad topics I will apply to the citizens of the Kingdom of Sky are a mixture of introductory general sciences, physiology, organic chemistry, biochemistry, developmental biology, psychology, and more.
(P.S., if you're like me and also a student, this might help your studies too. :D)
I will do my best to post as much as I can, for you and for my excuse to get myself to keep reading my lecture slides (LOL). I'm looking forward for you to check it out.
Best regards,
-Pragnya.
A Community Fascination with Light and Projections
Cover art created by @linkedin-offficial . Their work is great, if you need anything commissioned, they’re awesome!!!
Everyone loves talking about main characters, and that's all well and good. But of course I will still be here doing my best to grow in my own thoughts over this beautiful world that we the Descendants inhabit.
And, naturally, a lot of new information has come up.
Information that we are using to further our Collective Understanding of what Light substance is, and how it affects the world we know as Sky. I am always taking notes, always working to grow, not just in my own Understanding, but as a researcher, a person, and as someone who cares deeply for my community. As such, I see it fitting for my next post out of deathly silence for this poor unfed blog... to uplift the Observations of the Others, not of myself.
A group of different theorists and thinkers provided various insights and brainstorming on various topics of interest.
[Playeranimates, chrome.skies, Noone/woktek, @amity206, Tristan_snipes/@tristansnipes , Ayngarps/Pragnya, TrioOfTragedies/@theeyepatchedghoul , Ooples/Juni, etc!]
The following is a summary of what was discussed.
1. Memory/Cosmic/Spirit Mantas: Projection vs. Death
Are the mantas in Vault projections or the spirits of dead creatures?
Evidence for Projection:
Remembrance manta projector
Dusk Ember sees their manatee projected
These types of mantas only appear in the Vault
The upper floors of Vault are likely all illusions
Evidence for Spirits
A baby Vault mantas emerges from bones in the 4th floor
They behave/seem like echoes or ghosts
{Meaning that the Themes correlate}
Most participants concluded: Vault technology or 'Light magic', enables memories to appear as visible, interactive, semi-corporeal projections.
[In-game photo taken by ThatGameCompany]
To contribute my own Understanding, I would note that Light substance is already largely understood to contain memories and life. Each and every little mote. All Light wants to Be, and it holds on to the memory of that want; this thing we call experience. Projecting out this stored Experience results in yet another Sky term I use constantly in our research, known as “Expression”. The expression generally always involving the Light declaring that it Knows, and that it wants to Be.
And so if what is projected out of Darkstone projections are made of Light, then it would be missing the point of what Light tries so hard to express- to say that these projections “are not ‘alive’ or ‘real’ as it could be.” Adversely, to call them “Spirits” and be done with it also removes a significant chunk of the picture we have the potential and the chance to paint. Perhaps we could just call them their own special light creature- but are they even that? Understanding that all of these ideas and questions are all needed to create the memory manta we are seeking for; can help light the way out of the darkness of our own perception. There can always be multiple truths.
2. Darkstone and Memory Lanterns
Proposed Hypothesis
Darkstone can store information, with analogies of CDs/DVDs and "Light engravings" being used.
Various Speculations
The Vault utilizes highly-refined Darkstone to record, store, and project memories.
Light is stored in, extracted from, and even reborn via these Darkstone vessels/capsules.
[Official concept art by Tom Zhao]
3. Light Creatures, Anatomy, and Inner Light
It was proposed that the 'Light cores' of light creatures are the yellow spots marked primarily on the head of in-game creatures, but The Two Embers Part One does in fact disprove this notion, with the core being located in the chest, which is where the Call of most creatures come from in-game.
The yellow markings currently maintain a common consensus as more of a sensory interfaces, and perhaps a nuclear (of cells) control center, similar to what has been discussed in previous conversations.
[Second picture is a hi-def screenshot captured by @the-aonuma-luca!]
It was also mentioned that Ancestors were not able to share or Express their Light outwards, while in-game interactions suggest that most light creatures can. This will always be important to remember, as it places the Ancestors as a species outside of the usual flow of Light through the Cycle. In order to gain more convenient access to the benefits of Light and its powers, they were prepared to do something that would selfishly harm the ecosystem of our beautiful world…
4. Light Blooms and Darkness' place within the Cycle
Crucial Obervations Mentioned
Light blooms appear in low-yet present exposure to residual Darkstone, such as Prairie Peaks and Hidden Forest
Though Darkstone has been mined out of everywhere across the Prairie and Forest, it is implied that it existed either primarily in these two realms; via empirical evidence of mining efforts and natural and unnatural caves/ravines being within only these two realms and the ocean. (Sanctuary/Treasure Reef)
Darkness plants also correlate directly with medium to higher presences of Darkness, which supports both Chromeskies and LoreCaster's theories on the topic of darkness plants.
Application into Structured Theories
Chrome references their theory that suggests trace levels of Darkness are required in order for Light to form more material, structural forms.
Chrome's ideas align with Tom's conceptual Themes of Darkness being representative of transformations that Light undergoes, rather than being a literal substance. The Themes surrounding these transformations include Metaphysical --> Material/Worldly --> Metaphysical --> Repeat.
[Official concept art by Tom Zhao]
5. Light Motes, Butterflies, and 'Proto-life'
This transitioned back into the age-old, utterly timeless discussion of butterflies as an unstable form that Light takes.
Various Speculations
Butterflies are condensed Light, potentially the 'amino-acids' or building blocks of more complex light creatures.
The Prairie Elder cutscene where the gifted Flame changes into a butterfly was mentioned.
If butterflies can be converted 'back' into 'pure' Light, they represent a liminal state- somewhere between form and energy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom's Personal Synopsis
The Potential for Biological and Metaphysical Interpretation
Light is not just energy. It is alive, emotive, and malleable, subject to dramatic and profound transformations within a single lifetime. (Of an Ancestor, for measure's sake.) Chromeskies' concept of Darkness being necessary for Beings to maintain a corporeal form results in much potential.
Too much Darkness; Calcification, Decay.
Too little Darkness; form dissolves back into motes.
To me, this potentially just brings this back around to the concept of Beings being made of earthly content (carbonic structures) and Light. In this case, the Light would serve as the DNA, expressing, projecting, and animating the carbonic structure that makes up the light creature or Ancestor.
There is a persistent undercurrent that Sky's biology is metaphorical/analogous/Thematic yet rule-bound, with a balance between Light and the non-Light and affected Light that we call "the Darkness". This balance would be the axis around which every creature's survival and transformation revolves, which is why it is so important for us to continue to learn about.
Notable Metaphysical Questions
The following bullets of this section represent questions commonly asked by new thinkers, that I believe we should look into better addressing in order to help rally collective Understanding on the matter. "Addressing" in this case may often refer to a dissolving of community Doctrine and idea enforcement, rather than encouragement of it.
Why didn't the Elders become Spirits?
Are skychildren Descendants, Ancestors, creatures, or hybrids?
Are the colors of colored Light representative of anything meaningful?
The presence of Dye in all of its environmental variation was called into questioning.
(Rarity? Purity? Frequency? Wavelenths? Emotions?)
Are butterflies proto-cells?
Are Vault mantas just memories? Or their souls too?
Recurring Thematic Ideas
Decay as Transformation; nothing dies in Sky's world, everything transitions.
Light as a Fluid Medium; extractable, shareable, corruptible, and restorable.
Projections vs. Spirit; what is a memory to you? What is a ghost to you?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This discussion is a wonderful example of our ability to appreciate the beauty and nuance of our wonderful Sky world as a community. The most important value I want to instill in this modern era of the community and of Lorechat: is for us to *avoid conclusions*. Being able to keep our minds open, and especially our ears and hearts open, to other people’s thoughts? That prevents getting stuck down a tunnel; getting stuck in biases that I unfortunately will see users lord and gatekeep over one another.
The more we can listen to each other, the more we can let others speak instead of always needing to have the last word; the more this community heals and grows.
The more that we are truly Connected. ❤️🕯️
Lastly, I need to emphasize that recording and archiving this conversation is not a skill. Anyone could go back and read through the rich and vast archives of Lorechat for various ideas. In fact, I’ll make sure you can do just that from this post.
Here is the first message in the discussion. Sometimes it's better for people to read things themselves. Well- not sometimes, but all the time. Your personal synopsis might be quite different from mine!
Thank you for reading all of this. I hope you all have a wonderful day or night, and continue to grow in Love.
ANALYSIS OF TWO EMBERS CHAPTER 4 AND HOW IT HINTS TOWARDS GAME MECHANICS AND UPCOMING PART 2 STORY
This document is a compilation of random thoughts and discoveries found (not only) in chapter 4 of the Two Embers Part 1, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Vault of Knowledge & ascending someones spirit
One of the first vault scenes shows a lot of dead bodies of various sizes, there are children, teenagers and adults alike. All the bags seem to be branded with what looks to be either darkstone “brand” symbol originating from Hidden Forest or Vault of Knowledge one. They look pretty similar.
We then can see Lamed (Vault Elder) use darkstone on her head tablet to view the memories of Dusk Ember, possibly hinting on her being able to communicate through telepathy in a similar way too. It is unknown if all Elders or even all ancestors are able to perform telepathy or if it is exclusive just to Vault Elder and maybe Vault of Knowledge acolytes.
Dusk Ember is brought to the upper floors of Vault of Knowledge to have their memories recorded. For whom do they record all those memories? I don't know! Maybe for us Sky kids! Maybe they saw the end is near and wanted the next generation/civilization after them to know what the past was like.
The memories seem to come from blue colored light motes that form into spiritual projections upon touching from individuals. It is possible that all those glitters we see in the current Vault of Knowledge are unused “memory motes” ready to record someone's memories.
We see memories flash around as they are recorded. From toymaker with young Dusk Ember to having fun with the manatee. The overlapping memory with real Dusk Ember could be just artistic choice but also yet another hint on them being Hopeful Steward.
The last memory we see is the manatee dying. A lot of people seem to hate this whole memory sequence. I personally see it as Lamed offering Dusk Ember a chance to say proper goodbye to their friend and also to offer this child some reassurance and be here for them when they need it the most, caringly patting their back as they cry. Nothing was forced, Dusk Ember went into this willingly.
After touching the spirit manatee while saying goodbye, we see it turn from blue to golden, possibly hinting to the spirit ascension we do in game. That also means this manatee has a chance to be reborn once the Light gets restored.
We see the manatee turn into a golden light mote. It could be because the whole memory is finished recording or it can be the manatees spirit itself. All of the other motes around glow golden too, was Dusk Ember able to ascend all of those? Or did they enter the floor of Vault of Knowledge where only finished memory motes are stored? Or something completely different maybe?
Dusk Ember body suddenly starts glowing just like a light creature and they pull the wooden moth toy from their chest and turn it into an actual butterfly that flies inside the mote. Could that butterfly be their manatee friend? Were they somehow able to make a “mini rebirth cycle” from their own light? We know mantas start as butterflies in their first form, does that mean manatees do too?
Shattering did not happen yet. We still see the diamond in one piece, half of it is peeking out from the ground at the bottom of this image.
The darkstone illness
The Last City uses a lot of darkstones for a lot of things and we saw some of them being directly used to drain light from light creatures, causing them to grow stones both on and under the skin and eventually die if exposed to it too much. Not only light creatures but also ancestors can be affected, growing it not only on their bodies but also masks (which could mean the masks are part of the ancestor bodies rather than accessory, they can grow facial hair from it too after all). Prolonged exposure or direct contact causes the condition to worsen. We saw the stones grow instantly on Resourceful Recluse right after knocking down the light extracting device.
“But we do see Elders using darkstones and they don't have any illness on them!” Well, of course we do. But Elders are not the same as ancestors are, they are closer to us Sky kids than to ancestors, both of us coming from the Megabird. And we do seem to be much more resistant to being affected by darkness and won't die that easily.
Maybe it is a special darkstone or there's some other magic behind it. We can see not all darkstones drain the light or not that much. Memory lanterns for example are powered by darkstones too and they don't actively drain light or cause harm. If you consider memories and everything we saw happen in the Vault of Knowledge in chapter four to be light substance, then yes it might to some degree "suck" light but it is unlikely. It still glows so it is not dead darkstone like that shard Dusk Ember picked up. And both Lamed and Dusk Ember are light creatures as well.
Couple of other possibilities:
Potency
Maybe the darkstones used for absorbing light are more potent (stronger) than the ones used in weapons. Just like you have different kinds of radiation or different qualities of gold. Something like that.
There are darkstone powered lamplights everywhere in the Last City and so are up in the Eden castle as well. They glow much less than stones used for batteries. They might still drain a person's light, but at a much slower rate. Bright glowing darkstones used as batteries are encased in pieces of metal for safe handling. They are probably hot or harmful to be near when the case is opened (will drain someone's light) or maybe both.
Size
The stones used for light absorption are noticeably larger than the small gems in the weapons. Tsadi (Wasteland Elder) obviously has a bigger one in his even bigger spear but maybe it is just "equal to his size", maybe if he was big as a regular ancestor or wasn't a light creature (or both), the stone on his spear would be deadly to him too.
The "chosen ones"
We don't know when exactly the Elders got their darkstones. It could be during the darkstone era, it could be during the fire era, who knows. Maybe their darkstones are not the same darkstones used anywhere else. Don't forget they were always Elders, they were tasked by the Megabird to guide little Alef the Chosen One. Maybe the Megabird gifted them those stones, either from the beginning or later.
It lowkey reminds me of visions and delusions from Genshin Impact. If a god gazes upon you, you obtain vision that grants you elemental powers. It does not harm you. But those who are not lucky enough can use delusions, artificially created visions that work the same, but they rapidly drain your life force. Vision holders are more (but not completely) resistant to delusions.
Artificially created (ties to chosen ones)
Humans are able to simulate certain conditions with modern technology to create synthetic diamonds. Maybe originally the darkstones were harmless once charged with light, just like the unrefined darkstones in Prairie peaks are. Unrefined darkstones also glow unlike the completely dead ones.
The industrial boom quickly made darkstone ore scarce, so the ancestors might have figured out how to make synthetic darkstone (they were also experimenting on and possibly trying to create synthetic light creatures too as seen in Treasure reef) but with downside of it being "radioactive" and deadly.
The candle
I don't care what others say, this scene was absolutely beautiful. Not only was it homage to exchanging light with strangers in game, it was also a reference to the very first Sky related picture TGC shared on social media!
The Megabird reference is there too! Look at the shape light from the candle makes between people!
But what are they even doing with all those candles? Bringing comfort? Maybe! But to me personally it looks like they are about to perform a long forgotten ritual. Which one? Well, it comes from very old concept art but it recently made its way to the game in the mural that we can find where? In the forgotten temple of all places! The same temple Dusk Ember learned about candle making! Just look at the bottom of this mural! The movie even zoomed on it during the first chapter!
It very much looks like this “flame bringing” ritual from old concept art. Maybe the people will try to bring the flame back on the sacred mountain and restore the light? Maybe the lack of sun in Last City is because the Megabird is very weak now because no light flows to them?
The candles also slightly glow in the dark because they are made out of light motes. Just a neat detail.
The final scene
I'm really surprised that from all the various theories, no one really caught the same thing I saw right away. I looked at the colors and how each part is visibly a different color and just knew something is fishy about it. Something that TGC is hinting at us. As the nebula kept going further and further away, it hit me.
Can you see it? No? What if I crank up the brightness and contrast a bit then?
Still nothing? Let me sketch over it for you what I see then.
Crazy, huh? It also reminded me of this scene from one of the trailers. I'm positive we will still see a clash between Dusk and Dawn Ember in part 2 considering how open ended part 1 was.
But how am I so sure this scene portrays the Two Embers and not just some random kids? Because if you zoom really close, you can see the resemblance between those two.
Okay but what ties this scene to what was hinted in nebula? Well, outside of the basic observations of ingame murals to make connections, we can see both Dawn Ember (Alef) and The Ruler (Resh) having three points coming out of their masks. Besides that, both Alef and Resh wear the same piece of fabric as Stargazer had. It is way more obvious when I change color temperature to match each other.
Versus non color edited Dusk Ember in two different lightings.
In conclusion, while a lot of people were disappointed we did not get to see any more of Resh, I think we will see it in part 2. That the second part will not be just about Alef as a child but will show the whole growing up from Prince to King, from the Prophecy to the Shattering.
Darkstone lanterns. Even in times where people are growing mysterious dark stones on their bodies, the kingdom still hasn't given up its little luxuries.
This may indicate a level of not-yet-knowing, at least among the lower class, or a prideful insistence on the King's part not to retire these small technologies because he still refuses to acknowledge the scope of their harm.
The market. We see dye and cloth merchants, tools for measuring and sewing, a new variety of foods, teas, toys, furniture, and tools. The biggest lines of customers are present at the tea shop and the furniture stall. Guards patrol the market alongside shoppers.
The residents. Most folks seem ill. Nearly everyone coughs regularly, aside from guards (as far as I've noticed). There is an ever-moving line at the door of the building with the golden light - it seems like a location to get help.
Residents respond to some emotes, which helps give us clues about them. They're receptive to things like bowing and waving. They give mixed responses to be scared; children tend to find it funny when you scare them and they may even scare you back, while adults give responses ranging from laughter to scolding. Guards appreciate being saluted, acknowledged, shown respect, and surprisingly (if I remember correctly) being shown your Kung Foo moves.
However, there are some disliked emotes. Honking too much will get you facepalms, nasty looks, and shushes. It can also get you arrested if you pester the guards too much. Sneezing is universally disliked, but they don't respond to coughing (probably because everyone does it). And, surprisingly, the cheer emote will get you nasty looks from passersby, even if the street performers were really good.
Gated communities. There are large apartment-style buildings on either side of the main area, both beyond reach without going out of bounds, blocked off by tall metal gates and permanent guards. For ancestors, this likely meant a segregation of the classes.
Those who could afford it got to live in the safety of those tall stone buildings blocked off from the general public, with a guard stationed at each gate to ensure no one could try to make it past. Most of these buildings are relatively far, or are at least separated from, any piping. This suggests a level of knowing that it was not preferable to be near the pipes, and also that there was something to fear from other ancestors. Looting may have been an issue, or could have been a propaganda tool.
There are some additional buildings like the previous ones that are not gated on the opposite side of the gated communities and market. These have several pipes running right through them. Assuming they serve the same function, I imagine the lower class folks who could not afford the luxury of a private gated community likely lived here.
If you could not afford either option, or if the rooms were all full when you arrived as a refugee, you slept in a makeshift tent with what little items you could carry with you. In the desert of Golden Wasteland, this likely meant constant exposure to suffocating heat during the day and freezing temperatures at night. With lanterns not even being powered by flames here, warmth at night was probably hard to come by.
The main gate. The Wasteland Temple was not openly accessible to anyone in this main area. The thick, solid, darkstone-powered gate is bracketed by two guards, along with Scarred Sentry.
The mountain. Pipes and spiky spired buildings line the entirety of Mt. Eden. It's possible that these buildings are luxury housing, but what's important to note about living in a location like this is the fact that unless the tenants were hiking the steep mountainside, they likely required air boats to travel to and from their homes.
There are also layers upon layers of stone walls lining the mountainside, preventing people from making that trek if they even made it far enough to try.
Closing thoughts:
Golden Wasteland, in this era, was rife with illness and classism. Guards were stationed everywhere to keep people in line and imprisoned them when they caused any trouble. Yet, clearly these conditions were preferable to those outside the tall stone walls. With the knowledge that Darkness is closing in (TTE) and that the void manifested itself throughout each realm, absorbing all life in its path (artbook), we can imagine the kinds of horrifying conditions these refugees were fleeing.
There is more to understand about the level of awareness the ancestors had about darkstone and its adverse effects at this time. Additionally, we still need to gather more information about the glowing building and the apartment-style buildings - we don't yet officially know the purpose of either.
The last city. I really wanted to hone in on this detail for this expedition. Most of the folks we see are sick refugees and the things they've brought with them - however, it's important to note that this was a city prior to this crisis, and so there's much to learn about how it operated prior to these events.
In Ch. 1 of Sky: The Two Embers, we can see a pretty clear class divide, in my opinion. There is not much focus on the previous residents of Wasteland, but if you watch closely, you may notice little details like how elaborate or well-kempt some hairstyles are, or the quality of clothing, or the calmness with which they walk past as all the lights flicker (as if it's just another day for them, nothing too remarkable). To me, there's a pretty clear distinction.
Acknowledging this divide allows us to look closer at the complex social dynamics happening at this time.
Apartment-style buildings, continued. I wanted to check for more evidence that these might be primarily residential buildings, and the most convincing evidence I found were balconies and clothes lines strung between the windows of the buildings with the pipes connected to them. This confirms, for me, that this style of building can be residential and does not rule it out for the other buildings without pipes.
However, connecting back to the theme of "the last city" - it's also possible some of these buildings contain (or used to contain) businesses. Just because there's a market doesn't automatically mean there wouldn't be any other sorts of establishments, especially before the current crisis.
The lack of clothes lines in the more urban parts of the city may suggest there were other, more technologically advanced ways of washing and drying laundry - which is an aside and not necessarily super important, but I know writers will enjoy playing around with the technological implications of the time period. Truly, it seems nearly anything can be done with darkstone (for a price).
The cages. There are many, many cages in this area. The main ones I wanted to focus on today are the ones near the manatees, because I noticed there were so many more of them than there are of the manatees themselves.
Many of the manatees, like the refugees, are also sick. I wondered if the manatees might have come with the refugees - maybe they fled the Darkness together.
The other option I see is that they, too, may be victim to pollution.
We don't have a ton of information yet on how this illness works, we'll likely learn more in time.
The point in pointing out the cages, though, is that it indicates that there are quite possibly significantly fewer manatees here than there were previously. This leaves a couple options: they've been sold or they have died. Or most of the cages are just spares, who knows?
The hole in the wall. Clearly something has already taken place. Something big enough to knock over a king statue and leave a giant, round hole in the wall. Whatever hit these locations seems to have come from the outside, inward. It also appears there had to have been at least two strikes, given that the two damaged locations are next to each other and the damage doesn't line up in one shot.
There is concept art that talks about a war against the Light Creatures - they attacked when the Light was out of balance. It's possible this could explain this kind of damage. However, it seems (to me) like it doesn't match up that well. Most of the Light Creature remains are in other parts of Wasteland and Forest - parts that would now likely be swallowed by Darkness.
It seems more likely, to me, that this could have been a Dark Creature attack or an orchestrated uprising (although I'd be very interested to see what ancestor-made weaponry would be capable of that kind of damage).
Still, either is possible.
My next update will likely drop after the next episode, keep an eye out!
A Doodle on the Screen and a Doodle of Thoughts (Of Desiring Control)
I had a funny interaction on Instagram and felt the urge to make this doodle.
An extremely long ramble below the cut, but to everyone who just stops here, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. ❤🕯
[[[WARNING: LONG READ BELOW CUT]]]
And now that we're below the cut, so it begins.
The existential madness that Sky has driven me to has had me learning a lot about the Human Condition and how people move through a spectrum of helping and hurting others and themselves.
And one of the central overarching Themes I've been studying is of the concept of "Control".
I've come to realize a potential statement for myself about life:
"The source of all human misery is the desire to Control their circumstances."
Everything you ever feel in terms of loss, passion, and desire, is felt because you have invested different levels of Control into those aspects of your life.
This isn't a bad thing, but rather just an objective study of what makes us want to hold on to things, to keep things, to protect and defend our beliefs and personal morals and attributions.
Realizing this ended up helping me begin to craft an understanding of the Spectrum of Connection vs Indifference that I've been endlessly pouring over.
Through these philosophies that I have extracted from the Core of Sky's messages, I have then taken it all into myself, and applied it to mistakes and trials that I would actively Experience in real time.
My research on what Control is and what it does to our lives on both personal and societal levels has been a direct reaction to realizing that, in so many ways, I have often lived life refusing to Love. In identifying that an obsession with Control is what caused me to not Love others and Connect to them, I've been able to grow.
All because of my research for Sky over this past year and a half. It has been a long process, and it won't ever be done, but Sky is genuinely transforming me into a better person, more and more. It's likely Jenova Chen and those who shared his Vision would never hear my story, even when it is more complete, but I just have to thank this experience for being what I needed. And the best way to thank Sky, is to keep working on being a better and better example of Connection every day. I owe it to every person I've ever hurt, and every person I'll ever care for, to keep learning. 🕯️ 🕯️ 🕯️
"So why am I still here?"
Is a question I think about quite a lot as these years go by.
Okay, so you've learned a valuable lesson from life and that's wonderful. But... it's over now, right?
Why can't I let go? After all, it's just a game. It's just a story. It's just a community. You've been through plenty of those. Why this one? Why are you so caught up? Why are you still here? Every single other person takes in Sky as a brief-to-annual hyperfixation, then either moves on or idly holds onto it as a keepsake. And yet, after everything you've been through, after all the things you've done... you're stilll here.
Is this not Control? If you were to actually Love yourself, would you not take the leap to let go of these things that could have been abandoned already?
"What does Sky mean to you?"
I think it's crucial to see that all this talk of meaning and hidden layers is a Projection. I look for the nuance because I am nuanced. I am never satisfied with a lack of meaning to validate my place in the universe... because I have been constantly unsure of where I stand at all.
"To Find Purpose"
I remain because I can still use this Space as a Framework, to further Understand, to continue to Define what Purpose is and what I want it to be for me. And so I will do that. Not out of Love just for myself. But out of Love for a world that is far greater than just who I am as a person. Not Sky. But Our World. Our hurting world, damaged and broken by Control. I want to understand more about Control, and those who work so hard to maintain it. I think this can be important. And even if it wasn't 'productive'? I will have Loved anyways.
Take care, be aware, be conscious of what you try to Control, and reach out to others, out of Love, out of Connection, not because you are obligated to, not because "it's healthy for you"
But because this universe is full of Love. You are Loved, everyone, and you are Love. Take care everyone. It will turn out alright. ❤❤❤❤❤🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯
I've spent the last year endlessly panning over TGC's work, understanding the source material and what their mindsets were when creating Sky, and here's a brief post on what I consider to be the most important investigation that I contribute to the Lore Community!
The foundational Theme over all other worldbuilding motifs in Sky, is "Connection". Throughout his entire career, Jenova Chen has been obsessed with this word, and says it constantly in many articles about each of TGC's games. You see, every single game that TGC has created are each a different expression of this idea that, in life, all things are connected, tied together, and that all life coexists and works together to create and form the universe we live in. But this Connection, this intrinsic "cosmic web" that ties us all together, is TGC's understanding of "love". Through participating in Understanding that we are part of communities that are greater than each of our single Beings, we are remaining Connected to each other, and that Understanding is Love.
Halfway through Sky's development process, TGC had decided that there would be a Spectrum represented: of Connection and Indifference. This "Connection Spectrum", as we've called it before, was invented for the sake of visualizing the impact the Ancestors (the living mortals that built a kingdom but turned into Spirits when snuffed out by Darkness) would have on the Natural, Connected world of The Light.
This Spectrum would embody many things.
- Care vs rejection
- Tradition vs technology
- Humility vs hubris
- Acceptance vs control
- Faith vs doubt
Whether or not Darkness will be chosen to be an "ancient natural force" or not, what matters to Sky's "main" story is that Ancestors influenced Darkness to spread across the world, harming The Light, and harming Nature and Connection.
Using emotional backdrops in their concept presentations, TGC decided that, effectively, the Ancestor's hubris would be the primary cause of the spread of Darkness.
This disregard, this refusal to love and care for their world, and instead to control and hoard power for themself, is what destroyed their own kingdom.
Rather than seeing the universe as a battle of equal and opposing forces (Light and Darkness), this Connection Spectrum is designed to suggest that all things exist within a scale of engagement or detachment.
1. Connection is the force that binds, sustains, and integrates. It is the will to engage, to acknowledge, to form relationships and create meaning.
[All done!]
2. Indifference is the force of severance, neglect, and detachment. It is the rejection of engagement, the failure to acknowledge, the choice to let bonds weaken and dissolve.
I feel that continuing to explore these Themes as foundational concepts that design everything about Sky will help us Understand so much. ❤️ 🕯️
But now, how and where do we implement these philosophical ideas into Sky, and what in Sky's physical world is inferred by each side of the spectrum? That's what we really need to keep asking. You can see Connection and Indifference everywhere within both Sky's world and the real world, if you try. In the people on the news, the people around you, and even within yourself. I have been no stranger to Indifference, isolating myself in places like this silly blog, and being hypercritical of everything around me.
We need to learn to Love; to care more about our Connections with people and the world around us, and what that means to us.
I need to learn to Love more. And that starts with letting go of Control. We're going to stop being so desperate here. I'm afraid that there will be no more systems, no more attempts to be the one to find The Answer. I'll post however, whenever, out of Love, not longing. Thank you for being here, and I hope that this means something, but I'm at least glad it meant something to me. ❤🕯
Once known for being the cornerstone of industrialization, now a haunted ruin. This was my home. Not necessarily beautiful - at least not by many metrics, I hear - but it was undoubtedly majestic. And damn it, I thought it was beautiful. This is where I grew up, all of my formative memories are here, this place was - is - everything to me.
Many of our dead lie here, beneath the sand and rubble. Between war, dragons, shard eruptions, and the dark illness, most have presumably been destroyed or are well on their way. I'd be lying if I said I had any real numbers, though.
The horrors didn't stop with the initial blast of what we now call the Shattering, instead, the blasts continue on a semi-regular basis. We can almost accurately predict the eruptions by now.
There's also the dark illness. A corruption, a cancer of sorts. It starts small, it can even go unnoticed for some time... but once it has hold of you, it slowly takes you.
We are all working on ways to honor the dead and dying. We don't know what the next life will hold for them, or whether they even pass on. All we have left of most are calcified husks, some already showing signs of wear from exposure to the elements, many damaged beyond recognition, and still so many more buried or destroyed entirely.
Our days aren't all gloom and mourning, though. Life persists. We learn to evade the dragons. We're trying to study the effects of pollution and how best to avoid it. We mend the wounded and tend to our ill and dying. We're rebuilding homes and community spaces from the rubble. Maybe it's not too late for us, after all. Besides, we're the golden society's toughest warriors, smartest engineers, and most adept boatsmen (and fishermen!). We don't give up and, most importantly, we survive.
Golden Wasteland, my home. May we live - and past mere survival, once we've grown old and weary and finally decide it's our time, may our souls live on to tell our tales. Light be upon us.
