The Sumeru Akademiya, Astrology, and Mona's mysterious origins
(Originally posted on my Twitter on August 27 and 28, 2022.)
Sumeru is exciting for a multitude of reasons, but a major point for me is learning more about astrology from astrologist characters other than our beloved Mona Megistus!
One of the six Darshans of the Akademiya is Rtawahist, a department dedicated to Illuminationism, the study of the stars that includes astronomy and astrology.
The ex-Grand Sage of the Akademiya was the sage of Rtawahist, Azar. This means that an astrologist was leading the school. You would think this means astrology is a well-respected subject in not just the Akademiya, but Sumeru as a whole. However, it seems that isn't the case.
The elderly researcher (who refers to himself as an astrologist) implies that they are not being funded well, but that may be a recent thing. There's lots of talk of a secret project (that we now know was the Fatui working with the sages to make a god out of Scaramouche) diverting much attention and money away from other research projects.
Notably, Qushji mentions Hydromancy, the art of divining fate from the stars' reflection in water, which was developed by none other than Mona's master herself! In the 3.x Archon Quests thus far there's been no mention of Mona's master or Mona.
To my current in game knowledge, it's unclear how much, if at all, Mona and her master are affiliated with the Akademiya and astrologists in Rtawahist.
The newly released character, Layla, an Akademiya student from the Rtawahist Darshan and specializing in theoretical astrology, has this to say about Mona:
Mona Megistus, the Astrologist... Her astrology column in The Steambird is well-known among Rtawahist scholars. Her articles always cover super specialized topics, but can still be appreciated by non-academics. That's no easy feat... Huh? Her name seems to just roll off my tongue? Uh, that's just because... I have a lot of respect for... amazing people.
This seems to imply that Mona (and by extension her master) are independent of Rtawahist and the Akademiya.
Another researcher, Ashk, has a very interesting conversation with the Traveler. He implies that due to human ignorance and therefore error, the truth divined from the stars may be incorrect or misleading. When he asks the Traveler what they think, you receive a reward for choosing the second dialogue option, "Things might not be as they seem..."
What stuck out to me is the talk of ignorance in the nation of wisdom. Mona's cinematic from her mirage in Summer Fantasia described the crystal bird as, "born in wisdom, but trapped in ignorance".
Given that this event directly preceded Sumeru, I don't believe the choice in words is a coincidence.
The same researcher goes on to speak about research into constellation. It seems that in order to study those, one must have a Vision. It's still a bit unclear whether only Allogenes have constellations, or everyone does regardless.
Mona's line about constellations implies the former. This exchange is important because it plants the idea that destiny - the past in this instance - can be altered if someone is the one deciding it in the first place.
This is a reoccurring theme in the game - rewriting fate, challenging destiny. I'm very curious to see if Mona will make an appearance in the Sumeru storyline at some point, and if we'll finally learn more about her master and Hexenzirkel in turn. The set-up is there!
At the beginning of the Sumeru Archon Quest, Haypasia gives us our first introduction to the Rtawahist Darshan. She describes its goals as studing astrology, astronomy and the stars’ link to destiny, who then also try to connect with Irminsul to deepen their knowledge.
That sounds a lot like Hexenzirkel.
I've speculated about Mona's master and/or Hexenzirkel possibly being affiliated with the Akademiya. If her master were to have that connection, I wonder why Mona doesn't? We know next to nothing about Mona's origins or past.
We don't even know why she's studying astrology, how she met her master, and how Mona came to study under her. Mona is steeped in mystery, and that's how she's meant to be. Her character introduction on the Genshin Impact website describes her as "a mysterious astrologist".
Many people assume Mona is from Fontaine because she writes the column "All Things Astrological" for its famed newspaper, The Steambird, but we have no indication of where she came from. Is it Sumeru? Is that where she met her master and studied astrology?
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