Norrathian Astronomy

[Itsey]

I am writing an astronomical history of Norrath, and I am looking for some input based on lore, because throughout history, people have mixed lore with astronomy. I need the expertise of the lore community to fill in some details so they're accurate...What should be the name of Norrath's sun? The inhabitants associate it with their god Solusek Ro. So should the solar system of Norrath be called the Solusek System or the Ro System (after Solusek Ro and Fenin Ro)? Does Norrath have one or two moons? Luclin was the destroyed moon, but if you look up, there's another (intact) moon. What is its name?Does the Solusek System have planets? Cultures normally name their planets after their gods. Which gods might be associated with Solusek planets? (inner planets tend to be named after speedy gods (i.e., mercury was the messenger god), planets that are close by are bright and are often associated with fertility or war, outer planets are dimmer and slower moving and are associated with older gods (kings, harvest, god of time, etc.) What can be deduced from the qualities of the Norrathian gods?

[Apocroph]

Norrath has two confirmed moons, and an alleged third.  The destroyed moon is Luclin, named after the Goddess of Shadows.  The intact moon is Drinal, named after the god of death.  The alleged moon is Morrell, named after Morrell-Thule, the god of dreams.I've always seen the sun referred to as Ro, which would make the solar system the Ro system.  I've never heard mention of any other planets in the system, specifically.  Other planets have been referred to by name, such as Berrox, and possibly, the other names from Remembrances books that drop in Obelisk of Lost Souls.

[Vhalen]

<p>Ro is the name of Norrath's sun. There was an ancient name for the sun. That name was Solus. When Professor Romiak Jusathorn headed up the Academy of Arcane Science, he directed a think tank of scholars to discover ways to delve into the cosmos. According to those eggheads of the Academy of Arcane Science, this is what the Ro Galaxy is made of:</p><p>The Ro System</p><p>THE SUN</p><p>Ro:  A yellow star in the Diamond Shoal Nebula</p><p>THE PLANETS AND THEIR SATELLITES</p><p>Trorsmang:  A molten body with a molten core, water vapor, a sulfurous atmosphere, and desolate climate.</p><ul><li>Moons: None known</li></ul><p>Norrath:  A solid body with a molten core, liquid water, breathable atmosphere, and various climates:</p><ul><li>Moons: Two</li></ul><p>1.         Luclin:  A solid body with a molten core, liquid water, breathable atmosphere and a tropical climate.</p><p>2.         Drinal:  A solid body with a solid core, frozen water, minimal atmosphere and a desolate climate.</p><p>Anbeal:  A solid body with a solid core, no water, no atmosphere and a desolate climate.</p><ul><li>Moons: None known</li></ul><p>Cordan:  A gaseous body with a solid core, no water, poisonous atmosphere and a desolate climate.</p><ul><li>Moons: Three rings of ice particles and space debris.</li></ul>

[Cusashorn]

<cite>Vhalen wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Ro is the name of Norrath's sun. There was an ancient name for the sun. That name was Solus. When Professor Romiak Jusathorn headed up the Academy of Arcane Science, he directed a think tank of scholars to discover ways to delve into the cosmos. According to those eggheads of the Academy of Arcane Science, this is what the Ro Galaxy is made of:</p><p>The Ro System</p><p>THE SUN</p><p>Ro:  A yellow star in the Diamond Shoal Nebula</p><p>THE PLANETS AND THEIR SATELLITES</p><p>Trorsmang:  A molten body with a molten core, water vapor, a sulfurous atmosphere, and desolate climate.</p><ul><li>Moons: None known</li></ul><p>Norrath:  A solid body with a molten core, liquid water, breathable atmosphere, and various climates:</p><ul><li>Moons: Two</li></ul><p>1.         Luclin:  A solid body with a molten core, liquid water, breathable atmosphere and a tropical climate.</p><p>2.         Drinal:  A solid body with a solid core, frozen water, minimal atmosphere and a desolate climate.</p><p>Anbeal:  A solid body with a solid core, no water, no atmosphere and a desolate climate.</p><ul><li>Moons: None known</li></ul><p>Cordan:  A gaseous body with a solid core, no water, poisonous atmosphere and a desolate climate.</p><ul><li>Moons: Three rings of ice particles and space debris.</li></ul></blockquote><p>So that myth about there being a 3rd moon that remains completely stationary at Norrath's South Pole isn't true after all.</p><p>Judging from the descriptions of the other planets though, it deffinitly fits the pictures of those celestial bodies that you could see from the Plane of Sky in EQlive before the sky graphics were revamped with the DirectX 9.0 patch.</p><p>Whenever you saw them from down on Norrath (I know I have), it ment a special GM event was happening. Namely, the Plane of Sky opened up during the weekend when Anbeal, Cordan, and Trorsmang were visible from Norrath's night sky.</p>

[iasmin]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite><p>So that myth about there being a 3rd moon that remains completely stationary at Norrath's South Pole isn't true after all.</p></blockquote> Not necessarily. Note he only mentioned the egghead research. Note too he made no mention of the myth at all.

[Cusashorn]

<cite>iasmin wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite><p>So that myth about there being a 3rd moon that remains completely stationary at Norrath's South Pole isn't true after all.</p></blockquote>Not necessarily. Note he only mentioned the egghead research. Note too he made no mention of the myth at all.</blockquote>I really doubt Vhalen would keep a 3rd moon secret from us if he went off to list the information in that style.

[Gukkor2]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>iasmin wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite><p>So that myth about there being a 3rd moon that remains completely stationary at Norrath's South Pole isn't true after all.</p></blockquote>Not necessarily. Note he only mentioned the egghead research. Note too he made no mention of the myth at all.</blockquote>I really doubt Vhalen would keep a 3rd moon secret from us if he went off to list the information in that style.</blockquote>But that isn't Vhalen's information, it's the Academy of Arcane Science's.  It seems overwhelmingly likely that precious few beings living on Norrath know of Morell, simply because it is stationary over a place that few, if any have been to.  The Academy probably formed their image of the Ro system based on what they could observe in the night sky (augmented by technology and divination, of course).  Morell couldn't possibly have been seen from their vantage point.

[Cusashorn]

<cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>iasmin wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite><p>So that myth about there being a 3rd moon that remains completely stationary at Norrath's South Pole isn't true after all.</p></blockquote>Not necessarily. Note he only mentioned the egghead research. Note too he made no mention of the myth at all.</blockquote>I really doubt Vhalen would keep a 3rd moon secret from us if he went off to list the information in that style.</blockquote>But that isn't Vhalen's information, it's the Academy of Arcane Science's.  It seems overwhelmingly likely that precious few beings living on Norrath know of Morell, simply because it is stationary over a place that few, if any have been to.  The Academy probably formed their image of the Ro system based on what they could observe in the night sky (augmented by technology and divination, of course).  Morell couldn't possibly have been seen from their vantage point.</blockquote>But they most certainly would have seen or detected something from Velious. Remember they've been researching these things for centuries, long before the Academy became property of Lucan's grasp. A stationary moon right above the continent on the south pole (or at the least below the arctic circle) would certainly be something people would see.

[Itsey]

<img src="http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2007/images/071003CaseyStarSystem_R6_md.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><div></div><div>Thanks! This is great info!<div></div><div>The Ro system would probably look something like the picture above.</div><div></div><div>Assuming the Ro system follows ordinary rules of physics (gravity), a stationary moon at the South Equator is impossible. In order to stay in orbit, a moon must have angular momentum (it must orbit the planet). Geosynchronous satellites *appear* stationary because they orbit the planet at the same rate as the planet's rotation. But there is no planetary rotation at the poles of a planet, and therefore there is no geosynchronous orbit. </div><div></div><div>So I conclude the Professor was right to discard the story of Morrell as a myth, even though he himself may never have ventured to the south pole to confirm it. If such a moon exists, it would have to be held up by enormous magical forces which are of unknown origin.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div>

[Rainmare]

if the third moon does exist, and it is stationary, it could very well be kept there by Morrell Thule himself. Luclin involved herself heavily with the moon that was named after her, seeding it with a race of her own design, and I would imagine she's probably the reason why it was habitable in the first place.btw...this si the first I've heard of a mention of a third moon, even only a mythical one. where did this informationt hat there coudl be one even spawn from?

[Arianah]

I saw mention of the third moon on EQ2i and another Wiki entry (went to wiki, searched for Norrath, and found it - but it's since been removed). Other than that *shrug*.I'll make the appropriate changes to the Norrath page on my site... <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />But wasn't there mention of a veil that hid Luclin from Norrath? Maybe there is the same veil hiding Morrell from Norrath?

[Cusashorn]

<cite>Arianah wrote:</cite><blockquote>I saw mention of the third moon on EQ2i and another Wiki entry (went to wiki, searched for Norrath, and found it - but it's since been removed). Other than that *shrug*.I'll make the appropriate changes to the Norrath page on my site... <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src=" width="15" height="15" />" width="15" height="15">But wasn't there mention of a veil that hid Luclin from Norrath? Maybe there is the same veil hiding Morrell from Norrath?</blockquote><p>The Goddess of Shadows had every right to shadow her domain from the eyes of Norrath, but what reason would a good-aligned god, the God of Dreams, have to hide a moon from Norrath?</p><p>Even the Veil of Shadows had a weak point in which Luclin would be visible to Norrath for a short period of time. The Combine empire took advantage of this in order to move there.</p>

[Gukkor2]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>iasmin wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite><p>So that myth about there being a 3rd moon that remains completely stationary at Norrath's South Pole isn't true after all.</p></blockquote>Not necessarily. Note he only mentioned the egghead research. Note too he made no mention of the myth at all.</blockquote>I really doubt Vhalen would keep a 3rd moon secret from us if he went off to list the information in that style.</blockquote>But that isn't Vhalen's information, it's the Academy of Arcane Science's.  It seems overwhelmingly likely that precious few beings living on Norrath know of Morell, simply because it is stationary over a place that few, if any have been to.  The Academy probably formed their image of the Ro system based on what they could observe in the night sky (augmented by technology and divination, of course).  Morell couldn't possibly have been seen from their vantage point.</blockquote>But they most certainly would have seen or detected something from Velious. Remember they've been researching these things for centuries, long before the Academy became property of Lucan's grasp. A stationary moon right above the continent on the south pole (or at the least below the arctic circle) would certainly be something people would see.</blockquote>That really depends on how far Velious actually is from the south pole, how large or small the moon is, and how far the moon is from Norrath.  Judging from the orrery in the Tower of the Moon, Morell is, by a large margin, both the smallest and closest of Norrath's moons.

[troodon]

<cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote>That really depends on how far Velious actually is from the south pole, how large or small the moon is, and how far the moon is from Norrath.  Judging from the orrery in the Tower of the Moon, Morell is, by a large margin, both the smallest and closest of Norrath's moons.</blockquote>According to the <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/troodon/Skyfire%20Mountains/EQ000829.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">EQ1 globes</a> Velious comes quite close to covering the southern pole. 

[Gukkor2]

<cite>troodon wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote>That really depends on how far Velious actually is from the south pole, how large or small the moon is, and how far the moon is from Norrath.  Judging from the orrery in the Tower of the Moon, Morell is, by a large margin, both the smallest and closest of Norrath's moons.</blockquote>According to the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/troodon/Skyfire%20Mountains/EQ000829.jpg" target="_blank">EQ1 globes</a> Velious comes quite close to covering the southern pole. </blockquote>True, but I'm honestly not sure how much I trust those globes.  I can't even identify that continent above Velious.

[Zabjade]

<span style="color: #00cc00;">Valuable research, and obviously from the perspective of the Academy as if this was a Vhalen source it would include all this plus moons that are know and unknown as well as planets that are not normally visible and a final decision of a geo-stationary moon hanging above the Velious area. not to mention it would be up-to-date on Luclin...unless the shattered Moon is just another illusion...............</span>

[Deadrus]

<cite>Zabjade wrote:</cite><blockquote><span style="color: #00cc00;">Valuable research, and obviously from the perspective of the Academy as if this was a Vhalen source it would include all this plus moons that are know and unknown as well as planets that are not normally visible and a final decision of a geo-stationary moon hanging above the Velious area. not to mention it would be up-to-date on Luclin...unless the shattered Moon is just another illusion...............</span></blockquote>I really like that idea about the Shattered moon being another illusion. Since the moon  was widely known and traveled after it was discoverd by the rest of norath maybe luclin her self never left or was the first to come back since the moon was out of reach of norath after it was invaded maybe she launged a few rocks from space to norath and created an illusion of luclin destoryed to prevent any one from trying to come back to her moon.

[Deadrus]

<p>double post</p>

[TheKons]

<cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>troodon wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote>That really depends on how far Velious actually is from the south pole, how large or small the moon is, and how far the moon is from Norrath.  Judging from the orrery in the Tower of the Moon, Morell is, by a large margin, both the smallest and closest of Norrath's moons.</blockquote>According to the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/troodon/Skyfire%20Mountains/EQ000829.jpg" target="_blank">EQ1 globes</a> Velious comes quite close to covering the southern pole. </blockquote>True, but I'm honestly not sure how much I trust those globes.  I can't even identify that continent above Velious.</blockquote>Thats Kunark

[teddyboy4]

Since that research is from the Academy, it is entirely possible that a 3rd moon is still out there and the Academy has just not recognized, confirmed, or admitted it's existence for whatever reason(s). Heck, Luclin's existence wasn't widely known until it's matron lifted the veil of shadows and revealed it to the population of Norrath, and I bet if such a report was compiled by the Acadamy or Concordium in the years where the veil was in place we wouldn't see Luclin's name on such a list.

[DeBasilisk]

Morrell Thule absolutely exists near the South Pole.No questions. None whatsoever. Here's proof.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Island" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Island</a>Well, that's Earth anyhow. Who knows about Norrath....hehe

[Miladi]

<cite>DeBasilisk wrote:</cite><blockquote>Morrell Thule absolutely exists near the South Pole.No questions. None whatsoever. Here's proof.<a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Island" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Island</a>Well, that's Earth anyhow. Who knows about Norrath....hehe</blockquote>That's pretty coincidental if you ask me. Morrel Thule has a moon named after him that's hanging out by the south pole of Norrath, and Earth has an island named Thule hanging out by the south pole. Although Thule Island isn't all that close to the south pole, its eerily close enough.

[KefkaQ]

I found this whole thread utterly fascinating. Thanks <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />

[Cusashorn]

<cite>Deadrus wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Zabjade wrote:</cite><blockquote><span style="color: #00cc00;">Valuable research, and obviously from the perspective of the Academy as if this was a Vhalen source it would include all this plus moons that are know and unknown as well as planets that are not normally visible and a final decision of a geo-stationary moon hanging above the Velious area. not to mention it would be up-to-date on Luclin...unless the shattered Moon is just another illusion...............</span></blockquote>I really like that idea about the Shattered moon being another illusion. Since the moon  was widely known and traveled after it was discoverd by the rest of norath maybe luclin her self never left or was the first to come back since the moon was out of reach of norath after it was invaded maybe she launged a few rocks from space to norath and created an illusion of luclin destoryed to prevent any one from trying to come back to her moon.</blockquote>Care to guess as to why that "Illusion" resulted in the physical devastation of Norrath with the evidence of it's explosion laying about everywhere in the form of huge meteorites?

[Deadrus]

<p>i ment to say maybe she launched a few peices of rock from the rings of luclin at norrath. And while there is a crater here and their nothing to norath was as destrictive as the rending. or they could be maybe just another meteaor shower. Sure its far fetched but what if Luclin is just trying to discorage anyone from trying to go back their thinking they see its destoryed and assuming all the mediorites came from luclin it self. And i just wana go back to Luclin in eq2. I loved how Norath looked so huge in the sky on luclin it would be cool to see it agian like that. And finaly get to see Norrath to scale becuase our maps sure arent even close. </p>

[Apocroph]

<cite>Deadrus wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>i ment to say maybe she launched a few peices of rock from the rings of luclin at norrath. And while there is a crater here and their nothing to norath was as destrictive as the rending. or they could be maybe just another meteaor shower. Sure its far fetched but what if Luclin is just trying to discorage anyone from trying to go back their thinking they see its destoryed and assuming all the mediorites came from luclin it self. And i just wana go back to Luclin in eq2. I loved how Norath looked so huge in the sky on luclin it would be cool to see it agian like that. And finaly get to see Norrath to scale becuase our maps sure arent even close. </p></blockquote>I think a scenario involving Luclin putting The Veil back up as she rebuilds her moon is much more likely.  She might alter how The Veil is seen to give the impression that the moon is still in pieces, but Cusa's got you dead to rights with the shards of the moon being all over the planet.

[Gukkor2]

<cite>Lilii@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>troodon wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote>That really depends on how far Velious actually is from the south pole, how large or small the moon is, and how far the moon is from Norrath.  Judging from the orrery in the Tower of the Moon, Morell is, by a large margin, both the smallest and closest of Norrath's moons.</blockquote>According to the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/troodon/Skyfire%20Mountains/EQ000829.jpg" target="_blank">EQ1 globes</a> Velious comes quite close to covering the southern pole. </blockquote>True, but I'm honestly not sure how much I trust those globes.  I can't even identify that continent above Velious.</blockquote>Thats Kunark</blockquote>I thought so at first, but the details of the geography are completely wrong, and Kunark is more east of Velious, not north.  Plus, they're much, much farther away from each other than that.  It's also not Taelosia (wrong shape, too big, wrong location on the planet), so unless there's some large continent between Odus and Velious that Norrathians have missed somehow, I can only conclude that that globe is inaccurate.

[Apocroph]

No, that would be Kunark, and the geography is right on, though it's a bit distorted.  Velious is the south pole.  Go look at the globe in Stormhold if you don't believe me.<img src="http://www.screenshots.cc/images/m5ovnwf3s7uew9k1w7c.jpg" alt="" border="0" />

[Gukkor2]

<cite>kuraan wrote:</cite><blockquote>No, that would be Kunark, and the geography is right on, though it's a bit distorted.  Velious is the south pole.  Go look at the globe in Stormhold if you don't believe me.<img src="http://www.screenshots.cc/images/m5ovnwf3s7uew9k1w7c.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="535" height="451" /></blockquote><p>If it's Kunark, then it's a pretty horribly distorted depiction of it.  That looks NOTHING like the Lake of Ill Omen, and it's in the wrong part of the continent to boot!  As for the Dragon Drool, I can't really see what the line is pointing to on the globe, but I can't find any sign of a lake of that size on the globe's version of "Kunark."  Also, there's no forest or jungle northeast of the Field of Bone.  The Field of Bone extends to the coastline.    </p><p>Y'know, now that I look at it more closely, that continent on the globe looks like they just copy-pasted the same geographical features in several areas.</p>

[Aer]

<img src="http://www.graffe.com/graffe1.0/screenpics/kunark/veeshan_globe.jpg" alt="" border="0" />Thats kunark and the rest of the continents squished together.  There really is a huge unknown continent on that globe you can see when playing eq1.

[Apocroph]

<cite>Aerio wrote:</cite><blockquote>Thats kunark and the rest of the continents squished together.  There really is a huge unknown continent on that globe you can see when playing eq1.</blockquote>Now that's just weird.  This unknown continent looks like a pretty badly squished Kunark.  Wonder what it really is.

[Gukkor2]

It might be Taelosia from before they had a clear conception of where it was or what it looked like.

[teddyboy4]

<cite>Aerio wrote:</cite><blockquote><img src="http://www.graffe.com/graffe1.0/screenpics/kunark/veeshan_globe.jpg" border="0" alt="" />Thats kunark and the rest of the continents squished together.  There really is a huge unknown continent on that globe you can see when playing eq1.</blockquote>Where's the unknown continent on the globe in that picture?The Southern most one is Velious, NE of Velious is quite obviously Kunark, just North of that is Faydwer, and East of Faydwer is Antonica. Antonica looks like it's a bit squished from North/South, but the general alignment of those continents matches up just right.The only unknown continent I've ever seen on any globe of Norrath is always the one that was all alone on the far side of the globe from Antonica, that was assumed to be what came to be known as Taelosia in OoW/GoD

[Apocroph]

<cite>Eandiil@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite>Where's the unknown continent on the globe in that picture?</blockquote>'Round back.

[Cusashorn]

<cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote>It might be Taelosia from before they had a clear conception of where it was or what it looked like.</blockquote><p>This.</p><p>I believe that if the EQlive designers are still planning on holding true to that globe, then they plan on releasing a continent that will be larger than Antonica and Kunark put together as an ace in the hole. I believe that it was originally suppose to be Taelosia before they decided to kick us in the nuts instead.</p>

[TheKons]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote>It might be Taelosia from before they had a clear conception of where it was or what it looked like.</blockquote><p>This.</p><p>I believe that if the EQlive designers are still planning on holding true to that globe, then they plan on releasing a continent that will be larger than Antonica and Kunark put together as an ace in the hole. I believe that it was originally suppose to be Taelosia before they decided to kick us in the nuts instead.</p></blockquote>So true

[teddyboy4]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote>It might be Taelosia from before they had a clear conception of where it was or what it looked like.</blockquote><p>This.</p><p>I believe that if the EQlive designers are still planning on holding true to that globe, then they plan on releasing a continent that will be larger than Antonica and Kunark put together as an ace in the hole. <i><b>I believe that it was originally suppose to be Taelosia before they decided to kick us in the nuts instead.</b></i></p></blockquote>LMFAO. You rock. I don't think I could have said it any better myself, and I pride myself on my ability to communicate with passion through the written word.Now back to your regularly scheduled lore debate.

[goldfeesh641]

If you are still interested in the astronomy of Norrath, there is an interesting book from a quest that describes several constellations in the Norrathian night sky.  To obtain this book, one may want to go on a certain "treasure hunt" from some dinged up boats off the docks in the commonlands and a beached vessel just to the north of Stormhold in Antonica...In other words, I can't find the book right now, but do that quest to get it!

[vochore]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Vhalen wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Ro is the name of Norrath's sun. There was an ancient name for the sun. That name was Solus. When Professor Romiak Jusathorn headed up the Academy of Arcane Science, he directed a think tank of scholars to discover ways to delve into the cosmos. According to those eggheads of the Academy of Arcane Science, this is what the Ro Galaxy is made of:</p><p>The Ro System</p><p>THE SUN</p><p>Ro:  A yellow star in the Diamond Shoal Nebula</p><p>THE PLANETS AND THEIR SATELLITES</p><p>Trorsmang:  A molten body with a molten core, water vapor, a sulfurous atmosphere, and desolate climate.</p><ul><li>Moons: None known</li></ul><p>Norrath:  A solid body with a molten core, liquid water, breathable atmosphere, and various climates:</p><ul><li>Moons: Two</li></ul><p>1.         Luclin:  A solid body with a molten core, liquid water, breathable atmosphere and a tropical climate.</p><p>2.         Drinal:  A solid body with a solid core, frozen water, minimal atmosphere and a desolate climate.</p><p>Anbeal:  A solid body with a solid core, no water, no atmosphere and a desolate climate.</p><ul><li>Moons: None known</li></ul><p>Cordan:  A gaseous body with a solid core, no water, poisonous atmosphere and a desolate climate.</p><ul><li>Moons: Three rings of ice particles and space debris.</li></ul></blockquote><p>So that myth about there being a 3rd moon that remains completely stationary at Norrath's South Pole isn't true after all.</p><p>Judging from the descriptions of the other planets though, it deffinitly fits the pictures of those celestial bodies that you could see from the Plane of Sky in EQlive before the sky graphics were revamped with the DirectX 9.0 patch.</p><p>Whenever you saw them from down on Norrath (I know I have), it ment a special GM event was happening. Namely, the Plane of Sky opened up during the weekend when Anbeal, Cordan, and Trorsmang were visible from Norrath's night sky.</p></blockquote><p>i actualy went into the tower of the moon last night to check out the display and see actualy how many moons norrath has and there is a spinning moon or something at the south poll of norrath and no i do not think it just something the planet is rotating on becuse anoughr planet in the display does not have that object at the bottom.</p><p>go take a close look...i say there is a third moon at the south pole</p>

[Itsey]

Are there any continents or cities known to exist south of the Norrathian equator? A stationary moon over the south pole would be hard to miss from the southern continents  (just as the north star is always in our sky in the northern continents). Such a moon would seem to hang stationary in the southern sky. All the stars would seem to revolve around it. It would make a very conspicuous navigational aid, and so would have to be widely known by sailors who venture into the southern seas. So either nobody has ever ventured south of the equator of Norrath (for some odd reason), or the representation in the tower of the moon is wrong.<div></div><div>Anyway, I discount the possibility of such a moon. No object can remain in a stationary pole position above Norrath without violating the law of gravity. It would have to fall to the ground! </div><div></div><div>Technically, there is a possibility of such an orbit--called the "Langrange Point" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point). However, for such a Lagrange point to exist over the Norrathian south pole, there would have to be a massive object directly above the north pole. We have no evidence for such an object.</div>

[Cusashorn]

<cite>Itsey@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote>Are there any continents or cities known to exist south of the Norrathian equator? A stationary moon over the south pole would be hard to miss from the southern continents  (just as the north star is always in our sky in the northern continents). Such a moon would seem to hang stationary in the southern sky. All the stars would seem to revolve around it. It would make a very conspicuous navigational aid, and so would have to be widely known by sailors who venture into the southern seas. So either nobody has ever ventured south of the equator of Norrath (for some odd reason), or the representation in the tower of the moon is wrong. <div></div><div>Anyway, I discount the possibility of such a moon. No object can remain in a stationary pole position above Norrath without violating the law of gravity. It would have to fall to the ground! </div><div></div><div>Technically, there is a possibility of such an orbit--called the "Langrange Point" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point). However, for such a Lagrange point to exist over the Norrathian south pole, there would have to be a massive object directly above the north pole. We have no evidence for such an object.</div></blockquote><p>It's hard to tell with that primitive globe seen in Skyfire Mountains (Pictured above in this thread). For starters, it's from the viewpoint of the player who took the screenshot.</p><p>However, Judging how large Antonica used to be, It was safe to assume that Oggok, Grobb, and Cabilis were below the equator. Ak'Anon and Erudin probably were situated right near it as well.</p>

[Coniaric]

<p>Unfortunately, that is a single screenshot. To truly display every part of the globe, someone has to take a shot from each angle possible.</p>

[Gukkor2]

<cite>Itsey@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote>Are there any continents or cities known to exist south of the Norrathian equator? A stationary moon over the south pole would be hard to miss from the southern continents  (just as the north star is always in our sky in the northern continents). Such a moon would seem to hang stationary in the southern sky. All the stars would seem to revolve around it. It would make a very conspicuous navigational aid, and so would have to be widely known by sailors who venture into the southern seas. So either nobody has ever ventured south of the equator of Norrath (for some odd reason), or the representation in the tower of the moon is wrong. <div></div><div>Anyway, I discount the possibility of such a moon. No object can remain in a stationary pole position above Norrath without violating the law of gravity. It would have to fall to the ground! </div><div></div><div>Technically, there is a possibility of such an orbit--called the "Langrange Point" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point). However, for such a Lagrange point to exist over the Norrathian south pole, there would have to be a massive object directly above the north pole. We have no evidence for such an object.</div></blockquote>We have no evidence for an object above the north pole, but we've also never really seen Norrath's north pole at all.  Remember, the Everfrost region is actually temperate by nature; it was turned into a frozen wasteland by divine activity.  Thus, it is unlikely that Antonica's northern extremities constitute the north pole.  It's entirely possible that there is a fourth moon (or some other sort of massive object) at the north pole that we simply haven't discovered, which would allow for the possibility of a Langrange Point orbit.

[Mary the Prophetess]

<p>This might help:</p><p><img src="http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t105/agh1950/EQ000828.jpg?t=1209043361" alt="EQ000828.jpg picture by agh1950" width="640" height="480" border="0" /></p><p><img src="http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t105/agh1950/EQ000829.jpg?t=1209043550" alt="EQ000829.jpg picture by agh1950" width="640" height="480" border="0" /></p><p><img src="http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t105/agh1950/EQ000830.jpg?t=1209043583" alt="EQ000830.jpg picture by agh1950" width="640" height="480" border="0" /></p><p><img src="http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t105/agh1950/EQ000831.jpg?t=1209043617" alt="EQ000831.jpg picture by agh1950" width="640" height="480" border="0" /></p><p><img src="http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t105/agh1950/EQ000832.jpg?t=1209043653" alt="EQ000832.jpg picture by agh1950" width="640" height="480" border="0" /></p>

[goldfeesh641]

<cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Itsey@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote>Are there any continents or cities known to exist south of the Norrathian equator? A stationary moon over the south pole would be hard to miss from the southern continents  (just as the north star is always in our sky in the northern continents). Such a moon would seem to hang stationary in the southern sky. All the stars would seem to revolve around it. It would make a very conspicuous navigational aid, and so would have to be widely known by sailors who venture into the southern seas. So either nobody has ever ventured south of the equator of Norrath (for some odd reason), or the representation in the tower of the moon is wrong. <div></div><div>Anyway, I discount the possibility of such a moon. No object can remain in a stationary pole position above Norrath without violating the law of gravity. It would have to fall to the ground! </div><div></div><div>Technically, there is a possibility of such an orbit--called the "Langrange Point" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point). However, for such a Lagrange point to exist over the Norrathian south pole, there would have to be a massive object directly above the north pole. We have no evidence for such an object.</div></blockquote>We have no evidence for an object above the north pole, but we've also never really seen Norrath's north pole at all.  Remember, the Everfrost region is actually temperate by nature; it was turned into a frozen wasteland by divine activity.  Thus, it is unlikely that Antonica's northern extremities constitute the north pole.  It's entirely possible that there is a fourth moon (or some other sort of massive object) at the north pole that we simply haven't discovered, which would allow for the possibility of a Langrange Point orbit.</blockquote>True, except we HAVE been to the North Pole, tons of us!  Every year during the Frostfell festivities...

[Itsey]

[deleted]

[Wilin]

Superstring F-T-W

[Grimlux]

What an interesting perspective. I personally want to see a Drinal expansion, but now that you mention Morrell that could be interesting too.

[Cusashorn]

<cite>Wilin wrote:</cite><blockquote>Superstring F-T-W</blockquote>And fanfiction to boot. You know thats always a nice thing to see on this board.

[Wilin]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Wilin wrote:</cite><blockquote>Superstring F-T-W</blockquote>And fanfiction to boot. You know thats always a nice thing to see on this board.</blockquote><p>Yeah, it should probably be over in the Traveler's Tales forum to avoid confusion.</p><p>Otherwise, someone will be quoting it 3 years from now and asking in the Newbie Yard forum how to improve their Superstring channeling ability. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Arianah]

Played around with the screenshots from the globe in Skyfire (EQ1), this is what I came up with:<img src="http://home.graffiti.net/avya/norrath.jpg" alt="" border="0" />You can see Antonica, Faydwer, Kunark, Odus, and Velious, and I'm pretty sure I labelled Taelosia correctly.So there's a polar cap (?) at the top of the globe, not very large (at least, not as large as Velious), not sure if it's got a name or it's just there. There's 1 large unknown continent, and 3 little unknown islands.I know it's straying off topic, but I needed to come up with a new map for Myrist anyways eheh <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Vanisher123]

Could perhaps the third moon have come since eq1? Something caused Velious melt, maybe part of it was blasted into space?part of luclin got stuck in the south? In the world of EQ many things no matter how weird can happen. For all we know the erudites of Odus blasted themselves and odus into space!!!(ok probably not but you never know with erudites).Theres also the display in the tower in DOF, as mentioned, it does show another "object"Just saying, nothing is really ever certain in EQ when it comes to new/lost places. Besides maybe its not a "moon" but somthing else?

[Drager]

well i have a few questons first when was this study first made. seeing norrath has changed alot during a short amount of time the rest of the planets in the Ro system could also have been affectedsecond the moon over the south pole. this moon might be hidden like many have said before it is possible to hide a moon. the  best way to tell if this moon exists is to see if there is a continous high tide on the southern hemisphere  of  norrath. if there is a moon there then the south pole would be very massive  so massive that if the  southern moon was moved  then  norrath would flood.lastly the destoried moon interest me. if a moon exploded i would think there would be much more of a catastrophy than a few rocks in the ground.  it would ruin tidal patterns as well  as  affect  animal behavior  on a global scale . but what worries me the most is that there is no activity with the pieces of the moon. for as long as i can remember they have just sat in the same order still rotating around norrath. based on elapsed time the pieces should have circled norrath and fallen by now. so i think there is still more to our abandon moon. 

[Itsey]

Who built that globe in the Skyfire? How do they know about that huge undiscovered continent?

[Mayl]

<p>great screenshots of the globe.</p><p>too bad from eq1 though. love to see something after the Rendering</p>

[Cusashorn]

<cite>Itsey@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote>Who built that globe in the Skyfire? How do they know about that huge undiscovered continent?</blockquote><p>It was never revealed who created the globe in Skyfire, or what the huge continent on the other side is.</p><p>As for those still questioning a moon remaining hidden from plain sight at the south pole...</p><p>Just remember, Luclin only wished to hide her territory from the rest of Norrath with the hidden veil, and not anyone elses. Even then, Luclin became visible once a month during it's full moon phase around Norrath (as stated in the Combine Exodus story in the Luclin instruction manual.)</p><p>This hidden moon would sometime or another show up in the sky.</p>

[Coniaric]

<cite>Drager@Nektulos wrote:</cite><blockquote>lastly the destoried moon interest me. if a moon exploded i would think there would be much more of a catastrophy than a few rocks in the ground.  it would ruin tidal patterns as well  as  affect  animal behavior  on a global scale . but what worries me the most is that there is no activity with the pieces of the moon. for as long as i can remember they have just sat in the same order still rotating around norrath. based on elapsed time the pieces should have circled norrath and fallen by now. so i think there is still more to our abandon moon. </blockquote><p>Not necessarily. It was mentioned in another thread. The Shattering of Luclin happened about 50 years before EQ2 and it wasn't until about 10-15 years prior to EQ2, that the pieces settled in their current position and the worse of falling debris had hit Norrath or beyond. While Luclin may had exploded, it apparently still had some point of gravity and rotation and such, and along with Norrath's gravity ... which, luckily for EQ2, kept the largest parts together ... otherwise, EQ2's Norrath will not exist for us to play in.</p><p>The tidal patterns and stuff did happened ... it's why ocean travel was not safe for a very long time until recently.</p><p>Animal behavior ... *shrug* ... it may be interesting, but I think it has no point in a game environment. I'll assume it's reasonable to think that wildlife had been affected and leave it at that.</p>

[Zwildstar]

<p>I can't help this discussion but would like to add:</p><p>I am glad that SOE "fixed" the sky over Norrath since launch.  Originally they either had Drinal destroyed -OR- Drinal wasn't there at all, since there was only ONE moon in the sky and it was the destroyed one. </p>

[Drager]

<span class="name"><b>i do question the fact that the moon is still held together by a gravitational force. which by the lose of this force created a huge tidal shift. so maybe the moon did explode and was shortly repaired with some type of gravity or the moon never exploded.</b></span><span class="name"><b>on option A the fact that Luclin has stayed together for a long period of time would require some type of gravity. the only way i find this possible (excluding magic) would be for the moon to have a dark matter core. (for those who dont know dark matter is a unsense able force of gravity) which i think would fit well with the nature of the moon.the destruction of the moon would have a large affect on all creatures that were undeveloped, minorly developed or highly developed (who for some reason relied on the moon in some way). this could cause mass migration as well as chaotic changes in the enviornment. which would lead to differences in the animals and creatures of norath</b></span>

[Cusashorn]

<cite>Zwildstar wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>I can't help this discussion but would like to add:</p><p>I am glad that SOE "fixed" the sky over Norrath since launch.  Originally they either had Drinal destroyed -OR- Drinal wasn't there at all, since there was only ONE moon in the sky and it was the destroyed one. </p></blockquote>Uhhh no. Drinal has always been in the sky along with Luclin since EQ2 launched. Absolutely NOTHING has ever been changed to the sky since the game launched. Even when KoS came out, the shooting stars you still see in the sky are only part of the cloud layer system, but the moons and stars beyond it are still the same as always.

[Meirril]

<cite>Sekra@Nektulos wrote:</cite><blockquote><span class="name"><b>i do question the fact that the moon is still held together by a gravitational force. which by the lose of this force created a huge tidal shift. so maybe the moon did explode and was shortly repaired with some type of gravity or the moon never exploded.</b></span><span class="name"><b>on option A the fact that Luclin has stayed together for a long period of time would require some type of gravity. the only way i find this possible (excluding magic) would be for the moon to have a dark matter core. (for those who dont know dark matter is a unsense able force of gravity) which i think would fit well with the nature of the moon.the destruction of the moon would have a large affect on all creatures that were undeveloped, minorly developed or highly developed (who for some reason relied on the moon in some way). this could cause mass migration as well as chaotic changes in the enviornment. which would lead to differences in the animals and creatures of norath</b></span></blockquote><p>Two points:</p><p>1) its a story. Real life physics has nothing to do with the outcome. </p><p>2) Even in real life, if the explosion that caused the moon to fracture wasn't all that powerful the larger fragments in orbit would attract each other and semi-reform. Of course with Norrath beign so close and gravitationally more powerful the logical conclusion would be for the whole moon to come crashing down here and wipe out life on Norrath. Again, see point 1.</p>

[Drager]

well im just going to say this, that if we only use parts of physics (like gravity) and leave out the rest then we really are not exploring  a lot of the possibilities for this moon to still be together. yes physics suggest the moon would have fallen or collided with the other moon but it has not. which means there is far more to it than can be perceived.so based on the fact that some of the pieces did fall to norrath and the seas were in tormoil (also the prophecy) im going to say that the moon did explode. but some force whether race, god or other stopped the destruction of norrath (which i a sure you would have happened)

[Mixxit]

<p><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><cite>Gukkor2 wrote:</cite><blockquote>It might be Taelosia from before they had a clear conception of where it was or what it looked like.</blockquote><p>This.</p><p>I believe that if the EQlive designers are still planning on holding true to that globe, then they plan on releasing a continent that will be larger than Antonica and Kunark put together as an ace in the hole. I believe that it was originally suppose to be Taelosia before they decided to kick us in the nuts instead.</p></blockquote><p>Just to update you guys on this a new continent has been uncovered in EQ1 with the underfoot release, it's being discussed over in the EQ1 lore forums at the moment if it's of any interest to anyone.</p>

[betatester7]

<p>really? thats nice! can we post stuff of eq1 here o we need to go to over there?</p><p>or any link?</p>

[Pahya]

<p><cite>Zwildstar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I can't help this discussion but would like to add:</p><p>I am glad that SOE "fixed" the sky over Norrath since launch.  Originally they either had Drinal destroyed -OR- Drinal wasn't there at all, since there was only ONE moon in the sky and it was the destroyed one. </p></blockquote><p>You probably just turned your draw distance up. At a certain lower threshold, which most people probably used back around launch, you can't see Drinal. I was confused for a moment too when I came back with a much nicer machine than I used in 06 </p>

[Galldora]

<p>Is this Drinal?  And if it is...I just took this screenie a few hours ago, so Drinal is now in its full phase.  I understand this is the period when werewolves are active.  Have there ever been reports of heavy werewolf infestation within the city limits during Drinal's full phase, or is this activity pretty much confined to other regions?  Being a little homebody carpenter/decorator, I don't get out much myself, so I've never personally run into a werewolf in Qeynos...I was just wondering...  <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/0320a00cb4bb5629ab9fc2bc1fcc4e9e.gif" border="0" /></p><p><img src="http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e294/Draeknar/eq2_nov2009/870fdb37.jpg" /></p>

[Cusashorn]

<p>Drinal is always (graphically) in it's full moon phase. Back in Everquest, the GMs and Guides would once in a while, when they felt like it, hold an event where werewolves ran amock in low level zones such as the West Commonlands, but all that has always been more of a GM event than an actual lore point in Norrath's history.</p><p>On the other hand though, if you take the Halloween events seriously, every adventurer on Norrath is a Werewolf Vampire and there are no exceptions....</p>

[Galldora]

<p><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><span style="color: #ff0000;">Drinal is always (graphically) in it's full moon phase</span>. Back in Everquest, the GMs and Guides would once in a while, when they felt like it, hold an event where werewolves ran amock in low level zones such as the West Commonlands, but all that has always been more of a GM event than an actual lore point in Norrath's history.</p><p>On the other hand though, if you take the Halloween events seriously, <span style="color: #ff0000;">every adventurer on Norrath is a Werewolf Vampire and there are no exceptions....</span></p></blockquote><p>Hmmm...right.  <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/0320a00cb4bb5629ab9fc2bc1fcc4e9e.gif" border="0" />  You see, occasionally I must leave the guild hall to venture over to Ironforge, or maybe the beauty parlor to get my hair done, and sometimes when I make these trips it is late at night.   I suppose there are no safe times after dark, then, are there?  Hmmm. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/0320a00cb4bb5629ab9fc2bc1fcc4e9e.gif" border="0" />  Thanks for the clarification, Cusa.  Maybe I'll put off getting my hair done until the sun comes up.</p>

[Vanisher123]

<p><cite>Meirril wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><cite></cite><blockquote><span >i do question the fact that the moon is still held together by a gravitational force. which by the lose of this force created a huge tidal shift. so maybe the moon did explode and was shortly repaired with some type of gravity or<strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">the moon never exploded.</span></strong></span><span ><strong></strong></span></blockquote></blockquote><p>Luclin (the person) has been known to veil things, so, <em>despite being called insane</em>, I still hold this idea as possible!<img src="/eq2/images/smilies/49869fe8223507d7223db3451e5321aa.gif" border="0" /></p><p>(where did the chunks come from? who knows, could be anything!)</p>

[Mixxit]

<p>It's an egg!</p>