lore-discussion-spoilers

[spiral vault]

They're purple spirits who can be found in various areas in the game, lightseekers are found across the sky world and are notable for their bluish cosmetics, while enchantment spirits are all found in a singular area, the Forgotten Ark

They're related because they both collected light in the lore

[grizzled vector]

Probably not literally a krill but the original concept was for the Elders to be partially corrupted and it seems heavily hinted that the "Ruler" was a "skykid" type being who got corrupted after accumulating power over time. We'd have to wait until Two Embers to really see how that played out though

[spiral vault]

Lightseekers collected pure yellow light (from the catch the light quests), while enchantment spirits collected elemental colored light, and these types of light are related

[grizzled vector]

But overall the thing is, I think Sky is kinda built on the theme of connectedness and no one being evil/irredeemably bad, so it's unlikely that what you're describing would be canonically confirmed (like being lonely and turning into a krill)

With normal light creatures, corruption most likely comes from their light being drained artificially by darkstone. Which might be comparable to torture for skykids (which also isn't likely to be explicitly made canon in a child-friendly game)

There are various things in the game that can drain your light (rain, dark water in the Wasteland, red shards) and presumably long term exposure to those would normally result in corruption, but in practice there are no lasting effects in game. As long as you recharge back to full you're good and healthy and back to normal

[summer loom]

[grizzled vector]

Lore-wise the Ancestors (currently spirits) built a civilization around using light as a power source. Over time it caused light to become scarce and precious. Lightseekers were those who would go out and look for light when it was rare. It's kinda unclear what the Enchantment spirits were. We had a discussion about it the other day but there's not really enough to confirm anything specific

[brave patio]

(Official lore here!) TGC has stated that each realm corresponds with a time of day, stage of life, and stage of civilization! Images from an early TGC presentation

[hushed steeple]

Now I am going on a bit of a tangent, but I need it to explain myself:
I am reading C. G. Jung and you might know he really popularised the idea of archetypes. Archetypes are basically a largely undefined symbol with an emotional value that we use to process the world. An example would be the mother, she is an archetype with different traits, like being feminine, giving life, but in different cultures and for different people the archetype has different connotations and meanings, but broadly is the same.

My thought was that the way the cycle of the worlds is similar to the hero's journey, the home would be eden, the island of dawn has a lot of the 'starting an adventure' vibe, everything is very unknown the first time you play

I am just missing the supernatural aid in the beginning but I think sky deviates a bit from the typical hero's journey or highlights different aspects of it

Maybe it represents more of the growth instead of just the hero's journey, which is used by us as a mental image, a story we make up, to have the strength to go through with the growth

I need to think about it but I want to hear your opinion
I think the best thing I can do for now is to collect as many details of the main story as I can

I mean you meet mentors in the form of other players, the game has a lot of depth just because of that I think

[rugged obsidian]

Can't wait

[hushed steeple]

Now I will explain what I understood from why the hero's journey is so important, maybe I'll understand something:
The hero is aided by supernatural forces, goes through many trials and errors, has a low point, a death and then a rebirth, which symbolises a transformation
The environment in sky goes through a transformation too as the player travels through the different worlds, the isle of dawn is basically a tutorial island, after beating the first challenge the player goes on to the eerily beautiful daylight prairie, where they first have the chance to really explore.
Then follows the forest, the first environment that poses a challenge with the rain, the game is challenging at times suddenly and the thoughtless indulgence from before is over
Then follows the wasteland, there is a lot of devastation and death, it's the most challenging realm
I have no idea how the archive fits into all of this
And lastly eden, which literally is death and rebirth
What is the home now though? Is it intentional that there wasn't really a home before the update where they added the village so it feels like you're playing an endless wanderer? I have so many questions

Now I am off to consume large amounts of this channel lol

After the wasteland the vault almost seems surreal and it fits the night theme
So the vault might be about transcendence, you go always higher, after the long and tiring journey through the wasteland it's almost ecstatic

Sorry I just have a lot to say, but darkness often represents the subconscious shadow and light the conscious ego or the self, the subconscious shadow is made up from suppressed traumatic memories and parts of us like traits and abilities we aren't allowed to show or just don't fit our personality so we suppress them. So its a mix made up from good and bad stuff and the main message Carl Jung had was that if we lift our Shadow into the conscious, into the light, we gain the lost personality traits, passions and abilities

[grizzled vector]

They did try to use Campbell's Hero's Journey but they did not really use the full template and I don't think they really followed what the different story beats are "supposed" to mean according to Campbell. They also skipped some of the beats (like there is obviously no Woman as a Temptress, although they apparently considered the idea of the Forest Elder serving that role). Which is fine, if you ask me Campbell's Journey is overrated anyway. It's a decent starting point if you're looking to write that type of story, but it's not a checklist for making sure your story is a 100% valid Hero's Journey or whatever.

[hushed steeple]

I need to go deeper into Jung's theory it seems way more universal
I know it's not a checklist but I think sky is similar to a hero's journey but it shows a different side of it

[grizzled vector]

I don't think they intentionally meant to incorporate anything from Jung. The game does have elements that have surface-level similarities to a range of real-life cultural influences, but I'm not sure they did it intentionally or even necessarily with full awareness of what they are referencing or borrowing from

[hushed steeple]

Also the multiplayer and game elements change the story because partially (as in every mmo) the players write the story

[hushed steeple]

Jung wrote about universal archetypes so you're bound to be able to apply his theory to all stories
You can see archetypes in every story

[grizzled vector]

In Sky, light and darkness generally stand for community and connectedness and nature versus technology and isolation and selfishness. You could argue that some Jungian archetypes are at play but yea, if you make archetypes broad enough you can argue they're at play in every story. The real question is whether it means anything at that point, or whether it might be more useful and appropriate to just call them tropes

[hushed steeple]

Yes connectedness to nature versus technology
For me nature is connected to whatever is my real self while technology is something artificial

[spiral vault]

Yet that's muddled in the game, because skykids are constructs made of clay

[hushed steeple]

It's getting late but tomorrow I can explain the reasons to my argument more
I really think applying those theories will create a deeper view of the game lore

[hushed steeple]

So much mythology that I still need to go through

[spiral vault]

Sky doesn't exactly follow Jung's archetypes, but it remains to be seen whether

1. They're adapting and modifying it
2. They don't use it and any resemblance is coincidental

[grizzled vector]

You could also argue that Sky "borrows" from Christianity in that it has a Ruler figure who is worshipped and is a powerful miracle worker and sacrifices himself (themself?) in the end, but it also pictures Ruler's aspirations as a doomed and misguided approach to fixing problems, even if well-intentioned. So even if it borrows from Christianity it subverts it quite a bit. Similarly, it has been asserted (by at least one other person in this channel) that it borrows from Buddhism, but it also puts that on its head because in Sky detachment and emptiness leads to suffering. The original concept art names for the Elders are Hebrew letters but I don't think they meant to reference Kabbalah with those. Etc

[hushed steeple]

As I said the idea of Jung's archetypes is that they are symbols we use to process what we experience
They are undefined masses of characteristics until they are put into stories, then they become characters, gods, cycles, objects etc.

[grizzled vector]

If they are intentionally trying to borrow from as many cultures and spiritual traditions as possible, they seem to be doing it in a way that creates a salad that's likely to upset everyone (e.g. "why are you teaching Kabbalah to my kids?" on one side and "why are you teaching Kabbalah to my kids wrong?" on the other)

But honestly I don't believe they're trying to go that deep in the first place

[hushed steeple]

Yeah I didn't see elements from specific religions as general lore, it is more like ideas being integrated into a larger story

[hushed steeple]

It isn't deep but the imagery is nonetheless powerful, eden is this circle mandala and you fly to the centre which Jung said is often the depiction of our self

[grizzled vector]

There is a book called Art of Sky that goes over the process of development and what they used for inspiration. There are also a couple art galleries available on a timer within the SkyFest instance of the Aviary, and at least one presentation in the cinema area that discusses it. They had a variety of influences but I don't remember Jung listed among them. Of course, Jung would have probably argued they borrowed from him collective-subconsciously

Officially, Sky grew out of a game called Cloud, and Sky's reincarnation soul cycle is inspired by the water cycle in nature (water evaporating to fall back to the earth as rain). The main reason they have any space-based imagery at all seems to be that they were hoping to induce the "overview effect" in the player (even though I'm not sure how they were hoping to do that given the planet is not even in the view during that sequence; at most you briefly see a bit of the horizon as you ascend)

[hushed steeple]

Archetypes as a concept are something everyone has, everyone has generally similar struggles throughout their life and our brain works with emotionally loaded images so we come up with similar images to describe the experiences.
It's deeper, there is a whole bunch of psychology, but that's basically it

[hushed steeple]

Yes I was missing the look back at teh planet too the first time I played, it really is focusing on eden as a goal not just an overview point

[hushed steeple]

It's not that they borrowed archetypes it's that they are an inescapable part of telling a story

The whole idea is that archetypes are part of our view of the world since the beginning of what we call humanity

[grizzled vector]

Pretty sure Eye of Eden is the name of the realm on the ground (and/or the mountain). The shining star in the end is called The Light (and is also referred to as "megabird" in the concept art, though it's probably not the official name). Basically what that's supposed to symbolize is all souls flowing together back to the source and becoming one collective consciousness before being reborn

The imagery is certainly powerful but even they say most of it is "subject to interpretation" so it's more of a Rorschach pattern than a message if you ask me

If you're heavily into Jung you'll probably see Jungian archetypes. If you've never heard of them you'll see something else

[hushed steeple]

a bird is a symbol for transience, angels have wings, Hermes has wings, shamans use the forms of birds as a way to get into other worlds

[hushed steeple]

It's getting late I probably sound like a lunatic, but I really think there are universal archetypes, symbols we use to describe the world. It's not about Jung it's about that idea

[grizzled vector]

Sure, but they also literally say they added flying whales to the games because birds in sky are not very original and they wanted the game to be original. I don't think the intentional symbolism is as deep as people like to assume (but I'm not here to stop you from believing otherwise)

[hushed steeple]

But you understand my idea of flying being a universal symbol for humans to reach a higher state?

[grizzled vector]

I don't think humans have a universal concept of reaching a higher state, much less a symbol for it. We can't even all agree on what it is, and wars have been fought over it, even between closely related religions, or even between branches of the same religion. But yes, it is a common symbol for a lot of things, and it evokes certain emotions and associations, and TGC also was trying to evoke a lot of emotions and associations when making the game

You could argue it's an archetype but I'm just not sure what you're trying to say beyond the fact that it could be argued to fall under an archetype under Jungian worldview (which itself isn't saying much since, like you said, pretty much everything falls under some archetype or other under Jungian worldview)

[wicked wharf]

Hello, I noticed this thing here, what is it? Is it not by chance that Eden was destroyed for her, and the crystal was subject to damage? Because it falls from the sky straight onto the crystal of eden, you can even see the tail of the fall above it, it hardly looks like a shadow

[bronze quail]

That reminds me that when we ascend out of the world, we see a star (the sun) and the world we emerge out of is relatively huge. Considering the map and size of the realms, do they take up most of the space in the world or could there be more lands and realms?

[woeful plinth]

Um, random thought lore chat, would like to see game theory to try to figure out the lore of this game?

[spiral vault]

I think that thing is the Eden Elder, falling into their own creation

[spiral vault]

No need, it's already mostly figured out

[crude bloom]

Where did you find that ?

I always wanted to see what the eden (the big red light) was but I was never able to get to it. Is this what we see if we success ?

[grizzled vector]

No idea. They do keep adding more areas to the world, which are implied to have always been there (even though even the entrances to those realms don't exist until shortly before the new season). The world does look like a planet from "space" and even if it's the size of the Moon there's enough space to keep adding more areas for a long time.

That said, it also just looks like ocean as far as eye can see when you're in space. Granted, you don't see even half of the planet's surface while ascending. But I think it's unlikely they will suddenly add entire continents populated with their own cultures and what not

[grizzled vector]

These Memories of the Shattering were added in the Season of Shattering. That season added shard eruption events. Sometimes you see messages like "darkness has fallen in Hidden Forest" or similar, it means that some shards broke off from the Eye of Eden crystal and landed somewhere in the realms. There are two kinds of shards, "red" and "black." Red shards seem to carry a shattered soul of a light creature (or a crab). If you burn the dark plants around the spot where they land and collect the pieces of the soul, you can meditate there to see one of these memories (and collect a winged light from it). Black shards do not have a soul or a memory, cleaning them just give you regular light ("wax")

And yea, the red diamond shape in the Eye of Eden is a huge darkstone crystal. It's kinda hard to tell in the Eye of Eden itself (I thought it was a diamond-shaped hole in the wall in the background at first). You can technically get close to it if you have a lot of winged light (200+) but nothing really special happens. The only thing you can do in the Eye of Eden is return your winged light to the bodies of the fallen (63 in total), then die and ascend into the Light

[wicked wharf]

No, these are memory crystals

[wispy flax]

It is the "void memory" (after completing the red shard fragment) that is named "Elders memory" and is very interesting to explore (going with friends and using extra light sources if you can, will let you see more details).

[wicked wharf]

If this is an elder, why does it seem like he fell from the sky onto a crystal type, well, he flew from space

Although in their project for the animated series there was a fragment with the elder. Where he did something with the crystal.

[grizzled vector]

That's not the entire elder (and the Ruler wasn't really a regular Elder) but that shape is basically the Ruler's mask/symbol. I think the Ruler shattered along with the crystal to release the light trapped inside

[spiral vault]

That's still a big question, but we know they could levitate, the bigger reason is why

[brave patio]

Yeah he made it glow a lot, which I think happened before it exploded maybe?

I think this was him releasing all the light creature souls trapped inside

[crude bloom]

So the eden is a big light cristal gone wrong ?
I always wanted to know more of the lore I'm kinda new to it but curious !

[brave patio]

Basic summary from what I have figured out (I need to update my lore blog and make it more user-friendly)

• ancestors worship the Light, light is carried through the soul cycle and the civilians remain on earth / in the clouds to protect and guide the light on its cycle. The journey of skykids sort of mirrors this cycle
• at some point a child is born, who may be connected to a prophecy. He discovers how to harness light/soul energy into technology (using dark stone) with the help of the Elders. He is made the Prince, and dark stone technology is used to create a Kingdom
• for a while, there is a golden age, but the ancestors grow more disconnected from the light as they take from it and upset the balance of the world. The void takes the place of the light, and the kingdom starts to become polluted, some light creatures (krill and crabs) becoming possessed by the void
• kingdom finds itself fighting to survive as different factions war over resources. Vault is filled with knowledge as the Elder sees what’s coming next and tries to leave something for future generations
• at some point, the now-King builds a giant darkstone Diamond and positions it right on top of Eden to tap directly into the soul cycle. This was kind of the last straw for everything. The sky starts to fall
• King sacrifices himself, exploding Eden Diamond and releasing all the trapped light to be reborn as skykids. Elders and King sort of killed in blast, they are still semi-alive in their memory spaces
• fast forward a few centuries. The world is starting to heal. Skykids are born
• most of us immediately get distracted

While this may not be 100% accurate, the majority of it comes from canon content in the art book and scenes from Two Embers trailers

[bronze quail]

So the elders are canonically dead?

[brave patio]

I believe this one has been confirmed, yes

[frigid tinsel]

No, that has not been confirmed

[shut trellis]

Guys I haven’t played sky in probably 1 year, any major lore updates since shattering? I see a new realm has been added.

[shut trellis]

That’s new

[wicked wharf]

Thank you it's clear now

[bronze quail]

Just some more understanding and reveals every since the teasers of the show came out

[soft timber]

A new season that gives some light on two musicians with one (presumably) is from Abyss

[brave patio]

See my massive post above! Other major new lore includes;

• like the entirety of the Aurora concert is one massive lore drop. THE STARS LITERALLY FELK OUT OF THE SKY
• more two embers teasers, which have also revealed juicy details!!
• the art of Sky was released, which gave me an approximation of a timeline (again, see post above) and much much more (Vault Elder was an Oracle!)
• Remembrance gave details on a wartime period, which was also alluded to in the art book with the wasteland elder putting down anti-king protests
• passage showed us some neat pre-darkstone traditions, I still have no idea what the masks represent

After that the seasons were relatively scarce on lore :(( hopefully the next few have a ton of lore

[shut trellis]

Tysm guys ^^

[spiral vault]

Revival is also extremely important, have you heard of Two Embers?

[shut trellis]

no, not yet, what’s it about?

[spiral vault]

They're functionally the same as being dead

[spiral vault]

https://sky-children-of-the-light.fandom.com/wiki/Sky:_The_Two_Embers

A Sky TV show coming later on. It's set in the past kingdom of Sky, when the spirits were still alive, and tells the story of two skykids, one who's the Eden Elder and another who's the Revival Guide (the first guide to have a regular name, the Hopeful Steward)

[shut trellis]

Omg that’s amazing

[spiral vault]

Revival is extremely interesting, mostly because it shows that skykids can also become ghostly and spirit-like as well.

It takes place in Aviary Village, which is like a new tutorial for the game that's a gathering spot for all the guides

[bronze quail]

What do you mean?

[spiral vault]

They're "in a place beyond space and time"

[cobalt palm]

"in a place beyond space and time" probably the void

[cloud chasm]

I’d like to believe that in the past, the Vault of Knowledge and Eden were once connected!

Explanation:

In most of the realms, you will always see the dressing rooms to change capes, pants, masks, etc. However, when going into the Vault, they don’t have a dressing area. DOUBLE HOWEVER, there is a dressing area in Eden when you go on the journey to Eden. So it made me wonder why does Eden has a dressing area, but the Vault didn’t??

Looking back at the trailer of ‘Two Embers’ we see a scene with the VoK elder who seemed to be talking with someone who was the elder of Eden in the past before everything happened!

So the theory is: In the past, the VoK and Eden used to be connected as one big realm until whatever happened, happened which caused the two realms to split apart.

(We can also count that the Isle of Dawn was connected to them as well since that realm also doesn’t have a dressing area. However, that can be debatable as well.)

[edgy kernel]

vault and eden once being connected is interesting thought. If you maybe take the fact there is no "eden elder" at all - maybe vault elder was the elder of that place, before it became eden? I usually hear the "eden elder" referred to as the king instead, so maybe they just were never an elder at all.

one small thing to add, but at the end of vault is where you see the crown constellation with eden and ( presumably ) the king depicted on it. You specifically see that after all the elders, which makes me consider eden as sorta separate from the realms, but if i take it from the angle you have, its possible the vault elder wasn't considered the vault elder until they began constructing the vault, and their role changed to be more limited to that. maybe vault wasn't constructed until they needed a shelter, or wanted a place to mark their achievements down before the darkness got them.

Puts some interesting speculation in place for me. Say the king knew the eden diamond was the only thing to delay the darkness from taking them, but also knew it couldn't take too much stress. maybe they would have had vault elder take that position of constructing it, so they focused more on eden themselves.

[grizzled vector]

I would say that the dressing room area is probably more of a gameplay consideration tbh. But also the "entrance" to the Isle and the "entrance" to the Vault are the places least likely to receive new visitors. The Isle used to be a larger realm (you see that in Aurora's Runaway song) until something happened that made them have to escape. (Moths also wouldn't really have a reason to change clothes there since they wouldn't have any clothes to change to by that point). The Vault "entrance" was most likely a de facto "exit" guarded by the Wasteland Elder. Aside from the rebels and later possibly the krill, they wouldn't really expect anyone to enter from there.

[edgy kernel]

yeah i think in the case of isle, its already a huge distance from eden ( as far as you can get? ) and having the dressing room there in the tutorial before the game even explains cosmetics might take a lot away from that initial vibe
not to mention isle is also excluded from daily quests and rotating treasure candles

but, vault is not excluded at all from those things and its a bit odd

[grizzled vector]

And yea Eden wasn't really a regular realm and it didn't really have a regular "elder" – I think it functioned more as the seat of power for the Ruler of the entire kingdom (putting it at the top of the mountain serving a symbolic purpose)

[edgy kernel]

looking at it as an exit though, hmm

[grizzled vector]

I think by the time you would get to the Vault they expected you to realize by there is a wardrobe changing thing at Home if you really want to change clothes. The Vault is also the realm where you're the least likely to need to change clothes to traverse it, in-character or gameplay-wise, since it's basically just an elevator shaft

And yes, the Vault is literally connected to the Eye of Eden at the top. It may also have some sort of a wardrobe stockpile elsewhere in the Vault. Like I said, by the time they were living in the Vault they probably wouldn't be going out a whole lot

Another possible reason is that maybe only skykids can actually use those "closets" (since they don't actually seem to store physical clothing so much as enchant your skykid to look a certain way). Since the Ruler would have been the only known skykid at the time, having a wardrobe at the top and the bottom of the Vault would have been a bit redundant

[ebon wind]

I think it's because the vault is just a building as opposed to the other realms being whole regions of the map

[narrow patrol]

were these identities for the dawn and dusk embers confirmed anywhere? havent heard of this until now, interesting if true

[bronze quail]

Yet the vault still has an elder dedicated to the realm

[fossil widget]

Hey guys i thought the king/ruler was the bad guy, i thought he was greedy but i just went through the art of sky and found he isnt? He sacrificed himself!? Was this know before or this is something new?

[rain frost]

no they havent been confirmed, its speculation based on how they look and the content of their scenes

[narrow patrol]

ah i see

[grizzled vector]

I don't think it has been explicitly confirmed previously. From what I understand, devs have said something along the lines of "there is nothing left of the Eden Elder to be saved" but didn't outright say what happened. There has been speculation along those lines though

But even when the Ruler was "the bad guy" and the literal endgame boss, I think the intention was always for the player to convince the Ruler to do that. They just never could quite get the mechanics to work well enough to make the gameplay of it satisfactory. I think part of the reason they're making Two Embers is to tell that story (with Dusk Ember being a stand-in for what the player was originally meant to do)

[quaint coral]

yeah he is greedy, have you not watched that scene where he steals the light from the kid

[spiral vault]

Connected as in physically, or politically?

Vault is at the base of the mountain, while Eden is the summit, they're adjacent to each other.

You may be right politically, as Vault might have become a mere puppet of Eden

However, story wise, the scene of Vault Elder letting Hopeful Steward up the elevator might show that the Eden Elder was more unpopular.

[spiral vault]

It's an interesting thought, that Hopeful Steward (Dusk Ember is an interesting name, but not nearly as catchy) is essentially a failed version of the player's story

[grizzled vector]

Not necessarily failed. They may well have succeeded in accomplishing what the player was originally meant to do

Also it hasn't been confirmed that Dusk Ember and Hopeful Steward are the same person, so for clarity's sake I'm going off of what's confirmed. I do highly suspect that Dusk Ember is Stewie though

[spiral vault]

It makes too much sense for it to be a mere coincidence

[spiral vault]

It used to be an ark, now it's a floating city

[manic cave]

I wanna offer a silly little headcanon cause i was rewatching the animated show for tlp; Since I remembered the main antagonist is a snake, maybe that's what the blue chain on the tlp spirits is meant to symbolize? Cause there's not really anything else you could see as a snake in the tlp Quests

(This steps into book spoilers)
||Otherwise maybe its a bit rewritten so Eden is symbolizing eother the snake and/or earth, since in the book the prince went to earth and was bitten by the snake and returned to the heavens||

[rain frost]

ayy i watched that show too as a kid! thats a good guess, and it kinda ties into another interpretation i had: the chains could represent how those spirits are "trapped" in their own limited grown-up mindset, e.g. how the narcissist doesnt acknowledge when little prince points out he's alone on his island, or how the geographer doesn't even look at him in favor of his studies
(edit: i should note i havent played the quests ive just been reliving spirit memories and i read the book recently hehe)

[rain frost]

it distinctly looks like the bottom half broke off into those floating debris, thats a rlly cool detail

[untold ridge]

say if we are reborn does that mean that the darkness in eden still will forever remain that way? I'd like to think that the spirits and sky children now just do damage control rather than fixing it because no one was able to make it at this place alive

[blissful palm]

yeah pretty much except for damage control, it's the usual light creature cycle that has been going on before out arrival plus some ferrying the dead
the eruptions are better damage control since that means less crystals at eden imo, but ofc gameplay-wise it won't reach anywhere because we wouldn't want no extra ac

[cloud chasm]

I was thinking of more physically.

However, now I’m thinking that both the Vault Elder and Eden Elder probably ruled the same realm and they just split and took different sides of the realm!

Since right after the cutscene with the vault elder, you see that’s the way to Eden is still somewhat connected to the Vault.

Maybe in the past, the two use to shared the same realm, then they separated and took different sides of that said realm, and then when whatever happened with Eden, to protect the vault and everyone, they had to close it off so it wouldn’t get into that part of the vault!

(I suck at explaining and it’s night over here and I’m tired so excuse my grammar if it’s not good 🙏🏾)

[grizzled vector]

As I recall, in Sky's version of it, TLP asks a krill to give him a quick ride to the Eye of Eden. Or at least that used to be the case when I did that quest. The krill used to hang out at that point of the desert after, but I think they removed it when they added the memorial area. It may or may not still be part of the quest, I can't check since you can't replay them

As far as the chains, I don't think they represent the snake, and I would argue the snake isn't even an antagonist. I don't think the book really has a personified antagonist. Rather, it's the "calcified" adult mentality that prevents them from recognizing their self-destructive patterns that might be represented by the "spiritual chains"

We are reborn because the light that was stored in the crystal was released, and we are all reincarnation of that light. What that means for the light cycle is kinda unclear. I believe it has been stated that "darkness" is a result of taking light out of the natural cycle. Now this light is released, but reformed as skykids rather than the original light creatures (and skykids themselves seem to be children of light and darkness). We may never be able to completely get rid of the darkness (strictly speaking, it's "part of nature" just like light). I think the main goal is to make sure it does not consume all life

The main issue with the Eye of Eden was that it was presumably blocking the natural cycle by intercepting the souls that were trying to rejoin The Light. Now it seems that it's no longer doing that, or at least there seems to be a "workaround" in the form of skykids going to Eden and somehow bypassing the "light trap" through whatever it is that happens at the end of it

[versed mirage]

I’m curious why Abyss was given its own section in the most recent season’s item trees. Revival season makes sense to have its own section as it’s directly part of avairy but why abyss?

[grizzled vector]

They ruled the same realm in a sense that the King/Ruler ruled the entire kingdom, and by the end of it there wasn't much left of the kingdom aside from the Vault. It's unclear how much autonomy and oversight the Elders had, but by the final point it was likely the Ruler demanding things to get done and the Elders trying to explain there's no way to make them happen

[grizzled vector]

The most likely explanation is that both spirits are originally from the Treasure Reef and moved to the Aviary later. Some also speculate that one of them is from the Reef and the other is from the Aviary

[blissful palm]

with how the item trees are named i believe that's where they were from initially

[blissful palm]

i think the former is more likely sine both "begining" named item trees on the abyss side

[grizzled vector]

Yep, and both have that meandros pattern on their clothes, if I remember correctly https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meander_(art)

[subtle wave]

Okay so I have a lil question. When our Sky kid runs out of flaps (the wing flap thingys to fly), would they feel 'tired' or just like 'oh guess i can't fly, whatever'?

[cold sparrow]

up to your interpretation

[desert ridge]

I personally view the Skids as having very little physical sensations, so it would be more like the second for me

[hushed steeple]

So light is ethereal, nonmaterial for you?

[spiral vault]

Much like real light

Sky's version of light is different from actual light, but there are still many similarities

[grizzled vector]

I think technically it's the cape that runs out of flaps, so it would be the cape that would feel tired. A skykid whose cape ran out of flaps is more or less a normal kid wearing a poncho. They don't seem to really get tired (much like most videogame protagonists) but they might feel more vulnerable since at that point any harmful effects are applied directly to you and not your cape

[desert ridge]

I dont think its not "weighty" I just think that the Skids wouldn't really notice it

I always imagine the Sky Kids to be a bit detached

[soft timber]

appears The cape can also move on it's own to some degree as well, evident to some of the emotes we have such as 'pray', 'scare', and 'crab'

[hushed steeple]

Don't you think the cape is part of the skykid?

[hushed steeple]

Maybe as in light isn't tied to the world as other things, sky kids affect like light the material but aren't affected by it as much or as other material things

Kind of like someone can affect a game while playing it but can always close it

[grizzled vector]

I don't think it's literally part of skykids any more than other accessories (masks, instruments, etc). It is possible that all of these are just magical illusions only maintained while you have enough light, and your "true physical form" is "graykid"

Graykids do have capes though, but there is also the fact that we start out capeless and only "grow" a cape after collecting more winged light. Though after that point we can never lose the cape again until we are about to die

It's honestly kinda confusing and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets retconned in the future (kinda like the red candle we carry is now something we pick up next to Stewie's body rather than something we just kinda pull out of our chests)

[quick burrow]

I remember when I saw this spirit from social media for the first time, People are saying that she could be an ancestor of the Forest Elder. When I came back in the game, I find a weird attachment for her. Can someone explain what was the Nesting Guide's lore?

[grizzled vector]

I believe the Nesting Guide was officially mentioned to have been the Forest Elder's apprentice. Not sure why people are saying the Nesting Guide is the Elder's ancestor but I very much doubt that

On an unrelated note, I believe the Flight Guide was the Prairie Elder's apprentice

[blissful palm]

yeah it was written in flight guide's intro, idk about nesting guide's realtion with forest elder

[desert ridge]

That might be a better analogy

[hushed steeple]

I think it's just that the way the skykid interacts could parallel the player interacts with the game, introducing a meta narrative
However how the skykids interact with the world has more to it than just that

[empty belfry]

sooo lorechat..any fun lil tidbits of lore to share? i havent brushed up on lore in a hot minute

[fossil widget]

Yeah I remember but the art said he sacrificed himself for the people?

Do you think the SkyFest is related to lore? I mean Orea invasion is pretty un-lore like but the parade make sense? But what does it even mean like why are random sprits carrying random stuff and have a random expression, sometimes It feels they are “worshipping” it or maybe see it as a source of power? Or maybe I’m think too much lol

[quaint coral]

that's a complete lie, they only changed it to make him seem like a good spirit

[fossil widget]

So the art was a lie?

[quaint coral]

it was.

[manic onyx]

taken from Tom Zhao's website; in concept art, Wasteland, Vault, and Eden are all connected to eachother. the realms in this map are referred to by their concept names, with Dusk being Wasteland, Night being Vault, and Storm being Eden. I'm not sure how much of this is still cannon, but the way that Wasteland leads straight into Vault which leads into Eden suggests that some of the geography stayed intact.

I heavily recommend checking out Tom Zhao's website, it has a lot of concept lore much of which still seems to hold true in the live game.

(I have a lot of lore theories regarding things shown in concept art and then shown again through murals in the live game, I'll have to compile them all at some point. i'm not the best at writing things out though)

[spiral vault]

Hopeful Steward is an extremeley interesting character

[empty belfry]

agreed agreed

[fresh hornet]

I thought that if these creatures were killed by TGC at an early stage,Designed, then why was it deleted?

[narrow patrol]

probably due to scope and/or omitting certain ideas based on the overall image of the game developing differently from initial concepts to where they would no longer fit

[fresh hornet]

If so, then these creatures were designed.What is it for?

[narrow patrol]

earlier concepts/ideas for the game before they changed directions ig

or to inform visual/story/other design as they worked on the final stuff

[fresh hornet]

You think it was empty nest beautiful scenery orThe scenery is beautiful now?

[lucid bridge]

We’ve got the prairie social space and the aviary now so I think what we have now is beautiful. But both the in-game content and the concept art can be beautiful at the same time too.

[lucid bridge]

The Daleth dragon concept is very cool

[edgy lark]

How were children chosen to participate in the trials?

[blissful palm]

From the prophet memories it looks like anyone volunteering

[ebon wind]

Of course I only see the reply after a bunch of other topics have filled the chat. I'll just make stand alone statement then.

I don't think the vault of knowledge is its own realm. Despite their being a Vault elder I believe it's more that the vault is within the capital city of Eden and the reason there's a separate elder for the vault is that they are only needed within the vault.
The elders all have their own identities and seem to rule over a specific part of society that just so happens to coincide with each realm. The isle elder is in charge of what seems to be international trade and receiving new arrivals to the kingdom, prarie looks to be in charge of agricultural work, forest is very manufacturing based, valley is luxuries and entertainment and wasteland is largely based on military. The vault is the national library and academic centre of the kingdom and thus the elder has no reason to rule over any more than their specific domain which is knowledge. The vault elders purpose is the same as the other elders, shepherding the people to the stars, but also to preserve the knowledge of the kingdom.

I will quickly state that I don't think all of wasteland was military focused just the areas in which the temple is located. The area has factories and battlefields likely for other uses. This proves that the realms aren't restricted to their specific roles but the elders govern over specific functions of the kingdom similar to ancient cities having patron deities despite not always living by the standards of the deity in real life history.

However the vault is not a living space and no-one actually had residence there outside of refugees. The building wasn't built as a city or realm it's just the place where the Vault elder can efficiently look over their designated field.

Sorry if this seems a bit ranty I sometimes get in a roll and forget what I wrote 15 seconds ago and can't be bothered going back to edit....

There's also a great connection to power stones light and memories so the vault may also be a memory storage designed as a giant power bank for dark stone

[hasty grove]

random question: How do you guys think Sky Children see? Because without a mask, there is no sign of eyes. Do you think they're just blind and 'see' through the environment + creatures around them?

[waxen ermine]

Idk but giving them blue sunglasses gives them a polarized view of the game

[hasty grove]

huh. such odd little anomalies, sky kids are

[ebon wind]

Maybe they project light and then sense its reflection through the skin like a solar panel. They can do this without they're eyes. But they're eyes are the brightest part of the body so when sunglasses are worn in changes the wave length making the light that bounces back into the skin a blue tint etc /j

This logic makes absolutely no sense but I thought it was funny. "It's like echolocation but it's light instead of sound"

[faint pawn]

oh so that's why dark areas are nigh impossible to see in even with full brightness!

[strange flare]

Astetic monk has their eyes completely covered by a cloth and wearing that doesn't obstruct our vision at all

However when we play hide and seek we can "close our eyes"

[nimble ingot]

It is sadly a missed opportunity for the blindfold not to blind the player in the game.
It has been an age-old debate for skykids having eyes, and whether or not they can see with them.

There are other items in the game that can affect the player's sight (like the glasses as Starry Scarab suggested).
The skykids can blink their eyes, close them while asleep. And while being maskless leaves the skykids' eyes closed. There are arguments that vary from them closing their eyes because of the game's visual design (possibly a maskless skykid with glowing eyes could look odd), or that they squint, or that they rely on echolocation to see (similar to a debate in the fire trail where players rely on the glow of the skykid's call to attempt navigating in the darkness).

Personally, I like to think skykids have eyes and use them. And this is one of a handful of cases where the game can help with lore, but can also contradict the lore simply because some gameplay mechanics may disregard the lore in favour of balancing, or monetary gains.

As for monatry gains, I believe that all skykids have access to items and cosmetics normally not accessible in the game. And that they have access to season passes.
That is, unless TGC would like to propose that rich skykids are spoilt with cosmetics and access to certain areas (ex. the concert, little prince and nine coloured deer events). And there such a thing as inflation in the game where skykids unable to spend thousands of candles on cosmetics or friends, or the IAPs.
If they do that. That would be an interesting, and satyrically fueled topic.

[gentle gate]

So, I need a little help –

It's said that we are returning light to the Elders, right? But why do they take our light and place it into... darkstone? The same thing that corrupted the Kingdom, and the same thing Sky's animals were killed for in harvesting light. I don't understand, have the Elders not learnt?

[nimble ingot]

That is a good observation.

Note that each elder behaved a bit differently than the others.

Dawn, too the light and sent birds flying towards Eden. (Implying that the Elder guided the light and directed them towards the mountain).
Day, used the light to create creatures like the butterfly. Who in turn had it stored in jars. Even though skykids (or the elder) are seemingly the ones letting the light out of theses jars in the next cut scene. It would still mean the light was stored away in the past.
Forest, used the light to forge diamonds. Seemingly the one who sends the crystals to Eden (as a theory).
Valley sends the light away and into the sky.
Wasteland does the same thing as Valley.
Vault has the light be placed in the diamond (like Forest), and similarly releases it to be float upwards (towards Eden).

We may not know the full story ourselves sadly.

What we have gathered is that the light and darkness used to coexist in a balance.
But then the ancestors (and/or elders) became greedy for power and subsequently plunged their once thriving kingdom into ruin.

Also, just a small observation from the latest Sky animation teaser (that Maelstorm has been an MVP in sharing. And that this teaser frankly should have been officially out to the public weeks ago given that the chinese players were treated to this trailer. And yet TGC themselves have yet to officially release this trailer online like the others).

I would love to see us take a look at the latest teaser introducing an ominous and long awaited character.
The King, the lost Eden Elder.
Who is seen wearing gloves. Which I believe is foreshadowing to them being heavily afflicted with the darkstone corruption we have seen taken other ancestors.
Possibly even suggesting that we might get to learn what happened to this ancestor/elder.

Did they become corrupted and/or destroyed in the Eye of Eden blast?
Are we able to find the King (or what remains of them)?
What happened to the Megabird in the mean time?
Is the child going to become the next King? (making them the prodigal Prince of Sky)?

[gentle gate]

I suppose I overextend, it isn't quite every Elder at all ‐ but in terms of Forest specifically, for example, the Elder crafts a refined darkstone from our light. Given Forest was turned into an industrial factory, I'm guessing it's more like we are reliving their past – and by reliving their past.. setting them free? Somehow? It just seems strange, if we think about it as us revisiting them to give them light so they may essentially return to the cycle and to life.

[nimble ingot]

I agree with the thought of our skykids are helping ancestors (and elders) break the cycle with reliving their past, learning what happened and subsequently guiding them back to the light (at least I hope so with the last part).

Our skykids are like the bridge that helps the ancestors cross the gap towards the Light.

We may not know where we came from.

I would be blown away if it were to be that our skykids were the children who were sent to Eden in the past.
Who became trapped in the Dark Storm. Whose light was saved by the Megabird. And who gave up their form (that was made of Light itself) for our skykids to return to the present to fix the mistakes of the past.

Kind of like a case with Samurai Jack. Where Jack is sent to the future (the present), to fix the mistakes of the Past (Jack's time), so he can have a better a Future (which is a time the viewers are nto quite able to see for themselves. But know it is much better than the corrupted version we have seen in the show.

Time theories are usually difficult to think through at first. But with time, it may be easier to understand (pun not intended, lol)

That, or a simpler way of seeing.
With Steven Universe as an example.
Skykids are a hybrid of ancestors and the Light. The light became corrupted, and the skykids are to fix the mistakes of the past they had not part of or fault in.

Furthermore, the hug scene in Steven Universe is awfully familiar to the hug in Sky. Albeit it is likely that the meaning in Sky might be a bit different than Steven merging his Crystal and human forms and becoming himself once more.

[spiral vault]

They see the same way we do-using light.

Skykids are powerful beings and could probably manipulate light, so they could do what we do, and use it to see

[spiral vault]

I think skykids can see without their eyes, but ancestor spirits can't, since they're not as poweful with light.

[strange flare]

I would think the same way, they don't rely on their eyes to see

[vital glade]

Hey lore! Is there a doc or anything to check out to get up to speed on what we definitely know?

[spiral vault]

This is very short, but it only has confirmed stuff

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12XSkaMV_5UYG-an_Qo37ItyKP6GaqBBA6iRqBVE2qck/edit#heading=h.cmfnuox3fw3h

[vital glade]

Exactly what I wanted, thank you!

[vital glade]

What are the popular theories on the power Crystal stuff? I’ve been working on something and I’d love to work around the technology of sky ^>^

[hard flax]

Has anyone seen the new trailers of the two embers? Because I know nothing about lore of this game but I am already making assumptions

[grizzled vector]

They have split up the realms with their gates, and those take light to operate. I would hope they are not going to start to simply hoard the light again, but for expediency's sake they use some of your light to help you pass on to the next realm.

I think it wasn't that placing light into darkstone is evil in itself, so much as how they industrialized the process of trapping creatures and draining the light out of them until none was left

[rustic glen]

Love the SU reference, the last hug in eden always reminds me of that scene ^^

[rugged obsidian]

Hey lore fam i stumbled across this at the aurora concert and thought it was pics of the elders but i looked closely and couldn't recognize it. Does anyone have any idea what it may be and who they are?

[vital glade]

it looks like the aurora spirits to me! i could be wrong though

[cold sparrow]

it's the spirits from the season of aurora

[sullen axle]

I got few pictures from birthday event so i was just curious on what you all think.
First off this one interested me because i here it indicates that he tried to stop it? And then in other consept art he is drawn as the storm and eye itself so i was thinking he was just greedy and messed up something on the mountain (i was calling it eye of eden project at the time) and then it exploded, turned king into the storm itself and destroyed all life on the kingdom, then his soul was shatered and we were just shards of that soul.

Then again, him trying to stop it? That wouldnt add up in that senario considering he was basically the onceler what yall think?

[brave patio]

The art book says he sacrificed himself to release all the light trapped in the shattering diamond and return it to the soul cycle! (And that light would become us!)

[narrow patrol]

I recall from another piece of concept art that was also basically a timeline of sky history that the eden elder/king ended up trapped within the storm as a result of the explosion. perhaps the idea of becoming part of the storm was in effect also being considered trapped at one point?

that being said, that same timeline also states that "elder creatures and their armies" were the ones to sacrifice themselves to destroy the ark/eden, so id be doubtful on whether that timeline is actually acurate/relevant to the current accepted/intended story

might as well also drop the timeline im referring to, might have already been discussed but source is from Tom Zhao's concept art site for sky

also if anyone knows if this timeline is at all relevant to the currently accepted storyline or if theres any inaccuracies/if its already been debunked altogether then please do let me know

[grizzled vector]

One of the presentations currently available in the SkyFest Cinema area goes over this art and explicitly says this is not the official lore of Sky, this is just a rough concept idea they had for the story at some point

[grizzled vector]

The Ruler is definitely a bad case of going too far, but the original intention of amassing all of that power was to help people and make their lives better. They weren't just hoarding light for the sake of hoarding light

They also seem to have been deeply in denial about how bad the situation was getting, presumably until Dusk Ember convinced them it has to stop

[narrow patrol]

makes sense, are there any similar timelines or general sequence of events that are more considered the currently-accepted timeline of sky?

[grizzled vector]

I believe Art of Sky goes over the story beats, but I'd have to look through it to see if it actually confirms those as canon as opposed to "this is what we planned at some point"

[median fern]

While doing the AURORA concert, I realized that ||the soldiers were attacking MANTAS, not just(?) krill|| and it's shifted what I thought happened 🤔

[grizzled vector]

Aaaand the channel ate my post again. At this point I'm not even sure what exactly could have triggered autoremoval 🤷🤦

[grizzled vector]

Basically I wouldn't be surprised if they won't really have the exact story locked down until Two Embers is released. But what we know already gives the broad strokes that are most likely close enough to the actual story

[hushed steeple]

So the basic story is figured out and they'll hopefully give it an interesting twist

[grizzled vector]

Honestly I feel like twists are overrated. Often these days people seem to just try and put a twist in a story just so no one could say "saw it coming" but that's not really great storytelling either. If you're paying attention you should be able to make reasonable assumptions about what is gonna happen

And I mean, even the fact that Ruler sacrifices themself at the end might be a twist even for most Sky players (those who don't live in this channel rent-free)

And then there's the fact that if they're gonna make a Netflix series, it should presumably also make sense to people who never heard of Sky

For us Sky players it would be nice if they explain some points (from "who are those bodies we're "saving" in Eden" to "why did they need to keep taking more light if it seems to be going forever once captured") but they already have their work cut out for them just telling a story that makes sense to people who haven't played the game

They're trying to more or less make a story about rise and fall of a civilization, and with no spoken dialog at that. I think there will be enough going on that it will be worth watching even if you know what happens in the end

Kinda like they keep making all these Star Wars stories about the Clone Wars – we all know the broad strokes of what happened but there's still room for lots of stories in between

[wet thorn]

Hmm.. Question.. So Aurora is kinda the summary of somethings that happened or once was? If so then isle had grass and snow.. Wasteland is a graveyard now from hurting each other and animals (rip mantas)
Forests underground caverns were places to get resources and see new animals
And valley was a place where they captured animals
It just seems like sky is kinda like irl
A story of greed and corruption but maybe it's just me I dunno
I also with my friends have been looking into treasure reef in wasteland it seems like that tower was some chamber to grow animals or something and feed krill
Also is the creature in the abyss mother krill? Wheres the dad
Why doesn't it attack anymore
When you try to get to it it just goes deeper
Is the claw marks on tower from krill? In tower there are two mini pillars that seemed to have buttons but were taken is that the stuff we collect during quest?
When you chibi into the tower you can see another set of mini pillars with missing buttons to light
I think the top was also an entrance.
Did they worship the abyss creature
Theres a lot about it im fascinated with

(I waited till you finished typing heh)

[grizzled vector]

Hah, thanks

The most common guess for what was happening at the Reef is, they were trying to figure out how to harvest more light from light creatures and/or harvest it without killing them outright. They seem to have been growing "mutated" mantas (longer ones) for the purpose of getting more light from them, kinda how humans breed animals to produce more meat/milk/etc

[wet thorn]

Also when we die and go up is that the sky kingdom in the clouds? That big mountain is that right? And the seperate piece is the last piece we see before taking off into the sun or whatever

[grizzled vector]

Somewhere along the line that may have produced the first krill. It's also possible it attracted the krill who already existed there. I don't think it's been officially confirmed one way or the other

I don't think the "leviathan" is even remotely the same species as the "krill" but who knows

[waxen ermine]

https://youtu.be/_zVXsuXmysk?si=kU10-RI9kaNmxadk

Sky olympics coming up
Notice the four teams are the elders that the king gave his elements to

[grizzled vector]

The original concept was that the living souls ascend into "space" from the summit of the mountain (the highest place in the vicinity, possibly in the entire world) and then rejoin "The Light" (some sort of collective consciousness of all living things). The Ancestor civilization was built on powering technology with that "soul light" so ultimately they built a city on top of the mountain, and a giant darkstone crystal to capture all that light

(Sorry for the ping)

[wet thorn]

I don't mind pings I love talking about lore
But what is this prince person that's been said when we hug the person.. The.. Little prince? Or something else

[grizzled vector]

It's kinda unclear what the floating castle is. Originally they seem to have planned for it to be an "ark" for people to escape some bad thing that was prophesied. But later they seem to have turned it into a floating castle

It's also possible that it's a piece of the castle that wasn't originally floating, which broke off as a result of the Shattering

[rain frost]

wdym "gave his elements to"? like the elemental trials? im not familiar with those being applied to realms

[grizzled vector]

The Little Prince is a book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was one of the inspirations for Sky, and eventually they did a collab season. It's not really part of the main story of the Sky kingdom though (the Prince is not the same kid that eventually became the Ruler of Eden)

[wet thorn]

So who is the prince.. The child that first fell from the sky in isle?

[wet thorn]

I also noticed the elders seats were there too just like how they are in vault

[grizzled vector]

The Prince in the Starlight Desert is a kid who lived on an asteroid in space (the character from the book). The kid who fell from the sky in the Isle of Dawn is the Dawn Ember (who eventually became the Ruler of the Realms of Sky)

[rain frost]

Yep, he's also called Ruler and King. You can see him in the mural at the end of Vault and it's theorized he's the winged light we hug when we die in Eden (the idea is that he is trapped in Eden - unable to take part in the rebirth cycle)

[grizzled vector]

Who we hug in the Eye of Eden is a good question, there's much speculation but nothing is explicitly confirmed

[waxen ermine]

In the murals of the prophecy cave, the king completed each trial, gaining the elements of water, earth, air, fire

He gave water to forest elder
He gave earth to prarie elder
He gave air to the valley twins
And fire to the wasteland elder

Forest elder used it for rain and rivers
Prarie elder used his for abundant grass
Valley twins used theirs for air boats and those floating dash doors in the sky
The wasteland elder used his for turrets

[rain frost]

ohh thats in the murals? thats so cool i'll have to look at them again sometime. guess that explains why its only those realms who are participating in the skylympics lol

[grizzled vector]

My first thought was the cape colors were political preferences... the election year is getting to me <_<

[wet thorn]

Hmmm so in Eden before we open that door where the krill scene shows that candle section is the king with that crystal and people worshipping it?

[grizzled vector]

Yes, that's the "King"/"Ruler" and there is a similar mural in the Cave of Prophecies once you finish all the Trials

[rain frost]

Yeah I think so - and there's actually been discussion about whether that's the Eden crystal or the top of Vault because it kind of resembles the latter (with the stones in a circle and the platform)

[wet thorn]

Ive actually been wondering that too. I think its the Eden crystal since it has those waves of dust from it? Speaking of which there was one question I almost forgot. So like after the krill scene and you enter the first section of rocks to the right theres a pipe where it appears a swarm of bird go into that pipe but I don't know where it leads. Ive managed to somehow get there once with a friend

[grizzled vector]

I don't recall there being any birds anywhere near any of the krill, especially in Eden. Those may have been just "wind lines" to show that there's air currents. But also most pipes don't really go anywhere

[wet thorn]

Hmm let me see if I can find the video I took
Bc they look just like the birds in forest when we go to the golden flowers area

It seems I have lost it buts here one ss I took a long time ago

To the right those are swarms of birds. I know they are because me and my friend managed to get to that pipe where they enter it. It leads somewhere. We looked really close to they have the bird look. For some reason I once had a theory they used sky animals to power that crystal and it just became unstable though it seems that's false so.. Either it's just for show or there is more meaning

[rain frost]

oh dang those do look like birds
And yeah I've heard that theory, that Ancestors were harvesting light from animals to power the crystal - particularly by interrupting their ascension. Ancestors may have set up pipes in the direct paths that animals take, so these birds could just still be following their pattern.

It does look like that pipe doesnt lead anywhere, but it might've connected to something originally and is just broken now due to years of the storm.

[wet thorn]

I just the devs won't actually do anything
But it would be cool if there was a season of history or something lost memories. If already done make a comeback for new players

[rain frost]

A lot of seasons explore the history (e.g. Remembrance, Aurora, etc), just different aspects of it. Honestly tho I bet the seasons for The Two Embers will give a lot of insight

[wet thorn]

Lets look forward to it then

[grizzled vector]

That looks like an out-of-bounds area so I'm not sure it's really meant to be seen, and as such it might not mean anything in the final version of the game (it might be left over from some early version where the story was different and its purpose is now lost)

It could also be a trap for light creatures though, where they'd end up being harvested for light somewhere deeper inside, but then it's kinda weird they're still flying through it even though the industry has been shut down for years if not centuries

Also, from the little excerpts of Two Embers that they've shown so far, it seems the main purpose of the pipes was guiding "motes" of light itself (they don't look like birds so much as just little "pieces of light" kinda similar to what we gather from candles)

[manic onyx]

anyone else anticipating the two embers to see if their theories are confirmed? (I can't wait for the adjoining seasons as well)

[grizzled vector]

I am just looking forward to see it in general, even if my theories are not confirmed. It won't be out until at least next year though, from what I understand, so I'm not exactly holding my breath for it yet

[sullen axle]

Oo that would make sense, he didnt even realise what he was doing would be bad for the nature and continued on working on “that thing” but when he got warned by the Ember he tried to save whatever was left.

[sullen axle]

It will be so exciting

Speaking of Embers, these also caught my attention. Might be usefull when animation drops

Also what does mote mean? Is it a real word?

[waxen ermine]

It means a small piece of something

Like a mote of dust

[rain frost]

that Mote Farm looks like it could be on Isle of Dawn

[sullen axle]

True, especially when you think that there is candlemaker dude in one of those “storage houses” out there aswell. (previously called the pointer). Embers better cover this

[brave patio]

So in this case I think it would mean a small piece of light

[waxen ermine]

Likely yes but “motes of flame” also comes to mind

[stiff bear]

Why are chibis also called babies? Does that mean baby skykids existed at some point until they just grew up into Skykids?

[brave patio]

That’s just a player term I believe

[grizzled vector]

I think chibis are just... chibis, I think. It's more of a way of drawing a character, originally (an adult can be drawn as chibi, for example to emphasize them behaving childishly, or even just because it's cute). They added the "chibi mask" later and I don't think it's really a lore thing, personally

[stiff bear]

So basically the skykids never had an infancy, but they have a childhood anyway. Alright then.

[grizzled vector]

Skykids don't get born from "skyadults" or whatever. We just kinda fall out of the sky. We also don't really grow up into adults either

[stiff bear]

*looks at the spirits *

Then is being a chibi just... a size advantage when it comes to tight spaces

Aren't the spirits "sky adults" then too cuz they sometimes wear the same mask as us?

(sometimes, because some of them don't even wear them)

I am 100% confused

(plus I just woke up, my brain is foggy and I apologize profusely)

[grizzled vector]

We don't strictly know how Ancestors were "born" either (i.e. if they actually had childbirth as such or just fell out of the sky like Descendants/"skykids"). At least some of the Ancestors (or their spirits at least) seem to have, um, mammaries – but also their actual bodies seem to be made of stone so it's really unclear how any of that works

Concept-wise, we play as kids because Saint-Exupery's Le Petit Prince and N. C. Wyeth's The Giant were big inspirations for the developers. How we fit into the world of Sky was kinda up in the air until pretty late in development. For a long time they seem to have been considering some form of "isekai" type origin where Sky existed alongside human world and we were actual kids from there

The original concept was for the whole world to be literally made of clouds, but that proved kinda boring so they added floating islands, then ruins, then animals, then animal "guardians" who then became humanoid "elders" because animals are a huge pain to animate properly, and then they added other humanoid beings to kinda explain the ruins. The original concept for the Ancestors seems to have been almost like robots who facilitated part of the Light Cycle (by "farming" motes and what not)

The final concept seems to be that "skykids" are sort of a fusion of Ancestors and creatures of light, but that still leaves the Ancestors themselves up in the air. They don't really seem like they would have naturally evolved from any of the Sky fauna, and in fact they almost seem like "creatures of stone and darkness" similar to crabs

[faint pawn]

maybe made by an even older race? like before-history kind of old

[grizzled vector]

It's possible that the world of Sky is really some weird afterlife of sorts, and the Ancestors are souls of humans reincarnated in stone bodies (which would kinda sorta explain their choice of form, if they had choice in it, and tendency to wear clothes and masks with presumably fake facial hair). It's possible none of what we see is how it is, but rather "visually translated" for us (kinda like Tolkien wrote his books as though they were translations into English from fictional Westron), and if they truly had creative freedom unbound by any technical constraints, all Elders and Ancestors might be animals and we'd be playing as flying puppies or whatever. It's possible "it is all a dream." It's possible it is all just a videogame and not that deep

[versed mirage]

I honestly thought like Skykids were created as a sort of emergency call since everyone died.

[grizzled vector]

The latest concept seems to be that they were created in part as a result of the Shattering. But there is also the part where Dawn Ember was most likely the original skykid, so there is still a question of how and where and why that one came from.

(And given that sending one skykid "down to earth" resulted in nearly wiping out the entire ecosystem, I'm not sure why The Light would decide that sending down a few million more would fix things)

[versed mirage]

But doesn’t the isle murals say everything sorta went dark and then a skykid got sent down?

[grizzled vector]

It's been a while since I've looked at those, and they may have changed those now that they changed the intro. It's also possible the murals would look the same to old players but different to the new players.

But as I recall, they were pretty vague on the details. Mostly they just said something to the effect of "please wake the elders and free the trapped spirits"

[grizzled vector]

Granted, if The Light is really just a collective consciousness of all the dead souls, then it would be comprised of the Ancestors (who caused their own extinction) and creatures of light (who are basically flying fish). So strictly speaking it might not be the smartest thing in the universe <_<

[faint pawn]

surely the ancestors would've learnt from their mistakes and become smarter, bringing the intelligence level up a bit

[grizzled vector]

They seem to have had in-universe knowledge (not just belief) of reincarnation being an actual thing, and still decided to screw up the cycle for short-term convenience, for generations. I'd like to hope they learned from it but as skykids we're mostly hoarding light to buy overpriced props and clothing (peddled to us by the Ancestor spirits) so...

I mean, I guess at least we're not putting light creatures through the blender for the light. But on the other hand, we don't really know where the candles come from (and as long as they give light we don't really ask too many questions)

[cobalt palm]

But now the spirits know to charge ascended candles so the cycle is maintained

"I love it, but I need to die how many times?"
"worth it"

[faint pawn]

"how much does X cost?"
"4 lifetimes"

[manic onyx]

Motes used to be a big thing in the concept phase! To what I can gather, they were like the "soul" of light creatures/ancestors - that mote would go through an endless cycle of rebirth. Mote farms were meant to help shepherd the motes in that process iirc.

[versed mirage]

Sacrifice 4 people for a little device that plays music? Man… I was gonna do it for like 12 but sure.

[spiral vault]

What twist would be given? There won't be much that will be satisfying

The most surprising thing would be Hopeful Steward not being Dusk Ember

[spiral vault]

Spirits are an entirely different species, they work similar to humans, aging and dying

Skykids don't age or grow up

[stiff bear]

That's sad...

[brave patio]

Oh yeah this was confirmed the the devs too that we’re a different species than the ancestors

Some people have headcanons that skykids who don’t go to Eden start to grow up but that’s a personal world detail not supported by any lore. It is cool tho

[spiral vault]

How so

[stiff bear]

Just that skykids never get a chance to grow up

[wet thorn]

Nah what's sad is being in such a pretty world only to go to your demise and sacrifice yourself just to redo it again

[versed mirage]

They’re also functionally immortal. Death really doesn’t stop them.

[spiral vault]

Well, I'll offer a counterpoint: they don't need to grow up

I can claim that if Skykids grew up, they would create a society far worse than the ancestor spirits

[inland cliff]

@stiff bear sorry for the ping

Relating to a concept art that is still pretty relevant to the game, skykids should be hybrids/balance type (theory that skykids has both light power from Light source and ancestors body/vessel). In my theory, them being hybrids is perfect bcus it makes sense how they never grew up/immortal

• Light creatures grow through reincarnation in eden, but we are part ancestors so our bodies don't obey the reincarnation cycle
• "Growing up" for us can basically be seen as "corrupted" / Straying from the light/ Repeating the ancestors mistake. The King elder is the prime example, he from a skykid form grew up physically and mentally, growing more "rotten and darker" in the soul if you know what i mean (not trying to villain-nize King elder here)

There's also hints at why we never grow up and stay a child, from the name of the game itself (children of the light) to how tgc took inspiration from the little prince, a book abt the imaginative and vividly of a child's mind and criticizing the false world-view of the adults. Basically the whole "Children is the future"

[stiff bear]

Thanks for this, fren

Makes more sense now qwq

[rugged obsidian]

One thing that's always bothered me is why the ancestors and sky kids wear masks
Is there any reason or lore behind it?

[blissful palm]

Probably just their customs, some are related to their profession like forest's diamond shaped worker masks or gw soldier masks

[rugged obsidian]

Oh I see, ty

[inland cliff]

We wear masks as an accessory only, but Ancestors wore masks for various reasons, like to show their status, power level or job or what role do they serve at the time

[rugged obsidian]

Oh

[gentle gate]

Is is accurate to say.. the original people of Sky couldn't fly or harness light like we can? That their use of darkstone which corrupted them, also allowed them to harness flight (levitation, like for flying objects) and other powers?
And if there were some that could fly.. who? Resh/Alef?

[spiral vault]

None of them could fly naturally, resh/alef couldn't either, they could only hover with darkstone

I say this because of this image: #lore-discussion-spoilers message

Their cape has no winged light, since they have no stars on the back

Their hovering is different from skykid flight

Harnessing light is a different question, we see ancestor spirits do it both in game and in Two Embers, but skykids seem to have more innate light powers

For Ancestors it was magic, for skykids it's a natural part of themselves

[nimble ingot]

Ancestors have been seen in murals gathering light from the stars that fall as motes of light, from the land's resources, from the creatures and even seemingly from each other (albeit the last one is a stretch tbh).

Murals that suggest this are the ones seen in the Forgotten ark area, the ruins in Treasure Reef (aka Crystal cove as from old beta working titles that I find more fitting ), and in Dawn (from the entrance cave and the Candlemaker's cave).

[nimble ingot]

Skykids are partially made of light (and darkness)

So them having some affinity to light magic makes sense.

I would presume the more light they posess, the more power they have.
As suggested in text from collecting Winged Light. Even though the game only shows this power growing in the form of their capes allowing skykids to fly further, and taking more damage.
Aside from the game indicating this power as part of the skykid's flight and health bar system.
It would be exciting if there were other abilities skykids could harness.

[faint pawn]

I'd vibe with radiating brighter light as we collect more WL, though that would probably be a bit busted

[fluid oxide]

Imagine getting so many wl that you glow as bright as a light boi 😂

[narrow patrol]

you get blinded by some point light appearing on the other side of the map "ah yep looks like bob's online"

[fluid oxide]

PPFFFTT

[serene rampart]

It’s highly unlikely, but I’d be so interested to see how a skykid could use the darkness as a ‘power’ the same way someone can use the light

[rugged obsidian]

Quick question - are the elders dead or asleep that sky kids gotta wake them up . I thought they'll be sorta immortal

Plus who's Alef and Resh?

[nimble ingot]

They were from concept art for what is supposedly the elder(s) of Eden.

Resh is the King
Alef is the Sky Prince (not to be confused for the Little Prince

[rugged obsidian]

King Resh, I understand but sky prince?
Who's that?

[nimble ingot]

There is sadly hardly mention of them in the game.

The most I have learned about them were concept art.
The rest are theories.

Best ask others about it for their theories.

[spiral vault]

They're concept names for the Eden Elder

[rugged obsidian]

Tnx

[rugged obsidian]

I see ty

[nimble ingot]

credit to kamilico for collaging these images.

[grizzled vector]

I think they're kinda both. They're dead in a sense that they don't seem to have material bodies anymore, but they're still powerful or even godlike spirits. But they were also stuck in some sort of a limbo state with not much to do for a long time, so most of them are "asleep" when we meet them. What being asleep would even mean for a spirit is a bit beyond me, but that's the state they seem to be in

And yea, Alef and Resh are concept names that seem to refer to the being currently known as Dawn Ember/Ruler. Though they also seemed to be distinct entities, or at least two "sides" of the same character. Some concept art pages referred to Alef "emerging from" defeated Resh, most likely kinda similarly to how you "free" spirits from their "calcified" state the "darkness" feeds on. Except Resh was supposed to be a lot less immobile at one point

[fleet orbit]

question, I'm a sky cotl lore noob, what's the difference between a child of light and a normal spirit child? Are they the same thing? I am literally clueless lol

[prime anchor]

Spirit children don’t have capes and can’t fly like we can

Spirit children also have a star texture when you zoom in to their clothes! We don’t have that….

[fleet orbit]

What is it exactly that allows us to fly, in that case, like the lore behind it? Can a spirit child become a child of light? Are there any NPC children of light?

(sorry for all the questions T-T)

[prime anchor]

Glowing orphans :) also yeah there is npc sky kids such as in orbit and in the office in events I think when a spirit child dies it becomes a winged light

[fleet orbit]

Ah, I see, thanks!

[prime anchor]

Sorry edited

[spiral vault]

young spirits are more humanoid/biological, can't fly, and are usually taller

we skykids are eternally young, can harness our light to fly, and are quite small

NPC children of light is extremely rare, but I think it's not to confuse the players with the NPC spirits

[inland cliff]

We being able to noclip through spirits makes sense bcus they're literally ghosts

[prisma badger]

So, what kind of creature is skykids

The Golden wing is the same thing as the children of Light，But six maps are not Eden, why did they become like that

[waxen ermine]

Sorry for the off topic, noticed that the orbit credits theme has lyrics and checked if anyone tried translating them

https://www.tumblr.com/justsomeectoplasm/717090647339941888/sky-theorists-come-and-get-yall-juice

[spiral vault]

Nobody knows what the golden wing lights are... but they seem to be made of pure light, which is different from the skykids.

Look at it like this:

Ancestor Spirits: 10% light, 90% physical

Skykids: 50% light, 50% physical

Winged Light: 100% light, 0% physical

[rain frost]

I'm always thinking about how cool this is! At first you might think it's just video game logic but then you notice you can bump into other players so it really is because they're ghosts :D
(^ not theorizing at all just appreciating lol)

[spiral vault]

What I find very interesting, I do like these lyrics, and I think they fit Sky, but it's possible to make a large amount of interpretations of the lyrics by pulling from different languages.

For example, I could translate it to this:

This forbidden destiny, emerging like a fairy tale of light
There is no atonement, yet our fate is to dance in the sky
A new world, a forbidden new world of light
Victory and happiness is ushered in, thus is Sky

[waxen ermine]

When I heard “foto” in the song, I thought “Photo”? Like “Light” in Greek? Is this song Greek?

[spiral vault]

Men- Turkish word for forbidden
Ori- Yoruba concept about spiritual destiny
eno- Latin word for swim
photo- greek word for light
fola- italian word for fairy tale

ni- french for neither/nor
soro- fijian for atonement
ma- Akkadian word for and/yet
hori- polish word for dance
los- Polish word for fate
sora- Japanese for sky

neyo/neyo- greek word foe new
terra- latin word for world
photo- greek word for light
men- Turkish word for forbidden
Nikolo- Word meaning victor
Niko- Japanese word for smile
Komo- Hawaiian word for usher/enter
sora- Japanese for sky

This strange language frankenstein can still tell us a lot, the interpretation is important, and the same words, translated to different langauges, give us different but equally beautiful songs

[sullen axle]

Thanksss

[prime anchor]

I love this translation it’s very helpful but there’s symbols on all the bells… I wonder what they mean

[rugged obsidian]

Thank you for clarifying

[grim quiver]

;

oh boy i love flying planes to 2 amazing looking long stuff

repeating history!1!

[stable mauve]

Season of Prophecy is filled with more subtle lore than we perceive

[prime anchor]

The trials were forced onto us to see if we’d survive them we are resh apparently

[blissful palm]

Yeah we're qualified to found and nuke a kingdom now

[vale sonnet]

Yay

[mossy harness]

im new here so sorry if it was already discussed but do Wing Lights have a connection to Eden? They always look up (and at Eden I think) and happen to have the same flare as Eden tower (could just be coincidence tho)

btw Eden spoilers are allowed in here right?

[cobalt palm]

Attempting a prose interpretation

We swim towards a forbidden destiny in a story of the Light

Not atoning for the dancing fate of the Sky

A new world will be lit, and the forbidden light shall smile again, as the shepherds enter the Sky, they shall be victorious.

[cobalt palm]

We don't know yet, but the same symbols appear in the base floor of the abyss observation tower #lore-discussion-spoilers message, and in some of the concept art models in the Sky Animation project videos, before it was named the two embers
#lore-discussion-spoilers message

[spiral vault]

I think they're looking at Orbit, above Eden

[earnest patrol]

hello my sklorians have we discussed the Abyss and Revival symbols in the Duets concert hall. my current running theory is that both the pianist and cellist were from the Abyss area. the clothes look like they fit pretty well too

[rain frost]

#lore-discussion-spoilers message
Yep several theories on those symbols have been discussed. The clothes is an interesting thought, I'd have to look at the abyss folks again

[strange flare]

I've been thinking what is ancestors?

so my thoughts are like
(this is headcanon)
sky kids have the body of ancestors and light of the light creatures and the flame.

Meanwhile the ancestors are more stone-like

and the closest I can think of is that the ancestors are like us, but with only one winged light and no flame (unlit) so they can easily be killed by the krills, while us not so much.

because when we are unlit/krilled we are practically weak, greyish in color, and crystals can grow on us (like in two embers)

[spiral vault]

I agree, but I think the ancestors have no winged light

[grizzled vector]

If you "ascend" the Ancestor spirits they "lend you their strength" when you are reborn (which effectively amounts to you getting an extra winged light per spirit friendship level). So even as spirits, they must both have the capacity to have "winged light" (whatever that is) and to "lend" it to someone else

It is a bit unclear, however, if the light they "lend" you is something they always had (and they give it to you in gratitude) or if it's something they get as a result of you giving them ascended candles

It is kinda confusing since on one hand the Ancestor spirits we meet don't seem to have any light (at least until you give them ascended candles) but on the other hand it seems implied that the Ancestors themselves were part of the soul reincarnation cycle, at least until they started disrupting it with their darkstone tech. So they must have had some sort of light at some point, even if it was just an equivalent of one "winged light" worth

[spiral vault]

I never understood what wing buffs were

[grizzled vector]

It isn't exactly made clear. I remember someone saying something about them being "imprints" of the Ruler and having something to do with our "relationship" to them, but... yea. They mostly feel like a leftover of a game mechanic that was mostly scrapped otherwise

From what I understand, originally "motes" of light were rare and precious, and we were supposed to look for them and even fight crabs for them only to spend them on things like activating relics (i.e. opening a door). Presumably, unlocking the ability to "carry" more motes would have also been a progression. But in the final game it seems like "wing flaps" are really the only aspect of map traversal that involves spending anything (and sources of recharge are only really scarce in the Wasteland, and even then they're only really scarce if you've already burned all the plants and collected all the wax earlier that day)

Which, honestly, is understandable. Flying is arguably one of the best things about the game and making you hunt for a mote and then choose if you want to spend it on a wing flap or activating a mechanism would get old really fast

But yea, basically the "winged light" in Sky reminds me of the "glyphs" in Journey that made your scarf longer, but that really tells you more about what the glyphs were meant to be in Journey than it does about what the "winged light" is supposed to be in Sky

[rapid latch]

What’s this

[strange ermine]

Can anyone explain me the elder/king of eden lore? I just found out there is one

[plain fern]

I believe he brought darkness into the world and became corrupted, turning people to stone

The prince of the light was tasked in finding the young elders who where children destined to stop the darkness and into the light, freeing the young children and the elders

[spiral vault]

They were with the other Elders, but then they had a crazy plan: to give the sky kingdom infinite power, by making a giant diamond crystal (you can see it in PNR), that explodes

[grizzled vector]

I don't think the explosion was part of the original plan, but I wasn't there

[robust flare]

I love being poetic about sky lore. It doesn't usually work for me, but it sounds pretty at least 😌

Here's an old poem I wrote inspired by Sky
"A fire in flame, the past is here
Inside it burns within our veins.
It carries us, the lives we live.
It waits for us, but we forget."

Alternate version
"A fire in flame, the past in present
Inside it burns within our veins.
It carries us, the lives we live.
It waits for us, but we forget."

[wet thorn]

i find it cute we take the candle out then tap it into our chest

[copper obsidian]

So I saw that there’s ACTUAL walls in the vault :,) haven’t seen them before

[rare ruin]

The candle represents our “heart” right? I mean it even shines like a heart when holding it

[scenic pebble]

so uhhh
i don't know if the concert is putting up anything canon
but the first song (which takes us to isle) gives backstory to the winged light before the flight to the temple
so basically, they were someones
and they sacrificed themselves for... reasons
the one in the concert is seen motionless when the spirits guided by it fly away on boats
does that imply anything?
i like to think that WL are the sky kids that made their sacrifice before us but idk
maybe i'm wrong

[stone gust]

Can someone explain what the "orbit" is?? Im so lost

[bronze quail]

The language building is good but I feel can get confusing, like when combining r and m (rm) it shows up as 3 lines but that doesn’t really tell you whether the r is in front or behind the m (so it could be mr or rm) also no difference between m and n, and b and p. Also I find it interesting how the words are based on English words. Like the titles preformed and craftsman are translated into the sky language, and there aren’t words that represent those concepts on their own

[cobalt palm]

Yeah, this was a developer concept language too, so probably would have been developed further to make it feel more real if it ever made it ingame.
Maybe more spaces between letters so that it clarifies similar looking characters, or more distinct like the glyphs we see ingame on the bells

[earnest patrol]

reading back a little bit in the chat logs—how did they screw it up? i don’t frequent lore much but im very interested

[grizzled vector]

The cycle of reincarnation was linked to the flow of light (out to "the orbit" to merge with the "megabird" and then fall back to earth). The Ancestors used the light to power their technology by basically juicing it out of light creatures, and eventually built a giant darkstone crystal at the Eye of Eden (the summit of the sacred mountain where all souls went to ascend to "orbit")

So they eventually got things to the point where they presumably couldn't reincarnate themselves, and also basically caused gradual extinction of "wildlife" by cutting off their soul cycle as well

And then there's the fact that removing light apparently leaves "darkness" (i.e. that whole process was what caused all the corruption all over the place – it wasn't just "toxic pollution" so much as direct result of extracting light from souls)

[earnest patrol]

okay, yeah. by my own analysis i’d definitely gotten as far as the ancestors wringing light creatures out like wet towels for their light, but it hadn’t occurred to me that the Eden darkstone diamond “ate” all the light that came in to the point where nothing left it

now it makes sense why the diamond is out of control, because it’s still trying to devour all the light but it’s broken so the light ascends anyway for the cycle to continue

[grizzled vector]

I'm not really sure what's happening at the diamond to be honest. Yes, it's "broken" in a sense that it's shattered, but a shattered giant mass of darkstone is still a giant mass of darkstone. The fact that it's shattered wouldn't necessarily make a difference to the fact that it would be trying to absorb all light in the vicinity

Presumably the Ruler's sacrifice did something else to it aside from the physical damage. The damage could be the result of the light being released, not the cause

Right now it still seems to contain some light and some trapped souls, but presumably far less than it used to be back in the day

[earnest patrol]

the thing i noticed about darkstone is that when you light up the door mechanisms in places like Vault and Forest, a light orb becomes visible, resonating with your light. it stands to reason that although the Eden darkstone is larger than any other that was forged in the kingdom, it may have operated in the same manner. since it’s essentially shattered open down the middle, it’s “orb” of light which would be huge, can’t be contained like it is with the smaller mechanisms. all of this could be why that pillar of light shoots up from it. saying that the darkstone is still trying to eat the light isn’t saying it was the cause of the shattering—the Ruler is certainly responsible for that, and i feel they knew that. if the Forest gallery is to be believed, then the Ruler sacrificed themselves for us to live because they knew the darkstone was no longer viable and would destroy them all, which. it seems to have.

[opal crater]

Am I crazy or is the Duets Guide also the Pianist..?

[rain frost]

They look like it, yeah

[wet thorn]

Yes it is

[wet thorn]

I think the winged light are places that child has been, memories in a way. I noticed when collecting if you stand exactly how the WL does you look far into it like it does.

[ebon wind]

They have the same pants and hair and match the poster on the wall. They also have some knowledge of music as we see in the first quest so. From what I know I'm confident in saying they are the pianist

[little chasm]

Is it normal that us skykid we don’t have fingers unlike the other spirits or elders?

[blissful palm]

nothing lore bearing, just 3d modeling choices

[grizzled vector]

That's a subject of considerable debate among the researchers. Some believe that lack of eyes and fingers is simply a technical optimization and is not meant to represent the actual state of affairs in-universe. Others argue that skykids lack actual eyes and navigate through echolocation, and likewise lack actual fingers as they have evolved more efficient appendages specialized for flying, collecting wax, and other things skykids do that the Ancestors did not

In real life there is a phenomenon called carcinization, where everything seems to evolve into crabs in the end. It's possible it's happening in the world of Sky as well, with skykids evolving crab-like claws and losing humanoid eyes in preparation for evolving eyestalks, in an attempt to ground an otherwise dreamy and whimsical world in a degree of realism

[inland cliff]

I have a darker theory

It could be that the limitation of vision and graps is so that the skykids won't have the capability to cause harm, keeping them pure and pacifists
More about that, it could also be why skykids never evolved, or develop since they're frozen in the simpleton innocent age, keeping them from straying like the ancestors

[manic cave]

Bit of an odd one but anyone have any idea what the cackling canoneers cape is made to resemble? I don't think there's any creature in the game that'd have black/dark purple scales, other than maybe king krill and from what we know the abyss crew wasn't really that aware of its existence i think?
Unless the canoneer just decided to be edgy

[faint pawn]

scales look dark enough that they could pass as probably krill scales

or maybe the eel sheds it's scales from time to time and ancestors decided to yoink some while building the walls around the abyss, leading to them eventually being fashioned intk a cape that was brought by/passed down to the cannoneer

[grizzled vector]

I dunno about not having capability to cause harm, those mitten hands look pretty heckin pointy. And that's aside from the fact we literally carry a burning candle with us and set things on fire wherever we go

[grizzled vector]

Could be a mythical creature, or some creature that exists elsewhere in spite of the fact we never see them. Or a creature that existed at the time the crew were alive but is now extinct

The Passage Guide has a cape that seems to have fur on it, possibly bear fur, but there are no bears that we see in the game. Cackling Cannoneer might be a similar case

For that matter, lots of ancestors wear masks that allude to animals we never see in-game. Which, again, could either mean they're implied to exist elsewhere in the world, or possibly that Ancestors are human souls who retain at least some memory of stuff that existed on Earth even though they got reincarnated in Sky now

[robust flare]

Our capes actually have scales from creatures! When we recharge we see the scales

[inland cliff]

The candles are designed specifically for reliving n stuff, you just can't start an arson with it, plus the hands being sharp is literally because of how the game's texture is alike to Ocarina of time

[faint pawn]

if you really wanted to cause harm, you could always have someone duct tape wasteland elder's spear to your hands or something

[gentle gate]

Skykids do have hands with fingers, I believe. You can see that with the Two Embers – I assume TGC simply didn't want to go through the hassle of animating fingers, given the simplistic style.

[silk inlet]

I always thought they were feathers since the sky kids already remind me so much of angels

[grizzled vector]

That would be the reasonable assumption. But one could also argue that this simply proves the Embers weren't skykids

[naive lodge]

small worldbuilding question ig?? so cosmetics are supposedly made of Light (because skykid shadows are bald and have no clothes..) but you buy them using candles and hearts. if theyre made of Light then... what is your skid actually buying from the spirits?? the spell/instructions on how to form that particular cosmetic??

[slim silo]

pretty sure they are the scales of butterfly wings. at least thats what it looks like to me as they appear while gathing light back to them

[grizzled vector]

Limited, non-exclusive, non-transferrable license to use a reproduction of copyrighted visual appearance?

Also, the candles themselves are technically "made of light" (strictly speaking I'm not sure if there is anything in Sky that isn't "made of light" in one way or another)

[brave patio]

Look at what happened to bloom guide, I’m glad they decided to not animate fingers on skykids-

[naive lodge]

that does make sense... that also works with spells as a temporary license to use it LMAO

"here u can look like me BUT ONLY FOR HALF AN HOUR "

[umbral hawk]

Wait
How do we even play instruments without fingers -
👁️👁️
Are we simply smashing the keys or

[grizzled vector]

The animations do kinda look like we are just smashing tbh <_<

[naive lodge]

with the pianos that could work?? sometimes.... but things like the flute and the guitar??? no clue

[grizzled vector]

Though realistically it would be pretty difficult to play something like a guitar or a violin without actual fingers (or a flute, yea)

[umbral hawk]

Let’s not even talk about the time I played chair
Let’s say we do have fingers 😟

[strange flare]

wait what happened?

[brave patio]

I can’t find a picture at the moment but they were bent at a really awkward angle and the fingers were too long

[strange flare]

oh dear Lord

[sick narwhal]

Why they got the tickle fingers out

[brave patio]

They’re gonna get u

[earnest patrol]

about the spirits populating the kingdom that we free… they’re clearly dead but they still live among us, right? like we can still interact with all of them and they have sentience. they’re alive in that sense but just have no physical body.

[grizzled vector]

Basically, yea. It's kinda unclear what exactly it means to be dead in this setting. They even seem to be able to interact with the physical world. Presumably they have some limitations but it isn't really obvious what they are

[faint pawn]

they're selling the copyright to use that cosmetic /j

[grizzled vector]

On the subject of skykids having fingers, the Nightbird Whisperer spirit from Moments has mitten hands. Hide-and-Seek Pioneer has fingers though. The mystery deepens

Worth noting that Nightbird Whisperer did have fingers in the promo concept art

[gentle gate]

Hopeful Steward and most other Spirits in Aviary have fingers too.

[rain frost]

Steward doesn't have fingers actually

[inland cliff]

Let's not forget scolding students' salad finger

[inland cliff]

Skykids-based hands are more like paws, maybe they just didn't want to spend the time animating the finger

[rapid latch]

Yeah maybe they do have fingers and it's only for simple design

[strange flare]

It's probably design choice

imagine playing a guitar, the devs then have to animate each finger playing it and it will take a lot

Guitar is probably not the only thing out character will hold, there are staff, camera, harp, violin and everything else

It would be a lot of work to animate hands properly

[rain frost]

I agree, partly because I'm still of the mind that the Dusk and Dawn Embers from the show are skykids (or at least Dawn bc he's the prince) and they have fingers so it is probably just simplified for gameplay

[celest birch]

I like this picture. Wonder what it shows in lore-perspective.

[manic cave]

i think it shows the dreams skater and the sky kid during the last dreams quest maybe?

[lucid bridge]

It would mean that picture was taken during spirit times and not while the spirits were alive. Cool.

[manic cave]

also heres another fun one ive noticed that could hint at my theory of duets guide originally being from treasure reef: You can find rocks in the little hidden water cave in the concert hall that look very similar to the recourses you find with the abyss crew. Maybe duets guide used to be part of the abyss crew? ~~also thanks for the uncropped screenshots rat 🐀 ~~

[robust flare]

I have nothing new to share just feeling DETERMINED SCREEEE

[inland cliff]

Wow I'd read it

[robust flare]

Here you go! I write/draw all the stuff a million times and slowly connect dots
@inland cliff

I have carpal tunnel syndrome because of Sky lore

[earnest patrol]

do you ever thing about how many light creature were harvested in the name of maintaining Valley’s glory and how it kinda looks like, by architectural design motifs, its denizens worshipped the darkstone

…cakes are in Valley today and my adderall’s got my brain rapid-firing

[robust flare]

I don't have the exact quote rn, but in the book it says the Valley Elders built a grand city, favoring instant gratification over light worship. They captured creatures and used them for their own entertainment. They carelessly used resources, tempted by the falsities of luxury living.

[earnest patrol]

me smacking the twins over the head repeatedly with their paddle hockey sticks

[robust flare]

(art by sky.mocha_, not my art)

[earnest patrol]

exactly.

in this channel i think someone posted about a war between the likes of Valley and Wasteland because while Valley basked in the glory of their conquests, Wasteland was suffering the consequences of light harvesting, and that’s why there are 2 different sigils on the shields in the battlefield

[brave patio]

The art book confirms that there were both conflicts over resources and protests against the King, so it definitely could have been resource conflicts!

[earnest patrol]

gotta get my hands on that art book man

[robust flare]

I think TGC should release a cheaper version for more people to access the
K N O W L E D G E

[earnest patrol]

[robust flare]

That would explain why the Valley has a citadel! Though I think most of the war was due to civilian uprisings and pushback from the Wasteland's tyrannical government

My message was deleted

Why do my messages sometimes get deleted

[earnest patrol]

did Wasteland have a tyrannical government?

[robust flare]

Yes! But apparently I can't actually explain because my comments are being deleted
I wish it would tell me WHY I'm being censored. I don't think what I'm saying is inappropriate?

[coral shell]

So as far as I understand wasteland elder and valley twins are pure evil.

[robust flare]

Season of Remembrance though. The memories.
And the Elder was involved too as the Ruler's General

[earnest patrol]

you’re welcome to DM me! i’m slowly learning more here and i like it

[earnest patrol]

this is fascinating. was all of this information compiled from the game itself? easily poetry

[robust flare]

Various sources! Some from the game itself, some from Sky's Twitter, some from concept art

[earnest patrol]

MODS! 🫵 PIN THIS SCHOLAR’S CODEX IMMEDIATELY!

[robust flare]

I'll send more later if the server lets me
Accidentally posted one paragraph twice...
Sorry about my foot. I'm really bad at taking pictures. I forget my body exists

[robust flare]

I have more than they can pin 👁️
There's even more piles of paper elsewhere, and several notebooks
Though some of this is from other things, most is probably lore

[earnest patrol]

[brave patio]

I’m being reminded to update the lore blog…

[earnest patrol]

i’m about to go grocery shopping but

[brave patio]

https://sky-children-of-the-light.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Amity206/Sky_Lore_Theories

Alright we got some basics in here, the rest is old stuff (but still good, we just have more info now)

[grizzled vector]

The Citadel is kinda weird because it seems less like a defensible fortification and more like some sort of an opulent observatory. Unless those floating hoops are in fact some sort of magical weapon systems or shield generators. It does sit in a defensible position (atop a mountain) but I almost feel like it was more likely to protect the rich from the poor than the Valley from the Wasteland

[brave patio]

It honestly feels more like it was built for show, like building a castle so you can host games and parties

It seems to be on the light creature migration routes too, so it also could have been built to capture them

[grizzled vector]

I suspect there's a list of words that trigger auto-delete. Which is really annoying, especially in this channel, since you tend to type up a whole essay and then it just goes bonked into the void for unclear reason

[grizzled vector]

In real life the term "citadel" refers to a type of fortification (though it literally means "little city" technically) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel

Maybe it was a "true" citadel long ago, before the realms actually united under a single ruler, when they still may have had an occasional conflict (or at least anticipated the possibility of such). But yes, the present state of it seems to be "for show" more than anything

[inland cliff]

Who needs wiki when you have this
Thz a lot

[robust flare]

Ah. I mostly use dictionaries for definitions of words, then use Wikipedia for concepts. That seems more clear to be less defensive (can't read the article rn, painting)

Nvm misread or something. Maybe too distracted for lore

[manic cave]

@silent jay @solid cave heres the thing i meant, horrid pic quality but ill get the version from the wiki in a sec

[silent jay]

WHAT
I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT

[robust flare]

In light of the book's great lore reveals, I want to bring up an intro from 2019.
"With the stars united, our light was infinite...
...but darkness blinds, so I cast them away.
Together, the stars formed a new home amidst the clouds.
...if only they had listened.
Long has passed... but now, I call to you.
Wake up, my child. Bring the lost stars home."

[slow chasm]

Suggestion: look up "corrupted elder mantas" in this channel ^^ (I thought I read smth like that on wiki too but yet again can't re-find stuff I've read some time ago )

[nimble ingot]

#lore-discussion-spoilers message

[manic cave]

its infront of the abyss tank main entrance her3s more abyss murals

[solid cave]

it a snek-krill-manta?? omg

[nimble ingot]

It was likely the Leviathan (aka King Krill).

[manic cave]

looks to be depicting the abyss monster

[silent jay]

Literally the dune monster lol

[solid cave]

oh i thought the end had a krill-like tail but it looks still like a manta more, unless it's actually that abyss monster's tendrils?

[manic cave]

some thoeries suggest krill are corrupted mantas, elder mantas specifically so itd make sense if the abyss monster perhaps used to be a massive one

[solid cave]

is the first picture's creature and the third one here the same monster?

[manic cave]

3rd is most definetly abyss creature and the first ones placement kinda implies it to also be the same abyss monster yeah

current running theory on my end: ancestors used the mantas to harvest light or simply experiment with them and ended up draining so much that they turned into dark creatures hungry for light - krill

[solid cave]

gotcha, that's really cool...
the giant elder mantas could be stretched to look like krill in a way too
there is a fren i have that said krill are a product of evolution but i refuse to believe that it's evolution and not the effects of magic pollution

[robust flare]

I think it's a very evolved creature, and I think there used to be more of them in the world. I think maybe larger creatures become corrupted by the darkness, while the smaller ones are more prone to being destroyed in body
I actually came up with that on the spot. I was struggling trying to figure that out

[manic cave]

the timing

[solid cave]

where does darkness even come from... what is it anyway...

[manic cave]

where dark is is light, thats just kinda been my running theory for now. If theres light somewhere there will always be dark and its just kinda the natural state of the world, but was brough out of balance by the ancestors

[robust flare]

I think it's the byproduct/pollution from the light technologies that were developed.
Also I think us skykids are actually contributing to the destruction of the world I'M SORRY

[solid cave]

when water gets angy

[manic cave]

no now im curious, do tell

also so were all aware, this WILL be going in the krill masterdoc /j

[robust flare]

We are spreading light, yes, but look at us. We are using the light technologies to benefit ourselves. To get to candles so we can buy fancy outfits and props. We use the light technology in valley to ski with friends. There's this supposedly bad light technology all around us, making our lives more convenient.
And there's also skykids like myself who rarely go to Eden. We aren't fulfilling our destiny. We are enjoying the luxuries of light, while skykids in Eden are suffering as stone. I don't think skykids are on the path towards saving the kingdom

[manic cave]

ive always liked to imagine skids are in this odd loop, sky kids are saving those in eden but with more and more people sacrificing themselves, theres another loop of needing to be saved. Someone willalways need saving snd whether one skid or all of them decide to go to eden, it wont end

[solid cave]

we're fighting for something right? or are we the medics that get got by eden as well?

[manic cave]

in my head, we always end up as one of the statues so every week it resets because theres new souls to be saved - skids that sacrificed themselves throuh an eden run last week

[solid cave]

how? don't we save ourselves?

[robust flare]

I agree. But I think there may be an answer somewhere, Jenova or someone has said this is just the first chapter of the children of light.
The game tells us to fulfill our destiny though, we are a part of a prophecy. But I think as we age, we stray from the path.
This also could allude to real life. We are destroying our world with our cars and phones, but we are choosing luxury over the environment

[manic cave]

I like to imagine were saved by another sky kid thats not physically there but present in the lore :3 just a personal hc tho

[solid cave]

this is just the 1st chapter??? omg sky 2 confirmed
also me personally am serving my time in eden usually every week but i wanna collect all the memory shards this time before going back weekly ✨ virtue signaling in sky fr fr

[manic cave]

In a way i think skids may also stray further from the light/megabird in general, i mean multiple skids wont ascend to orbit and a few, like myself, like spending time in places like the graveyard

[solid cave]

i keep afk-ing in the forest, i can't see any light tech tho so what's up with the rain pollution
also no other place in sky has rain and i'm kinda sad about that lol
not counting rock rain-

[robust flare]

Waittt. I had literally just said something about the new Sky events being too grandiose. What if that's part of the master plan To show us how easy it is to be corrupted by our desires

[manic cave]

I used to think rain just damages us because its cold, but well, valley and days of bloom this year are proving me wrong lmao. But in forest canonically all the tech is implied to have pretty much started, with the dark gems powering the technology. Somehow maybe some not so safe tech ended up polluting the rain and some plants

also, days of bloom had non hurting rain :3

[solid cave]

where are all of these candles going anyway
maybe to the megabird? the light?
also is it bad to be using the candles for friendship trees in your opinion lore-wise, sugarfae?

[solid cave]

dark gems?
oh wow you're reminding me that in the prairie there are also dark plants, and even the isle but way less

[robust flare]

Honestly Idk. Probably not. And I'm not actually sure how the cosmetics work lore-wise. But it seems like it would take resources, and people keep wanting more, more, more. I could be wrong though

[robust flare]

The light technologies I'm referring to are like...the bridges in forest. All the boats. The doors have some. The ski lift in valley

[manic cave]

adding on, most of the tech is in the temple, tech we dont see in isle or prairie for example. Also, its implied the forest was lived in primarily for recourse gathering through spirit names (porter, hunter, miner, lumberjack, pioneer, etc) so i think thats where it all started. And dark gems is what ive heard them being called usually, the blue gems only really show up in a few other places other than tech: When we crystallize and in prairie peaks, tho i think theyre mainly referred to as dark gems because color wise darkness is usually also referred to with red or blue (krill vision, dakr plants, etc)

[robust flare]

Wait, though I suppose it is just our own light that powers it hopefully. Do we have unlimited light? And are the technologies still powered by starlight?

[manic cave]

i think thats where it ties back with the abyss murals, i think we power the technology with our own, infinite light, but the ancestors didnt have that gift and instead had to harvest light throigh external methods (light cacther spirits, catching the light for magic in enchantment quests, and the manta experiments)

[solid cave]

o no 😟

[solid cave]

i forgot about those, ayiyiyi

how did they make their clothes? the spirits-

the yeti's got a really fluffy hide thing going on and sassy, well... louis vuitton prob exists for her

[manic cave]

Probably just regular fabrics, but we copy it with our light like some sort of illusion. Though i will say, with most creatures having scales, where did the passage spirits get the fur for their capes Saying its fake is obviously an option my only question is, what creature wouldve inspired it??

[solid cave]

that's what i'm saying 💀 where are the fluff animals, where are any animals [that are not light creatures]

[robust flare]

Oh brings me to another theory.
The king sacrificed himself, shared light back into the skies, and the light returned as a new generation of descendants. I think his machine has to do with why we have some creature light.
I think he took light from the souls from various lifeforms, and the light sort of combined, then it split
Came up with this somewhat recently

[solid cave]

oh don't get me started on the king [i know absolutely nothing, i just know that the last constellation from the vault is 2 scawy 4 me to decipher]

[manic cave]

i like to think the mural where he eats(?) light is meant to just be representative of them draining their light recourses, perhaps the eden gem was created to be a massive power source to let them rebuild the light reserves but it failed and kaboom

[robust flare]

I figured out a while ago that he has something to do with the soul cycle in part because of that mural! The circle represents the Megabird, aka the cycle of life

The mural in the cave of prophecies also hinted at that, with the creatures circling him

Lemme get the book, I have something incredible to show you
Have to find the right pages

[solid cave]

i left the vault i need to get that last constellation screenshotted

[manic cave]

got this one from the wiki

[solid cave]

is he eating it or is he incredulous at the power
also why is he so big, that's a giant right

[manic cave]

~~theres this thing called artistic symbolism /j ~~

[robust flare]

I kinda thought of it as being more symbolic. Harnessing the power of the soul cycle

[solid cave]

mining soul migration? huhhhh i'm sorry i'm so dumb aaa

[solid cave]

that was my second thought tbh 💀 i just wanted to check because i feel the elders are like, huge, and that resh could be uber-super-duper-mega huge bc of the aforementioned exploitation of light power

like literally just bigger because why not

[robust flare]

Nah, not dumb. This is a lot of information, I've been studying it for...4 years I think or 3

[robust flare]

Tbh, we don't know the Ruler's size! Time will tell

[solid cave]

so where do you think we're gonna get the second chapter of sky: cotl? in another season? or in another game? or in the two embers?

[nimble ingot]

yes, yes, not sure, and most likely

[solid cave]

also how does someone mine souls, is there crushing of creatures and sky kids' light here?

[robust flare]

I have no idea! Jenova didn't elaborate. It could be that it's more implied though. Like...I wonder if they'll hint at our future as adults somewhere

[robust flare]

In Eden there is a mural that shows it!

[solid cave]

i wish i knew how big of a deal the two embers really is btw, i only catch the end of the trailer each time i see it
also the references go over my head :<

[nimble ingot]

The text in the artbook likely referred to an older version of storytelling.

However, there does seem to be some form of harvesting still in the game.

Whether it is the energy of light in the creatures, the energy of light the creatures were bringing to Orbit, the energy of the crystals from the earth/water.
It is up for debate.
And it is not clear of this energy is soul energy.

From the top of my head (meaning this is just an opinion):
The abyss murals seem to hint at how ancestors gathered energy from mantas.

[robust flare]

There's a few trailers, you can find them on YouTube!
Imagine this though:
For years
We didn't have concrete confirmation that there WAS a king

Dammit I'm sitting here talking about lore, eating WAYYYY too many sweet potato fries

[solid cave]

huh, could krill be an organic machine that harvests mantas?

[solid cave]

so there is confirmation in the form of the content of the two embers? :O
why two embers

[robust flare]

The two embers are two children!
There's the Dawn Ember and the Dusk Ember
TGC revealed this at the anniversary event, only reason I know it

[solid cave]

dawn = isle of dawn
dusk = i think like the uhh vault? maybe?

[robust flare]

Wasteland is dusk in the old concepts of the game!

[solid cave]

i seee i forgot what the difference was from dusk and night tbh
is dusk green though? idk sorry

[nimble ingot]

As far as I recall of the lore.
The Krill are cannonically known as Dark Dragons.
They used to be creatures like any other in the realms, before they became corrupted in Eden's Shattering/Explosion.

This explains why they are usually found in places where corruption is becoming stronger, and mostly found around the source of this corruption, that is Eden.

[robust flare]

Dusk isn't green, nah. I think they envisioned dusk as being dark though, a bit dangerous. Not sure

[nimble ingot]

The sky of Dusk (Wasteland) is green.

[robust flare]

Yeah, I wasn't sure what exactly they were asking. The time of day, dusk is...Idk what color

[nimble ingot]

Green skies interestingly are a phenonmenon where a major storm is in the area.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/fact-or-fiction-a-green-sky-means-a-tornado-is-coming/332831#:~:text=By Amanda Mitchell%2C AccuWeather staff,sunlight and radiating green frequencies.

Which makes sense given that Wasteland is at the base of Eden mountain. Underneath the Dark storm.

[robust flare]

Oh oh. The sky sometimes turns yellow here before a storm!

It always is a little freaky. Apocalyptic.

[nimble ingot]

Final segway.

In the Two Ember trailer, we see a sunny Wasteland.

This suggests that the Wasteland was plunged into darkness when the Eden Strom started.

This may also explain why most of the plant and light creatures have died off and why we see Krill taking over the area.

The dark creatures moving into the wasteland may have contributed towards the war, if not made it much more dangerous given they attacked ancestors as well.

[solid cave]

ohhh that's clever, actually
that got me thinking, is the vault an elevator of sorts from the wasteland to eden's gates?

i've also never seen yellow or green skies, that's scary

[nimble ingot]

It could be a gateway to Eden, if not a vault as its name implies, a bunker of sorts presumably during the war, or an elevator to safely reach Eden instead of climbing up from the outside of the mountain.
Or all of the above

[solid cave]

even though it serves as an elevator to eden, i also think it definitely is still a vault
i like to think that our ancestors drilled through the mountain to get closer to the sources of light to mine them

and scientists also are there in the vault to record the profits and to record historical events and memories of lost/extinct creatures

[robust flare]

OH I FOUND A TRIGGER WORD

Vault elder foresaw the dangers of taking advantage of light. Built the vault to research and preserve findings of the constellations for future generations.
My theory is that the vault Elder used to protect and worship Eden as a sacred place

Slavic minus ic, add e. Cannot say that word
Nor en-slavic

[solid cave]

eden mustve looked amazing before the storm
is eden hot or cold
is the wasteland hot or cold

[solid cave]

✨ involuntary servitude ✨
✨ strongly encouraged to participate in involuntary servitude ✨
man, i would write good essays

[nimble ingot]

lol, it is hilarious seeing trigger words continuing to plague lorechat.

In all fairness. I can see why a 'naughty' word like that is an issue.
But the way lorechat intends to use these words are meant to be constructive, not triggering.
At least it is not supposed to do that in any case.

[robust flare]

Sky lore is politics and horrifying revelations But we are censored for the politics and horrifying revelations

[nimble ingot]

Indeed.
Staunch theorists have heard a few dark theories here. In spite of these limitation to how they would word certain harrowing details.

Namely, there are folks who can write a tale about a set of rail road tracks where thousands of people have lost their lives when they reach a certain type of camp. Without saying its name that would certainly be a trigger word here. (and if it is not, I would be shocked)

[robust flare]

Oh also, unrelated, Idk if I shared this. Snoozing carpenter has a spouse somewhere

I imagine there were horrifying things happening to the wasteland citizens. And the creatures of forest, valley, wasteland, Eden

And the Remembrance Guide is a sorta higher up religious guide, and serves the public. He wears a stole which is used for liturgical services

[trail raft]

So i was wondering what if the devs made an introductory segment for each realm just as we ascend to it (right after we meditate in a previous realm and we go through the other) do you think that would be helpful for moths to understand more of the story?

[robust flare]

I think part of the fun is analyzing the game, like an archaeologist! People can come to their own conclusions based on the evidence they find

[trail raft]

May I also add that i really don't know much of the lore and wish to know more through the game, bcz when i was a moth i remember as much as the game was interesting i was confused 90% of the time

[trail raft]

Oh that makes sense too ngl

[robust flare]

I think they could put more hints about the story. Particularly in isle of dawn. They did add murals to isle which helps

[trail raft]

Yeaa smth like that is what i thought of !
Also i think when the two embers series come out , it will clear out some confusion

[cloud junco]

Heyo, is there any sorta Masterlist of headcannons on here? If there is, I wanna binge read it lol

[inland cliff]

You can search through wiki and you'll see concept arts and scrapped ideas, etc. But I suggest you dig up the lore chat to see if there's any link

[brave patio]

https://sky-children-of-the-light.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Amity206/Sky_Lore_Theories

Hello fellow isopod!! I made this a while ago, and am currently updating it to contain info from the art book, but it contains a lot of my theories! I do ramble a bit but I’m trying to make it neater

(Also is the isopod in your pfp yours?)

[slim lion]

Begging that when I go to read this on my phone Fandom won’t start lagging out after awhile 😭

[cloud junco]

Thanks :D

[earnest patrol]

thought about this—we receive all of our cosmetics from Spirits, who were the previous owners of the items themselves, and in their spirit forms, still are. thing about it is, those items aren’t part of our realm, so my theory is that we provide them with physical light for them to weave into replicas of their clothing and possessions.

[cloud junco]

And not really lol, found a pic off of google, and edited the nb colors over it

[grizzled vector]

I think the Tournament event is Sky's nod to the Olympics currently happening in real life (and TGC trying to see if it's possible to introduce elements of friendly competition into the game). I don't think they're planning to teach us any lessons about the effects of conspicuous consumption on the environment when it's our skykids doing the consumption. The lessons would also be kinda awkward because buying stuff in-game is not really damaging the environment in real life

I mean, aside from the whole "electronic devices use energy and create e-waste when they break down" but of all the things we do on a day-to-day basis, playing an online game probably is among the least evil things you can do to the environment (unless you just sit and meditate throughout all of your free time)

[brave patio]

You 🤝 me

Nonbinary isopod Sky lore enjoyers

[strange flare]

I would think the Leviathan/Abyss monster wasn't an Elder manta, and instead a whale

due to how elder mantas as far as my observation goes, does not have a visible mouth

meanwhile we can clearly see a mouth shape from a whale

However I could easily be proven wrong

from the murals that doesn't make it into the main game, it looks like a manta, but the canonity is questionable

[strange flare]

My theory about darkness

Darkness is the absence of light.

Light and Darkness has always been coexisting.

When the ancestors began to take away the light from the soul cycle, an imbalance was created and so the void grows

the void is still mysterious, but seems to have had a part in corrupting the creatures(?)

[strange flare]

I like to think that cosmetics are merely a gameplay aspect for self expression

ACs are gifted to us by the statues we saved

And I like to think that the dark stones aren't inherently bad. It's how you use it.

The use of dark stones is harmless. But it becomes a problem with the practice of capturing light creatures and using the power of their light/soul for the technologies

[vital glade]

Hello Lore chat
Today’s Duets quest made me think of something. Is it just how the level was designed or did the Duet perform a lot for sky kids, the chairs are awfully small for a spirit

[robust flare]

Today I will do more studies of light, darkness, void, and technology
It's a strange world

[cloud junco]

🤝

[grizzled vector]

Maybe they performed a lot for Dusk Ember and wanted them to be able to sit wherever they wanted.

In all seriousness, it's probably that they want us players to be able to use the space. Larger chairs etc would have made sense lore-wise but look awkward in practice

Another thing is, Dawn Ember looks about the same height as regular kids in the trailer. It's possible the spirits are just larger than they were in life. There might not even be a real in-universe explanation for that aside from "we wanted them to be larger for visibility" and "N. C. Wyeth's Giant was an inspiration"

[earnest patrol]

you know. i wasn't quite understanding the transition from Manta to Dark Dragon, but then i remembered it's Elder Mantas, which are these guys

i'd also been so focused on the varying shield designs on the battlefield in Wasteland that i completely forgot about the bones. the soldiers of Wasteland were defending the fortress temple from light creatures, not from each other; defending from the light creatures because the light creatures were reacting as sorts of immune system white cells, attacking the source of the problem, the problem being the ancestors utilizing so much light but returning none of it to the cycle

that's why they built the ark... they ancestors were trying to escape from the attacks, but some of the light creatures shed themselves into krill to stop them from escaping the mess they made

i mean we all know this, but the ancestors were a cancer.

[grizzled vector]

From what I understand, Ancestors fighting the light creatures was an iteration of the story at some point, but it is not the final version of it in the current game. The creatures were still part of the war but the actual warfare was driven by factions within the Ancestors themselves

I also doubt the light creatures deliberately transformed themselves into krill as some sort of attempt at revenge, but they could have become krill anyway as a result of what was happening (pollution, light extraction, etc). Ancestors really kinda brought it on themselves

[cobalt palm]

With the Tournament of Triumph, the Archives (underground in Vault) is listed as the Void Gatherer event.
It does imply that part of the Vault of Knowledge, if not all of it is somehow in the void, like the shattering memories, so could wasteland temple actually be a gateway to a crystal memory?

[old wagon]

I think I got the current lore of the season

||The guide is trying to relive his past. Trying to get their muse/partner back. The way they looked so sad when looking at the banner..||

[old wagon]

Could be the case for Vault, considering it ascends and descends to the void/sky areas

Maybe its in a limbo/in-between place connecting the "material" world/realms with the other two dimensions

[empty belfry]

this is js a really badly thought out theory i made while compiling clips of tte but what if the scruffy lookin guy (the steward lookin one) is the first sky kid? but its entirely a theory here

to me it seems they are outcast because they are a different species entirely but thats just a theory.. A GAME THEORY

[copper obsidian]

Lesss go we got maelstrom in our team

[cobalt palm]

We're already 2nd place in the rain race, just need to push a little more for the void!

[copper obsidian]

It’s ok, after all mantas start their existence underwater ^^

[cobalt palm]

Could be they are the one who fell in Isle possibly, in the Stargazer's memories

[old wagon]

Btw, where can I watch the animation that was screened at skyfest? The 2 embers one

[cobalt palm]

I listed all past trailers and the SkyFest on on my channel

[old wagon]

Link in dms?

[cobalt palm]

Shameless self promote
https://youtu.be/g3Wm_PGUyDw

Don't bean me mods

[old wagon]

Oke, thancc

[cobalt palm]

You can skip to 8:51 for just the SkyFest pieces

But editing this all I noticed so many details watching it all back together that I didn't notice at first

[earnest patrol]

i hadn’t meant that they did it on purpose, but it’s a consequence of what happened against the ancestors. either way, it still seems like they did fight against the light creatures since there are bones all over Wasteland where a lot of battling took place. they could additionally be a product of the Wasteland processing plant, so i like a combination of both.

[hearty geyser]

Hii! Is there anywhere I can read the entirety of the sky lore and theories? I want to educate myself

[prime anchor]

Yes here

[noble maple]

Has anyone questioned/discussed why the season of abyss and revival symbols are inside the new music hall?

[rain frost]

#lore-discussion-spoilers message
Yep, a few theories have been proposed, including that the Cellist and Pianist are both from Treasure Reef and since moved to Aviary. I've linked back to one of the first convos abt this if u wanna backread other theories ^^

[rain frost]

Yeah sadly I'm not sure there's a comprehensive thing abt lore anywhere. Someone might have a google doc or smth but I dont know who But if u ever have a specific question feel free to ask in here!

[hearty geyser]

Thank you!!

[gentle gate]

This (unofficial) page does a fantastic job of compiling all the lore available to us over the years!

Check it out for a greater understanding of Sky's lore.

https://sky-children-of-the-light.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Amity206/Sky_Lore_Theories

[cobalt palm]

Regarding part of that

Depending on which source you look at, they either fell from the stars (introduction murals, developer statements) or were ordinary civilians who attained a semi-divine / royal status (art book and concept art).

I'd say why not both, the intro mural says the stars fell, could be all of the spirits came from stars, it certainly makes sense in the soul cycle concept

One thought I had reading this was what the last warrior in the Aurora concert is doing, initially with the 2 shields theory, I had assumed they were trying to storm the Vault to stop the king and further corruption of the Eden Crystal, but with the Two Embers, and art concepts of a battle between the ancestors and creatures, it could be that they are scrambling to remove the crystal that powers the gate, shutting it forever to save the Vault, and Eden from those creatures.
So was this a final act of sacrifice in order to save their culture?

[brave patio]

Ohhh you’re right, I’ll add that in

[cobalt palm]

Was this your article?
Great job!
I found so many new art collections through your links!

[brave patio]

Yep I wrote it!! I’m still working on updating it

[cobalt palm]

There were a lot of Aviary concepts shared as part of the steam wishlist push that could be added in, but overall it's an amazing article

[hazy cliff]

I wanna talk about lore n headcanons n stuff but y'all are too smart for me

I think the Valley Elders are pretty curious tho. I thought the art book would tell us more about them but I didn't really find much more than I already thought 😔. I just thought it's really interesting how they each have only one eye but apparently that's just a funky design choice?? Or did I miss something ;-;

I really like my hc that they are one soul that split to become two half people. Would explain their matching deformities(?) and how they are basically treated like one entity except for a few secs in their temple cutscene where they seem to have some individual thought. Although... idk how much of that is an act, given how perfectly dodged

[hazy cliff]

Nvm I go sleep nightnight

[strange flare]

oo this is interesting
I've never considered that

[cobalt palm]

There is a theory that there used to be a princess who was the Valley elder, and they are either her children, or she split, which is why they are two halves, but unfortunately there's no evidence ingame for that, only very old concept art of the elders.

[hazy cliff]

Ou :0
Thanks for sharing

[torn harness]

Hey guys, which infos we have about mega bird till now?

[harsh violet]

Hallo, does anyone know what's does the winner team gets in the Olympics event👀🌷

[pastel brook]

The Prophecy states that Team Isle will be victorious

[rugged obsidian]

Not any that I've heard but I do hope they give out smth

[rugged obsidian]

Would love this concept

Hey lore chat was wondering why seasonal spirit guides don't ascend like the others

[torn eagle]

Theres a theory called lightblur (basically how the light or souls of the people and creatures in sky interact)

I remember for valley theres an exact term to describe how their light/soul interact. Its called Light Sandwich (yes its named after food)

Light Sandwich is basically what you just sent here. Two bodies, one light/soul

[hazy cliff]

Ou nice, I like that term

[hazy cliff]

From the art book: It's an "abstract representation of everything connected like a cosmic web"

(Someone else prolly has a better pic, but anyway)

I think Birb could also be part of the soul cycle described in the art book

Like they didn't mention it I think but I can picture the light migrating to reunite with Birb

[torn eagle]

Actually.. we are the evidence

We continuously die then get reborn in eden

[hazy cliff]

Yeah but do we actually reunite with Birb for a moment or do we just kind of brush with it on our way out?

[torn eagle]

Do you remember that light you go into when you fly in orbit with spirits?

Thats megabird

[hazy cliff]

Hmm you're right

[strange flare]

I noticed Eden in Warrior of Love seems brighter

or uh

no castle

[grizzled vector]

I hope they don't give out anything substantial tbh. The whole tournament thing is a proof of concept and is supposed to be a fun and friendly competition. You don't choose which team you're in and you can't contribute more than three points a day (and realistically it's hard to contribute more than two points a day unless you spend all day). I suspect matchmaking is nonexistent, and in any case it has no real data to work off of (and has to work with whoever is queued at the moment). Forest seems to be off to a strong lead from day one. If they just reward one team with something unique and otherwise unobtainable a lot of people will be upset. I personally will be upset if they do that even if it's "my team" that "wins"

[grizzled vector]

Probably has to do with gameplay mechanics more than anything. You do see them "travel" like any other spirits (e.g. Abyss Guide during monthly fireworks). You can't "ascend" them as a player because it's unclear what the reward for it would be. Logically the reward for ascending a Guide would be ultimate gifts, but unfortunately at this point lots of people would probably also be upset if they made those available to newer players

And strictly speaking none of them seem to really "ascend" and reincarnate properly like souls are supposed to. Most likely because that would be awkward for the players. Spirits reincarnating would mean that 1) you can no longer buy their cosmetics, and 2) we'd basically have a bunch of NPC babies instead who would have no one but us to raise them and we're a bunch of babies ourselves and no one really signed up for that

[torn eagle]

Im not sure if sentiments have changed but last time it was discussed amongst the community even those with Ults want the Ults to come back to promote inclusivity amongst the community

As for why guides cant ascend yea I agree it would probably be more of a gameplay thing rather than a lore thing.

There are headcanons and theories that say guides cant ascend because of unfinished business or the only one who could tell the tale to newer sky kids (sorry for ping)

[robust flare]

In the book it also mentions some spirits staying in the clouds to help guide new souls! Idk if that part is canon, but it explains some things with the intro

[grizzled vector]

Interesting. I don't really know what the sentiment is among the community overall, but when talking about it with friends in-game they seemed to think that the vets would be up in arms against it if it happened. Though it's been a while since I really talked about it with anyone, and in any case it wouldn't be a representative sample of the playerbase

And yea, I personally would rather prefer newer players have a way of unlocking the ultis, and I have them from every season since I've been playing. Having to tell new players that they can never have a bunch of cool stuff just because that's how it is is among the least favorite things in the game for me

(And no worries about pings, I don't mind)

As far as "unfinished business" I think that's more generic ghost lore than specific to Sky. It is possible that something about spirits is preventing them from reincarnation. Maybe the fact they had darkness nibbling on them for so long has damaged their ability to rejoin the light or something. But also it's possible they are simply choosing not to move on. And again, given the current state of the world, it might be prudent on their part

There's also the question of whether they could reincarnate if they wanted to. I'm still not sure if the Ancestor babies just fell from the sky like us or if they actually, well, had babies. In the latter case that would be kinda difficult to make it happen since there are no living Ancestors left, and the Descendants probably won't be able to facilitate that for a while if they even have the capacity for it at all. The oldest skykids are still about five years old right now

[upbeat notch]

If we take Aurora as canon we know that they wandert into the Lands so they properly dont come from the light and with that couldnt reincarnate from it...I think

[grizzled vector]

We do know the Ancestor civilization started on the Isle (or even somewhere beyond) but I don't remember anything in that season indicating that they didn't come from the light. The "intro murals" in the Isle specifically say something along the lines of "the first of us looked forward to returning to the light one day." Or at least they used to, may have changed at this point

[upbeat notch]

Hold on I accidently got two while walking by

[elder veldt]

not sure if this is where i should ask but can someone tell me like the theories about like the megabird and king resh
and also names that the elders are commonly known as
this is for my sky fanfic so it would be a help

[upbeat notch]

"All are given breath by starlight" so yea your right

[upbeat notch]

You wanna know the concept art/ Hebrew names?

[upbeat notch]

Isle – Daleth (ד)
Prairie – Ayin (ע)
Forest – Teth (ט)
Valley – Samekh (ס) (They share a name, though the fandom refers to the spiky hair twin as Sah and the bobbed hair twin as Mekh.)[1]
Wasteland – Tsadi (צ)
Vault – Lamed (ל)
Prince – Alef (א)
King – Resh (ר)

[grizzled vector]

Ok so first of all if you're writing a fanfic, in-universe they are not known as "megabird" and "king Resh," those are just labels from some old concept art. The "megabird" is known as "The Light" and "King Resh" is currently referred to as "The Ruler"

In the concept art that has an elder labeled Samekh, it was just one elder (a "priestess") which tells you how old those names are

[elder veldt]

oh interesting well regardless either way i would definitely like to know more about em i want to include em some how tho i wont rlly make em fully canon cause well my entire fic is in a entirely different au that works much differently

[grizzled vector]

I mean basically The Light is sort of a collective consciousness everyone rejoins when they die

[upbeat notch]

...Like a hivemind? (Sorta I mean)

[grizzled vector]

A hivemind would be more like everyone is really one consciousness even when alive. The Light is more like... we are all part of it and rejoin it for a time when we die but then split off again when we are reborn

[elder veldt]

hm.... like idk much about sky lore rlly literally me and my best friend just made a lore with our entire sky au for funsies definitely interesting honestly though

[grizzled vector]

Their original concept for the reincarnation cycle was kinda inspired by the water cycle and how raindrops fall down and spend some time on earth and become part of rivers and what not and then evaporate and become clouds for a while

[upbeat notch]

This one? (by: https://www.tomzhao.com/sky1)

[grizzled vector]

They added the whole "orbit" thing because they were trying to give the player the "overview effect" from space (even though the game never really actually shows you the planet from space)

[grizzled vector]

Yes but also what I'm talking about isn't even from the concept art, it was talked about in one of the SkyFest presentations and I think in Art of Sky too

[upbeat notch]

Oooh okay

[grizzled vector]

Anyway, that's kinda all we really know about the "megabird" and we don't really know much about "Resh" either, aside from the general outline of what happened. Basically a kid fell from the sky (possibly the first skykid ever) and I believe it's canon that they passed the Trials in the Cave of Prophecies, and then led the Ancestors to the other realms. Somewhere in the process of that they discovered darkstone and the fact that you can use it to store light and to use that to make technology

[upbeat notch]

(Btw two embers is about Dusk and Dawn but could there still be a connection to the ruler?)

[grizzled vector]

So then the entire civilization kinda went from worshipping the light to juicing light creatures to power their magitronics

[grizzled vector]

Yea, I think it's been pretty much confirmed that one of Two Embers (the Dawn Ember) becomes the Ruler eventually

[upbeat notch]

Nice!

[grizzled vector]

The issue with that, aside from the abject horror of it all, is that apparently when you consume light you leave behind darkness. Like, all that toxic corruption all over the place, especially in the Wasteland, is a result of them using the light to power their magitek

Ultimately as they were harvesting more and more light they started to disrupt the soul cycle and the darkness was getting worse and worse, and in the end the Ruler sacrificed themself somehow to release all that light

[upbeat notch]

Right I think we accutaly saw concept art of this ruler in the gallery so Ima brb

[grizzled vector]

And also apparently we (the skykids/Descendants) are born from that light. Like, we are not necessarily "Resh" reincarnated but we are kinda made of the light that was once "part of" Resh or at least collected by Resh or something idk

But yea that's about all we really know until Two Embers releases, but that will happen next year at best. Hope that helps @elder veldt

[upbeat notch]

Ima try to find the picture rq of the ruler that sacrifieced themselves

[elder veldt]

hm ty very much! not sure how ill include the two in my fanfic unless i just reimagine them but in my and my best friends sky au

[grizzled vector]

Also I think the Dusk Ember played a part in convincing the Ruler to do that (and Dusk Ember also looks an awful lot like Hopeful Steward)

[grizzled vector]

Well, even TGC keep saying it's all "up to interpretation" and if you're not trying to make it canon you can really do whatever you want, but yea. Have fun! 🫶

[upbeat notch]

(source: https://www.youtube.com/live/yVyPF6NpCpg?si=i5DRhJBEyE4oRJ0O)

Tho whats weird is before this picture there was art of all the levels with the same sort of thing
for example:
Vault of Knowledge - Faith
Vally of Triumph - excellence

so it could very well be that this is just either a renamed eden, a scraped level or acctualy art of the Rule

[grizzled vector]

Well yea those are technically themes of the realms (or at least some of the themes they brainstormed and explored in that concept art)

So it's not the concept art of the Ruler literally being sacrificed right there, so much as the Ruler and the realm representing sacrifice thematically

The Ruler was an "endboss" concept at one point

[upbeat notch]

Would make sense if thats eden then concidering

1. The order of the pictures
2. Us littrly sacrificing ourselves in eden to light up the fallen

[upbeat notch]

Heh yea (gotta say I love the artwork) https://www.tomzhao.com/sky1

[grizzled vector]

Yea the artwork looks cool but in-game it would have been pretty much impossible to see anything

[upbeat notch]

Yea

[grizzled vector]

I think that's why they scrapped that whole concept, and I'm pretty sure Two Embers in part is recycling that original idea with Dusk Ember basically being a stand-in for what the player was originally supposed to do

Also another note about the whole "Resh" thing is that there was also "Alef" and it's unclear how exactly they are related but it seems like it's basically Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader type of thing. The Dawn Ember started out as "Alef" trying to help people, then "became" "Resh"

Or it's also possible that "Resh" was some darkness entity that "took over" "Alef" as corruption got worse

I think there's some concept art that mentions "Alef" emerging from defeated "Resh" or something along those lines

@elder veldt In case that's useful for your fanfic idk (sorry for the pings, this is the last one)

[elder veldt]

oh ty and noo its fine anything that helps rlly hmmm ill probs honestly make my entirely whole interpretation off the info i now have considering its rlly different and the fanfic focuses on 2 skykids who are twin sisters one being the protector of the world with radiance cape that would come later on

anyways once more ty!

[grizzled vector]

No worries! Yea it might be easier to just make your own characters/AU altogether instead of try to fit in your characters in the Sky lore that isn't even published yet

[upbeat notch]

Its all up to interpretation after all

[grizzled vector]

Yep, and even your interpretations are up to interpretation!

[elder veldt]

ye and besides its fun building off lore off a entirely different au especially when u have a best friend who loves doing lore too anyways ty! now time to stay in cozy chat and stay cozy

[slim lion]

Random question, but do we know what the spirits were referred to when they were alive? Like, for example, if I was making an oc who was alive during the time that light creatures were being exploited, would I just refer to them as a “human” or do we know another term? Because human does not sound right.

[grizzled vector]

I don't believe there is an actual term for what they were. Currently they're known as "Ancestors" but obviously that's only in relation to Descendants (i.e. us the skykids), they wouldn't be calling themselves "ancestors" in their day

Concept wise TGC were actually playing with the idea of Sky having some connection to real world until pretty late in development. In a sense, Ancestors are a stand-in for the human civilization, and there is concept art where Golden Wasteland looks more like a modern cityscape than anything you see in-game right now. Whatever they actually are, they could be calling themselves "human" for all we know

I mean, they don't really seem to have speech as such, and it's unclear how they communicate at all, but if they do communicate it seems to be more along the lines of telepathic concept-sharing, so "human" works as well as anything, as a stand-in for the mental concept they would use

[slim lion]

Ahhh okay okay, thank you! This helps 🤞

[grizzled vector]

No problem!

[grizzled vector]

Lore question: how do you think the Valley Elders' altar got outside? Did it just kinda slowly screech across the floor or did it somersault through the temple like the twins would?

[rugged obsidian]

I pick somersault

[slim lion]

I like to imagine it was dragged across the floor super comically.

OR! Alternatively, they built a wooden ramp and some carts w/ wheels and wheeled out the Valley Elders alter outside, and set them up accordingly. It would be realistic if we look at it from a perspective of how the Egyptians likely hauled the bricks for the pyramids (from what I remember I could be wrong don't quote me), using ramps and wheeled carts to make transportation easier :3

[nimble ingot]

Not me imagining the strongest ancestors slowly and painfully lugging the stone alter outside.
And then setting up a ritual prayer to confirm that the elders are happy. Just to hear a voice whisper, "a little to the left..."

[nimble ingot]

XD great minds thing alike!

[empty belfry]

somebody gave me this idea a little bit ago but what do we think of skykids and elders being distantly related as species?
Another thought: The elders are Semi-immortal and so are Skykids (Living well into their 400s and possibly even past 1000 in some cases?)

I think its a neat theory, honestly. The elders seems different by fundamentals than spirits and so are skykids, so its plausible to me

[nimble ingot]

I believe the elders can be immortal as long as they have people to worship/pray to them.
Once the ancestors died out, the elders were weakened and unable to protect their kingdoms from the darkness.
When the skykids came along (quite possibly sent from a different deity, which I think could be the megabird), they helped revive the elders.

[cobalt palm]

Random fact regarding glyphs, the floor of the fake sliding race in valley has the full set of glyphs on

[empty belfry]

It's shown that megabird was worshipped by the spirits aswell, though! so i'd say it send the skykids to (as stated in the game ^^) Re-establish the skykingdom andhelp the eldersto rule over their realms again

another thought, if all water in gw is dark waterthen...isnt gw filled with an adult drink..?

[heady gazelle]

i have a subject for a current fan concept i'm developing: how are the sky children predetermined to be specifically children (i'm guessing between the equivalent "ages" of 5-12 or somewhere along those lines)? do they fall to earth in those forms simply because of a predetermined fate? is there something withholding the sky kids from falling to earth until they are at an age that is deemed alright to let them go? and why aren't they coming down in other "ages", like teenagers or toddlers?

[rain frost]

we are bird children and megabird decides when to throw us out of the nest /hj bc it's either that or smth related to how the ruler was born or lived or whatever

[sharp latch]

something i'd add is that this doesn't have to be a sustained by belief itself thing, from what we can tell from temples the lighting of candles is an important ritual during prayer, and that light is used by the elders in the cutscenes for mainly stuff to maintain their livelihood (and thus kinda power)
tldr cause i think i explained that bad: omg i absolutely agree, and i think it's cool that there's a variety of ways this could work based on different interpretations of cutscenes

[grizzled vector]

According to Art of Sky they made the decision to keep the characters childlike to "maintain the innocence" of physical interactions like hugs and handholding. Kinda sad we live in a culture where that's a concern but there you have it. There doesn't seem to be any clear lore reason why we shouldn't be able to grow up though

On the other hand, all Elders are around the same age as well, and the Valley twins still look like teenagers/young adults, so maybe physical aging in Sky is just kinda optional

Also obviously a big theme of the game is nostalgia for childlike wonder and such, but again, not really an in-universe reason

[earnest patrol]

tbh i’d like it if the King “made a deal” with the Light to give him another chance as he was when he was “innocent”, and so he sacrifices himself for us to be born in his image.

[hushed steeple]

Not a deal, maybe it is the king's curse. Perhaps as a result of the king's curse, the sky kingdom fell when spirits became aware of it. As shown in the trailer, they began a war against the king.

[empty belfry]

what us in lorechat wouldnt pay for a sky lorebook ...😭

[empty belfry]

i dont think it was the spirits becoming aware..i think the way we were shown that king used the eden crystal for something(hoping tte explains what it was for..) Perhaps he corrupted the pure energy or lught of the eden crystal which caused the realms to fall? The vault elder knew it was going to happen though, she was kind of clairvoyant (iirc?)

[minor tree]

sorry, hi, im a bit new to the lore! can someone brush me up on the mega bird? how is it related to the rest of the lore, i just don’t really get where it fits in 😅

[empty belfry]

megabird is kinda the god/godess being for sky ^^

[hushed steeple]

You are right, but why would King corrupt pure energy? Does the king know something or just want more power?

[empty belfry]

id guess power, personally. But we never had an explanation at all for what for or why he used to eden cryal

i also dont think he intended to corrupt the crystal at all..but we may never know

actually, i dont even think we knew he used the crytal until recently!

[hushed steeple]

Maybe he wanted to learn more about Crystal background

[empty belfry]

thats also true! we may never fully know or understand his intentions that night as sad as it is for us lore jockies

i think we will just have to wait for TTE to come out..which should be hopefully soon or after the moomin collab

[arctic moat]

If you dont mind me asking, where exactly is this in the valley? I tend to explore a lot and I have not seen this?

[rain frost]

ye i'd like to know too hjhgfjd is it an oob?

[nimble ingot]

https://studenttheses.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/20.500.12932/41992/Thesis Final draft Barbara Maj 6393152.pdf?sequence=1

This is an amazing thesis about the game.
It is not necessarily lore focused. But it is a fantastic presentation of research about the game.

[plush cave]

I’m late to the conversation but it’s an OOB yeah! It’s the Valley sliding race room, just after the transition barrier in icerink! A VERY hard to get to OOB

I don’t think we actually see a cutscene of it in-game, you can zoom in with the camera just before the barrier, but it’s not all that clear

[strange flare]

I recently figured this out

I wonder if there's any other purpose that connects to the game mechanic, other than it matching the concept art.

its the pose and it grows brighter with more people

[night cliff]

This is random but. Is there any tutorial for this oob??/gen

[plush cave]

Can I send you a DM?

[night cliff]

Of course!! Thank you so much!!

[manic swan]

Oooh gotta read!

[torn eagle]

From what I remember its because light meams unity

The more people united the brighter the light is

[vague holly]

COME BACK KING ALEF
Put this on your socials profile if you want more sky Lore history

[mellow sleet]

This has probably been brought up before but I'm curious if y'all can elaborate on it better than I can

[grizzled vector]

Not that I'm aware of, in the finished game. But technically this is the same stance you use to melt away darkness from a calcified Ancestor body (it even combines the light the same way if two people do it while standing near each other). There is concept art for doing something similar with corrupted light creatures. It's possible at some point they played with the idea of it taking multiple people

Uh... sorry, I meant to reply to a different post 😭

[grizzled vector]

(See my post just above this)

[grizzled vector]

Lore-wise I think I read that the Elders are powerful beings whose powers included progressing the time of day. Though I don't really remember where I read it from and not sure if it's really canon. If it is, then the time of day on the main path is static because it cannot progress until you wake the next Elder. The additional areas are from the Seasons which you're technically meant to access only after completing the main path, after all Elders are awoken

Out-of-universe, the time of day throughout the main story ties in with a bunch of things from the mood of the realms to the symbolism of stages of life and stages of civilization and stages of your journey. So even if the Elders don't literally make the day move forward for you, they kinda wanted to imply that this journey takes a day and you visit the later realms later in the day etc

[mellow sleet]

It still doesn't really explain Aviary and Home lorewise though. (you're probably going to get to that i don't mean to rush you)

[grizzled vector]

Personally I don't think the day cycle is really as short as it is in the Prairie Peaks, in-universe, but it was an area introduced with a season of photography so it makes sense they wanted us to have a way to capture times like sunrise without literally having to get up with the sun

Home seems to follow your real-life clock for the most part (aside from when you look at the constellations, when the game makes it night time so you can see the stars)

Aviary probably works in the same principle as Prairie Peaks, it's a cute picturesque area and they wanted to give us a way to take photos of it at different times of day

Overall I think it's safe to assume there is some passage of time and day/night cycle in-universe, but the way it's presented in-game is heavily biased towards facilitating player experience and not necessarily towards accurately simulating cycle in-universe

Which tbh most games that do have a day/night cycle have it on a short timer to show it off

[mellow sleet]

yeah, i agree with that

[grizzled vector]

There's also the part where Home originally grew out of the idea of "mental space"

It's not really a thing in the final game but for a long time Sky was kinda meant to be a parallel world above the real world, and at some point the idea was that you might start the game e.g. on a rooftop and then kinda meditate away to dreamspace or something along those lines

By "not really a thing in the final game" I mean that it's not explicitly a thing, but at different points they seem to have played with the idea of Sky being a world in the clouds above the real world, a sort of an afterlife, a dream, etc. In the end they say it's "up to interpretation" and it's probably compatible with interpreting it as any of the above

[grizzled vector]

I think the overall idea is that the Ruler started out trying to use the power of The Light to help people. But over time it kinda went from using it sparingly for life-and-death situations to using it carelessly for convenience and short-term comfort. The darkness/corruption is apparently meant to be a side-effect of draining light from nature. I.e. the Ruler did not start out with the intention of becoming evil and hoarding power for power's sake, but the path to the Eye of Eden is paved with the best of intentions, apparently

Two Embers is supposed to come out next year alongside two in-game seasons. So I'm assuming even if the first episode comes out in January they might release the whole thing over the course of about half a year or so

There's also the part where it was technically supposed to be out this March so I wouldn't be surprised if it takes longer, but on the other hand I imagine they ought to call it done and release it at some point, especially if they have an actual deal with Netflix to produce a show

(I meant Two Embers, not sure why I wrote SkyFest. Probably cause I was thinking of the SkyFest announcement)

[sharp latch]

elaborating on the previous response, it's normally seen as a creator god/goddess that probably made the sky kids and has heavy ties to light and what it means in sky

[grizzled vector]

It really isn't a "god" though (and in the final game, "the megabird" isn't even really a thing). Basically the general idea was that all living things are connected and after we (skykids) die we briefly become part of some sort of "collective consciousness"

[sharp latch]

ooooooo that's cool

[grizzled vector]

At one point they considered making it an explicit thing "personified" as a giant creature in orbit that kinda sweeps you in or something but in the final game they decided against that. It's basically much more like "the Force" in Star Wars than a conscious deity

[nimble ingot]

Agreed.

It is a form of divintity that is not like a singular entity (namely 1 god).
But possibly something more along the lines of a primal form of energy (like mother nature, but not in a human like form. But the essence of nature itself. The breath of the world. The light of a Galaxy).

Megabird is made of light. And that light is everywhere.

[grizzled vector]

Now, for a long time, old concept art was all the community had to go on, and some of that art does reference a "megabird" so there was much speculation about that. But Art of Sky says it's not really a thing anymore

[nimble ingot]

Oh. I should honestly look that up.

As much as I love the game and TGC. I sadly cannot pay for that to get the book.
At least not until I can save up for it.

But in the mean time should see if other folks were kind to share some images from it.
That and the tour during the anniversary event as well.
It has been a minute and I sadly struggled to keep a regular streak of playing the game and/or keeping up with its updates.

[grizzled vector]

I will note that it is an art book, not a lore book. It does share snippets of lore, but even then it doesn't explicitly confirm or deny them as "currently canon"

[sharp latch]

it could also be a symbol of normality and peace that goes away as time progresses (as the realms are often seen as different eras of the civilisation) - like global warming but the day cycle ig? and so it's most present in prairie which is really chill and in home places which are supposed to be safe

[nimble ingot]

concept art, does not equal to, official canon.

That is true.

But does show the process and where they came from.

[grizzled vector]

Also there was a presentation about Art of Sky during SkyFest and during that presentation it was also noted that they were going over the concept art and what lore they were brainstorming, but what they were describing was not "the official lore of Sky"

I mean honestly I am getting the impression that they wanted a sense of a mystery more than they wanted the players to actually decipher the mystery. Especially with all the insistence that it's all up to interpretation. Some of it is obviously going to be canonical lore (especially stuff that makes it into Two Embers) but mostly I think they wanted us to think about these things rather than piece together a story

But in terms of "megabird" specifically it's kinda abstract to begin with, so it's extra up to interpretation

[nimble ingot]

They designed the game to reward players for exploring the levels/worlds.
A sense of mystery would be expected. Like a child wandering the forest.

I believe they wanted to emphasise on that childlike curiosity to guide the player through the realms. (I think)

[pure bane]

Imagine how traumatised the sky kid is after sending everyone back and dying only to reborn again and all the spirits coming back.
What if one day they just snap and refuse to save and return spirits. chill around,make a new village,play in the fields, tell stories around the campfire ||ignore the giant red light on top of the mountain that calls to you|| , eat crabs!: D

[nimble ingot]

I had a fascinating idea from that pdf I shared a few hours ago.

Magic circles.

What if the meditation circles we used in the game are our skykids using their imagination to play games?

Take the race for example.
The skykid sits down and focuses on emersing themselves into a game. A game where they race down the snowy slopes and see who can gather the most of these imaginary lights the fastest.
Once the game is over, the skykid returns to reality in a flash.

The trials from the cave of prophecies.
Where skykids made up a rule where they can't fly (because it would be too easy), and they can't do X, Y or Z (namely fall into water, fall off the pathways, or be in darkness too long). They end the game and return to reality.

This form of imaginative augmented reality is similar to children playing games. For example, when a kid plays on an old boat in the park. And imagine themselves as pirates sailing the emerald green seas. To the child, the long grass could be the salty waters.

There are many places where these magic circles appear in the game. Many of which tend to connect the skykids with the past. A past that they had no memory of when they first arrived in the realms of Sky.
A past they want to learn more about. So they can learn more about themselves.

[grizzled vector]

So basically Dawn Ember became the Ruler because they were really good at playing Floor Is Lava

[nimble ingot]

XD
I am going to bed. My brain is just mash. But I sorely missed the lorechat.
I hope everyone has a good day, night or whatever time you have in the realms of sky.

[winged nest]

GOOD NIGHT AND HAVE GOOD SLEEP‼️

[rain frost]

I love this idea it's so cute and fits so well with Sky's themes of childlike wonder

[earnest patrol]

speaking of the cave prophecies and the prophecy itself, the prophets existed the same time as the ancestors spirits right? so if the trials take away your cape and you’re not allowed to fly during them, I wonder if that’s just a game mechanic or not because if a lot of people had tried the trials before, and none of them could fly in the first place and we don’t know if the prophets could fly, then is it because the prophets knew that sky children would rise with capes and the ability to fly?

[soft cliff]

guys do you know any leaks of the new TS that are about to come this month? aside from Mellow Musician of course.

[grizzled vector]

Pretty sure discussing "leaks" is against the rules, especially in this channel. There is a channel for discussing beta content

[soft cliff]

oh I'm sorry!

[grizzled vector]

Honestly I never understood the whole "Ancestors couldn't fly but we can" because like... we clearly can only fly with a charged cape and they clearly had capes so...

Maybe they weren't able to accumulate as much cape energy as we can, for whatever reason, but they should be familiar with the premise of using capes for flying

And even if they weren't, they would have seen us fly around and thought "yea, we're not letting you do that to cheat the trials"

Also I think another part of it is that the Trials seem to take place in some sort of "mindspace" and not "real life" (or as "real" as anything gets in Sky) and the Prophets and/or the Guide probably have some degree of control over those mindspaces (or else they wouldn't be able to present you with a trial)

Not that "mindspace" implies that it's all just completely imaginary either. You meet the Elders in a "mindspace" but it is "real" in a sense that it is an actual thing that doesn't just happen in your head

[slim lion]

Even if they couldn’t accumulate as much wedges to fly like the sky kids do, I think it’s not unreasonable to assume ancestors could at least glide. Because then would capes only be purely aesthetic for them? Especially considering the season of flight (I think, I’m not well versed on season names) I think that implies they could at least somewhat fly, and the usage of boats were primarily for the ancestors who couldn’t fly/glide

Or, general use for everyone because they didn’t have the level of control/a significant amount of wedges to fly like sky kids do.

[grizzled vector]

The Season of Flight spirits are not necessarily a great example since they cannot fly when you get there (which is kinda part of why they need your help to start with). It's technically possible that they cannot fly now since they are spirits (and have no light, for one thing), but their memories show them using boats as well. Granted, if I had a flying boat I might use it even if I could fly myself (just like I might use a car instead of walking everywhere even if I technically could)

[slim lion]

Right I forgot that 😭

[grizzled vector]

Also worth noting we have at least two spirits who are able to at least levitate themselves (Meditating Monastic and Ascetic Monk), and at least one other is able to levitate objects. So while it likely was extremely difficult to learn (and therefore a rare skill to possess) it might not be completely out of question that the Ancestors would have hypothetically been able to fly, even if they couldn't all fly as readily as we do

Of course there is also the fact that in addition to being able to fly we are more or less immune to fall and most collision damage. The Ancestors might not have been. Even for skykids, it takes a while to stop flying "like a moth" – and mistakes that are slightly embarrassing for a moth could have been deadly to an Ancestor

In other news, we had a conversation today with a friend whose friend basically said I looked edible (the Revival scarf looked like taffy, etc) and we briefly discussed the possibility that Skykids might actually be made of licorice. Kinda curious what the lore chat thinks about that

[faint pawn]

please do not eat sky kids, they taste like raw energy

[slim lion]

Adding onto this point specifically, idk if this means anything but usually spirits have 1 star out of the 12 sky kids can get. So they have at least one wedge to work with, which would facilitate (probably) a flying style more akin to boosting themselves up in the air and gliding around.

Also I do think it could be likely that they can’t fly now because they are spirits, as you pointed out could be the case.

Because the spirits are well, spirits and kinda dead they likely don’t have the “light” needed to fly.

I also just remembered the flying race in valley, so it can be argued that ancestors could fly (or it was just gliding for the flying race, who knows.) because why else would they have a flying race and whole “flight range” area type deal, if not for flying?

The up drafts in the area before the flying race could have been a way to allow gliding, if ancestors were unable to have the level of flight control that sky kids do

Ignore how I said “sports” instead of “spirits” 😭

[grizzled vector]

Supposedly the star on the Ancestor spirits' capes is a bug that has proved elusive and difficult to fix

The flying race could have technically been flown through on a manta (or maybe even a seal)

Flying through the entire race with a one-star cape would have been difficult anyway, especially in a race with more than one competitor

Thing is, to my understanding it was a thing in concept art etc that Ancestors were meant to be unable to fly. It just still doesn't really quite explain why they wouldn't have been able to use capes just as we do

[faint pawn]

ancestors didn't have enough light in them, maybe?

[grizzled vector]

Well, that goes back to the question of, are capes their own thing or are they an extension of the skykids themselves

Because if they are their own separate thing then Ancestors would have been able to fly even if they wouldn't be able to recharge the cape with their own light (not very far, perhaps, but they would be able to)

[slim lion]

It could be that the capes for ancestors were purely for looks and cosmetics, or they could fly, maybe glide.

But for sky kids it’s definitely an extension of them, and the capes from ancestors are, just like in game (excluding iap’s) purely cosmetic and for expression.

[grizzled vector]

I am having trouble imagining Dawn Ember just randomly sprouting a cape at some point tbh but I suppose until the series comes out anything is possible

[faint pawn]

my hypothesis is we really are just built different
even when you ascend the spirit, it's really pale yellow and doesn't glow much
meanwhile whenever we see what i assume is our soul, it glows brighter than the sun

our 1 notch > ancestor's 1 notch

[grizzled vector]

Thematically I would assume the biggest thing keeping the Ancestors from flying would be the corruption. Light creatures can fly, for example. But then the krill are able to fly, and they're pretty darn corrupted. Honestly it's really difficult to come up with a plausible reason why sentient beings would absolutely not be able fly in a setting where just about anything else can fly, from creatures to devices to entire islands for no clear reason

[slim lion]

It could be because the spirits are already dead so they don’t have much, if any, light compared to sky kids

[faint pawn]

it could also just be entirely possible that TGC didn't want to make seperate models for spirit versions of capes and that's why they have 1 notch minimum

[slim lion]

Tem said that was a bug which hasn’t been able to be fixed

[faint pawn]

yeah

[grizzled vector]

That gets into what a "soul" really is. The glowy bois are presumably part of our "souls" (or at least part of a normal healthy skykid soul) but not a necessary part of a "soul" as in a spirit left behing after death. Hopeful Steward (heavily hinted and generally assumed to have been a skykid in life) is currently a spirit who seems to be just as dead as any regular Ancestor spirit

[grizzled vector]

Or at least I've seen it mentioned in this channel, at any rate. I don't really know for certain, but I know it has been brought up before and the general consensus is usually that it's a bug and isn't meant to indicate anything

[slim lion]

Ahhh okay I see

[faint pawn]

"what is a soul" is really a difficult question to answer in general

[grizzled vector]

Moreso in real life where it's difficult to conduct any sort of empirically verifiable study on the subject. In-game, we can observe "souls" in various contexts and as such we kinda do have something to go off of

In any case, my point is that the glowy bois that are brighter than the sun are most likely a different "part" of the being than a spirit, even an ascended one

Also I seem to recall that in Tom Zhao's concept art the glowing skykid seems to be more of an indication of a "state" than a soul. I think it was labeled "awakened" (and is contrasted to disconnected/indifferent state of the regular "gray cape" skykids)

Of course, the usual caveats apply, about concept art not necessarily being canon. But at least it might kinda sorta suggest what they are "meant" to be

I think it has also been mentioned in this channel that they could be "imprints" of the Ruler (whatever that even means)

[rain frost]

i mean. this first image is from 2022 so maybe its out of date but it seems heavily implied that the cape the Dawn Ember is wearing was inherited from his mother sooo this kid certainly didnt Sprout one

I kinda like the idea that Dawn n Dusk were like,,, a different type of skykid from us, so maybe they had to really work to have the power of flight imbued into their capes (unlike us just picking up wl) and hence their capes prolly werent an inherent "part of them" like ours seem to be either.
i mean heck we dont know if dusk/steward ever had a cape in life - im startin to think not given that 1. they wake up without one as a spirit 2. they dont have one in any of the trailers and 3. i like to think it is legit a gift from the enchantment guide, not a restoring of smth they had before

[inland cliff]

Guys
Where can I find all the Two Ember snippets
I couldn't catch up with all the new clips from anniversary (the leaked one as well)

[wild crater]

hello lore chat

[waxen ermine]

Hi!

Also just had a thought

Skykids nowadays don’t do it, but what if spirits back then rode mantas in their Olympic races?

[faint pawn]

i mean, we do still ride mantas nowadays (mostly in prairie and sanctuary)

[vital glade]

I can't remember which spirit is which, but i know there is a memory you can check out where theres a few people getting ready to race manta

[urban flint]

If I remember in Aurora song at the Valley of Triumph they also rode manta's?

[grizzled vector]

They weren't spirits back in those days but yes, the Ancestors did ride mantas for sport and possibly as war mounts

[waxen ermine]

Oops! Yes I meant ancestors

[rugged obsidian]

omg lore chat i stumbled upon the cutest thing in forest

Manta eggs? Idk but it's adorable

[hexed remnant]

I saw all the snippets in a video on the YouTube channel of VizSky. He also presents his theory about the lore of those videos.

[grizzled vector]

Those look like easter eggs tbh. Not sure mantas or any other creatures actually lay eggs. It's actually not really elaborated much on how exactly they reproduce, but it seems like the original concept was for the "soul motes" to fall into the ocean and coalesce into lifeforms that develop into various light creatures

[zinc frost]

I'm pretty sure those are the abandoned eagle eggs in the hidden forest. Visiting the eagle eggs used to be a daily quest but they retired it a while ago and the eggs remain.

[earnest patrol]

so the kids in the hallway leading to the Eye, i wonder if they’re the lights of the kids that we see statues of when we’re making our way to the final corridor

[earnest patrol]

on a different note, as many times as i’ve been to Eden, i never noticed how the mantas wait for you to enter the castle ruins, and then they start moving ahead by leading. the way the jellyfish push you forward, how the royal jellies launch you, the whale that smashes into the ruins to make sure nothing is in your way… i knew that the Light creatures are meant to lead souls back to the light, but i guess i never realized how visceral it actually is at the end of it all. it’s beautiful

[grizzled vector]

I think part of it is also that you kinda help clear a path for them, so they help you in turn. But yes

[strange flare]

I JUST REALIZED

MANTAS DO HAVE A MOUTH

I thought it was only manatees because mantas never seem to have a visible mouth, but I was wrong

I was in yet another photoshoot in The Village (i like mantas)
and I noticed a manta that seems brighter than the rest, this compels me to take more photos.

I've always thought there was a strange bump shape underneath the mantas, I thought that's just some normal body shapes. When I zoomed in, it was indeed a mouth!

and the way it was opened makes me wonder, are they eating something? Could it be light or something else or perhaps they're singing (honk) ?

[waxen ermine]

WHAT!! MIND BLOWN
I think they’re honking!

[strange flare]

this opens up more theory for me because
this confirms mantas do have a mouth

that means the Leviathan could originate from Elder mantas too! not just the whales that have a distinct mouth shape

[strange flare]

I WAS ALSO MIND BLOWN!!!

i thought for a long time that it was simply ridges on their body (surrounding that crystals like shape that glows)

[waxen ermine]

Nevermind it’s breathing, no difference when honking

[strange flare]

the mantas are so...

:0

They look like that emote

[strange flare]

I'm curious what the Mindful Miner story was (From AURORA)

From what I pick up it seems that they're mining with other spirits before they realize it seems to affect the jellyfish?

(Habitat destruction? Disruption?)

I'm not sure what happened there in the memory

[grizzled vector]

The story seems to be that they were mining (darkstone, presumably), ran into jellyfish, and chased them away. Then later they got trapped by a cave-in and jellyfish helped them get outside. After which they realized that jellyfish can be friends, not food

Also I think the story is slightly different between the actual concert memory and what you see during the quest, but that's the general idea

[grizzled vector]

Real life mantas are filter feeders similar to whales, apparently (I used to think they eat crabs but I was confusing them with stingrays). So basically in real life they eat krill. But in Sky, the krill eat you

[strange flare]

It does look like filter feeding

[strange flare]

could be from a different time/era
Because the one in the concert had a lot more darkstones than in the memory

[slim lion]

That makes me wonder what the diet of mantas or other light creatures are, since there doesn’t really appear to be any sort of food chain (from what I know of) aside from Krill eating any other being of light, but they haven’t always been around.

So do light creatures (or beings of light in general) just not require food to live? Of course from a game-design perspective I’m sure the diet of light creatures wasn’t really considered much, since it’s not really something players would think about while playing the game.

[grizzled vector]

Yea, they underestimated the players' ability to overthink

Light creatures don't really seem to require food to live. Even butterflies trapped in the dark plants are still alive, even after the darkness feeding on them for presumably years if not centuries

I would assume they need some sort of food to grow but it's hard to say what that might be tbh

I mean, it's also possible all life in Sky is just made up of something similar to classical elements and all they really need to grow is collect enough "light" of the right kind?

[slim lion]

I was just about to suggest something like that

[strange flare]

Question, what are those spinning sphere rings in the Citadel and what is it for?

[slim lion]

If could be that they grow from a source of light, maybe the sun in general? So almost like plants and how they need sunlight to grow. Photosynthesis

Or maybe there’s some sort of light source entirely that they get to grow. And not having access to it just means they don’t grow to adult stages of development.

[grizzled vector]

That would imply the miners had to learn that lesson more than once. Which... is disappointing but not entirely surprising

[strange flare]

I think that it probably takes time
The creatures do evolve overtime
Like how a baby manta grows to be adults (monowing) and then gains another wings (Quadwing or called the great manta in flight quests) and if following the concept art there would be a hexwing (6 wings) and they keep gaining more wings as they slowly transform into an elder manta (as seen in sanctuary islands)

What they eat still puzzles me though.

[grizzled vector]

From what I remember, plants use photosynthesis essentially for energy. They still need actual physical nutrients to grow. That said, a fun fact about plants is that only some of it comes from the soil. The bulk of the carbon that makes up grown plants actually comes from the atmosphere. So really plants grow from eating air

[strange flare]

My guess that it could be a power generator

[grizzled vector]

Someone mentioned they resemble armillary spheres, which are used in astronomy. It isn't entirely clear what exactly they're used for though (and why they need to be so huge or why there are that many of them)

[bitter basalt]

Well, I'm not a lore expert, but based on the murals all over Sky, it's probably because of the kingdom's ties to the heavens.

[rugged obsidian]

Oh ty

[rugged obsidian]

Ty also

[solid cave]

hi guyssss why're sky kids' eyes closed without a mask?

[earnest patrol]

extremely poor artists rendition

(I actually don’t know I’m just goofing around)

[solid cave]

i like the spirit of it

[grizzled vector]

from Art of Sky

[toxic quail]

so we kidnapping children to get winged light?

and we kill them in eden to transform them into eden candles?

[willow falcon]

Random question
Y’all know the scene where your skykid gets absorbed into megabird,
From the modern lore I assume you only get absorbed into a “part” of the megabird
Thing is tho, what is that thing you’re getting absorbed into ?

Is it the sun ? Is it some strange light in the sky world’s solar system?
Some collective liquid mass of matter of all living things in the world of sky that is placed somewhere in space?

Y’all got any theories?

Also extra note, where would it be placed relatively to the world of sky
Because of how much light it emits it would’ve been visible in even in broad daylight if it was in the vicinity of the sky world’s system

[earnest patrol]

I don’t know if we’ve strictly defined exactly what winged lights are, but to me, they are the souls of children who tried to reach the Light but failed and so they fell back to land and now without their bodies, they’re unable to reach the light themselves. We are collecting those lights as we go along, and then we released them into all of the statues of the children that we find along the way inside Eden and because of that those are able to the Light. You can think of it as us being shepherds for those lost souls, and then the cycle repeats and although we collect the same lights over and over again, they can just be different all the time because their placement is a game mechanic.

I think them giving us ascended candles is a showing of gratitude, of them, leaving a piece of themselves with us after they return to the stars, not us turning them into Ascended Candles.

[earnest patrol]

the Megabird isn’t any kind of creature that we would think of as traditionally sentient, it’s more like a collective. I feel that the best way to explain it would be to say that it is everything. It encompasses all creatures that have existed, do exist, and will exist. Think of it kind of as like the starting point and the finish line. We were born from the light and then in the end we return to the light to be reborn again, and the cycle goes on from there. This is the same for all beings.

On the topic of where it is. It’s hard to say, but if you look into the sky during daytime and the aviary and you see what is “a sun” then I’d like to think that that is the light that we come from and return to.

and mega bird is just a nickname for it because in the early stages of Sky, the collective was essentially a bird but now it’s just a intangible entity that we all exist through

[willow falcon]

So basically according to you, it’s basically functioning as the sky world’s sun?
Even though by all traditional means it’s just a part of megabird’s collective

[earnest patrol]

it’s hard to say if it is or not but because entering Orbit is entering this bright sphere of light, it’s what makes sense to me.

we do exist tangibly, it’s just that when we/Light creatures “perish,” we return to the Light and are then reborn.

[willow falcon]

Wait I just realized
How would this explain light creatures
Do they also fall onto the world like skykids?

[earnest patrol]

i don’t know about falling like us, but they have to come from somewhere, and the Light is the only place that creates organic life

[cobalt palm]

There is that one performance quest which tells a story if a star that descended and from it burst forth animal life, so could be they descend as stars like us too.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/632004389137154048/968063421289463838/Sky_performance_act_2_Isle_stories.jpg?ex=66afe211&is=66ae9091&hm=80dfb99a7d454d5f1d327bb54bc403f19ac8a5fc4b31b96da6b21403e9e97aad&

#lore-discussion-spoilers message

[grizzled vector]

When you're "in orbit" approaching "the sun" the "planet" is nowhere to be seen. So either there is a timeskip where we're traveling through space for some undetermined amount of time, or what we're seeing is not really physical (which would make sense since we're not physically alive at that point)

[grizzled vector]

Personally, the way I think of it is... imagine a ship. It's "dead" without its crew, so you could argue the crew is its "soul" but a crewed ship will still be dead if it has no fuel to run on. The "winged light" seems to function more as fuel or batteries of some sort than as a sentient "soul" (that part might stay with the fallen for all we know)

Basically, like a nuclear submarine runs on uranium, skykids seem to run on skykidium. So we collect it out in the world and then bring it to the skykids that ran out of fuel in Eden

[plain fern]

!ts

[pastel brook]

The Traveling Spirit is here until <t:1722841200:F> (<t:1722841200:R>)

The next Traveling Spirit is scheduled to arrive on <t:1723705200:F> (<t:1723705200:R>)

You can learn more about Traveling Spirits here: http://bit.ly/TravelingSpirits

[inland cliff]

Astrology is common in sky kingdom I believe, with people worshipping the stars n constellations. The Oracles are used for navigating stars, documenting planets movements... there's a lot more to it but I think in Valley, they're specifically used to organise structure builds to match a constellation or so

[grizzled vector]

I get that armillary spheres could be useful in the world of Sky, I'm just not sure why they would need several giant ones in one place (and spinning rapidly)

[cobalt palm]

Maybe the world of Sky turns much faster than our own, or maybe there are layers spinning at different rates if the central one in citadel is a model

I still hold on to the theory that the light is broken in many of the realms, and only moves on in certain untouched areas, such as prairie peaks, aviary, and home

[jaunty arch]

why do sky kids have to light each other (as gray kids) to see one another but in the cinematics everyone is just normal

[rain frost]

i've never thought about it being "broken" before - it would explain why we see some realms in different lighting than normal in the Two Embers trailers (i.e. they used to have day/night cycles). sorry, just had to comment cause thats a neat idea!

[grizzled vector]

Jenova mentioned in one of the SkyFest presentations (I think it was Designing to Reduce Toxicity) that they basically didn't want people to judge each other by appearance from the get go. In practice most people end up lighting each other anyway as a way of saying hello, but hypothetically they were thinking about not wanting to give people an additional reason to be prejudiced before they even sit down and chat for example

In-universe, I'm not really sure. I think in concept art the "gray" skykid is labeled as "disconnected" or "isolated" or something along those lines, so I guess in-character every stranger you meet is slowly succumbing to the Ancestor corruption/indifference/etc until you "bring them back to the light" by lighting them up. Or something? 🤷

[fleet edge]

what's the valley of triumph lore outside of "here we go ballin"

[sharp latch]

if the worlds of sky show the progression of the ancestors' civilisation, then valley is the time of prosperity after the industrial revolution, and before the wars - most spirits there reflect this by taking an interest in sports and music, both leisure activities which they can only focus on as much because of the time of peace

[celest birch]

Seen during Ascension near the twister-rolling rocks and red lightning; Vault´s summit. 🤔 🤔

[distant turtle]

In that History or Art of Sky event one of the messages was along the lines of that the King had to sacrifice the King’s life at the end which I found interesting because I always imagined the King never came around until after the end

[gilded inlet]

what insect are you, when you're no longer a moth, or when you're a vet? 🤔🦅

[empty belfry]

really? i never saw that one!

[empty belfry]

unrelated, but the 2nd image (of the shipwreck) just further adds to my theory that the dusk(?? never learnt who was who..) ember is a firdt generation skykid, not a spirit.

[empty belfry]

its also a big celebration of peace and advancement! Valley was yes the place for leisure and relaxation before wars however between all of the sports and festivals.. celebration was an underlying tone in general gameplay

[grizzled vector]

It's a lantern by the bridge in the Forest gallery

[grizzled vector]

Dawn Ember is the first one, who presumably becomes the Ruler later. Dusk Ember is the one who presumably becomes Hopeful Steward (but they obviously didn't start out as a spirit)

[grizzled vector]

The most obvious theme in the Valley was the celebration and the peak of civilization aspect of it, but they also apparently meant for the player to see hints of the fact that it was built on exploitation of both light creatures and "lower classes" of Ancestors themselves. Though in the final game the hints in the Valley itself are pretty minimal and kinda easy to overlook

[scenic pebble]

They look cool to fly trough
that might be a secondary use tho

[nimble ingot]

"choose your own expression and look" they said.
Meanwhile, we mostly have this expression >> 😶

The server's emojis have more expression than the game itself.

[nimble ingot]

little piece of observation.
The broken wall and pile of pipes on the side heading towards the Wasteland Temple is missing.

Either the concept artist did not include them for some reason. Or it is a hint that the time of Two Embers is in the past where the wall's destruction did not happen yet.

Which either implies the war did not start yet, or just the Shattering of Eden (seeing we can see Eden is in one piece still).

That and, the wasteland is not shrouded in the greenish light from the storm clouds in this time.

[nimble ingot]

I like how the days of Competition is a parody of the Omympics.

I wonder if this is TGC's way of tying in some more Greek-Roman mythological influence in the game.
Namely the inspiration of civilization and their relationship with their gods.
Namely the olympic flame, and possibly the myth of Prometheus stealing fire from the Gods.

[grizzled vector]

The Art of Sky does mention the Valley was inspired in part by the Ancient Rome so it makes sense they're stylizing it heavily in that direction, especially for the event that takes place during the real-life Olympics. But yea, whether intended or not, it sure does feel like a parody. People are just randomly sorted into teams, and the scoring system amplifies any disparity in active player count between the teams

Not sure how the Prometheus myth would translate into Sky, but a crab stealing flame from the Elders would sure have been funny

[grizzled vector]

A snippet of Two Embers showed the Eden Crystal seemingly intact and even glowing white instead of red, so yea, I would assume it takes place pre-Shattering (and likely explains the Shattering)

[lucid bridge]

Hook near the nest - use as a dock for boats?

[nimble ingot]

ah yess.

The perfect balance (sarcasm 100)
Indiscriminate Randomness, and the illusion of influence a player has.

The player has as much control as a disconnected controller.

[nimble ingot]

In a nutshell, Prometheus stole fire from the gods for humanity to use for their technology, civilisation and knowledge.

In some version, Prometheus is credited as the creation of humanity from clay.

In Sky terms, it is the elders taking power from the King/Megabird and giving it to the ancestors for their technology, knowledge and civilisation.

And the clay humanoids could also be a loose reference to Skykids (it's just a hunch. But clay figures are very much fire resistant.)

[grizzled vector]

I have heard of Prometheus, I just don't know if the parallel works. In terms of Sky, the Ruler is the closest figure to Prometheus, except they didn't steal anything. More like the "god" ("megabird") gifted them with flame but they decided it wasn't enough so they took more and more until it was kind of collapsing the entire world's ecosystem. No one really stole it from the Elders or the Ruler

[nimble ingot]

Fair point.

I am sleepy, so will see folks around.

[grizzled vector]

am tired too, can't type >_<

have a good night! 🫶

[olive berry]

I just recently noticed that the krills seem to have a mechanic groan to them when you’re beneath them, is that of any importance or significance? It’s late and I’m just curious

[grizzled vector]

We don't really know much about the krill and how they even came to be in the first place (and probably won't know until Two Embers comes out). The general agreement is that they're likely corrupted light creatures (and there is concept art of corrupted light creatures kinda resembling the krill if you squint I guess). If they're mechanical it would imply they were made for some specific purpose, but it seems unclear what would be the purpose of a weapon that attacks anything that moves

In terms of gameplay, the krill are really similar to Journey's Guardians (which were clearly mechanical war machines) but in Journey the "wildlife" was also "artificial" (made of cloth) so it's really up to interpretation what any of that meant. Could be that the krill make mechanical sounds as a nod to Journey and that's all there is to it 🤷

[wild notch]

here i find sky children of the light story ?