#moon arcanum theory

[raayllum]

anyway just like i laid out (loosely) in mutual salvation theory and in my previous analysis of TDP’s darkness-light motif Rayla is going to save Callum emotionally/mentally from the darkness (Aaravos), thereby teaching him how to walk in the balance as he comes back from the brink / connects to the Moon arcanum out of his love for her, he is then going to lose her and save her physically from Aaravos by exchanging the cube for her, thank you goodnight

#s4 truly shaping up to be one of the best days of my entire life goddamn #rayllum #mutual salvation theory #light and darkness motif #THEIR PATTERN BITCH #text post #WHAT DID I TELL YOU IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SKITS #promo art #predictions #tdp #the dragon prince #i almost had a breakdown on the bus over this #WE'RE GONNA GET E V E R Y T H I N G #cube hostage exchange theory #arc 2 #s4 #s4 speculation #mine #moon arcanum theory #again obviously not a surefire thing but my emotions about it sure are Real

[parroset]

Flowers of Elarion

Here's my interpretation on Aaravos with some flowers of Elarion (in glow pens because it's fun). I based them off of hyacinths for several reasons:

1. Hyacinths are my favorite flowers

2. Hyacinths smell AMAZING, and Tales of Xadia states that flowers of Elarion "have a scent that can soothe the most ragged spirit":

3. In flower language, hyacinths can symbolize jealousy, desire for forgiveness, and sincerity, among other things:

To me, this fits Lasair's story well. Leaving behind a flower as a gift as a way of asking for forgiveness for what they've stolen gives the gesture a bit more meaning. The sincerity/jealousy not only represents duality (a theme that is prevalent within the flowers of Elarion story) but also represents Lasair's feelings of jealousy for humans, who have enough to survive and don't need to steal, and the sincere desire for friendship and forgiveness.

I just think they're neat.

#aaravos #the dragon prince #my art #flowers of elarion #aaravos fanart #symbolism #duality theme #tdp theory #my theories #tdp meta #sort of #I love flower language #i could also go into Greek mythology and talk about how hyacinths symbolize rebirth and queer love #and how these themes link to the idea of Elarion and humanity #and especially link to the moon arcanum #but I digress #maybe one day I'll actually fully render this piece but for now this is it so #enjoy!

[ask-ethari-anything]

What do think about an eclipse?

Lunar, or solar? It's hard to overstate the difference as far as Moonshadow elves are concerned!

#ask ethari #eclipse #they're very nice in theory #but having a moon arcanum during either one is sure a wild ride

[st-va]

The latest Hunter: the parenting ep was so fucking cool, i think I was watching it for 2/2.5 hours with a friend cause we were analysing it so much. Forgetting the plot and all the amazing lore jam-packed into that ep, the ANIMATION? Holy shit! I didn't know that it could get better AND keep its quirkiness!

Who is the Ghoul analysis after the cut!

Okay so there are two forces at play in that house, throughout the whole episode there are hints of a werewolf - in the first room, that is the dinning room, there is a wardrobe that has scratch marks and the door underneath the first floor stairs(the one that big D came through) ALSO has them. Oh, it's also a FULL MOON.

Now, the ghoul and the warewolf could be working independently, completely unaware of eachother, but it is my theory that the warewolf is Matilda and the ghoul is Amanda.

There is a little time jump that skipped some interactions. After Elise stole the smokes and keys (staff access) from Giles, she must have given them to Grim. She, in turn, went to the Security room through the vents (she was said to be good at going through them and they said that the security room is the most ventilated room). In the map it is said that Matilda came to the kitchen from the security room and she has acquired Giles' smokes, meaning that she prob caught Grim sneaking and Grim gave her his smokes in exchange for silence.

Why was Matilda going to the Security Room? And moreover, when Kitten came to the kitchen Amanda said that they could let him in to the Security room (Matilda being against the idea). When the topic of the Hunting came around, neither of them really looked scared. Amanda was just standing there, looking a bit sad or maybe disapprovingly at Matilda, and Matilda was a bit disgruntled, but nothing more really.

Matilda also brought out the subject of "Is the Ghoul really that bad?", which is honestly sending red flags all around for me, to be honest. Sure, she might genuinely be afraid and is trying to be strong, but, honestly? She looked sad.

I honestly do not know how Matilda would have gotten access to the Archives. She couldn't have stolen Remoud's keys cause D stole them seconds before unlocking the door, sure as hell couldn't have stolen Occam's so that leaves Lord Fatigue and the doctor.

Lord Fatigue was with the boys and there was such a small window of opportunity to yoink the keys that it seems impossible, but the doctor is the other option and she hasn't gotten that much screen time, plus it would make sense to get rid of the Lord later. So I'm sticking with Lord Fatigue being the one who got mugged. Again, this part of my theory is very loose, I couldn't find any evidence.

I want to call attention to how fucking furious Matilda looked after they found Occam incapacitated.

I don't think that is the face someone being sad that her employer is knocked down a peg and won't be able to pay her on time hhh. Amanda's expression is on point, she looks terrified but I will choose to believe that she is seeing the consequences of her friend's actions, in order to help her. Remember, Amanda is the Ghoul and Matilda the Warewolf.

Matilda's expression could also be a symptom of a withdrawal. Now, I will be honest. I know the bare minimum of the lore surrounding Vampire: The Masquerade and my friend couldn't find the exact thing that happens to warewolves during a full moon in this setting, so I'm basing this on pure speculation, but she could be trying to refrain from transmutating and, without her smokes, that could be more of a mental feat.

Moving on, the most damning information that we got out of the episode was after Amanda was fried, she said Baba Yaga. Holy fuck. With how the Arcanum is, there is no way in hell they would let the "Help" know of such a powerful vampire. I really couldn't think of another way she would acquire this knowledge if she isnt connected to the Masquerade in any way.

When the gang went to the pub, Matilda looked tilted as all hell.

The Ghoul is currently incapacitated, there's no way in hell that Amanda did this. This kill was the work of the Warewolf, with how fucking violent it was. Connecting this with my previous conjecture that Lord Fatigue was the one that got his keys stolen, he is a fucking Lycanthropy professor! I think, in Matilda's eyes, he was a threat and she wanted to get rid of him because it was only a matter of time before he found out. Plus, she had to turn at some point and she would have already been furious that they have been torturing her friend.

It was a golden opportunity as well. From the beginning of the episode, we know that Spit has been experiencing Delirium, the fear that comes with seeing the supernatural and that fear is accompanied with memory loss of the actual event. Git was locked in the bathroom and so Matilda could go ham on taking her rage out on Lord Fatigue.

Whoo! This has been a long one, lastly I want to point out some small things that I appreciated.

Big D going into the Harry Potter room in order to investigate the claw marks.

Marcus and Harry being complete bros and going to lift instead of dealing with an emotion situation.

Boy

Brock not sitting down when they were all gathered in the Dining room at the beginning and later saying that his kneecaps were flattened.

D's booty shorts

Honestly, this series is amazing, I don't think I've ever watched something this high quality with this much love, thought and humanity being put behind it. The work that Alfabusa and the gang are putting into making every single frame a banger is phenomenal! I really do not understand how they keep on improving.

What did you guys think? Am I mentally deranged, or am I and my friend onto something? Please tell me what you think of my lil Game Theory and if I missed anything!

#hunter the parenting #htp #analysis #murder mystery #bruva alfabusa #Hunter the Parenting Chapter 4 #Hunter the Parenting Chapter 4 The Feuds of our Fathers #vampire the masquerade #vtm #crime solving

[flamebunnyy]

A few headcanons for my WoL. I'll just dump all the lore I have under the cut.

Lominsan Astrologians The Lominsan branch of Astrology is still a very new and experimental branch of the secretive Sharleyan/Ishgardian tradition. Initiated by a senior Arcanist Skywatcher of Mealvaan's Gate discovering several Astrology texts and star-charts being used as fish wrapping after their daily walk home by the Fishing Guild, the novel idea of using the arrangement of the heavens as the guiding geometry and the familiarity of using astral navigation warranted further exploration. Unlike their distant cousins, Lominsan Astrology has a heavy navigational and short-term predictive bent, focusing on extrapolating the present and past by projecting their current state onto the cycle of the heavens via arcanum and predicting their future state by backprojecting their transformation through the tabulated movements of the stars. This, of course, is incredibly math heavy, having already produced several new mathematical theories and driven at least four (4) Arcanists insane from the long nights spent in the meeting room they've barricaded themselves in. The lack of access to examples of astrologian planispheres, arms, and even decks of cards has required Lominsan Astrologians to make do with jury rigging existing equipment into the vague facsimile of one, both out of necessity and to suit their needs. As such, Lominsan-produced astrologian arms are highly skeletonized and unadorned, and incorporate a minimum of a sextant, a compass, a chronometer, a barometer, a thermometer, a hygrometer, an artificial horizon, and a sundial, with more advanced prototypes incorporating theodolites for more precise surveying and to take advantage of the platform's stability. They still haven't quite figured out the cards portion of it, and many either use playing card decks or navigation star flash cards to varying degrees of success.

Casting Whereas the modern Arcanist and it's derivatives safely channel aether through amplifying geometries written in aetheroconductive inks, the relative nature of the heavenly geometries require that the user finally channel the backprojected aether-patterns through themselves and out into a usable form. As well documented in the many historical texts of the guild, this is extremely dangerous except for the most well disciplined or hardened practitioners. In all astral navigation, the observer is first and final point of reference.

A nuanced but important difference between the traditional Sharleyan/Ishgardian and the novel Lominsan branch is their method of foresight. In the traditional method pioneered by Lewphon, user attunes their aether to the heavenly movements, drawing on the constellations with help from the planisphere and sets of cards to transform it into new properties or predict the future. In the mostly-independent Lominsan method, Arcanima is projected onto the position of the stars, transformed via moving the planisphere, and then backprojected into a new form, with the future collective movements amplifying the aether's power. The upsides is that the 6 constellations aren't necessary, and any combination of the 57 navigation stars plus the sun, moon, and current location may be used. The downside is that, unless well practiced, calculations must be done via dead reckoning (really Euler's method) of multiple celestial objects. The pure computation required, even for an expert assessor, is well beyond what is reasonable while holding back enough aether to kill a man. As such, only short-term projections are possible (no more than a week, a month if lucky), greatly limiting the Lominsan branch from the far-reaching predictive gifts of their distant cousins. Thankfully for the half-mad assessors, by performing these iterative calculations, the aether is "compressed" at each timestep, allowing them to cast spells at a similar strength to their Sharleyan counterparts. Further, by choosing different combinations of stars, different effects can be produced in replica of traditional Astrologian spells. The 6 constellations are also usable as projective stars, and were the first to be tabulated, making them go-to choices in the heat of battle. In addition, this gives the Lominsan branch much better short-term predictive powers of weather conditions than the other branches. An upside the others may find pitiful, but to the Lominsans, it's well worth the effort.

#ffxiv #wol posting #rook #midnight sketches #astrologian #limsa lominsa

[utilitycaster]

So, lore-wise, here's what I can put together regarding Ruidus specifically in comparison to other sealed things:

The cage around Ruidus appears to be very similar to the Divine Gate, which is repeatedly described as a lattice. The Divine Gate very specifically only keeps the gods from reaching the Material Plane: travel to and from other planes is possible for anyone else with the spellcasting ability or with access to a portal.

Ruidus is on the Material Plane, a statement I have bolded for reasons of "if you know, you know"; though it has been seen in the Feywild as of late.

Ruidus is also implied to be a prison for two now-unknown deities who had been sealed away and forgotten prior to the height of the Age of Arcanum. It is also indicated to have not existed at the time of the Founding, though it was around by the time of the Calamity. Call of the Netherdeep uses some very deft language to sidestep whether it's truly canonically an alien, dark power that "seep[ed] through the fabric of reality" or if that's just a legend, but does note that Ruidus does have an influence on the fates of those it flares upon. There are enchantments intended to make scrying on Ruidus or discerning its true nature difficult, which is what the Veilscatter Scope bypasses.

Here's where it gets interesting. The Divine Gate is permeable by the avatars of deities and by their favor (ie, Melora can speak to and grant powers to Caduceus and Fjord even though she can't physically manifest on the Material Plane). We know that whatever barriers existed between the Betrayer Gods and the Material Plane prior to them being broken at the onset of the Calamity could not be breached in this way, ie, Betrayer Gods could not grant powers to their worshipers. If Ruidus is surrounded by something similar to the Divine Gate, in theory, that which is on it is sealed off but can grant powers. Which makes sense, because, you know, Imogen.

Imogen notes that the cage around Ruidus distinctly does not look like ley lines. It's worth noting that one of the other barriers we know of, the long-since blighted Tree of Names, was tied to the ley lines. It's also worth noting the Divine Gate is divinely crafted and the Tree of Names was at least implied to be created by the mortal Gau Drashari druidic order. That said, Ruidus itself seems to have ties to the ley lines and planes given that the celestial solstices (of which apogee solstices are a subset) involve the alignment of celestial bodies on the Material Plane leading to a thinning of planar boundaries and potential shifts in ley lines. We also know ley lines can cross planes, although we don't know if this occurs naturally vs. only when wizards get cocky.

The city meanwhile can't really be explained by anything here, so...that's new, and I would presume (though I could be wrong) that Otohan and "guy who is probably Ludinus but could be another elf" are not physically on Ruidus, so the exact nature of Imogen's dreams is still in question. It's also not clear why Imogen has seen several recently departed people, notably Bertrand and the Lumas Twins, in her visions. I'd love to know if there's a third (fourth?), even more secret death god on the moon, which is a wild thing to say.

#divine gate? call that a lords on high-pass filter #ask me how my thoughts on d&d theology can still win and indeed have never stopped winning #also. as always. shut the FUCK up about spelljammer I do not care. #long post #critical role #critical role spoilers

[theredhairedmonkey]

Any theories on what will go down in s6?

Pure speculation of course, but here's what I think could happen:

After getting Aaravos' prison, the group return to the Sunfire camp (since Zubeia is unavailable) and leave the prison with Janai and Amaya for safekeeping. Thinking the big threat is over, the group then split up--Soren, Zym and Ezran (and maybe Corvus) search for Zubeia, while Rayla and Callum travel to the Starscraper to free Rayla's family.

Rayla and Callum arrive at the Starscraper (maybe a detour to Evenere's Royal Library to find the Void Poem, idk), but learn that both the Corona of the Heavens and the Nova Blade are kept under lock and key by the Celestial Elves. Not only are both protected, both are functionally useless to anyone but the "rightful heir" of these items. Through trials and tribulations, Callum eventually discovers how to find the "light guiding him through the darkness" (i.e. stargazing) and learns that the Star Arcanum was that the cosmos encompass everything--not just the stars, but the other celestial elements (Sky, Moon and Sun) as well as everything on Earth and the Ocean as well. Unlocking this activates the Rune Cube; turns out that the "Great Power in Xadia" it was meant to unlock was Callum all along.

He gets crowned (mirroring Viren's coronation; instead of usurping the throne, Callum is hesitant but ultimately relents and accepts his new destiny for the sake of bringing back Rayla's family). However, in the meantime, either Claudia or Karim's army (or maybe both in a dark twist of fate) invade the Sunfire camp, and either Claudia or Pharos steal the prison. Either way, Aaravos is now actually freed.

Somehow, the trio+Zym and Soren reunite and find out that Aaravos has somehow been freed, and go to face him. Callum, armed with the crown and the sword, is confident they can defeat him for good.

They go to face him, but because of Callum using dark magic a second time, Aaravos can now effortlessly brainwash him and turn him into a drone without needing to pilot him directly as in s4. Rayla has an opportunity to kill Callum to stop Aaravos, but doesn't take it.

As it turns out, Callum really did play right into Aaravos' hands, as this was what Aaravos wanted all along: Freed and with a Star-powered mage armed with a Star-killing weapon fully under his control. Aaravos' plans had come to fruition and he can do what he always wanted; return to the heavens and exact his revenge of the First Elves.

Screen cuts to black. Season ends. Bum bum bum, tune in for season 7!

#tdp #the dragon prince #callum #rayla #rayllum #ezran #soren #aaravos #primal magic

[beedreamscape]

A little theory for Ludinus!

What if he is in fact from the Age of Arcanum BUT at some point before the Calamity he winds up in the Feywild somehow (explaining why he's so obsessed with fey and sucking up their juices) and when he finds his way back, Exandria is all destroyed by the Calamity and he's lost everyone he's known and loved, hence why there's so much hatred in his old little heart.

He wants revenge on the gods for destroying Exandria in the wake of their conflict and on the Feywild for keeping him from the fight.

My alternative theory besides Feywild wandering is he got shunted forward in time by some moon/leylines magic experiment gone wrong.

Either way, he is old, but not for the reasons he wants everyone to think it is.

#cr spoilers #bells hells #ludinus da'leth #critical role #cr speculation

[arcsdragon]

Aaravos's prison

I think I know where/what Aaravos's prison is

(MAJOR spoilers for season 5)

((ps this is my first post/theory so I'm sorry if it's a mess))

In episode 9 (of season 5 oc) we see a large statue of Aaravos and the Jailer, well I think that's actually him, and the magic pearl(?) is his soul, he's basically trapped in both mind and body.

we've seen characters turn to stone before, ie Avizandum, and a lot in promotional things, and even the new intro with Viren who ends up dying this season, so this could be a hint.

in ep 4 in the bookery the poem they'er looking at says 'Laureloin was no more' But they also call the startouch immortal and undying, Callum just assumes 'no more' means death, but what if it's nothing else? Say separating a soul/consciousness from a body? Aaravos seems to project his consciousness and consciousness throughout the seasons (and Viren's in the 5th) when he's in his ghosty spectral form, something I assume that's star magic because it doesn't fit the other arcanum accept maybe moon.

arguable the best evidence for this is what happened to Janai's grandmother "I swallowed her" so this man either fork and knife ate her, shrunk her, or his actually body is big enough where he can just do that.

and as I said before about imagery, this season stepped it up A LOT, and during promotions we see a lot of Aaravos holding, and puppeteering characters, maybe another hint?

if Aarvos is actually that big, that would kinda make sense in the scale of the world. What I mean is, there's some animals/creatures that are just MASSIVE, I understand it being a fantasy, but when I first saw the size of arch dragons I was like ???, but if the world was originally made by startouch elves the sizes make sense, the hermit crab Sealegs, the amblers (the big camel animal thing in the desert episode season 3 ep 5) would be to scale if they really are that massive

also if you follow the dragon prince on instagram (maybe on twitter too? idk don't have it) on their website they'll post short stories, one centered around Aaravos implies his fall to Xaida made The Lake of Outcast, and if that's true, the impact of something that big would make a big crater and name make a lot of sense.

also less of evidence but maybe not? a while ago, before the character charts where released someone in a panel said Aaravos was the biggest character, there was a meme going around that he's bigger than Avizandum, but what if he actually is?

as for the pearl being his soul, the only thing I really got is separating the soul from the body making him 'no more' and the fact when he does magic his eyes are white and iridescent like pearls are.

So what does that mean in the future? Hopefully an epic final battle, but also I have a few predictions. The next step the crew is going to take is going after the Novablade/Starscraper, I think it's literally going to be a massive sword. And going a little off the rails a little bit, I love the idea that only a startouch elf can wield it because of its size, but that could be wishful thinking, I'd love a startouch to join the crew, maybe the Jailor?? (give me more startouch lore)

anyways tell me if you have any rebuttals, evidence, or more thoughts!

#the dragon prince #tdp spoilers #tdp #tdp season 5 #tdp s5 spoilers #tdp theory #tdp s5 #aaravos tdp #aaravos #tales of xadia #tdp headcanons #tdp callum #tdp rayla #tdp memes #i have a lot of thoughts

[xadian-daydreams]

Key of Aaravos

This has definitely been discussed before, but most of what I see relates the Key to the prison or helping Callum/humans learn arcanum, so here's my 2 cents.

In short, it's how and why Aaravos is an archmage of all six Primals - when he shouldn't be an archmage at all. Full explanation below the cut.

Arcanum Theory

This is my understanding of how this works.

Xadians are gifted at birth with arcanum, which connects them to facet(s) of a Primal Source. Arcanums vary between species, with elves being the only ones where arcanum varies between individual members. They can choose to explore and fulfill their potential with it, but they can't ever exceed it. You can only become an archmage if you were born with an arcanum with archmage potential. If you weren't, no amount of effort, learning, philosophising etc can make you become an archmage - you simply weren't born with that destiny. Another example, if you were born a Moonshadow elf with an arcanum related to appearance and perception, then you can study to become an illusionist, but you couldn't become life/death moon druid.

Humans have no born connection to any Primal Source, but they also have no limits placed on their potential if they manage a connection, beyond time dedicated to exploring the Primal concepts and their capacity to understand. If a human connects to Moon and wants to learn illusions, and druid magic, and shadow magic and... you get the gist, well, they totally can with enough effort.

The way around arcanum limits (or having no Primal connection) is using magic gems and Primal Stones - which artificially gives you temporary access to archmage grade arcanum and a bunch of primal energy to channel into rune spells.

(Alternatively, there's also the Bloodmoon cult, who used dark magic to alter their inborn arcanum to liberate themselves from the restriction of the moon cycle.)

The Exception to the Rule

Then there's Aaravos, who's so unique and special the rules didn't apply, and he managed become an archmage in all six Primals. (Did you know the six stars on his face are astral tattoos? Man wanted to make a point).

But what if Aaravos isn't exceptional and has the same limits every other Xadian has - one arcanum related to a single Primal, probably not even archmage potential, that he is confined and limited by - he just figured out how to cheat better than Primal Stones.

If Aaravos held a Primal Stone for each Primal, he could fake his abilities. But Primal Stones have to be in contact and can break. There's no evidence Stars Primal Stones are even possible. Plus, he clearly isn't doing that. But... some way to make a bridge to channel the artificial arcanums without needing to even be near the source. An artefact that can hold something of himself to act as the link. There's a theory of Raayllum's that the Key of Aaravos contains his chest piece (white heart/star core), which helped inspired this theory. Aaravos' chest piece glows when he's accessing the artificial arcanums to cast magic, as he's reconnecting to the missing piece held in the Key.

Why does the Key glow in proximity to magical creatures/active primal magic- maybe a password system. You need archmage/archdragon grade arcanum for each Primal touching the cube simultaneously to open it - which would mean currently only Aaravos could open his Key to retrieve his core.

A Source of Great Power

But there's the hang up of where Aaravos got the full arcanum for Stars to make this Key theory work.

Harrow's letter says the Key unlocks a great power in Xadia, with the Key itself being slightly pulled towards this Source. Conversely, this means the Key is also part of what locked away this great power in the first place.

Running with the theory, this Source would need to contain the full arcanum of all six Primals - the only thing I can think of that would do that is Deep magic - the ancient mashup precursor to Primal magic. So, Aaravos placed some sort of syphon on the Deep Source/Nexus itself, and connected it to himself via the Key.

The bigger question is - does this tie into Aaravos' gift of dark magic to humanity as a whole? Dark magic is intrinsically linked to Aaravos, using it forms a connection to him personally. Is there Deep Nexus being augmented to artificially allow the casting of dark magic. Which would mean this Key could be used to access a means to the source of dark magic - which could be disabled.

Also, it's probably not a coincidence the dark magic symbol has the diamond shape of Aaravos' Star chest piece in it.

And a final question - if the Key is giving Aaravos arcanum, could it be used to remove his arcanum, giving him the same unlimited potential as a human. Presumably, his long experience with using the Primals would translate into reconnecting, human style, fairly easily. (And I have another theory which would mean Aaravos would have access to a backup arch potential Stars connection he could use to reconnect, if that's the one Primal you can't force). Just saying this because of the alternate Callum opening which indicates Callum's going to do something with the Key that Aaravos wants to happen - and Callum thinking he's defeating Aaravos when he's actually making his power independent... Seems like something Aaravos would find hilarious. (Edit: I also just noticed Callum is staring at the Stars symbol on the Key in the opening, which is more evidence that the person who will be holding it has Stars Primal. And after discussing, Callum could just be after putting the chest piece back in so he can stab it with the Novablade, but I'm still convinced there's more of an angle then that, 'cause where does Aaravos benefit?)

Sorry if something like this has come up before, not trying to tread on toes, but there's quite a few theories about the Key out there...

Thanks for reading.

#aaravos #tdp theory #the dragon prince #tdp #key of aaravos

[kind-of-genius]

an addendum to my previous Ludinus Da'leth is Athodan from Aeor theory!

Athodan may have been consecuted.

the relic Athodan found was a Luxon beacon, and upon "weaving of necromantic glyph work [Athodan] revealed unique arcane properties" of the beacon. this may have been the ritual of consecution.

if this is the case, Athodan could have been killed in the crash of Aeor caused by the gods but was later reborn

as an elf of Molaesmyr.

the same elf that would survive the fall of Molaesmyr and go on to join a cabal of mages called the Cerberus Assembly, the same name as a cabal of mages from the Age of Arcanum in the Dwendalian Empire

Ludinus Da'leth.

as long as there was a beacon—any beacon—within 100 miles of Molaesmyr during Ludinus's birth, this is entirely possible.

we know Aeor had a beacon and that the elves of Molaesmyr were studying Aeorian artifacts. there is a possibility one of the artifacts brought back to Molaesmyr was a beacon (if there wasn't one already present within the necessary radius).

Ludinus was said to have been one of the mages studying Aeorian artifacts in Molaesmyr before its destruction.

was his interest due, in part, to the memories recovered during his anamnesis as a younger elf? was he compelled to join the Cerberus Assembly because of its shared name with the mage group from the Age of Arcanum?

if Athodan was killed in the crash of Aeor, they would have died close to the beacon they were studying. if Athodan survived the crash, there is a chance their study of the beacon yielded an elongated lifespan that allowed them to simply weather the Calamity before dying near the Aeorian beacon.

this latter possibility is only necessary to ponder due to the potential rate of reincarnation facilitated by the presence of Luxon beacons. there are supposedly thousands of souls inside the beacons, and who knows how quickly those souls reappear in humanoids born within range.

there is also the possibility Athodan was in a stasis bubble like the ones encountered by the Mighty Nein, and the elves of Molaesmyr dispelled it. that killed Athodan, but due to their consecution, their soul was pulled into the beacon, which was then transported to Molaesmyr, where Ludinus was later born.

Ludinus being a reincarnated Athodan also explains why he was able to manipulate the abilities of the beacon in the malleus key in the Hellcatch to bring the solstice to them. Athodan had intimate knowledge of the workings of the Luxon beacons, and therefore, Ludinus knows how to influence some amount of control over the temporal capabilities of the beacons.

so, in summary: my theory is Athodan from Aeor—the head of the Factorum Malleus "Creator Hammer" project, a plan to use machines called malleus keys to free Predathos, the god eater, who is sealed in the moon Ruidus—was consecuted during the research into rejuvenation done with/on "the relic" AKA a Luxon beacon and therefore reborn as an elf of Molaesmyr named Ludinus Da'leth

#critical role #cr spoilers #critical role c3 #critical role meta #ludinus da'leth #athodan #aeor #luxon beacon #consecution #the malleus keys #the factorum malleus project #the bells hells #the mighty nein #the cerberus assembly #Molaesmyr #its just a theory a game theory #cr c3e51 #cr c3e52 #predathos #the creator hammer #ruidus

[raayllum]

Since Callum now understands the Ocean arcanum, thoughts on the possibility of him connecting to the Moon primal source in season/book 6?

I think it's still the most likely given the associations the Moon has - being both light and dark at the same time, being able to have multiple things coexist and reconciled. That would make a lot of sense given Callum's "dark path" and him still needing to "find the light," to accept that although this darkness is a part of him (hi ocean arcanum) but that it's not all of him by any means. That, and all the foreshadowing from prior seasons (S1-S4) is still very much there. I've always thought that Callum connecting to the moon arcanum would make the most sense if it mirrored his reconnection with Rayla arc, so the fact they're still in that process means it's absolutely up for grabs, I think

#cerinelle-stellarium #thanks for asking #moon arcanum theory #s6 speculation #arc 2

[kilfeur]

According to Devon interview, elves can only use one arcanum, does that humans are potentially more powerful than elves?

In potential and theory, it's a possibility, but we mustn't forget the route Callum had to take to connect to an arcanum. It was physically and mentally demanding and difficult. Whether it's using dark magic, his tug-of-war and his path to achieving the arcanum connection. We saw Aaravos use him like a puppet, depriving him of his mobility and his voice. And yet, he could remember. Using magic to help his friends and find the one thing that set him apart from the expectations of a standard prince. And Aaravos used it to his advantage.

Among the elves, we also have Lujanne, who has great knowledge and explains the moon arcanum to Callum, but doesn't seem to know how to perform it. But who doesn't see how a human can connect to the arcanum. Ibis gives Callum and the others the option of leaving and showing the wing spell. And despite Callum's assertion, he turns his back on him, adding that he must leave. Not to mention the elf who healed Zubeia, who could be the one guarding his Nexus. Even with Finnegrin and Nyx, they insist that Callum is a dark mage, which shows that Callum's prowess is no ordinary feat, unlike what we're used to seeing.

So yeah if humans wanted to connect to an arcanum. It would take a long time to do it, especially when they have dark magic, which is easier and simpler and is a gift from Aaravos. Even if an elf could connect to another arcanum, they would also become prey for Aaravos, and it remains to be seen whether this person would be able to resist temptation, as the startouch elf is one. But more powerful than the elves? I don't think the startouch elves would appreciate it.

#the dragon prince #tdp #lujanne #aaravos #callum #ibis #primal magic #dark magic

[addrianastarflower]

My dragon prince friends,

I swear I'm working on Startouched, chapter 5 just isn't quite done yet

but for now at least, he's a little snippet to tide yall over!

Regardless of the time, they had to do the ritual tonight. “I’ve never done one of these myself,” his father explained as he drew intricate patterns on the stone floor of the ritual room in moon opal dust, “you’re my first and only child. But I’ve set up my fair share in my time.” Aaravos glanced up at him, “You know why we’re using moon opal dust?” “Because the moon is the second arcanum I wish to learn and it’s the medium between the sky and the sun which would allow me easier access to it?” Callum answered hesitantly, he wasn’t completely sure of the answer as they hadn’t gone very in depth on the theory behind ritual creation. “Close, what you’re missing is that this moon opal dust will also be doused in salt water. The moon and the sea are your either side mediums between the sky. Technically so is the earth but we don’t have any proper ingredients here to do that. We’re lucky at all that I had a few moon opals in storage, I was tempted to use them for a different ritual about a decade ago,” his father explained as he laid down the last line and pulled out a thin vial of water from within his cloak, sprinkling the circle with it.

And if you'd care to read the whole fic, it's very lore heavy with Startouched elf backstory! But don't worry, we'll get back to Rayla & everyone else soon enough! Story picks up at the end of S3 and continues from there.

#the dragon prince #startouched #my fics #half elf callum #callum #aaravos #tdp aaravos

[self-spaghettification]

Callum is going to learn Star Magic in Season 6

(or try to, anyway)

I have a theory on the order Callum will learn the arcanums—if he gets any more.

In the very first intro to the show, this is the order Aaravos mentions the arcanum in:

Sun, Moon. Stars, Earth. Sky, Ocean.

Callum connected to the Sky arcanum first, and then the Ocean. User raayllum compared him to Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and then fell into the depths of the ocean.

Adding onto that, I think Callum would get Stars next to symbolize another rise to great heights and then Earth as another crash. (I think that would be it but if they’re really going all the way then yes, next would be sun and then moon.)

To support the idea that Callum will learn star magic next, in the teaser for season 6, we see him blindfolded and freefalling, and the celestial elves in the starscraper are also blindfolded. It’s mentioned that star magic is the hardest to grasp and that celestial elves dedicate their lives to understanding the stars. So if anyone can teach him star magic, well…that isn’t an ancient manipulative startouch elf, it’s probably them.

Why would he seek to learn star magic, why now?

Most Obviously: Ambition as a Mage:

Callum has said he’s read up as much as he could on all magic and whenever he meets a mage he asks for their help learning that arcanum. IE: Akiyu.

The celestial elves may not be star mages (or maybe they are, who knows) but he will more likely than not use the opportunity to seek out an understanding of star magic while he’s there.

“It's protected by an ancient sect of Skywing Elves called the Celestial elves at the Starscraper, this unbelievably high tower, far, far north beyond the Frozen Sea.” - 5x05

2. Freeing Rayla’s Parents

“The spell is complex and it uses star magic so, to do it, I need these. Quasar Diamonds.” - 5x04

Since practicing star magic is key to freeing Rayla’s parents from the coin and that spell also requires the presence of 3 star magic gems, the quasar diamonds, doing the spell may require some understanding of star magic as well. The alternative may be dark magic and that would leave him open to possession by Aaravos and possibly harming those around him including Rayla.

That’s the third possible reason he would seek to learn star magic :

3. Protection Against Aaravos

if Aaravos is connecting to Callum’s dreams and posessing him via star magic, maybe in learning it he can figure out how to counteract it or use the bond with Aaravos to his advantage instead of only being the victim of it.

(insert images of use of star magic)

4. Sky and Stars close overlap

Sky and Stars share more traits in common than any other arcanum, and it simply makes sense that skywing elves and a primal mage who first connected to the sky would have the greatest understanding of it. It makes sense to connect with it more than others.

Vision is also used to describe Sky magic, and truth used to describe Sun magic.

5. Proving worthy of using the Quasar Diamonds and/or the Novablade

It seems hella unlikely these guys are just gonna want to give up their most prized and fiercely guarded possessions to some outsiders just because they asked nicely. They’re going to have to prove their magical capabilities and respect for their understanding of star magic, maybe even do trust falls or other rites, like that which we see on screen in the trailer.

In conclusion, I believe it will be key for Callum to try to learn more about star magic, by following the same rites the celestial elves do - getting as close to the stars as possible in the starscraper, becoming as secluded and distant from the rest of xadia as they possibly can (like the startouch elves do) cutting themselves off from one or more of their senses and presumably learning how to trust fate and understand it (freefall).

And if it doesn’t work out to learn star magic and Callum has to, once again, rely on dark magic when un-coining Rayla’s parents, well, things would not end well, ie: he would “play right into [Aaravos’s] hands”, possibly paralleling 5x08 but even worse, like Hanna Hoffer warned about 5x08 having “kiddie gloves on.”

So, I guess we’ll see :) (my bets are that it doesn’t work and everything goes to hell)

#tdp analysis #tdp meta #callum #star magic #tdp s6 speculation #tdp speculation #my thoughts

[konmaao3]

Ocean: Callum

Sky: Callum/Zym

Moon: Rayla

Stars: Stella (and maybe Sparklepuff)

Sun: Bait

Earth: Terry

The Key of Aaravos: one primal source on each side

I still like the theory that making all six sides light up at once has an effect. And now that Callum has the Ocean Arcanum we conveniently have all six primal sources covered with the Dragang and the Magefam who will surely meet again in the future.

If nothing else, it’s useful if you want the theory to be true for fanfic purposes. 👍

#the dragon prince