The Spring Crab
Nobluvo is a constellation which marks the beginning of spring on Ranul.
Appearance
Shape
The constellation resembles a broad-bodied crustacean looking towards a cluster of four stars.Position
Looking up from Mustik Hamesi, Kasavoa appears to pass through this constellation soon after it begins to approach Larevok again.Interpretation
The Cluster Ahead
Interpretations vary as to what the star cluster in front of the crab represents. The Ran-E-Zu commonly referred to it as a prey animal, such as a small fish. This, in turn, stands for the advent of prosperity as the temperatures begin to rise and rain becomes more common again. The Rilanga often took it in a more literal direction. According to them, the crab is chasing the light as an analogy to how the light on Ranul becomes brighter while approaching Larevok. The Rilsu draw from both interpretations, reasoning that the crab's food source becomes more abundant as the light does.The Missing Leg
The canonical form only indicates the pincers and three regular legs. The fact that one leg seems to be missing is commonly taken to represent the hardship during the winter season, when the light is fainter and the weather is dry.Spring as a Metaphor
After the The Final War, another layer of meaning came to be associated with this constellation. Spring was seen as an analogy to the dawn of a new, brighter future after the long nuclear winter caused by the global destruction. The crab's missing leg was likewise re-interpreted to stand for the physical and mental scars of the survivors.History
Mentions of this constellation date back to the ancient times before the founding of the Rilanga Nation and the Ran-E-Zu Confederation, which makes it an important element of their shared heritage.
After the Final War, the Nobluvo became a popular symbol for the Era of Recovery and for the Rilsu society as a whole. Consequently, artistic representations of the crab are commonly found in the context of organizations or projects of global importance.
Holy, I love this! Not just this article but this entire world! Science fantasy is honestly my favourite genre and you do it beautifully! The CSS, The writing and everything else is just beautiful! I think it’s the first time I’ve been moved by an article in such few words! I honestly have to say that this article is rather perfect. You managed to move me to shock with so few words and I felt like I was actually reading a Wikipedia entry about a constellations. I honestly don’t know what to say. I was going to suggest adding mythical stuff behind these but you’ve already done it. The best I can ask is... what do people think when this constellation disappears in the winter? Do they attach any legend to it such as the crab being eaten or is there something else? Or does this constellation stay forever in the sky of Ranul? Anyways, I just love this article and have fallen in love with the world too! I’ll be sure to check out more of this as soon as I can! Keep on going my fellow science fantasy writer friend! :)
Thank you so much, this means a lot to me! :D Funnily enough, at first I had absolutely no clue what to write about for this prompt. So I spent a long time messing around with my sky map, editing it over and over to get just the right amount of dots and looking for anything that inspired me. Luckily, while I was writing, questions kept popping up like "shouldn't the legs be symmetrical?" - and somehow, while answering them, the Crab became the symbol for the whole Rilsu culture. As for what happens in winter... Good point. I've made a little simulation for the positions of my celestial bodies, and according to that, the crab shows up frequently throughout the year. But outside spring it's either during daytime, or Kasavoa passes by rather than through it. At the moment I don't have an interpretation for that, but maybe I'll get an idea later.
Creator of the Kaleidoscope System and the planet Miragia.