Sylvari cycles

[TheLadyOfTheRings.9148]

Hi everyone!

I have this question that is really bothering me, and I'd like to read your opinions. To awaken at exactly 6am means being of Dawn or of Noon? The same goes for the other cycles. Of course each player decides that for the character, but lore speaking, how does this work?

Thank you in advance

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

From what I recall, the cycles are not hardcore set in stone rules for when a sylvari wakes up. For example, a sylvari could wake up at 6:10 and still be Dawn.

So what cycle would a sylvari that wakes up at 6 am on the dot fall in? Either/or.

[Danikat.8537]

I don't know, I don't think it's been explained in-game but here's three possibilities which seem likely to me:

1) Given that Tyria is a globe and The Grove is somewhere north of the equator the exact sunrise and sunset times will vary througout the year. So working out which cycle each sylvari belongs to involves tracking sunrise/sunset times and calculating the cycles based on that. If a sylvari awakens right at the moment it changes from one cycle to the next they'll either have some calculation for working it out (like astrologers do for people who are born on the night of the 'switch' between one sun sign and the next) or they'll let the individual or someone responsible choose which cycle they belong to.

2) Like their names sylvari awaken just knowing which cycle they're part of. Maybe those who awaken during the transition from one cycle to the next feel some affinity for both, but feel more suited to one of them. So for example a sylvari born right between dawn and noon might say they're of the cycle of noon and be driven to action, but also inclined towards diplomacy like those of the dawn cycle - the kind of person who will say "Right, let's go and talk to them and sort this out right now!"

3) The Pale Tree makes sure that never happens, to avoid any confusion. I'm not sure how much control she has over the proces but there were 2 years between the firstborn and secondborn awakening and although the Wiki says sylvari have emerged at an increasing rate since then I doubt it's non-stop (just fast enough to justify players making new sylvari whenever they want), so sylvari born exactly between cycles could be incredibly rare or unheard of.

[Mauti.3520]

0:00 am - 6:00 am - Dawn Bloom6:00 am - 12:00 pm - Noon Bloom12pm - 18:00 pm - Dusk Bloom18:00pm - 0:00 am - Night Bloom

Pretty much no room for discussion allowed on this topic, as this is the original designers' source material we are working with.(https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Cycle ) No matter what the recent shuffled in, shuffled out storytellers, or some random lads, trying to sell their own head canon as straight facts, want to make believe in.

As for your own head canon, what cycle your Sylvari belongs to in the end, no matter how weird the circumstances, well, pick and create whatever floats your boat. Your character, your choice, your story. But please don't expect anybody to agree and stick with your version and interpretation.

[draxynnic.3719]

Well, the question was about sylvari that were born precisely on the transition time.

The answer, though, might well be that such a thing is actually impossible, or so close to impossible that in practice it never happens. The odds of any sylvari being born exactly on the Planck time that the transition occurs is so small that it probably hasn't happened yet. So there is one, precise, 1x10^-44 second instant at which any sylvari born before that instant is the cycle before, and any born after is, well, the cycle after.

That said, it's also possible that the boundaries of the cycles are somewhat arbitrary, and the sylvari born at 5:58 might have more in common with the sylvari born at 6:02 than the sylvari born just after midnight, despite which cycles they're technically part of. It's also possible that the different personalities associated with the cycles are just trends, maybe even purely social constructs, and being part of a given cycle has little or no direct effect on how a sylvari will actually turn out. (Except that being a particular cycle means that they're likely to have members of that cycle as their mentors, which is likely to push them towards the personalities of their associated Firstborn as a result of nurture rather than nature.)

[Amanda Whitemoon.6173]

1) Given that Tyria is a globe and The Grove is somewhere north of the equator the exact sunrise and sunset times will vary througout the year. So working out which cycle each sylvari belongs to involves tracking sunrise/sunset times and calculating the cycles based on that. If a sylvari awakens right at the moment it changes from one cycle to the next they'll either have some calculation for working it out (like astrologers do for people who are born on the night of the 'switch' between one sun sign and the next) or they'll let the individual or someone responsible choose which cycle they belong to.

im not so sure the axle of Tyria is tilted as earth is, doesnt look like tyria has different seasons, the snow with wintersday is magically created, so does the sunrise vary?

[Fueki.4753]

@Amanda Whitemoon.6173 said:1) Given that Tyria is a globe and The Grove is somewhere north of the equator the exact sunrise and sunset times will vary througout the year. So working out which cycle each sylvari belongs to involves tracking sunrise/sunset times and calculating the cycles based on that. If a sylvari awakens right at the moment it changes from one cycle to the next they'll either have some calculation for working it out (like astrologers do for people who are born on the night of the 'switch' between one sun sign and the next) or they'll let the individual or someone responsible choose which cycle they belong to.

im not so sure the axle of Tyria is tilted as earth is, doesnt look like tyria has different seasons, the snow with wintersday is magically created, so does the sunrise vary?

Given that the usage fixed clock times is confirmed to be canon, neither the axis of Tyria nor the varying times of the sunrise matters for the Sylvari cycles.