Thera's flag?

Discussion on game mastering Earthdawn. May contain spoilers; caution is recommended!
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Notaure
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Thera's flag?

Post by Notaure » Tue Aug 17, 2021 7:48 am

Hello everyone,
we all know Throal's flag/symbol very well, but what about Thera's?
It does not seem to me to have seen it, in any of the supplements already made. Does anyone know what the thera flag is?
thanks

Geekabilly
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Re: Thera's flag?

Post by Geekabilly » Tue Aug 17, 2021 12:10 pm

I'm not sure about a flag, but in Sky Point & Vivane it mentions that the Imperial florin has the "Theran sunburst" design on one of its sides. I'm not aware of anywhere else that this design has been mentioned, but that's not to say that it isn't.

Notaure
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Re: Thera's flag?

Post by Notaure » Thu Aug 19, 2021 7:18 am

ok, thanks, i'll check that! :)

Geekabilly
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Re: Thera's flag?

Post by Geekabilly » Thu Aug 19, 2021 8:07 am

On the back of Book One: Barsaivian Vivane from the Skypoint boxed set there is what appears to be an image of a sunburst. Whether this is the same as the one mentioned on the florin is unknown. Hope that helps :)

Edit: You can also find a clearer version of the sunburst design on the handouts that come with Skypoint, specifically on the Pass / Permit handouts.

Belenus
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Re: Thera's flag?

Post by Belenus » Thu Aug 19, 2021 9:20 am

One of those?

Image
Image

Geekabilly
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Re: Thera's flag?

Post by Geekabilly » Thu Aug 19, 2021 10:14 am

The top one yeah. The bottom image appears to be Kypros' personal seal as it's placed next to his name.

Belenus
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Re: Thera's flag?

Post by Belenus » Thu Aug 19, 2021 12:52 pm

It's the same image, except for the "compass" within the top one.
I find it hard to believe, that a person in charge of an insignificant outpost has a variant of the Theran emblem as his own.
Perhaps the top one is just the emblem of Vivane?

Geekabilly
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Re: Thera's flag?

Post by Geekabilly » Thu Aug 19, 2021 1:51 pm

Well I'm just speculating to be honest, its meaning is pure guess work on my part.

The silver coins in Vivane depict an engraving of the city's river gates on one side, so it may be that that is the image used for the city?

As for Vivane being insignificant, I guess that's subjective. I don't think the empire considered it insignificant, seeing as they stationed a legion and a fleet there and also repaired the city once they reoccupied Barsaive. This is nothing to say of how wealthy the city was/is, a lot of trade is done in and through Vivane.

Bonhumm
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Re: Thera's flag?

Post by Bonhumm » Thu Aug 19, 2021 7:40 pm

Very interesting.

The Vivane coins are indeed clearly described as being 'local', implying that each province (or major cities?) mint their own coins on top of the 'Great Thera' coins (for example, Vivane mints copper coins, which Thera does not).

However, even though this might 'just' be on Vivane coin's, they do use the term 'Theran Sunburst', implying that this is, at the very least, a common symbol used to represent the Empire, which is not to say that it is THE symbol used on their flags but that's kinda the best we have.

I remember reading this and thinking this might be a tongue-in-cheek reference to Asimov's galactic empire that uses the 'Starship and Sun' as a symbol but never thought any further about it.

The cover page of the Theran Empire book MIGHT be showing a 'Sunburst' symbol as well, engraved in the pedestal of the 'sphinx/griffon' to the left of the 'main' airship.

Belenus
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Re: Thera's flag?

Post by Belenus » Fri Aug 20, 2021 7:52 am

Bonhumm wrote:
Thu Aug 19, 2021 7:40 pm
The cover page of the Theran Empire book MIGHT be showing a 'Sunburst' symbol as well, engraved in the pedestal of the 'sphinx/griffon' to the left of the 'main' airship.
The same image in several times on the tower and the water gate at the entrance. Guess this one could be it :D
ImageImage

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