Lewphon

Lewphon was a Sharlayan Archon who devoted over two decades to the study of the stars and stargazing in order to separate myths from fact when it came to man learning to predict his future. He hoped to compile evidence about astrology and compiled records and information from the ancient past. He then learned that much of what the ancients had written and discovered was actually based in arcane theory. this prompted him to shift the focus of his research, and took those principals he had learned and adapted them to create the art of Astromancy.

Through the study of the ancient's works, and the Sharlayans who not only stargazed but also tracked the movement of major stars, Lewphon soon discovered a method of attuning to the heavens and wielding the Aether therein. Following these studies, the art of divination and the use of a fortune-tellers cards were viewed no longer as a mere child's amusement, but may actually have a prevalence to reading the stars and learning of the future, and were re-evaluated from an academic perspective. When the school of magic known as Astromancy was legitimized, the arcana deck, alongside the atlas, or planisphere, were integrated as part of the study of the magic.

In the following years, Lewphon would also go on to write The Five Ages, a study of the various methods of calendar tracking used by each of the city-states of Eorzea in the Fifth Astral Era, and helped unify the systems into one coherent system. In this system, it was determined that a Sun would refer to the passing of twenty four full hours, a Moon would refer to the passing of thirty two suns, a year being made up of twelve moons, and an epoch made up of twelve years. This would further advance the methods of stargazing and tracking heavenly bodies as used by Astrologians.

Lewphon would also go on to create the first designs for the Astrolabe, the chosen tool for channeling by Astrologians. Covered with a plethora of arcane and astrological phenomena, the device was initially rejected by the Holy See as one amongst the various offerings to the church, and was dumped in a storeroom for centuries. The original Astrolabe is considered a device of significant historical importance, and is priceless as a piece of art alone.