Ophiuchus Subligar

Statistics

Ophiuchus Subligar

All Races

DEF: 23 CHR +1

Lv. 50 BST / BRD

Horizon Changes

none

Other Uses

Used in Quest: Brygid the Stylist Returns

Can be turned into Gaudy Harness

Synthesis Recipes

None

Used in Recipes

• None

Desynthesis Recipes

None

Obtained from Desynthesis

• None

How to Obtain

Cannot be auctioned, traded, bazaared, or delivered.

Dropped From

Name	Level	Zone
Fomor Beastmaster	41-48	Phomiuna Aqueducts
	54-58	Sacrarium

Historical Background

Ophiuchus is the mysterious, forgotten 13th constellation out of 12 in the Zodiac. It represents a giant figure holding or wrestling a snake, the constellation Serpens. It is sometimes called the Snake-Charmer or Snake-Wrestler. The Ecliptic (the celestial ring which defines what the Zodiac is) passes through Ophiuchus. Its exclusion apparently originates from the creation of Libra. The constellation Scorpius originally had giant claws in front of it, but the constellation Libra was created from those claws by later Greeks. In fact, Alpha and Beta Librae have Arabic names which mean "southern claw" and "northern claw" respectively (and Alpha Librae was designated Gamma Scorpii until 1651 CE). The body of the scorpion that makes up Scorpius lies mostly below the Ecliptic, and with its claws shrunken down, only a part of its body touches the Ecliptic. As a result, the Sun and other celestial bodies only spend a short time in Scorpius, the vast remainder of the time is spent in Ophiuchus (considered together, slightly less than 1/3 of the span is filled with Scorpius and slightly more than 2/3 of the span is filled with Ophiuchus). The progression of celestial bodies through the constellations is as follows: Libra, Scorpio, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius (though Ophiuchus touches Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Libra).

It isn't clear when Ophiuchus was dropped from the list of constellations or how many constellations, 12 or 13, ancient peoples had. Medieval astrology always had 12 signs though. It has been speculated the reasons for it being dropped were the European triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13) [it should be noted Asian (specifically Japanese, Chinese, Korean cultures) have tetraphobia, fear of the number 4, since the character for the number is the same as the character for death] or an effort to switch from a lunar calendar, which utilized 12 lunar months with an extra half-month (12 months of 29 days leaves 17 extra days) or an extra month (13 months of 28 days leaves 1 extra day) to a solar calendar to dethrone lunar-based religions and cultures [some cultures had 12 months of 30 days, which left a 5 day intercalcary]. The name itself may lend some suspicion to when this occurred. All other zodiac constellations have Latin names, however, Ophiuchus is a Greek name.

Ophiuchus is an Unknown-element sign and is of unknown temperament (Cardinal/Fixed/Mutable). It governs no House and is governed by no celestial body (or no known celestial body). If it were acknowledged as a Zodiac sign, its name would be Serpentarius.

Ophiuchus is a constellation bounded by Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Serpens (Serpens Caput & Serpens Cauda), Hercules, Aquila. Its named stars are (Alpha to Epsilon): Rasalhague, Cebalrai, Marfik, Yed Prior, Yed Posterior. According to where it falls, people born during most of the span of Scorpio would be Ophiuchus (roughly November 1 to November 21, though traditional astrological dates have not aligned up with the stellar positions for 2000-some years). Ophiuchus is Greek for "Serpent-Holder" or "Serpent-Bearer". The constellation's Latin name is Serpentarius, which means the same thing.

In Greek mythology, it is said to represent the mythic physician Asclepius, who learned the secrets of life & death from watching one serpent collecting herbs to heal another. Asclepius had uncovered knowledge to cure all diseases and ailments, and for that, he was killed by a bolt of lightning from Zeus to prevent humanity from becoming immortal. However, the gods decided to immortalize Asclepius and put him in the heavens to honor his amazing work. A second possibility is this represents Trojan priest Laocoön, who was strangled to death by sea serpents after trying to warn the Trojans the Trojan Horse was a trap.