- This page is about the artifact. For the game, see Ys IV: Mask of the Sun.
"Reading the blueprints of the world, using their contents to ration out knowledge and mantain global balance... It's the Mask of the Sun and the Akashic Records that make all that possible."
~ Vanjo
The Mask of the Sun (太陽の仮面 Taiyō no kamen) was an Eldeen artifact that appeared in Ys: Memories of Celceta. It was a gold emelas[1] artifact that, when worn as a mask, served as the control key of the Akashic Records, allowing its wearer to enter Iris and edit the world's blueprints.
History[]
The Mask of the Sun was an ancient and powerful artifact created as a control key to read and edit the Akashic Records, also known as the world's blueprints. It was brought from the Atlas Continent to Celceta by Eldeel, an Eldeen who survived the Ark of Napishtim cataclysm. With the power of the Akashic Records and the Mask, Eldeel altered the environmental conditions of Celceta to make it more inhabitable, founded the prosperous Kingdom of Celceta, and appointed Lefance as its king. The Records were placed inside the Temple of the Sun in the city of Elduke, the Kingdom's capital. The Temple itself could only be accessed by wearing the Mask, so as to forbid intruders from altering the Records.
Eldeel used the Mask of the Sun to correct abnormalities within the Records and provide safety and prosperity to Celceta. Although he carried out these actions with the intent of acting as a benevolent god, a dark side emerged within him, and manifested physically by tainting his white wings black. The Black-Winged Eldeel planned to use the Mask of the Sun not to protect the Kingdom, but rather to cause disasters that would serve as ordeals to drive humans forward, acting as a more violent deity.
Worried that his dark side would finally take over, Eldeel created a counterpart to the Mask of the Sun, called the Mask of the Moon, as a means to contain his dark persona. Eventually, the Black-Winged Eldeel did take over and used the Mask of the Sun to change the landscape of Celceta, turning it into a sea of trees. Lefance, using the Sol-Galba given to him by Eldeel himself, waged war against the Black-Winged One and eventually emerged victorious, subduing Eldeel with the Mask of the Moon. Nevertheless, Celceta had already been destroyed by the trees, and the Kingdom came to an end.
After this event, Eldeel retired to the Tower of Providence, near the town of Highland, where descendants from the Kingdom still revered him as a god, and continued to use the Mask only to take certain knowledge from the Records and then impart it onto selected humans, so as to move forward civilization.
In the games[]
Ys IV: Memories of Celceta[]
In Ys IV, Gruda, a descendant of the Darklings from Danan, plans to use the Mask and the Records in order to cause global disasters and act as a god. Gruda leaves Danan and infiltrates the Romun Empire, where he becomes a renowned general, and gathers the manpower needed to invade the Great Forest of Celceta and search for the Mask.
Meanwhile, Eldeel has sought out Adol Christin after learning of his previous deeds in the land of Esteria. Fearful that the Black-Winged One will return, Eldeel hands Adol the Mask of the Sun, but the Black-Winged One takes over and attacks Adol, leaving him for dead. Frieda recovers the Mask and brings it to Danan for safekeeping, while Duren cares for Adol and carries him to Casnan.
Gruda editing the Akashic Records using the Mask.
The attack leaves Adol amnesiac, and the search for his memories brings him and his party back to Eldeel's tower, where they meet the god, witness his transformation into the Black-Winged One, and learn of the existence of the Mask. While this is happening, Gruda invades Highland, and Adol and his companions set out to find the Mask before Gruda. The search leads them to Danan, where Leeza uses Sol-Galba to attempt to take the Mask so she can heal Eldeel from his evil persona. In the resulting confusion, Gruda ends up stealing the Mask and gives it to Eldeel. The Black-Winged God uses it to enter the Temple of the Sun, giving him access to the Akashic Records.
Adol's party faces Gruda.
To stop Eldeel, Adol and his party restore the Mask of the Moon with the help of Lefance's spirit. The group uses it to enter the Temple of the Sun, where they battle the Black-Winged One, subdue him, and force him to wear the Mask of the Moon, restoring his benevolent self. Gruda, enraged at Eldeel's weakness, steals the Mask of the Sun and enters Iris, the world of the Akashic Records, in his own, in order to create ordeals to test humanity.
Adol at Mt. Vesuvio, holding the Mask.
Adol chases after Gruda, who uses the Mask of the Sun to copy the functions of the Akashic Records into himself and become Akasha-Glyph. Adol and his party defeat him and take the Mask back to Eldeel, who warns them that Gruda has already caused inconsistencies in the Records in such a scale that it would be impossible to correct them before they create massive disasters in the real world, including earthquakes, the spawning of shadow monsters, and eventually the sinking of the entire western part of the Eresian continent, with Celceta at its center.
The Mask falling into Mt. Vesuvio's crater.
In order to prevent this, Eldeel tasks Adol with destroying the Mask of the Sun by throwing it into Mt. Vesuvio's crater, as only the energies of the earth can destroy the artifact. Adol hurries to the crater while encountering several shadows on the way. On the summit, he is attacked by Phantom Gruda, a manifestation of Gruda's lingering desire to use the Mask to create ordeals. Adol defeats the phantom and throws the Mask into the crater, destroying it. This effectively shuts down the Akashic Records forever, and brings an end to all the natural disasters caused by its inconsistencies.
Gallery[]
Real world analogue[]
Inca Sun Mask.
Since the Temple of the Sun has Pre-Columbian aesthetics, the Mask of the Sun is likely inspired by solar masks worn in several of these cultures. The style of the Mask of the Sun, which does not cover the entire face, appears similar to Inca sun masks worn in religious ceremonies.
References[]
- ↑ Translation Tuesday Ys Timeline – The Ancient Civilization and Related Events Part 1 – Timeline (archive), Endless History (Kirsten Miller, Jul 21, 2016)