wherein Liz plays with inheritance rules and nomenclature

[edenfalling]

I build worlds for the joy of it. I am not in the least scientific about it; I am a fantasist at heart, and people interest me much more than orbital mechanics. All my worlds are pretty much like Earth unless I am making a particular point of some sort, and even then, I tend to forget the differences. (For example, there is atmosphere, water,

Comments

[valles_uf]

Well, there's at least one consequence of an Earthlike moon that will have effects even for someone who doesn't pay attention, though admittedly the character might not notice without a reference point for comparison.

Namely, brightness. It's going to be brighter than ours, probably by a lot. First because the moon is going to have to be bigger than Luna, which'll probably show up in the sky unless it's a good deal more distant and has proportionately longer months, and second, because, well.

Luna has an albedo of about 0.11, if I recall my figures correctly, and oceans have an albedo of about 0.3. I don't know what kind of figure landmasses average but you can bet it's higher still, and of course cloud cover will be close to 1. A full moon night with such a body in the sky will be clearer and brighter than it would in our world.

...Hm.

Maybe someone else who does moonwatch brings it up in conversation?

[edenfalling]

I am of two minds about Firsthome months. I know there are twelve in a year (I made an executive decision years ago that anything I could conceivably make work out as a multiple of six, I would, because six is meant to be sacred worldwide), but I am not sure if they are 30 or 36 days long, because I am not sure whether I want an almost-Earth-length year (360 days, give or take a fraction) or one that is about two months longer (432 days). Orbital mechanics would be simpler with a longer month (because I could have the double planet system spread out a bit more) and I would love to make Firsthome a more obviously 'alien' planet instead of an exact Earth analogue... but I think dealing with a 14-month year (counting by Earth months) would be more of a headache in the long run, which would require me to have a notably larger moon. And I do kind of like a larger moon if only for the possibility of visual effects in midwinter on the Ice (if and when I ever get around to writing a tentatively planned story about Ekanu's midlife vision

[edenfalling]

which would require me to have a notably larger moon

By which I mean 'would require me to have a notably larger moon as visible from Firsthome. *headdesk* Sorry, it's been a long, beastly hot day; my logic is escaping.

[valles_uf]

I'm hiding in my air conditioned apartment, yeah. Summer, bleh.

I have a setting I work on where a pair of habitable planets are tidelocked with a mutual twenty-eight hour orbit; my better developed story takes place on the smaller of the two, which is pretty Earthlike as far's climate goes, and only a little smaller than Venus.

The larger is kind of an Arrakis clone, about a third again Earth's diameter and something like three quarters of its surface is salt-flat desert... It takes up about sixty degrees of sky, from what I remember.

Humans have by far the best night-vision of any critter living on the near-side of either world, but you can tell the time pretty exactly by looking up and seeing what geographical features the terminator lines up with.

[askerian]

... I love shiny worldbuilding bits like this. Glee!

[edenfalling]

Social systems and their fiddly little tics amuse me greatly. :-)

The world of Intarre is universally organized on a feudal/clan basis (there are plot reasons for that, which, should I ever get around to writing the story, would slowly be revealed) but each region has its own variation on the theme. The Domains of Killian is one of the most rule-bound areas; the Killianites are nearly fanatic about honor, face, and inheritance. Their great Houses are also slowly driving each other to ruin, but they either have not noticed or can't figure out how to reverse the trend without destroying the underlying assumptions and rules of their culture.