Zone of Fire in Curym?
Hmm. Might as well take the opportunity to do some redesign here.
I rather doubt that something like the Zone can come about entirely naturally. Still, the ideal would be to minimize the supernatural, and not to require add-on miracles to contain the consequences. (For instance, radiation might create some of the effects desired; but I'm assuming it would have too high a cost in terms of mutations and disease elsewhere.)
The basic effect desired is a barrier to contact between the hemispheres. The particular details as listed on the drilldown page are modifiable-- for instance, I wouldn't mind making it clouded rather than cloudless, or having it move around a bit. I also don't mind monsoons; in fact that could be rather interesting.
On the other hand, a Zone that disappears at night, or seasonally, would defeat the purpose.
I rather doubt that something like the Zone can come about entirely naturally. Still, the ideal would be to minimize the supernatural, and not to require add-on miracles to contain the consequences. (For instance, radiation might create some of the effects desired; but I'm assuming it would have too high a cost in terms of mutations and disease elsewhere.)
The basic effect desired is a barrier to contact between the hemispheres. The particular details as listed on the drilldown page are modifiable-- for instance, I wouldn't mind making it clouded rather than cloudless, or having it move around a bit. I also don't mind monsoons; in fact that could be rather interesting.
On the other hand, a Zone that disappears at night, or seasonally, would defeat the purpose.
A couple of possibilities and questions occur to me:zompist wrote:The basic effect desired is a barrier to contact between the hemispheres.
1. Does the barrier necessarily have to be temperature-related? Or could it be some harder-to-pin-down phenomenon: a sort of Bermuda Triangle effect writ large, say, with mysteriously disappearing ships, lost travellers who find themselves either trapped in the Zone or inexplicably going back in the direction they came from, that sort of thing?
2. More drastically, perhaps, might a slight adjustment in geography do the trick? I'm thinking of landmasses like Australia and Madagascar, sufficiently isolated to develop distinct biomes but periodically connected to other landmasses when the water level is low enough. Something like that at the equator could help explain disparities between the human and animal populations of the two hemispheres.
Oh THAT'S why I was on hiatus. Right. Hiatus Mode re-engaged.
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Maybe the demon sits in the Zone of Fire and refuses to let anyone through from Erelae until their civilizations conform to its exacting standards of anti-sexismzompist wrote:1. Could be, but I don't want something that just sounds like a demon runs back and forth along the equator shooing off pedestrians.
But why not a demon? It could be a leftover from the ancient iliu-ktuvok wars. Or something we would recognize as an advanced computer that generates a hologram, hence a ?demon?.
An "artifact" effect like this might be at the root of the Zone, although the ilii claim it existed before their own known history...a remnant of an earlier iliu civilization, perhaps, or of an earlier race altogether? Or the result of a game by the Powers themselves...Shm Jay wrote:But why not a demon? It could be a leftover from the ancient iliu-ktuvok wars. Or something we would recognize as an advanced computer that generates a hologram, hence a ?demon?.
I personally wouldn't mind seeing the Zone of Fire more fleshed out, but I also wouldn't want to see it change that far from Mark's original conception, which I rather like (especially imagining the adventures of those brave souls who penetrate the Zone ).
I don't really have anything to add, but a fitting solution to the contradictions might be the effect of a supernatural power that acts through the natural elements--a mysterious force twisting existing weather and climate patterns out of their usual configuration, for example, in order to create the Zone.
p@,
Glenn
Whoops, no, the iliu story is that recorded in the Count of Years:Glenn Kempf wrote:An "artifact" effect like this might be at the root of the Zone, although the ilii claim it existed before their own known history...a remnant of an earlier iliu civilization, perhaps, or of an earlier race altogether? Or the result of a game by the Powers themselves...
http://www.zompist.com/ciroma4.htm#4.
Ah, I see--I was channeling a message (from the old VV board, I think), that said the ilii had "encountered" the Zone in the course of their movements around Almea. I need to keep up with the state of the world...zompist wrote:Whoops, no, the iliu story is that recorded in the Count of Years:Glenn Kempf wrote:An "artifact" effect like this might be at the root of the Zone, although the ilii claim it existed before their own known history...a remnant of an earlier iliu civilization, perhaps, or of an earlier race altogether? Or the result of a game by the Powers themselves...
http://www.zompist.com/ciroma4.htm#4.
(Not that both stories couldn't exist and be valid, of course.)
p@,
Glenn
Mmm-hmm, I see where you're coming from.zompist wrote:1. Could be, but I don't want something that just sounds like a demon runs back and forth along the equator shooing off pedestrians.
The only other suggestion I'd hazard, which no doubt you're already thinking of, is to look at the Zone in terms of the workings that have already been described for Almean magic and treat it as somehow a product of those forces.
Same reason as on land: it's too hot to survive the length of time it would take to cross.Drydic_guy wrote:Why exactly is the zone impassable by rowing?Zompist wrote:The Zone is not much less formidable at sea; the 250-km torrid zone is impassible by rowing or oaring, and the wind typically dies down to less than 10 km/h, forbidding sail transport at almost all times.
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That makes sense. Thanks.zompist wrote:Same reason as on land: it's too hot to survive the length of time it would take to cross.Drydic_guy wrote:Why exactly is the zone impassable by rowing?Zompist wrote:The Zone is not much less formidable at sea; the 250-km torrid zone is impassible by rowing or oaring, and the wind typically dies down to less than 10 km/h, forbidding sail transport at almost all times.
Agree completely.zompist wrote:I rather doubt that something like the Zone can come about entirely naturally. Still, the ideal would be to minimize the supernatural, and not to require add-on miracles to contain the consequences.
Both a moving zone and monsoons cause difficulties, each in its own way - a moving zone because it risks making nearby areas like Bekkai, Nan and Beleshao effectively uninhabitable when it moves over them (the current 500-km width of the zone isn't much wiggle room ), and trans-equatorial monsoons because they would make it relatively easy to cross the equator by sail (or by simply drifting with the winds).The basic effect desired is a barrier to contact between the hemispheres. The particular details as listed on the drilldown page are modifiable-- for instance, I wouldn't mind making it clouded rather than cloudless, or having it move around a bit. I also don't mind monsoons; in fact that could be rather interesting.
(Rambling mode on)
Hm... easy crossing of the equator while the zone is in one of its extreme north or south positions won't breach the "non-contact" purpose if you're going to die anyway when the zone passes over you on its way to the other extreme, but if you time it right you'd have several months to burrow down deep enough to be safe from the heat... it'd take a pretty well-prepared expedition if thinking kinds are to pull this off, but seeds or burrowing animals could probably do it by accident.
(Rambling mode off)
On the other hand, a Zone that disappears at night, or seasonally, would defeat the purpose.
/Oerjan
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But who would drive them?Pthag wrote:Or the refrigerator. People could easily be sent over in refrigerated compartments of large vehicles!GreenBowTie wrote:If Almeans ever invent the airplane, will they be able to cross the Zone, or will they still be trapped in, uh, whichever hemisphere they're in?
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Dudicon wrote:I'm not sure if that's a misspelling of "frigid" or just a weird derivative of "fridge," but either way it strikes me as dang funny for some reason.Jaaaaaa wrote:..fridged...
Derivation from "fridge". I'm too lazy to write "refridgerated". Of course, now I have to write this explanation, so it kinda defeats the purpose, but hey.
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Heh...Jaaaaaa wrote:Dudicon wrote:I'm not sure if that's a misspelling of "frigid" or just a weird derivative of "fridge," but either way it strikes me as dang funny for some reason.Jaaaaaa wrote:..fridged...
Derivation from "fridge". I'm too lazy to write "refridgerated". Of course, now I have to write this explanation, so it kinda defeats the purpose, but hey.
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You're forgetting airships and submarines. A submarine could simply travel underwater. Since they're unable to reach the northern hemisphere the Almeans probally will keep trying over and over again until some does.Pthag wrote:Or the refrigerator. People could easily be sent over in refrigerated compartments of large vehicles!GreenBowTie wrote:If Almeans ever invent the airplane, will they be able to cross the Zone, or will they still be trapped in, uh, whichever hemisphere they're in?
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