Zone of Fire in Curym?

Post by **zompist** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 4:56 pm

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.

- · Post by - » Mon Dec 01, 2003 5:45 pm

zompist wrote:The basic effect desired is a barrier to contact between the hemispheres.

A couple of possibilities and questions occur to me:

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.

Post by **zompist** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 6:09 pm

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. (Not that that's what you're suggesting; I'm just trying to set some boundaries.)

2. Eh, not very interesting.

GreenBowTie · Post by **GreenBowTie** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 9:49 pm

Maybe there's a sudden three-mile drop right before the Zone, and that's why no one ever comes back.

Shm Jay · Post by **Shm Jay** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 10:28 pm

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.

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-sexism

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?.

Glenn · Post by **Glenn** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 11:33 pm

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?.

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...

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

Post by **zompist** » Tue Dec 02, 2003 2:22 am

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...

Whoops, no, the iliu story is that recorded in the Count of Years:

http://www.zompist.com/ciroma4.htm#4.

Glenn · Post by **Glenn** » Tue Dec 02, 2003 7:57 am

zompist wrote:
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...
Whoops, no, the iliu story is that recorded in the Count of Years:

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...

(Not that both stories couldn't exist and be valid, of course.)

p@,
Glenn

ils incognito · Post by **ils incognito** » Tue Dec 02, 2003 12:02 pm

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.

Mmm-hmm, I see where you're coming from.

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.

Drydic · Post by **Drydic** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 1:58 pm

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.

Why exactly is the zone impassable by rowing?

Post by **zompist** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 2:03 pm

Drydic_guy wrote:
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.
Why exactly is the zone impassable by rowing?

Same reason as on land: it's too hot to survive the length of time it would take to cross.

Drydic · Post by **Drydic** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 3:26 pm

zompist wrote:
Drydic_guy wrote:
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.
Why exactly is the zone impassable by rowing?
Same reason as on land: it's too hot to survive the length of time it would take to cross.

That makes sense. Thanks.

Oerjan · Post by **Oerjan** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 2:15 am

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.

Agree completely.

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.

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).

(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

GreenBowTie · Post by **GreenBowTie** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 3:24 am

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?

Pthagnar · Post by **Pthagnar** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 10:59 am

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?

Or the refrigerator. People could easily be sent over in refrigerated compartments of large vehicles!

Mecislau · Post by **Mecislau** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 1:34 pm

Pthag wrote:
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?
Or the refrigerator. People could easily be sent over in refrigerated compartments of large vehicles!

But who would drive them?

Dudicon · Post by **Dudicon** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 4:06 pm

Maknas wrote:But who would drive them?

Robots, of course.

Jaaaaaa · Post by **Jaaaaaa** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 4:08 pm

Dudicon wrote:
Maknas wrote:But who would drive them?
Robots, of course.

Hey, who needs a driver?

Passenger: Are we there yet?

CRASH!

Passenger: *dies*

You could have a little camera thing that links to the pilot's control area inside the fridged area.

Dudicon · Post by **Dudicon** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 5:01 pm

Jaaaaaa wrote:..fridged...

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 · Post by **Jaaaaaa** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 5:04 pm

Dudicon wrote:
Jaaaaaa wrote:..fridged...
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.

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.

Dudicon · Post by **Dudicon** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 5:09 pm

Jaaaaaa wrote:
Dudicon wrote:
Jaaaaaa wrote:..fridged...
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.

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.

Heh...

alphaboi867 · Post by **alphaboi867** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 11:58 pm

Pthag wrote:
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?
Or the refrigerator. People could easily be sent over in refrigerated compartments of large vehicles!

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.

ketske · Post by **ketske** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 12:19 am

Welcome to the ZBB, alphaboi867!! Beware of anyone who tells you to eat anything!!!!

We hope you find us helpful, and as always, entertaining. If you have any questions about most anything, there must be sombody here who can answer it!

Nuntar · Post by **Nuntar** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 4:28 am

Indeed, welcome. Do you have any conlangs?

ketske · Post by **ketske** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 4:41 am

Oh, yeah, what a welcome, "Let's see them conlangs, boy!"