Sky Worlds

[Tvtyrant]

Working on a current campaign world known roughly as "Sky Worlds" which is based on the idea of flat planets floating in an oxygen filled universe. The solar system that the setting is placed in works as follows. The first thing I should mention is that all objects in Sky Worlds are extremely close compared to reality; two planets are around 30,000 miles away.

1. The star that the solar system is built around is known as Filia. Filia is a perfect sphere made of two hemispheres: The first hemisphere is known as Lumen, and the second hemisphere is known as Caliga. Lumen emits brilliant white light out, Caliga emits heat but not light, like a coal that has been removed from a fire. Filia rotates once every 30hours, creating a time frame of a 15 hour day and a 15 hour night. Filia sits in the very center of the solar system. Filia is objectively the origin of the "up" direction.

2. The planets. Each planet is flat on one side and peaked on the other, giving the planets the appearance of an unspeakably massive mountain that has been cut in half and turned on its side. The flat sides of the planets face towards Filia and are the location of the majority of the solar systems life. The pointed ends point directly away Filia, towards the outer end of the solar system. None of the planets rotate or orbit, instead remaining still in the air. Each planet is held in place by the competing forces of being attracted to Filia and repulsed by it; the flat sides are attracted and the pointed ends are repulsed. This is why they all point the way they do. There are 12 planets, each one further away from Filia in a slow spiral starting with Unum.
The planets of Sky Worlds are not truly flat; their "flat sides" are shaped like bowls, with a water covered low point in the center and cliffs rising around the rim. Because of this much of the water is retained year after year, though some of it rains off of the side and more of it evaporates and steams away.

3. The Air. The air of Sky Worlds is universal; it fills the entire space of the universe, with no difference in atmosphere from one planet to another. As such travel by flying animals from one world to another is simple, though few animals have the stamina to survive such a migration. Those that do are generally extremely large.

4. The Outer Rim. The further one gets from Filia the colder the Air gets, with the result that eventually it becomes unsurvivable. However the Outer Rim is also the objective direction of "Down" in Sky Worlds, so traveling to it is as simple as leaping off of a planet. The furthest someone has gone and come back is twice the distance between the furthest planet and Filia, from this distance it is possible to make out the next closest star and its planets, though they are 50 times as far from Filia as its closest planet. Traveling there is impossible at the moment.

5. Dragons and Dragon Whales. For more then ten thousand years it was only possible for one sentient life form to travel between planets, Dragons. In recent times however the breeding of Half-dragon Whales has created a mount that is capable of making the draining journey between planets with a rider. These Whagons are the heart of the new trade, and wars, that have spread across the solar system. The fact that humans, living on Unum where whales are native, have been able to corner the market on trade has so far been uncontested, and other planets make deals with them to transport troops to other planets for conquests. Lesser Whagons, particularly the Orca variety, have been acquired by other planets, but Unum has managed to retain sole ownership of the great Baleen and Cachalot Whagons. They also make tremendous offerings to local dragons to keep their breeding program viable, of course.
~The reason these particular creatures can make the distance when most can't is that you can fly for up to ten days per con point; this means that a huge Dragon or Whagon can fly for around 200 days without rest, while needing lots of it afterwords. They can also carry a great deal with them over that journey, while other flying creatures couldn't make it and would plummet into the unknown.

6. The Ice Ring. Water eventually drains off of the surfaces of the planets and falls into the Outer Edge. Because the air is so cold in the Outer Edge the water freezes into flows of ice that make massive rings around the solar system. According to legend it was through ice that the Dragons originally arrived in the Filian star system, with one being asleep on top of an ice flow that became attracted to Filia. The mother of dragons avoiding being burned alive by the sun, and gave birth to the 10 races of dragons.

7. Seasons.
Winter (Heat): Caliga draws heat from the air at a high rate; it takes a while for the air to chill down but once the air starts getting cold the nights become freezing, while the days are reduced to warm to chilly. The air tends to get thinner during this season and it is the most difficult to travel in.
Spring (Water): Caliga pulls free floating ice from the outer rim towards it; Caliga no longer draws in heat from the air, but it also does not produce any. Thus the air gets slowly warmer and a band of steam builds around Filia.
Summer (Earth): Caliga releases the water and begins to draw in the planets, which causes the water (now repulsed) to splash against the planets. This season tends to be both very hot due to the closeness of the planets to Filia and very wet.
Fall (Air): Caliga releases its pull on the planets and begins to attract air. The temperature is roughly even with summers, as the planets are no longer out of their normal positions but the air has heated up to its maximum point before it cools again. Fall is a dry, generally hot season where air travel is easiest.

Lumen's influence remains constant during all seasons; it neither dims nor brightens but continues to put out the same level of heat. During winter some of this heat is directly drained by Caliga, and its effects are cushioned by Caliga's chilling of the air.

EDIT: The reason I posted this is I am drawing a blank on what kinds of planets I should have; should they be mono-geographic (Dune/waterworld) or should they be more "normal" and just have different fauna/flora?

[Tvtyrant]

Reserved for Planets.

[Tvtyrant]

Reserved for Races, Whagons, and Dragons.

Unicorn Whagon:
The Unicorn Whagon: The Unicorn Whagon is perhaps the most beautiful of the Half-dragons, A Silver Dragon bred with a Narwal. The Unicorn Whagon is used exclusively as a human war mount, and is most often found as the mount of a Paladin.

They are Huge, with a fly speed of 60 and a swim of 80. They have a strength of 38, an Int of 3, a Dex of 9, a Wisdom of 12, a Con of 27, and a Charisma of 12. They get 3 natural attacks, a 2d6 gore attack and two 1d6 wing slaps, and it has the Powerful Charge feat, increasing its Gore attack to 4d8+Str 1.5 on a charge. A Unicorn Whagon has a base of 15D12 HD.

Leviathan:
The Leviathan is a single Whagon that was born of a Gold Great Wyrm and the largest Cachalot whale. It bows to no one, and travels from planet to planet devouring cities. The Leviathan is beyond powerful, and few life forms dare to stand against it.

The Leviathan is a colossal creature, with 20D12 HD. It has a Fly speed of 120, and a Swim of 240. It has a 50 in Str, an Int of 3, a Wisdom of 14, a Con of 30, a Dex of 14, and a charisma of 14. It has 5 natural attacks, a 4d8 Bite, two 4d6 Wing Slaps, a 3d10 Tail attack, and a 5d10 Crush attack that it can only use as a full round action and only against Huge or smaller creatures, but which pins them if it hits. The Leviathan has the Swallow Whole ability, and can swallow a creature of Huge or smaller on a successful grapple (Grapple of +50). It has the feats: Alertness, Diehard, Endurance, Multiattack, Improved Natural Attack, and Power Attack.

[Tvtyrant]

Reserved for governments, religions, organizations, and cosmology.

Raid Charters: The cost of transporting troops between worlds is massive; an Orca can carry a total of 4,000 pounds, but there isn't room for more then ten humans and their food supply on its back. The largest fleet of Orcas outside of human hands has 20 Orcas, a number large enough to move 200 people in a single operation. In order to best utilize this capacity raids are carried out by mid-high level troops or "Charterers" who pay the Charter money to come along and kill members of other species and get a share of the booty. The Raid Charters exist on all of the planets, and usually maintain around 3-5 Orcas each. Their raids and deprivations bring gold back to the charter, but it is almost exclusively used to buy luxury goods. These goods are frequently imported by human merchants for this exact exchange, and they make good money on it. Other human merchants loan money to the destroyed settlements that a raid leaves behind, gaining a profit on both ends.

[Tvtyrant]

Class Section

Class philosophy: Sky Worlds has no "gods" as are known in D&D, and as such no "Divine" magic. Instead magic in Sky World makes no division between Divine and Arcane, but does make divisions between different "schools" of magic, and the psuedo-divine magic of the cults.

Conjurer Spell List
0
• Acid Splash: Orb deals 1d3 acid damage.
• Create Water: Creates 2 gallons/level of pure water.

1
• Grease: Makes 10-ft. square or one object slippery.
• Mage Armor: Gives subject +4 armor bonus.
• Mount: Summons riding horse for 2 hours/level.
• Obscuring Mist: Fog surrounds you.
• Unseen Servant: Invisible force obeys your commands.
• Summon Nature’s Ally I: Calls creature to fight.
2
• Acid Arrow: Ranged touch attack; 2d4 damage for 1 round +1 round/three levels.
• Fog Cloud: Fog obscures vision.
• Glitterdust: Blinds creatures, outlines invisible creatures.
• Summon Swarm: Summons swarm of bats, rats, or spiders.
• Web: Fills 20-ft.-radius spread with sticky spiderwebs.
• Summon Nature’s Ally II: Calls creature to fight.
3
• Phantom Steed: Magic horse appears for 1 hour/level.
• Sepia Snake Sigil M: Creates text symbol that immobilizes reader.
• Sleet Storm: Hampers vision and movement.
• Stinking Cloud: Nauseating vapors, 1 round/level.
• Create Food and Water: Feeds three humans (or one horse)/level.
• Summon Nature’s Ally III: Calls creature to fight.
4
• Black Tentacles: Tentacles grapple all within 20 ft. spread.
• Dimension Door: Teleports you short distance.
• Minor Creation: Creates one cloth or wood object.
• Secure Shelter: Creates sturdy cottage.
• Solid Fog: Blocks vision and slows movement.
• Summon Nature’s Ally IV: Calls creature to fight.
5
• Cloudkill: Kills 3 HD or less; 4-6 HD save or die, 6+ HD take Con damage.
• Mage’s Faithful Hound: Phantom dog can guard, attack.
• Major Creation: As minor creation, plus stone and metal.
• Teleport: Instantly transports you as far as 100 miles/level.
• Wall of Stone: Creates a stone wall that can be shaped.
• Wall of Thorns: Thorns damage anyone who tries to pass.
• Insect Plague: Locust swarms attack creatures.
• Summon Nature’s Ally V: Calls creature to fight.
6
• Acid Fog: Fog deals acid damage.
• Planar Binding: As lesser planar binding, but up to 12 HD.
• Wall of Iron M: 30 hp/four levels; can topple onto foes.
• Heroes’ Feast: Food for one creature/level cures and grants combat bonuses.
• Planar Ally X: As lesser planar ally, but up to 12 HD.
• Word of Recall: Teleports you back to designated place.
• Fire Seeds: Acorns and berries become grenades and bombs.
• Summon Nature’s Ally VI: Calls creature to fight.
7
• Instant Summons M: Prepared object appears in your hand.
• Mage’s Magnificent Mansion F: Door leads to extradimensional mansion.
• Phase Door: Creates an invisible passage through wood or stone.
• Summon Nature’s Ally VII: Calls creature to fight.
8
• Incendiary Cloud: Cloud deals 4d6 fire damage/round.
• Maze: Traps subject in extradimensional maze.
• Trap the Soul M F: Imprisons subject within gem.
• Summon Nature’s Ally VIII: Calls creature to fight.
9
• Summon Nature’s Ally IX: Calls creature to fight.
• Shambler: Summons 1d4+2 shambling mounds to fight for you.
• Elemental Swarm: Summons multiple elementals.
• Storm of Vengeance: Storm rains acid, lightning, and hail.



Transmuter Spell List

• Mage Hand: 5-pound telekinesis.
• Mending: Makes minor repairs on an object.
• Message: Whispered conversation at distance.
• Open/Close: Opens or closes small or light things.
• Virtue: Subject gains 1 temporary hp.

1
• Animate Rope: Makes a rope move at your command.
• Enlarge Person: Humanoid creature doubles in size.
• Erase: Mundane or magical writing vanishes.
• Expeditious Retreat: Your speed increases by 30 ft.
• Feather Fall: Objects or creatures fall slowly.
• Jump: Subject gets bonus on Jump checks.
• Magic Weapon: Weapon gains +1 bonus.
• Reduce Person: Humanoid creature halves in size.
• Magic Stone: Three stones gain +1 on attack, deal 1d6 +1 damage.
• Entangle: Plants entangle everyone in 40-ft.-radius.
• Goodberry: 2d4 berries each cure 1 hp (max 8 hp/24 hours).
• Longstrider: Your speed increases by 10 ft.
• Magic Fang: One natural weapon of subject creature gets +1 on attack and damage rolls.
• Pass without Trace: One subject/level leaves no tracks.
• Shillelagh: Cudgel or quarterstaff becomes +1 weapon and deals damage as if two sizes larger.
•

2
• Alter Self: Assume form of a similar creature.
• Bear’s Endurance: Subject gains +4 to Con for 1 min./level.
• Bull’s Strength: Subject gains +4 to Str for 1 min./level.
• Cat’s Grace: Subject gains +4 to Dex for 1 min./level.
• Darkvision: See 60 ft. in total darkness.
• Eagle’s Splendor: Subject gains +4 to Cha for 1 min./level.
• Fox’s Cunning: Subject gains +4 Int for 1 min./level.
• Knock: Opens locked or magically sealed door.
• Levitate: Subject moves up and down at your direction.
• Owl’s Wisdom: Subject gains +4 to Wis for 1 min./level.
• Pyrotechnics: Turns fire into blinding light or choking smoke.
• Rope Trick: As many as eight creatures hide in extradimensional space.
• Spider Climb: Grants ability to walk on walls and ceilings.
• Whispering Wind: Sends a short message 1 mile/level.
• Magic Vestment: Armor or shield gains +1 enhancement per four levels.
• Meld into Stone: You and your gear merge with stone.
• Stone Shape: Sculpts stone into any shape.
• Chill Metal: Cold metal damages those who touch it.
• Barkskin: Grants +2 (or higher) enhancement to natural armor.
• Heat Metal: Make metal so hot it damages those who touch it.
• Reduce Animal: Shrinks one willing animal.
• Soften Earth and Stone: Turns stone to clay or dirt to sand or mud.
• Spider Climb: Grants ability to walk on walls and ceilings.
• Tree Shape: You look exactly like a tree for 1 hour/level.
• Warp Wood: Bends wood (shaft, handle, door, plank).
• Wood Shape: Rearranges wooden objects to suit you.
• Water Breathing: Subjects can breathe underwater.
• Water Walk: Subject treads on water as if solid.

3
• Blink: You randomly vanish and reappear for 1 round/level.
• Flame Arrow: Arrows deal +1d6 fire damage.
• Fly: Subject flies at speed of 60 ft.
• Gaseous Form: Subject becomes insubstantial and can fly slowly.
• Haste: One creature/level moves faster, +1 on attack rolls, AC, and Reflex saves.
• Keen Edge: Doubles normal weapon’s threat range.
• Magic Weapon, Greater: +1/four levels (max +5).
• Secret Page: Changes one page to hide its real content.
• Shrink Item: Object shrinks to one-sixteenth size.
• Slow: One subject/level takes only one action/round, -1 to AC, reflex saves, and attack rolls.
• Water Breathing: Subjects can breathe underwater.
• Air Walk: Subject treads on air as if solid (climb at 45-degree angle).
• Control Water: Raises or lowers bodies of water.
• Giant Vermin: Turns centipedes, scorpions, or spiders into giant vermin.
• Magic Weapon, Greater: +1 bonus/four levels (max +5).
• Diminish Plants: Reduces size or blights growth of normal plants.
• Meld into Stone: You and your gear merge with stone.
• Quench: Extinguishes nonmagical fires or one magic item.
• Snare: Creates a magic booby trap.
• Spike Growth: Creatures in area take 1d4 damage, may be slowed.

4
• Enlarge Person, Mass: Enlarges several creatures.
• Mnemonic Enhancer F: Wizard only. Prepares extra spells or retains one just cast.
• Polymorph: Gives one willing subject a new form.
• Reduce Person, Mass: Reduces several creatures.
• Stone Shape: Sculpts stone into any shape.
• Disrupting Weapon: Melee weapon destroys undead.
• Righteous Might: Your size increases, and you gain combat bonuses.
• Command Plants: Sway the actions of one or more plant creatures.
• Control Water: Raises or lowers bodies of water.
• Reincarnate: Brings dead subject back in a random body.
• Rusting Grasp: Your touch corrodes iron and alloys.
• Spike Stones: Creatures in area take 1d8 damage, may be slowed.
•

5
• Animal Growth: One animal/two levels doubles in size.
• Baleful Polymorph: Transforms subject into harmless animal.
• Fabricate: Transforms raw materials into finished items.
• Overland Flight: You fly at a speed of 40 ft. and can hustle over long distances.
• Passwall: Creates passage through wood or stone wall.
• Telekinesis: Moves object, attacks creature, or hurls object or creature.
• Transmute Mud to Rock: Transforms two 10-ft. cubes per level.
• Transmute Rock to Mud: Transforms two 10-ft. cubes per level.
• Animate Objects: Objects attack your foes.
• Animal Growth: One animal/two levels doubles in size.
• Awaken X: Animal or tree gains human intellect.
• Stoneskin M: Ignore 10 points of damage per attack.
•

6
• Bear’s Endurance, Mass: As bear’s endurance, affects one subject/level.
• Bull’s Strength, Mass: As bull’s strength, affects one subject/ level.
• Cat’s Grace, Mass: As cat’s grace, affects one subject/level.
• Control Water: Raises or lowers bodies of water.
• Disintegrate: Makes one creature or object vanish.
• Eagle’s Splendor, Mass: As eagle’s splendor, affects one subject/level.
• Flesh to Stone: Turns subject creature into statue.
• Fox’s Cunning, Mass: As fox’s cunning, affects one subject/ level.
• Mage’s Lucubration: Wizard only. Recalls spell of 5th level or lower.
• Move Earth: Digs trenches and build hills.
• Owl’s Wisdom, Mass: As owl’s wisdom, affects one subject/ level.
• Stone to Flesh: Restores petrified creature.
• Transformation M: You gain combat bonuses.
• Wind Walk: You and your allies turn vaporous and travel fast.
• Ironwood: Magic wood is strong as steel.
• Liveoak: Oak becomes treant guardian.
• Move Earth: Digs trenches and builds hills.
• Repel Wood: Pushes away wooden objects.
• Spellstaff: Stores one spell in wooden quarterstaff.
•

7
• Control Weather: Changes weather in local area.
• Ethereal Jaunt: You become ethereal for 1 round/level.
• Reverse Gravity: Objects and creatures fall upward.
• Statue: Subject can become a statue at will.
• Ethereal Jaunt: You become ethereal for 1 round/level.
• Animate Plants: One or more plants animate and fight for you.
• Changestaff: Your staff becomes a treant on command.
• Transmute Metal to Wood: Metal within 40 ft. becomes wood.
•


8
• Iron Body: Your body becomes living iron.
• Polymorph Any Object: Changes any subject into anything else.
• Temporal Stasis M: Puts subject into suspended animation.
• Animal Shapes: One ally/level polymorphs into chosen animal.
• Control Plants: Control actions of one or more plant creatures.
•


9
• Etherealness: Travel to Ethereal Plane with companions.
• Shapechange F: Transforms you into any creature, and change forms once per round.
• Time Stop: You act freely for 1d4+1 rounds.

[Robert Blackletter]

Sounds really cool, first on mono-geographic vs normal , I say a combination of the two, with a few Largely mono-geographic (the closest/ most far away planets)

Have a green belt area similar to the habitable zone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitable_zone) around stars where you get more normal worlds.

Second is there gravity that would allow you to walk on the under side of planets or will you fall off? If there gravity may I suggest the nearest planet to the star inhabitants live there possible using a system of mirrors to farm crops live on the underside only venturing in the desert for a valuable substance that only grow(?) theres.

Will there be other methods of traveling between planets, for example will dwarf and Gnomes develop a mechanical shuttle? this would be a great source of a war between to empire with the humans having supiour flight at the moment but other races quickly catching up. Hell it could be a common mission for adventure is to sabotage the flight experiments of other races.

hope this help

[Tvtyrant]

Sounds really cool, first on mono-geographic vs normal , I say a combination of the two, with a few Largely mono-geographic (the closest/ most far away planets)

Have a green belt area similar to the habitable zone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitable_zone) around stars where you get more normal worlds.

Second is there gravity that would allow you to walk on the under side of planets or will you fall off? If there gravity may I suggest the nearest planet to the star inhabitants live there possible using a system of mirrors to farm crops live on the underside only venturing in the desert for a valuable substance that only grow(?) theres.

Will there be other methods of traveling between planets, for example will dwarf and Gnomes develop a mechanical shuttle? this would be a great source of a war between to empire with the humans having supiour flight at the moment but other races quickly catching up. Hell it could be a common mission for adventure is to sabotage the flight experiments of other races.

hope this help
About travel in general:
I think one of the big hooks for adventure in the early period is how difficult inter-planetary travel is. I have to update the travel distances and times, but it takes around 20 days to fly between two planets that are next to each other. Which doesn't seem very far, but it means you need something that can carry a large load for 20 days without resting at all. One of the homebrew rules is that a flying creature can fly for a number of days equal to their Con score; hence why the high Con whales and Dragons can travel but a sparrow can't (normally). So an Orca Whagon can fly for the 20 days (it actually gets there in 17, but it can travel for 20) and a Baleen Whagon can fly for around 24 days, but it also can carry a much larger load.

And all of the planets own their own Orcas, they just lack the water area to raise the goods transporters. So wars are mostly fought by small numbers of high level attackers against large numbers of low level defenders. One of the major organization units on most planets is Raiding Guilds which launch attacks on nearby nations viking style. The humans don't want anything to change, as all of the stolen gold goes to buying their shipping goods.

On Gravity:
Sky World does not have what we call "gravity." Instead the forces at play are more like magnetism; somethings pull on you and somethings push. In this case however the "push" of Filia is stronger then anything else, and so if you were to step off of the edge of a planet you would fly towards the outer edge of the solar system. The repelling force of Filia gets weaker with distance however, and you would essentially stop "falling" around 10,000 miles from the back of your planet. The end result is starvation.

The undersides of the planets are very important for their own reason: this is where the Dragons live. Dragons are extremely numerous in Sky Worlds, with a population of about 100,000 in the solar system as a whole. Dragons live an odd sort of life style though; they spend upwards of 95% of their ten thousand span life time asleep, waking up to eat every few years and going back to sleep. They dig massive caves in the back portions of the planets to sleep in, and if they were disturbed that planet could be destroyed. Dragon hunters do exist, but they tend to hunt "criminal" dragons that are despised by the other dragons. Considering that there are some 8,000 dragons on each planet, this means a hundred or so are hated at any one point by the others.

[Aetholus]

Sounds kinda like "Scar Night". It's a book. Although it wasn't full sized planets. It was floating mountains, like yours, but basically flying over a planet no one really knew even existed. I'll definitely keep checking out on this. Let me know if you want/need any help! Sounds awesome!

[tsuuga]

Well, now I'm curious as to why nobody's mounted an expedition to the next star system- if "gravity" becomes negligible compared to air resistance that close to the worlds, what's stopping someone from tying a year's provisions to a dragon-whale? You need to keep flying continuously to make it form world to world, but with no gravity between systems, you can bring as much provisions as you can tie together and stop for a rest whenever you want.

It seems to me that your worlds would have at least two biomes. Heat from the sun is absorbed by the land, which then is transferred to the air causing it to rise. New, colder air rushes in over the edges of the world, causing a constant, probably severe wind towards the center of the planet. On temperate planets, this probably results in a ring of storms somewhere near the edge of the world, and a still-aired desert in the center.

Incidentally, where does the water come from, and where does it go? Water will be lost in clouds, or over the edge of worlds, and probably collect around where gravity gives out, forming a barrier or mist or a sort of giant bubble-ocean, either of which would reflect some light back and provide a twilight illumination to the undersides of worlds.

If stars are visible at all, they'll be visible during the day (except maybe around the horizon), and if other stars are like Filia, they'll oscillate from bright to dim on their own cycles, except for a few which are perfectly aligned and thus appear either constant or blink on and off. That kind of thing would probably have significance in timekeeping, folk superstitions, and religion.

[Fable Wright]

For intra-planetary transportation, what about undead? They can go indefinitely without food or water, and are immune to fatigue. They can fly at full speed without rest for the entire distance. Why don't, say, Zombie Whagons/Wyverns/Flying creatures carry people from world to world, when it costs less overall than a Whagon and their feeding cost, and they can be privately made and bought. How do they factor into the world?

[shawnhcorey]

You should try reading The Integral Trees (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/The_Integral_Trees) and The Smoke Ring (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/The_Smoke_Ring_%28novel%29) by Larry Niven. They're about life in a ring of air trapped by by a gas giant. If you ever wondered what the Plane of Air might look like, this is a very good description.

[Tvtyrant]

For intra-planetary transportation, what about undead? They can go indefinitely without food or water, and are immune to fatigue. They can fly at full speed without rest for the entire distance. Why don't, say, Zombie Whagons/Wyverns/Flying creatures carry people from world to world, when it costs less overall than a Whagon and their feeding cost, and they can be privately made and bought. How do they factor into the world?

In short because I didn't think of that :P Eventually their wings would rot away, but I think the idea is a good one. Hmmmm.


Well, now I'm curious as to why nobody's mounted an expedition to the next star system- if "gravity" becomes negligible compared to air resistance that close to the worlds, what's stopping someone from tying a year's provisions to a dragon-whale? You need to keep flying continuously to make it form world to world, but with no gravity between systems, you can bring as much provisions as you can tie together and stop for a rest whenever you want.


That is true, but then you have to fly straight "up" to actually enter the other solar system. The distance you would have to travel "up" exceeds any living creatures constitution; if you stopped while within the "gravity" of a star it would push the creatures back to the edge, so its essentially impossible with living things. DMofDarkness' point about zombie mounts invalidates that problem, so I will have to think on it. It is also freakishly cold between solar systems, so the riders might have to be zombies as well.



It seems to me that your worlds would have at least two biomes. Heat from the sun is absorbed by the land, which then is transferred to the air causing it to rise. New, colder air rushes in over the edges of the world, causing a constant, probably severe wind towards the center of the planet. On temperate planets, this probably results in a ring of storms somewhere near the edge of the world, and a still-aired desert in the center.


I like the idea of a constant storm around the edge of each planet, and as such will steal it from you :P The center avoids being a desert because the planets are slightly bowl shaped, with the lowest point in the middle. Most of the planets actually look like the Mediterranean, with a "sea" in the middle and the land on the edges. The very edge of most planets actually become first upward thrusting cliffs before they fall away towards the back point. So the cliffs are extremely windy and stormy, making them hard to get to/cross.



Incidentally, where does the water come from, and where does it go? Water will be lost in clouds, or over the edge of worlds, and probably collect around where gravity gives out, forming a barrier or mist or a sort of giant bubble-ocean, either of which would reflect some light back and provide a twilight illumination to the undersides of worlds.


Well it mostly becomes a giant ring of ice around the outside of the system, which chunks of which "fall up" and collide with Filia, creating giant rain steam/rain showers that keep the planets wet. The steam cools by the time it hits the planet into a giant cloud that precipitates and some of which gets caught in the planets bowl. The "falling up" is caused by the ice becoming "attracted" to filia in the same way the planets are. I'm trying to come up with a way for this to work, but essentially water falls away because it is "repulsive" and switches to "attractive" when it has become ice for a long period of time. This is also how life forms (Dragons) have traditionally moved between solar systems; by waiting on ice flows between systems for them to become "attracted" to a different star.



If stars are visible at all, they'll be visible during the day (except maybe around the horizon), and if other stars are like Filia, they'll oscillate from bright to dim on their own cycles, except for a few which are perfectly aligned and thus appear either constant or blink on and off. That kind of thing would probably have significance in timekeeping, folk superstitions, and religion.
The stars are part of a cult system; there are 10 major religions on the planets around Filia, 1 for each of the three aspects of Filia itself (Lumen, Caliga, Filia) and 1 for each of the schools of magic. There are also the "star cults" who worship various stars and use them to mark off time in the "heretics year." There more stars then that, but the ice between them obscures the rest most of the time, where as the 1,000 are visible almost all of the time. This has the effect of making the Caliga sky a sort of dim electric blue and white from the stars shining on the ice flows.


EDIT: I appreciate all of the comments! My answers might not currently match the text, but I will make changes as different problems arise (Like now I have to figure out how to prevent undead from taking over the universe :smalleek:)

[Re'ozul]

You could make the concept, that mass is not something uniformly subject to the forces that govern the system.
Lets say something with more mass subject to a higher rate of attraction to the star.
That way, huge whales would have an easier time getting back "up" the planet chain. and harder to go "down".
However, on the way "down" the flight would cause them to lose mass (fat burned, excrement (another problem with the flight thing)) making it easier or a constant effort.
You could enable a life-cycle for bred whagons that entails young ones being used to go "down" (when they are still small and its easier for them) and then towards their end going back "up" when THAT is easier for them. This would also explain the planets somewhat.
The bigger the planet, the closer to the star is the point of equivalence between repulsion and attraction, making each planet "down" the line slightly smaller.
Water that falls, would be subject to normal "gravity" due to being fluid (most beings would as well as we are small and squishy), then freeze somewhere "down" the line. Miniscule amounts of heat would slowly result in the cloud of micro-ice coalescing into bigger chunks that would (due to higher equilibrium) "float upwards". However, depending on what you set the freezing point to, it wouldn't get far.
Another way would be to create a "ring of ice" that formed of the millenia and is so increadible huge that even small chunks that sometimes break of due to pressure (the entire ring is being attracted by the star and only holds due to innate structure) have enough sudden momentum to fly up to the star and become water again. Anyway there probably would be mostly sudden showers in this kind of world.

[tsuuga]

It is also freakishly cold between solar systems, so the riders might have to be zombies as well.

[...]

(Like now I have to figure out how to prevent undead from taking over the universe :smalleek:)
Well... if it's freakishly cold between systems, zombies might just freeze solid - and of course you can't use skeletal mounts, since skeletal wings don't really work =P.

Or perhaps the undead are "powered" somehow by Caliga? "Sure, you can take that zombie dragon over the edge. If you don't mind falling for 15 hours straight every day."


Well it mostly becomes a giant ring of ice around the outside of the system, which chunks of which "fall up" and collide with Filia, creating giant rain steam/rain showers that keep the planets wet. The steam cools by the time it hits the planet into a giant cloud that precipitates and some of which gets caught in the planets bowl. The "falling up" is caused by the ice becoming "attracted" to filia in the same way the planets are. I'm trying to come up with a way for this to work, but essentially water falls away because it is "repulsive" and switches to "attractive" when it has become ice for a long period of time. This is also how life forms (Dragons) have traditionally moved between solar systems; by waiting on ice flows between systems for them to become "attracted" to a different star.
Hmmm... What if Filia goes through four elemental phases in sequence?
Fire(Winter): Heat is drawn to the sun, causing the star to emit less heat, and heated air to leave the worlds more quickly. As the air rises faster, it increases the winds at the edge, causing stormier weather, and the edge-storms to move farther inland.
Water(Spring): Water is drawn to the sun, causing ice chunks to drift inward from the ring. The inner system fills with water vapor as the ice melts and then evaporates.
Earth(Summer): The worlds are drawn in closer to the sun, increasing temperatures, and also drawing the worlds into the cloud of water vapor that is now dispersing back outwards
Air(Fall): Air is drawn to the sun, increasing the air density in the solar system. Because increased air density makes flying easier, this is the best season for interplanetary travel.

Edit: Oh, and I was bored, so I made a stupid little map (http://ghb0fw.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pcQRvHDgrxFH_VIBz0JxLBp6eW9A1D70DUfTrgOyCa4RL9Lu DQil8W1UiL8Y1uV6_lZHM35BxgFDG-n3oXmdwFxlMgZgOMfZo/Untitled-1.jpg?psid=1).

[Tvtyrant]

That map is amazing! I have one I drew on paper from the point of view of the futhest planet, but its hard to tell what is going on in it. I also really like the seasonal system for the planets. One of the ones that would be interesting with that would be the level of rainfall; the closest planets are extremely tropical in Summer due to all of the water vapor and are almost rainforesty, while the furthest planets get temperate rains in summer. Fall would actually be dry heat due to the condensed air; so while flying is easier this could be the drought season.

So here is the seasons as I think they would be:

Winter (Heat): Caliga draws heat from the air at a high rate; it takes a while for the air to chill down but once the air starts getting cold the nights become freezing, while the days are reduced to warm to chilly. The air tends to get thinner during this season and it is the most difficult to travel in.

Spring (Water): Caliga pulls free floating ice from the outer rim towards it; Caliga no longer draws in heat from the air, but it also does not produce any. Thus the air gets slowly warmer and a band of steam builds around Filia.

Summer (Earth): Caliga releases the water and begins to draw in the planets, which causes the water (now repulsed) to splash against the planets. This season tends to be both very hot due to the closeness of the planets to Filia and very wet.

Fall (Air): Caliga releases its pull on the planets and begins to attract air. The temperature is roughly even with summers, as the planets are no longer out of their normal positions but the air has heated up to its maximum point before it cools again. Fall is a dry, generally hot season where air travel is easiest.



Lumen's influence remains constant during all seasons; it neither dims nor brightens but continues to put out the same level of heat. During winter some of this heat is directly drained by Caliga, and its effects are cushioned by Caliga's chilling of the air.