MaxiDuRaritry
2019-10-18, 12:22 PM
This is for a 3.5 campaign, so I'm posting it here, even though the effects aren't specifically 3.5-related. I just have no idea where else to post it.
So, I have an Earth-like planet in size and general shape, but in the Northern hemisphere, approximately at the same latitude of the southern edge of Arizona (which is 31° 20' N) there is a mountain range so high that it juts entirely out of the atmosphere, meaning that without teleportation or the abilities to avoid the need to breathe and to fly without air, it's impossible to cross. There's a core of molten iron surrounded by a shell of solidified iron, with layers of granite surrounding the core. This mountain range averages about 200 miles wide and runs East and West across the length of a continent approximately the size of North America, out into the sea on either side. In the center of the range at about the same altitude as the plains to either side (about half a mile above sea level, on average) is a mountain valley averaging about 50 miles wide that splits the range in two. There are lots of hills and dales throughout, some of which are quite steep and high (and low). It runs very nearly the entire length of the range, with the sheer walls of the mountains towering straight up, all the way out of the atmosphere. It's wide enough to get a reasonable amount of sunshine throughout the year (I think; correct me if I'm wrong), and there's enough water pooling in lakes and rivers that the valley has its own weather patterns, with clouds and rain, but the area is still a little arid in most places. Imagine it has about the same amount of water as the Great Plains of the midwestern US, with a few smaller areas with significantly more water that gets cycled around a bit but tends to pool in the lower areas. The granite walls themselves are surprisingly smooth, obviously artificial, and breaks in the walls are very rare. A single narrow path runs through the mountains to the North, and the continuation runs through the mountains to the South, though they are very well-hidden, and almost no-one knows about them.
The mountains are covered in a huge dead magic area that extends well past them and into the surrounding plains, and the ground is riddled with oubliettes imprisoning innumerable horrors of yore, such as a massive shoggoth/chaos beast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJXWNV2wGu4), the tarrasque, ancient fiendish dragons, at least one elder evil (which the prison was originally built to contain), and other epic monsters of apocalyptic power.
Now, what would this place be like, weather-wise? How would it affect the weather world-wide? How about other astral phenomena? Could you see the sun, moon, and stars? Would it be covered in constant fog at night and during the winter? How about wind? How would you describe your surroundings if you were standing in the middle of it all? I'm not really big on astrological knowledge, so some ideas how such things would be affected would be nice to know.
[edit] Later posts that contain (apparently) important info:
Technically, the entirety of Earth's atmosphere is about 300 miles thick, but the vast majority of the atmosphere is within 10 miles of the Earth's surface; everything above that might as well not even be there for this purpose, because it's so thin. I would say that the mountains are about 40-50 miles tall, depending on exactly where in the mountains you are (or less, if we need them to be). And they are artificial; they were engineered to absorb all of the magic within a vast radius, and use that magic to imprison the aforementioned Elder Evil.
As for the ability to stand so tall without collapsing, once again, they are artificial, were constructed, and have a core of iron filled with molten iron.
The mountain range was created eons ago. They're ancient. And the solar system is geocentric, rather than solar-centric. The moon and sun move around the planet, not vice versa, so planetary wobbling isn't an issue, although the sun and moon in specific do affect the world in similar ways (such as tides and, to an extent, a global jet-stream, for two examples). From standing on the world itself, the differences aren't too noticeable in the short-term, although extremely long-term things would develop somewhat differently, I think.
The universe this takes place in is a massive demiplane, such as one created by a repeating trap of genesis hundreds or thousands of millennia past, if it matters. So not everything will be the same, although I definitely like the logical ramifications being brought up in the thread. It's good to think about these things.
Just because certain astrological bodies orbit the planet, that doesn't mean that the planet itself doesn't spin, or that the sun and moon aren't still very large and don't have significant pull on the planet.
I did mention (multiple times) that it's to imprison an Elder Evil (and is being used as a prison for a lot of other stuff, too). The height is to add to the inaccessibility of the ancient city at the top (among other issues, such as the dead magic zone), which is both covered in runes and is a giant rune itself, holding the prison together, far below. The city spans the entire length of the mountain range; it's huge. And very, very alien, in a Cthulu Mythos kind of way. Whatever built it was not even remotely human. It's creepy as hell to anything familiar with normal architecture.
As far as the weathering granite goes, it doesn't weather like it should. That's fairly obvious if you take some time to look at the inner walls, especially. It's been magically hardened (instantaneous Conjurations, so it works in a dead magic zone) against damage to prevent the escape of the monstrous presence it's imprisoning. Otherwise, as you said, the rock would weather away and the prison would collapse.
The compass thing is a good point, though. I wonder what the melting point of adamantine is, and if it's magnetic...
So, I have an Earth-like planet in size and general shape, but in the Northern hemisphere, approximately at the same latitude of the southern edge of Arizona (which is 31° 20' N) there is a mountain range so high that it juts entirely out of the atmosphere, meaning that without teleportation or the abilities to avoid the need to breathe and to fly without air, it's impossible to cross. There's a core of molten iron surrounded by a shell of solidified iron, with layers of granite surrounding the core. This mountain range averages about 200 miles wide and runs East and West across the length of a continent approximately the size of North America, out into the sea on either side. In the center of the range at about the same altitude as the plains to either side (about half a mile above sea level, on average) is a mountain valley averaging about 50 miles wide that splits the range in two. There are lots of hills and dales throughout, some of which are quite steep and high (and low). It runs very nearly the entire length of the range, with the sheer walls of the mountains towering straight up, all the way out of the atmosphere. It's wide enough to get a reasonable amount of sunshine throughout the year (I think; correct me if I'm wrong), and there's enough water pooling in lakes and rivers that the valley has its own weather patterns, with clouds and rain, but the area is still a little arid in most places. Imagine it has about the same amount of water as the Great Plains of the midwestern US, with a few smaller areas with significantly more water that gets cycled around a bit but tends to pool in the lower areas. The granite walls themselves are surprisingly smooth, obviously artificial, and breaks in the walls are very rare. A single narrow path runs through the mountains to the North, and the continuation runs through the mountains to the South, though they are very well-hidden, and almost no-one knows about them.
The mountains are covered in a huge dead magic area that extends well past them and into the surrounding plains, and the ground is riddled with oubliettes imprisoning innumerable horrors of yore, such as a massive shoggoth/chaos beast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJXWNV2wGu4), the tarrasque, ancient fiendish dragons, at least one elder evil (which the prison was originally built to contain), and other epic monsters of apocalyptic power.
Now, what would this place be like, weather-wise? How would it affect the weather world-wide? How about other astral phenomena? Could you see the sun, moon, and stars? Would it be covered in constant fog at night and during the winter? How about wind? How would you describe your surroundings if you were standing in the middle of it all? I'm not really big on astrological knowledge, so some ideas how such things would be affected would be nice to know.
[edit] Later posts that contain (apparently) important info:
Technically, the entirety of Earth's atmosphere is about 300 miles thick, but the vast majority of the atmosphere is within 10 miles of the Earth's surface; everything above that might as well not even be there for this purpose, because it's so thin. I would say that the mountains are about 40-50 miles tall, depending on exactly where in the mountains you are (or less, if we need them to be). And they are artificial; they were engineered to absorb all of the magic within a vast radius, and use that magic to imprison the aforementioned Elder Evil.
As for the ability to stand so tall without collapsing, once again, they are artificial, were constructed, and have a core of iron filled with molten iron.
The mountain range was created eons ago. They're ancient. And the solar system is geocentric, rather than solar-centric. The moon and sun move around the planet, not vice versa, so planetary wobbling isn't an issue, although the sun and moon in specific do affect the world in similar ways (such as tides and, to an extent, a global jet-stream, for two examples). From standing on the world itself, the differences aren't too noticeable in the short-term, although extremely long-term things would develop somewhat differently, I think.
The universe this takes place in is a massive demiplane, such as one created by a repeating trap of genesis hundreds or thousands of millennia past, if it matters. So not everything will be the same, although I definitely like the logical ramifications being brought up in the thread. It's good to think about these things.
Just because certain astrological bodies orbit the planet, that doesn't mean that the planet itself doesn't spin, or that the sun and moon aren't still very large and don't have significant pull on the planet.
I did mention (multiple times) that it's to imprison an Elder Evil (and is being used as a prison for a lot of other stuff, too). The height is to add to the inaccessibility of the ancient city at the top (among other issues, such as the dead magic zone), which is both covered in runes and is a giant rune itself, holding the prison together, far below. The city spans the entire length of the mountain range; it's huge. And very, very alien, in a Cthulu Mythos kind of way. Whatever built it was not even remotely human. It's creepy as hell to anything familiar with normal architecture.
As far as the weathering granite goes, it doesn't weather like it should. That's fairly obvious if you take some time to look at the inner walls, especially. It's been magically hardened (instantaneous Conjurations, so it works in a dead magic zone) against damage to prevent the escape of the monstrous presence it's imprisoning. Otherwise, as you said, the rock would weather away and the prison would collapse.
The compass thing is a good point, though. I wonder what the melting point of adamantine is, and if it's magnetic...