Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 19 Oct 2002 to 20 Oct 2002 (#2002-272) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 21/10/2002, 18:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 12 messages totalling 798 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Emerond Help (2) 2. Darokin 3. Arcana Mystara: Exploring the Mystaraverse (5) 4. Zeitgeist Games Website updated 5. Armor & weapons 6. Ghost Bombs (2) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 16:15:52 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: Emerond Help At   Sat, 19 Oct 2002 23:55:17 +0100, jason o'brien <jobo@EIRCOM.NET> wrote:

I was wondering if anybody out there can help me with a few questions on
emerond. I have read the 1018 almanac entry and find I need more information
on some areas.

Ok, that's me, I acknowledge my responsibilities for those evocative names that may have aroused the interest of your player :p
I'll try to give u a brief explanation of each one, altho me myself haven't used but a few.


1. The Cave of Magic
2. The Lake of Time
3. The Field of Dreams

Each of these three are holy sites for the people of Emerond. Except for the Lake of Time, both the Cave of Magic and the Field of Dreams (and the Tree of Knowledge) are warded by one of the Protectors of Emerond. The Tree is warded by the Forest Protector, who's a druid/cleric of Ordana, the Cave by the Sun Protector (cleric of Ixion) and the Field by the Earth Protector (druid/cleric of Terra).

The Tree of Knowledge is a majestic mangrove tree that houses inside a small dimensional space, which is used as a repository of all the past history and historical documents of the Emerondians/Pyrithians, as well as information on nature, flora & fauna, evolution of the species and plants manipulations as the Emerondians know it. It also houses a couple of believed extinct species who live here as guardians (u can come up with everything you want). In special times during the year, the tree can also act as a living embodiment of the spirit of Nature (Ordana), either as oracle or avatar.

The Cave of Magic is a particular site deep inside a hollow hill in the middle of the forested realm of Emerond, where a particular stone is well guarded. The mineral of this stone is nowhere else to be found on Mystara and probably brought here from the Pyrithian homeworld, and it has some incredibly amazing properties, especially when it is bathed into sunlight. The cave can be reached via a secret entrance, and sports a large opening on the ceiling, which is however closed using a resistant transparent kind of plant resin, that acts like a glassy porthole. This allows the sunrays to enter the cave and touch the stone, radiating the whole cave with a magical dweomer that enhances the magical capacities of those who meditate there or research spells, and even imbuing some objects or beings with temporary magical capacities of different kinds. Since it's so powerful, it's obviously kept secret and only used in times of dire need.

The Field of Dreams is a large area of savannah tended by the Earth Protector inside the realm of Emerond. It is said that the creatures that rest here cannot be harmed by anything, physical or otherwise, and are under the protection of the Earth Mother. However, creatures can safely sleep here only if they have the blessing of the Earth Mother and haven't sinned against her. If some sinner or cursed being comes here, he is not only unable to interact with other creatures, but gradually loses his mind when he is confronted by strange visions and nightmares that only he can see, which continue to plague him until he escapes or is driven completely mad. On the other hand, other blessed individual not only can rest safely here, but also regain health more rapidly and can have good omes via dreams and visions. There is a side effect however: so wondrous is the sensation experienced here by the dreamers, that they become sort of addicted, and the more time they spend here the less they stay awake, until finally they never wake up anymore. Obviously this sacred place is also well guarded and used as trial court when matters pertaining the moral behaviour of Emerondians towards nature are to be judged.

The Lake of Time is something that escapes even Emerondians' wisdom and definitions. They found this small pool when they first settled this part of Davania, and have always tried to study it to determine its cycle, but to no avail. Apparently, the lake is a portal to the plane of Time, and people can stare into it to see reflections of their history, be it past or future. However, nobody can tell how to see into the future or into the past, and sometimes strange things happen, like seeing your past/future self looking directly into your eyes, which causes either the disappearence of the individual (probably drawn into that timeframe) or his own madness, or even suicide. Other times creatures or people from other eras swim out of the pool, but the Emerondians always try to convince them to swim back into it, in order not to upset the natural balance of things. All in all, it is considered a very dangerous place and not to be meddled with.

4. The Forbidden City=20 (pyrris)
5. The Desolate Hills.

These two relate to the first years of the Emerondians on Mystara. When they landed, they settled in some hills now east of their current territory (the Hills of Desolation as shown on map in PWA2). They lived here for a century, building a great city (Pyris, the Forbidden City) where they lived reminiscent of their former life in the Pirythian homeworld. However, the madness of one of their rulers (a now unnamed Queen) led them to defy the laws of the gods and in a fortnight the city lay in utter silence, with no trace of living beings inside of it. Fortunately, many of its inhabitants had followed the advice of the priests and left it before it was too late, and later settled in the forests westwards, founding the new kingdom of Emerond, forgetting their old ways and living in peace with nature.
To be exiled to the Hills of Desolation is one of the most terrible things for an Emerondian, and the expression "to reach the Forbidden City" is normally used by Emerondians to mean "to die" or "to be hopeless". Fact is, what once was the Queen of Pyris is still lying there, imprisioned in the halls of the great ziggurat at the centre of the majestic city, waiting for some unwary explorer to free her from the bonds of her folly.


A Player got hold of the Emerond section of the almanac and has been asking
me about these locations, he wants his character to explore them. any
information would be a great help.

And that's it. I hope it helps :)
I run a great exploration adventure in Davania many years ago using these basis  and it went incredibly well. Hope your players won't meet their ultimate demise because of these info ;p

Cheers and happy gaming!

DM
Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac
Lt. Cmdr. of U.S.S. Unicorn

"You don't stop playing because you grow old:
you grow old because you stop playing!"

Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 And Mystara Italian Homepage at:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/9940
Join the Mystara Webring at:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystri= ng.html
Join the Starfleet Academy at:
http://gioco.net/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM)

------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 16:16:50 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Darokin --- David Knott skrev: > > According to the Poor Wizard's Almanacs, the most > popular > Immortals in Darokin are Asterius, Ixion, Khoronus, > Koryis, > Odin, the Twelve Watchers, Valerias, and Zirchev. > It seems > likely that many other Immortals have at least minor > followings > in Darokin. If any Mystaran nation believes in > "freedom of > religion", Darokin would be the most likely > candidate. Also, due to the immigrant nature of that country, the various minorities of Darokin have probably brought their native religions with them. The Traladarans probably worship the Traladaran Three, the Church of Karameikos should be present, the Eternal Truth is probably popular especially in Selenica, dwarves, elves and (possibly even) halflings probably worship their own immortals, as do half-orcs... Haavard ______________________________________________________ Se den nye Yahoo! Mail på http://no.yahoo.com/ Nytt design, enklere å bruke, alltid tilgang til Adressebok, Kalender og Notisbok ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 16:23:39 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: Arcana Mystara: Exploring the Mystaraverse At   Fri, 18 Oct 2002 22:50:19 +0800,   "Francisco V. Navarro V" <fvnmd@INFO.COM.PH> wrote:

I previously published the Arcana Mystara files on the astronomy and
astrology of the Mystaraverse. And I am doing so again in a grand new
format!

Take a look!
www.geocities.com/enchanter_from_glantri/arcanamystara/arcana.htm

GREAT STUFF Francisco!
My deepest compliments for the astounding layout and the thorough research that expands on this hitertho not so common ground of Mystaran lore. :)

I am only sorry Haavard and I didn't inform you of the things we were writing on the planets of Mystaraspace (especially naming Hel the planet Protius and making it a diskworld), but anyway.. we'll try to adapt it to your treatise ;)

Again, GREAT WORK!

DM
Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac
Lt. Cmdr. of U.S.S. Unicorn

"You don't stop playing because you grow old:
you grow old because you stop playing!"

Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967
And Mystara Italian Homepage at:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/9940

Join the Mystara Webring at:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html
Join the Starfleet Academy at:
http://gioco.net/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM)

------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 17:15:43 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Zeitgeist Games Website updated Hey, its good to see that something is fianlly happening over there! I like the layou and everything, but we want more! more stuff. Its cool that you put Dave's map on your site, but why not the old scanned Blackmoor product aswell? And more..we want more :) Havard --- Dustin Clingman skrev: > Hey Guys, > > I finally took a break to get the website up. There > are some cool things > up there. Take a look and let me know what you > think! > > www.zeitgeistgames.com > > Dustin > > --- > Dustin Clingman > Zeitgeist Games > www.zeitgeistgames.com > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: > http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ > To unsubscribe, send email to > LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ______________________________________________________ Se den nye Yahoo! Mail på http://no.yahoo.com/ Nytt design, enklere å bruke, alltid tilgang til Adressebok, Kalender og Notisbok ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 12:02:59 EDT From: Bruce Heard Subject: Armor & weapons Greetings & Salutations I'm (still) tinkering with Mystaran economics. I'm wondering if anyone has historically reliable figures for the number/kinds of people and the time needed to make a long sword and/or a chain mail in the 12th century?? I'm tracking down some of the basic costs of goods in order to test different financial mechanics. Thanks!! Cheers! Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 18:13:10 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Matteo_Barnab=E8?= Subject: Re: Arcana Mystara: Exploring the Mystaraverse > Hail Mystarans! > > Hail Scaevola! Hail Matteo the Great Stargazer! Hail Kit Navarro! > And, by the way, Matteo is an astronomer, so > he can find all real world references, but we others > probably don't know of most of them... 8-) ops, I have been discovered! ;-) > Wow! Great! My own background is more of astrology, hence the heavy emphasis > on the mystical and mythological feel. If you agree, I could try to contribute to the Mystaran Sky Project, that I find very interesting and stimulating (and also quite useful for my OD&D - Mystaran campaign) :-) I had already developed my mystaran planetary sistem but I hadn't found the time (or perhaps the will) to describe all the celestial sphere... your project has revived what was an old idea of mine! Btw, the planetary system devised by me wasn't as detailed as yours, but consisted of very simple physical datas (distance from the Sun, mass, equatorial radius, rotation and orbital periods, eccentricity, etc) about the planets. The name of the (14) planets were (in order from the nearest to the Sun): Valerias, Ordanidal (from Ordana), Mystara, Razud, Dracon, Khoronholm, Noumenon, Odingard, Djaea, Thanassia (from Thanatos), Lokitûr (from Loki), Protial, Nyx and Hel. As you can see, the names aren't particularly meaningful (even if I was thinking about a future development of the subject). Perhaps, you could be interested in the datas regarding Mystara. ;-) Important Note: making calculations, I always assumed two things: 1) mystaran universe is ruled by the same physical laws that rule our universe, at least for what concerns celestial mechanics... ok, I know that Mystara is a hollow planet, with an internal sun, two polar openings, a skyshield, an invisible moon and other amazing and wondrous things, but these oddities were created (perhaps) by immortals intervention (and so are beyond nature's laws) ;-) 2) the Sun of the mystaran system is exactly like our Sun: G2 main sequence star, mass = 1.989 × 10^30 Kg, radius = 6.9599 × 10^5 km (and this was also your choice, IIRC), T = 5770 K, luminosity 3.826 × 10^26 J/s. In this way, using Kepler's Third Law (and the fact that mystaran orbital period is 336 days), I found that Mystara has a semimajor axis of 1,414 × 10^11 m, or 0.946 Astronomical Units (UA). In your page, instead, you assumed a distance from Sun of 92 million miles, or 0.990 UA. Also, the volume of Mystara can be calculated from the datas presented in the PWAs (neglecting the polar openings for a rough calculation,a nd neglecting also the Inner Sun because it's an elemental vortex with the Plane of Fire!! ... ok); using the volume and the gravitation acceleration (assumed g = 9.81 m/s^2 - if it had been quite different it would have been written somewhere, I suppose) the average density of Mystara can be found, and it results in more than 9 g/cm^3 a _very_ high value for a planet! (our Earth has an average density of 5.52 g/cm^3, and is the most dense planet of the solar system). I think that the high value for Mystara could be explained in this way: i) the very high density of mystaran worldshield ii) Mystara is extremely rich of metals like gold, platinum and so on; after all, there are dungeons' chambers and dragons' lairs full of treasures, with thousands and thousands of gold and platinum pieces, not to talk about silver and copper, as can be seen using the treasure table of Rules Cyclopedia! ;-))) Very Important Note: Ok, really I'm aware that mixing sound and stern physics with high fantasy settings is quite a stupid thing, but I found it quite amusing :-) Now, I hope that nobody beats me too hard for the previous delirium! Forgive me!! ;-)))) Cheers Matteo ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 19:26:26 +0100 From: jason o'brien Subject: Re: Emerond Help Thanks Marco very helpful indeed. Now another question. What do you think would happen to the tree of knowledge if a player was to poison it's water supply with water from the river vergilmir in Niffelheim. More accuratly would the pocket dimension still be accessible. Mortus. . ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 19:31:07 +0100 From: jason o'brien Subject: Ghost Bombs Hi Guys, One of my players is a nosferatu, who is trying to create a land of undead. For this purpose he is trying to come up with some new siege weaponry. One idea he had was to put incorporeal undead into jars to be used as "Ghost Grenades". is this feasible do you think. Mortus. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 19:55:00 +0000 From: Agathokles Subject: Re: Ghost Bombs jason o'brien wrote: > > Hi Guys, > One of my players is a nosferatu, who is trying to create a land of undead. > For this purpose he is trying to come up with some new siege weaponry. One > idea he had was to put incorporeal undead into jars to be used as "Ghost > Grenades". is this feasible do you think. I'd think that incorporeal undead are, well, incorporeal, so they pass through walls and the like, and they can't be contained by mundane means. Magic, though, would make it possible. -- Giampaolo Agosta http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 10:17:11 +0800 From: "Francisco V. Navarro V" Subject: Re: Arcana Mystara: Exploring the Mystaraverse Hail Mystarans! Hail the Great Astromancer Matteo! Hail the Great Space Traveller Marco! Thanks for the compliments! Let me establish first that my basic idea for the Arcana Mystara files is to provide knowledge of the arcane lore and occult knowledge of Mystarans. This is what they *believe* and what they *know*. Is it the truth? Is it real? Maybe. Maybe not. In the case of the Mystaraverse, this is how Mystarans *understand* their universe from their point of view (throught astronomy and astrology). There may be misconceptions and outright errors, but the point of the Arcana Mystara is not to give an 100% exact description of what the reality is.... That's up to the DM to decide! Which brings me to the point. The Arcana Mystara is for the PCs. The DM is at liberty to create the reality as seen fit. For example, Mystarans call the planet that exploded Asterius, and later on, Tears of Asterius. Of coruse, all the DMs know that this is the planet Damocles. Of course, the Damoclites don't call themselves Asterians. Did the comet Hel actually destroy Damocles? Not according the Agathokles' files, no. But this is what Mystarans observed (perhaps erroneously) and this is what they believe. (Does this sound too much like a cop-out or a disclaimer? Maybe. I realize that in wrirting for this, we do have to leave a lot of leeway for other ideas and imagination! Besides, there's enough room in the universe and cosmos and all planes of existence for all of our ideas! There's no reason to impose my ideas as canon truth!) Now to specific comments: >> From Matteo: > I had already developed my mystaran planetary sistem but I hadn't found the > time (or perhaps the will) to describe all the celestial sphere... your > project has revived what was an old idea of mine! I am actually preparing three star maps: One Alphatian/pre-Hecatorian one that is geocentric. It is very similar to the medieval idea of the celestial spheres, as shown in Dante's Divine Comedy. Basically, the world (Mystara) is the center of the universe, with seven layers of heaven (Matera, Valerias, Rathanos, Asterius, Ixion, Tarastia, Khoronus). IIRC from some Planescape Manual of the Planes. > > Btw, the planetary system devised by me wasn't as detailed as yours, but > consisted of very simple physical datas (distance from the Sun, mass, > equatorial radius, rotation and orbital periods, eccentricity, etc) about > the planets. The name of the (14) planets were (in order from the nearest to > the Sun): Valerias, Ordanidal (from Ordana), Mystara, Razud, Dracon, > Khoronholm, Noumenon, Odingard, Djaea, Thanassia (from Thanatos), Lokitûr > (from Loki), Protial, Nyx and Hel. > As you can see, the names aren't particularly meaningful (even if I was > thinking about a future development of the subject). > > Perhaps, you could be interested in the datas regarding Mystara. ;-) > > Important Note: making calculations, I always assumed two things: > 1) mystaran universe is ruled by the same physical laws that rule our > universe, at least for what concerns celestial mechanics... ok, I know that > Mystara is a hollow planet, with an internal sun, two polar openings, a > skyshield, an invisible moon and other amazing and wondrous things, but > these oddities were created (perhaps) by immortals intervention (and so are > beyond nature's laws) ;-) > 2) the Sun of the mystaran system is exactly like our Sun: G2 main sequence > star, mass = 1.989 × 10^30 Kg, radius = 6.9599 × 10^5 km (and this was also > your choice, IIRC), T = 5770 K, luminosity 3.826 × 10^26 J/s. > > In this way, using Kepler's Third Law (and the fact that mystaran orbital > period is 336 days), I found that Mystara has a semimajor axis of 1,414 × > 10^11 m, or 0.946 Astronomical Units (UA). In your page, instead, you > assumed a distance from Sun of 92 million miles, or 0.990 UA. > > Also, the volume of Mystara can be calculated from the datas presented in > the PWAs (neglecting the polar openings for a rough calculation,a nd > neglecting also the Inner Sun because it's an elemental vortex with the > Plane of Fire!! ... ok); using the volume and the gravitation acceleration > (assumed g = 9.81 m/s^2 - if it had been quite different it would have been > written somewhere, I suppose) the average density of Mystara can be found, > and it results in more than 9 g/cm^3 a _very_ high value for a planet! (our > Earth has an average density of 5.52 g/cm^3, and is the most dense planet of > the solar system). > I think that the high value for Mystara could be explained in this way: > i) the very high density of mystaran worldshield > ii) Mystara is extremely rich of metals like gold, platinum and so on; after > all, there are dungeons' chambers and dragons' lairs full of treasures, with > thousands and thousands of gold and platinum pieces, not to talk about > silver and copper, as can be seen using the treasure table of Rules > Cyclopedia! ;-))) > > Very Important Note: > Ok, really I'm aware that mixing sound and stern physics with high fantasy > settings is quite a stupid thing, but I found it quite amusing :-) > > Now, I hope that nobody beats me too hard for the previous delirium! Forgive > me!! ;-)))) > > Cheers > > Matteo > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 10:46:57 +0800 From: "Francisco V. Navarro V" Subject: Re: Arcana Mystara: Exploring the Mystaraverse Hail Mystarans! Hail Matteo the Astromancer! Hail Marco the Stellar Traveler! (I sent the other e-mail without finish my specific remarks! Here's the continuation!) Most of the Arcana Mystara will have a legendary, mythological, mystical feels. For the Mystaraverse files particulary, it will be heavy on the astrology and the ancient, less scientific ideas of astronomy. That being said, I have been liberally taking from ancient sources and mytholgies, and Mystara-izing them for the Arcana Mystara files. (What I love in RPG is that what is merely fanciful RW fantasy can be real in Mystara!) > If you agree, I could try to contribute to the Mystaran Sky Project, that I > find very interesting and stimulating (and also quite useful for my OD&D - > Mystaran campaign) :-) > I had already developed my mystaran planetary sistem but I hadn't found the > time (or perhaps the will) to describe all the celestial sphere... your > project has revived what was an old idea of mine! I am preparing three Mystaran star maps. The first is Alphatian/pre-Hecatorian, and is geocentric. The world of Mystara is the center of the universe, with seven layers of heaven beyond. (I actually have finished the graphics of this and will send it to you personally.) The layers are Matera, Valerias, Rathanos, Asterius, Ixion, Tarastia, Khoronus, and beyond is the Empyreum of Pandius. This is taken from ancient RW ideas. (See Dante's Divince Comedy, Paradiso). IIRC, Planescape Manual of the Planes also describes some heavenly plane as such, wich seven layers, named after the ancient system of heavenly bodies (the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Khoronus). I simply Mystara-ized it, by rearranging and renaming. [Insider's note: Of course, the Alphatians were probably aware that such a view of the solar system was inaccurate and false, but they had their reasons to allowing such misconceptions to continue. That's why Hecator was greatly outraged by the Alphatian traditions of astronomy.] The second would be a Thyatian/Hecatorian map, which is heliocentric, and includes the Outer Planets of Ordana, Protius, and Thanatos. Its RW equivalent would be Ptolemeic/pre-Copernican, with circular (not elliptical) orbits. The third would be a modern/post-WotI one, with the added features of Alphatia, Alphaks, and the Tears of Asterius. [Insider's note: In no way would Alphatian astronomers name the new planet "Alphatia." They already have their contient and their home world. The planetoid Alphatia was discovered towards the end of the WotI, and was named by the Thyatians after the Alphatian continent sank. There were rumors that the Alphatian population survived the sinking of the continent, and whisked away by the Immortals to a new floating continent. The Thyatian astronomers got the idea that the Alphatians were transported to that new planetoid in the sky. (From the HW point of view, this actually happened!). Of course, when the surviving Alphatians on the Known World knew the truth of the Alphatian continent in the HW, they allowed the propagation of this astronomical legend.] I know there is an elven starmap from the Tree of Life module. I will look into that and use it when I prepare the Arcana Mystara file on Elven Astronomy (which is an entirely different system!) > Btw, the planetary system devised by me wasn't as detailed as yours, but > consisted of very simple physical datas (distance from the Sun, mass, > equatorial radius, rotation and orbital periods, eccentricity, etc) about > the planets. I must admit, I got the date from Marco's site (which IIRC he based on canon sources?) > The name of the (14) planets were (in order from the nearest to > the Sun): Valerias, Ordanidal (from Ordana), Mystara, Razud, Dracon, > Khoronholm, Noumenon, Odingard, Djaea, Thanassia (from Thanatos), Lokitûr > (from Loki), Protial, Nyx and Hel. > As you can see, the names aren't particularly meaningful (even if I was > thinking about a future development of the subject). Don't throw away the names yet! They might come in useful. I'm sure there is some baneful comet out there that can be named after Loki! And some might be the names of what the natives call their own planets. And now some cryptic arcane lore from our astronomer: > Important Note: making calculations, I always assumed two things: > 1) mystaran universe is ruled by the same physical laws that rule our > universe, at least for what concerns celestial mechanics... ok, I know that > Mystara is a hollow planet, with an internal sun, two polar openings, a > skyshield, an invisible moon and other amazing and wondrous things, but > these oddities were created (perhaps) by immortals intervention (and so are > beyond nature's laws) ;-) > 2) the Sun of the mystaran system is exactly like our Sun: G2 main sequence > star, mass = 1.989 × 10^30 Kg, radius = 6.9599 × 10^5 km (and this was also > your choice, IIRC), T = 5770 K, luminosity 3.826 × 10^26 J/s. > > In this way, using Kepler's Third Law (and the fact that mystaran orbital > period is 336 days), I found that Mystara has a semimajor axis of 1,414 × > 10^11 m, or 0.946 Astronomical Units (UA). In your page, instead, you > assumed a distance from Sun of 92 million miles, or 0.990 UA. I admit, I assumed. As I said, I just got this from Marco's site. So, you think this should be changed? How? (And in simple terms please.) I must also admit that I did not work as much on the astronomy portion as the astrology portion. So I will be open to your suggestion on tweaks changes. (After all, the Mystarans astronomers couldn't that be far off!) > > Also, the volume of Mystara can be calculated from the datas presented in > the PWAs (neglecting the polar openings for a rough calculation,a nd > neglecting also the Inner Sun because it's an elemental vortex with the > Plane of Fire!! ... ok); using the volume and the gravitation acceleration > (assumed g = 9.81 m/s^2 - if it had been quite different it would have been > written somewhere, I suppose) the average density of Mystara can be found, > and it results in more than 9 g/cm^3 a _very_ high value for a planet! (our > Earth has an average density of 5.52 g/cm^3, and is the most dense planet of > the solar system). > I think that the high value for Mystara could be explained in this way: > i) the very high density of mystaran worldshield > ii) Mystara is extremely rich of metals like gold, platinum and so on; after > all, there are dungeons' chambers and dragons' lairs full of treasures, with > thousands and thousands of gold and platinum pieces, not to talk about > silver and copper, as can be seen using the treasure table of Rules > Cyclopedia! ;-))) Msytara must be that rich then! > Very Important Note: > Ok, really I'm aware that mixing sound and stern physics with high fantasy > settings is quite a stupid thing, but I found it quite amusing :-) > Cheers, o great astronomer Matteo! Kit Navarro ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 11:02:50 +0800 From: "Francisco V. Navarro V" Subject: Re: Arcana Mystara: Exploring the Mystaraverse Hail Mystarans! Hail the Stellar Traveler Marco! > GREAT STUFF Francisco! > My deepest compliments for the astounding layout and the thorough = research that expands on this hitertho not so common ground of Mystaran = lore. :) My utmost gratitude! I admit that I took inspiration from your own work to begin with. There was one major change: renaming M-Mars as Vanya/Rathanos and = M-Jupiter as Tarastia. The reason behind this was the = astrological/mythological significance. RW Mars is the god of war and an = archetype for masculine powers. Hence I thought it would be more = sensible to associate it with Vanya/Rathanos. (Of course, I got the idea = of the two names, since Alphatians would never call it "Vanya", and the = closest masculine, violent, aggression archetype among the Alphatian = pantheon would be Rathanos.) On the other hand, RW Jupiter is the god of = lightning, the sky, and father of the gods. But one important aspect of = Jupiter in astro-myth is Jupiter is the god of justice. Hence, Tarastia. > I am only sorry Haavard and I didn't inform you of the things we were = writing on the planets of Mystaraspace (especially naming Hel the planet = Protius and making it a diskworld), but anyway.. we'll try to adapt it = to your treatise ;) Hmm..... I have previous stated that Arcana Mystara is about the arcana of = Mystara, and not necessarily the truth/reality.=20 Hence what Mystarans believe to be the water world of Protius might = actually be something esle entirely. Then again, there is very little known of the world of Thanatos, which = might be closer to your ideas of Hel. That being said, I was thinking of writing up one about Mystaran = Planetology. Perhaps we could work together and share ideas.=20 I have some rough ideas of the planet Ordana (a violent, erratic world = of shapeshifters and wild magic, and possibly the homeworld of the = Belcadizan elves), Protius (which could be any water world, possibly an = ancient planet inhabited by giant sentient dolphin/whale-like creatures, = a race possibly related to the mortal race of Protius himself!), and = Thanatos (a dark world where the dead reign, living creatures are cows = to feed off of or disguise themselves as pseudo-undead). Of course, these ideas can be reassigned to any of the other planets or = the planetoids or even the moons! Kit Navarro ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 19 Oct 2002 to 20 Oct 2002 (#2002-272) ****************************************************************