On the other hand, the Moons of Krynn don't seem to be 1. Far Away In Space, and 2. Not the huge masses of rock that most moons are made of. Case in point, a GNOME was able to make a ladder that reached all the way up to the Red Moon, to retrieve the Greygem. Now first of all, how could a ladder actually reach outside the atmosphere of a planet, let along reach all the way to a moon in the sky? My guess is that the moons are not expecally large objects, and thus are just smaller Globes closer to the earth than a large hulking moon some distance away from the planet. Not sure if you could fly to one of the moons on a griffion, dragon, or whatever, but it seems that the moons must be hard to reach as well tons of wizards would then be going there to gather parts of moonstone for magical purposes.
I too would be interested in learning how big the moons are. Since it takes Solinari the longest, then Lunitari, then Nuitari to make a full cycle, I would assume that Solinari is the furthest away and Nuitari the closest. Or maybe smaller moons orbit faster than larger ones?
Or not.
Cheers,
Cam
The gnomish ladder might not have been an actual ladder at all (and perhaps only looked like one), but really somekind of a dimensional portal that took the gnome to the Greygems location. ;)
Of course the original specs were for a ladder but what the accidently ended up with was a Transdimensional Portal Generator. :D
Of course the original specs were for a ladder but what the accidently ended up with was a Transdimensional Portal Generator. :D
We in the software business call that "requirements creep".
Maybe scientists got the idea from Gnomes.
Dwarves also refuse to admit that they were descended from gnomes. Stubborn dwarves...
Wasn't it decided once that if you were in DL you would be a dwarf, Sean? And if so, isn't this the pot calling the kettle black? Or perhaps the pot calling the pot black?
Wasn't it decided once that if you were in DL you would be a dwarf, Sean? And if so, isn't this the pot calling the kettle black? Or perhaps the pot calling the pot black?
Yes it is! What's a matter? You got a problem with pots and kettles?
I can be just as stubborn, of course I like to think of myself as a Daewar, but in actuality I'm probably just a Klar. So maybe I'm just insane because I happen to think dwarves were descended from kender. :DYou can spend a lot of effort, like Brimstone does, trying to make the whole thing make sense, but in the end you have to just accept that the stars and the moons are equal parts metaphor and cosmic symbol as they are physical objects.
Ha! I refuse to accept that! ;)
Either way...even I won't touch this one.
That being said, the gnome/Kit/Sturm trip to the moon was probably on a spelljamming ship of some sort, and they provide their own atmosphere, so no problem there. And what ever the ancient gnome device was that allowed that one gnome to reach Lunitari to retreive the Greygem...I'm sure the telling is not an accurate depiction of what happened. It's a myth/legend. Don't know what the ladder device was...except that I'm sure it wasn't a ladder.
Ha! I refuse to accept that! ;)
Either way...even I won't touch this one.
Bah. If i wasn't too lazy to pull out my notes, i'd go into my planetary calculations of the masses of the moons. I just wish i could work out how Solinari is far away yet, half the size of the earth. :-)
Weldon
If you travel off the world of Krynn, you don't find space, or Spelljammers, or anything like that. You'll get to the astral and ethereal planes, where the veil between them is thin, and pass into pocket realms and strange border spaces, and perhaps eventually reach the outer edges of what is known.
To my, admittedly, flawed knowledge, that directly contradicts Spelljammer - I believe that Krynn, Oerth, and Aber-Toril are the three planets in the "Prime Material Universe" so to speak. And that, by riding the winds of magic in space, you can get to any of them without shifting planes.
To my, admittedly, flawed knowledge, that directly contradicts Spelljammer.
Yes, it most certainly does contradict Spelljammer. That's OK.
Cheers,
Cam
Another wrinkle in the calculation of the moons is that the black moon must always be orbiting Krynn in the planet's shadow. Otherwise, there would be a black circle in the daylight sky. ;)
Uh...no there wouldn't be.
It's just like the dark side of the moon. When you see the moon during the day, you don't see a circle half black, half white. You only see the lighted side (and even that you don't see very well...the sun is just too bright).
If the moon is truly black and doens't reflect light, then you will not see it during the day.
Think of it this way...the "blue sky" is in front of the black moon and the true black sky. You will never see a black object "shining through" the blue sky. Even if it's not completely dull black and reflects some light...if you can't even see it at night, there's no way you'll see it during the day.
That's pretty creepy, and very cool.
So what you are saying, in effect, is that the black moon does not reflect light at all? Essentially, that it is constantly within its own shadow?
That's pretty creepy, and very cool.
Well...yeah, if it's truly black, then it won't reflect any light. (which is the very nature of "black") However, most surfaces, black or not, will reflect light somewhat...I just don't believe it would be enough to make it visible. Essentially, if you something is bright enough to see at night, when all you have to compete with is other stars and the moons, you certainly aren't going to see it during the day when the sun is out.
That being said, the gnome/Kit/Sturm trip to the moon was probably on a spelljamming ship of some sort, and they provide their own atmosphere, so no problem there. And what ever the ancient gnome device was that allowed that one gnome to reach Lunitari to retreive the Greygem...I'm sure the telling is not an accurate depiction of what happened. It's a myth/legend. Don't know what the ladder device was...except that I'm sure it wasn't a ladder.
It also has towards the end of that book the part where the dragon (brass, I think) was flying back with the gnomish ship. He grew too tired because his wings were not as developed as normal dragons so he went back to the moon. This says to me that the "moons" are within the atmosphere of the planet.
Of course then there is the argument that the moons themselves are "symbols" of the gods of magic and thus they can probably do whatever they want to do to them in a fantasy world!
Well...yeah, if it's truly black, then it won't reflect any light. (which is the very nature of "black") However, most surfaces, black or not, will reflect light somewhat...I just don't believe it would be enough to make it visible.
Which makes sense, given the black moon's somewhat obscure links with the plane of shadow.
It also has towards the end of that book the part where the dragon (brass, I think) was flying back with the gnomish ship. He grew too tired because his wings were not as developed as normal dragons so he went back to the moon. This says to me that the "moons" are within the atmosphere of the planet.
Not necessarily. According to the Spelljammer rules, a large enough body of mass will bring along it's own atmosphere, so the dragon would have had a breathable "air envelope". However the dragon's air would have gone bad long before he reached Krynn, even if he weren't too tired to fly.