From: ...sage@basement.library.generica.nexus From: The Dreamer From: albert@chain.ssctr.bcm.tmc.edu (Rick Jones) From: arsmith@nyx.cs.du.edu (Alan Smith) From: djb6@ellis.uchicago.edu (Dennis Brennan) From: hutch@ibeam.intel.com (Steve Hutchison) From: kring@physik.uni-kl.de (Thomas Kettenring) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From the outside going in: Nexus is a spherical planet about the same size and distance from its sun as the Earth is from Sol. Its orbit and tilt provide slightly less drama in the seasons than Earth has. The surface of the planet is about 2/3 water, and it has three moons. The first moon, called Primus in the city of Generica, is a large, airless sphere, mostly white in color, about 1/5 the size of Nexus. It has about the same period as Luna around Earth (allowing for eclipses, tides, and other interesting phenomena. From Nexus, it appears to be about the same size that Earth's moon appears from Earth. It orbits at an angle slightly different from the tilt of Nexus but generally along the equatorial line, which allows it to "wander" north and south along the horizon in much the same way Luna does. The second moon, called Secundus in Generica, is a small sphere, maybe a tenth the apparent diameter of Primus, which is a pale green in color and which orbits Primus at about one half diameter away from Primus, and in a direction perpendicular to Primus' orbit. The resulting orbit causes Secundus to appear to "cross" the face of Primus, and to move behind it, around it, and so forth -- depending on where its orbit happens to be. Secundus circles Primus once every four days (if this isn't the correct orbital period, well, it's more proof for the theory that Secundus is not a NATURAL satellite!) and its orbit precesses so that it goes from "flat face-on" to "edge-on" and back every twelve orbits. The third satellite is easily mistaken for a star. Tertius is an oddly shaped piece of space debris which has a naturally reddish-orange color, and follows Secundus in its orbit around Primus. It is small enough that it is hard to see in the glare from Primus, and so it's sometimes used as a test of visual acuity. The Nexus system has >>Other Planets/Celestial Features: >Now these names are cool - called after the gods of orbital mechanics... >>Galler: A large planet with over ten moons, the largest, Copern, an >>Earth-like moon. (Jupiter) >>Kepleo: A large planet farther out from the sun than Nexus. It's much more >>massive, has a series of rings, and many small moons. It's atmosphere is >>primarily methane with some other nasty bits. (essentially, Saturn) >>Other suggestions I heard were for a Desert Planet and a Cloud-Covered >>Science-Fiction Venus. Newt'n: a smallish bright blue-green planet (the color is due to oxidized copper, not water/bio like earth and nexus) fairly close outside nexus' orbit. Largish polar caps. (mars) Braha: A completely grey planet near nexus' orbit, but inside. Has one moon, Tych. Greyness thought to be cloud cover. (venus) I also think that we should only be able to make out up to a half a dozen of the moons of Galler and Keplo. >Where is Nexus in its Galaxy? Is the whole plane as promiscuous as Nexus >in terms of allowing gateways? How big and old is the Galaxy? What do the >skies look like at night? That last question could take years to hammer out. We don't even know really what Generica looks like at night. (Or in the daytime for that matter) Well, I suppose we should come up with our great ideas for constellations now... We have at least one constellation in the Nexic sky- a group of stars which in a post about six months ago I called "The Pendulum." Remarkable because the constellation itself appears to slowly swing back and forth over many nights, marking about two weeks for every oscillation. A useful timepiece for those on long journeys or otherwise isolated from calendars and such. I would say that Generica has more than 200,000 citizens. I would be more willing to say 500,000. It is a huge city in comparison to the others of the Known Lands. I'd say definately 500,000 permanent residents with the city swelling to at least 800,000 during heavy trading. As a referent, didn't London of the 1700's have over a million people? I think Generica is wealthy and peaceful enough to support these kinds of numbers. On the subject of Nexus, I would say that it's larger than Earth (to allow for additions later). It should probably be roughly spherical because none of the travellers have said otherwise. I do think that we have some literary licence with the moons though since there are a great variety of numbers, sizes, and orbits in our own solar system. I suggest the following: Two moons, one large one, that orbits Nexus and a small one that orbits the large moon. To visualize this, equate Nexus to our Sun. The large moon is Earth, and the small moon is our moon. Earth goes around the Sun. The Moon goes around Earth. The large moon goes around Nexus. The small moon goes around the large moon. So, what about other planets in the system? Are there any others that are inhabited? What about comets, rings, constellations, etc... I see another weekly ADMIN post coming on here... ADMIN: The Nexus System Or I could always add it to the FAQ. Feedback is manditory! Love and Peace and Astronomy, -The Dreamer- PENDULUM (Constellation in the Nexic nighttime sky): This constellation consists of three bright stars in a sharp-angled isosceles triangle. The acute angle always points directly north, which alone makes this constellation of great utility to navigators and travelers, but the Pendulum has a second interesting property as well. A cluster of bright lights of rather mysterious nature is located within the triangle of the constellation. Like the swinging bar of a true pendulum, these lights oscillate slowly from one side of the triangle to the other over a period of about two weeks. By examining this celestial indicator, travelers are able to easily determine the date. Indeed, certain societies on Nexus base their time measurement systems on the activity of the Pendulum. Proposal for the Nexus Solar System: Size and Shape: Nexus is a spherical planet about the same size and distance from the sun as Earth. The Sun is a star, just like the Earth's sun. Moons: Nexus has three moons, Primus, Secondus and Tertius. Primus is a large white airless sphere, similar to the Earth's moon in shape, appearance, and period. Secondus is a much smaller sphere, which orbits Primus in an orbit perpendicular Nexus' orbital plane. Tertius is an irregular rock even smaller than Secondus. Tertius trails Primus in it's orbital plane around 6 hours behind it. (During the day, the Sun obscures Tertius.) Astronomers believe that Tertius is a piece of space junk, perhaps a comet, that was caught in Nexus' gravitation pull. Other Planets/Celestial Features: Galler: A large planet with over ten moons, the largest, Copern, an Earth-like moon. (Jupiter) Kepleo: A large planet farther out from the sun than Nexus. It's much more massive, has a series of rings, and many small moons. It's atmosphere is primarily methane with some other nasty bits. (essentially, Saturn) Other suggestions I heard were for a Desert Planet and a Cloud-Covered Science-Fiction Venus. Any suggestions? I'm volunteering to be the Royal Astronomer of Nexus, so once this gets hammered out, I'll post it semi-regularly. -- Rick Jones "Come to think of it, there are already a million albert@bcm.tmc.edu monkeys on a million typewriters ... and Usenet is Systems Support Cente NOTHING like Shakespeare..." Voice: 713-798-7352 --Blair Houghton In article <93210.113522ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu> The Dreamer writes: >I would say that Generica has more than 200,000 citizens. I would >be more willing to say 500,000. Well, I suppose, but we'd need like a 20 square-mile city, if not more. I have to do some research to be sure... >As a referent, didn't London of the 1700's have over a million people? I had kinda thought that we were more in the 1400s, socio-technologically. For a referent you'd really want to use the population of Venice. >On the subject of Nexus, I would say that it's larger than Earth (to allow >for additions later). It should probably be roughly spherical because >none of the travellers have said otherwise. I've been banking on a spherical Nexus, with, say, Generica at about he same place as europe, cathay where it's suppposed to be, and Bismania and the West continent near the americas (This puts the dark continent in the south atlantic ocean, and alpha in mid-africa, I think plenty of room for more stuff.) > I do think that we have some >literary licence with the moons though since there are a great variety >of numbers, sizes, and orbits in our own solar system. >I suggest the following: Two moons, one large one, that orbits Nexus >and a small one that orbits the large moon. To visualize this, equate >Nexus to our Sun. The large moon is Earth, and the small moon is our >moon. Earth goes around the Sun. The Moon goes around Earth. >The large moon goes around Nexus. The small moon goes around the large moon. Sounds wierd. I think we'd have to back the big moon away from nexus so that we can get the little moon in orbit without gravitational interference. UNLESS, you want to put the tiny moon in polar orbit over the big moon. so that at certain times of the month you'd see the little moon describing a circle around the big one, and at other times going before-behind like normal orbits, but in the vertical plane. Or always in a circle around the big moon. I dunno, is there a physicist in the house? (willing to do the math) >So, what about other planets in the system? Are there any others that >are inhabited? What about comets, rings, constellations, etc... We need a thread for this. albert@chain.ssctr.bcm.tmc.edu (Rick Jones) writes: >Proposal for the Nexus Solar System: >Size and Shape: Nexus is a spherical planet about the same size and >distance from the sun as Earth. The Sun is a star, just like the Earth's >sun. Fine, as long as the sun and the stars are also manifestations in the physical world of a more magical reality. Which leads one to the next point: the moons and planets are the representations of other gods and (as in _every_ human culture) should be named for them in any system of nomenclature where tradition is preserved. >Moons: Nexus has three moons, Primus, Secondus and Tertius. Primus is a >large white airless sphere, similar to the Earth's moon in shape, >appearance, and period. Secondus is a much smaller sphere, which orbits >Primus in an orbit perpendicular Nexus' orbital plane. Tertius is an >irregular rock even smaller than Secondus. Tertius trails Primus in it's >orbital plane around 6 hours behind it. (During the day, the Sun obscures >Tertius.) Astronomers believe that Tertius is a piece of space junk, >perhaps a comet, that was caught in Nexus' gravitation pull. I expect it would take careful observation to realize that Tertius is even there -- and Secundus is clearly an artificial object, or was put there by magic. Otherwise it would be perturbed out of the orbit you describe in about 5000 years tops... >Other Planets/Celestial Features: Now these names are cool - called after the gods of orbital mechanics... >Galler: A large planet with over ten moons, the largest, Copern, an >Earth-like moon. (Jupiter) >Kepleo: A large planet farther out from the sun than Nexus. It's much more >massive, has a series of rings, and many small moons. It's atmosphere is >primarily methane with some other nasty bits. (essentially, Saturn) >Other suggestions I heard were for a Desert Planet and a Cloud-Covered >Science-Fiction Venus. >Any suggestions? >I'm volunteering to be the Royal Astronomer of Nexus, so once this gets >hammered out, I'll post it semi-regularly. OK... Where is Nexus in its Galaxy? Is the whole plane as promiscuous as Nexus in terms of allowing gateways? How big and old is the Galaxy? What do the skies look like at night? In article <1993Jul29.001206.12780@cheshire.oxy.edu> wolf@cheshire.oxy.edu (Clinton Richard Wolf) writes: >In article hutch@ibeam.intel.com (Steve Hutchison) writes: >>Hi, folks. >> >>...sage has been wheedling at me to do a bmp drawing of Generica, and I've >>come across a few interesting problems. >> > > Well, first of all, correct me if I'm wrong, but there's already a map of >Generica... of course, I don't think it's bmp (whatever that is... I need a >computerese-English dictionary), but it could help, yes? > okay, since I was name dropped, I guess I'm invited. my idea - and I'm making this public, rather than just emailing Hutch and Clint, is to make the ADMIN side of APDI into something that is more than just useful info. I wan't it to look good too. We have a lovely game world developing here, with heroes and villians, exotic locations, quaint customs, and a growing folklore (he says remembering the chase of Dougl's kidnappers to the Broadmarch). I wouldn't mind running a few FRPG campaigns through Nexus, and I wouldn't be surprised if others felt the same way. We have a core of committed *keepers* (who probably should be committed :-), and what is lacking to turn all this administrivia is some nice visuals. Ascii maps are cool for starters, but they just don't cut the mustard for the perfectionist GM :) I've been turning the ASCII map of the Generican continent into a bitmap. (I'll leave the other lands for other people, or later on), and Hutch suggested that he'd want to help. I thought that turning the ASCII map in the Tourist Guide into a bitmap would be a good start. Next is artwork on beasties unique to Generica/Nexus and maybe even some portraits of the notables (Littlefair, Melwys, etc) bmps would NOT be posted here, but announcements as to FTP locations, keepers of the .bmps and maybe postings into alt.binaries.pictures.misc could be done. its getting away from purist ideals on keeping everything at a cerebral level, but I, for one, think that some basic visuals can only enhance the already impressive quality and quantity of info that we have here. Future comments about Generica's size to Hutch via email please. He can set up a mailing list for any more involved debating if needed to keep it from cluttering up the group. Gripes/flames about pictures, or offers to help, to me please. General announcements for the group can come to me for the BBoard or to Michael Sander for the Review. ...sage -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Pete Calvert : Course Adviser, Commerce Dept, Adelaide Uni, South Australia email : pcalvert@economics.adelaide.edu.au -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- another page from ...sage -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- In article <1993Jul29.205309.10436@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>, arsmith@nyx.cs.du.edu (Alan Smith) writes: >In article <93210.113522ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu> The Dreamer writes: >> I do think that we have some >>literary licence with the moons though since there are a great variety >>of numbers, sizes, and orbits in our own solar system. >>I suggest the following: Two moons, one large one, that orbits Nexus >>and a small one that orbits the large moon. To visualize this, equate >>Nexus to our Sun. The large moon is Earth, and the small moon is our >>moon. Earth goes around the Sun. The Moon goes around Earth. >>The large moon goes around Nexus. The small moon goes around the large moon. > >Sounds wierd. I think we'd have to back the big moon away from nexus >so that we can get the little moon in orbit without gravitational interference. > >UNLESS, you want to put the tiny moon in polar orbit over the big moon. >so that at certain times of the month you'd see the little moon describing >a circle around the big one, and at other times going before-behind like >normal orbits, but in the vertical plane. Or always in a circle around the >big moon. I dunno, is there a physicist in the house? (willing to do the math) An almost-physicist... the n-body problem is right in my field, being nonlinear, but that means the math is difficult. I guess that moons around moons are not stable if the planet is close enough to the star to support life. The ratio of the distances of the respective bodies to their primaries has to be larger than something, independent of orientation, so either the sun has to be far away or the moon's moon has to be very close. The former means no life, the latter may be prevented by the Roche limit (tides destroying the small moon and making a ring out of it). Perhaps the third moon Dan Peters mentioned could have the same period as the first? An equilateral triangle Nexus-Moon1-Moon3 is a solution of the three-body problem: there are asteroids in that position regarding Sun and Jupiter. But it seems odd to me to use real physics (or my perceptions of it) in a fantasy world... I like the moon's moon, and I like the polar orbit, so bugger physics! >>So, what about other planets in the system? Are there any others that >>are inhabited? What about comets, rings, constellations, etc... In the Sorc thread, Mithrandir used planes near to Nexus: Inferno and Sorceror's mini-plane. Inferno could be on a near planet (close to the Sun?) and Sorceror's plane on one of the moons. Don't you like the idea of a portal to the moon? You go through a door and can see in the sky the continent you just came from. -- thomas kettenring, 3 dan, kaiserslautern, germany If you have to smoke and curse and drink to prove that you're grown-up, you aren't. If you have to do sports and have young mates to prove you're still young, you aren't.