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gridloreAs I pointed out in my last post, the Earthdawn Barsaive setting is a close match to modern Ukraine. The designers have made it clear this was their intent. I approve because it gives a huge area for exploration and sweeping grand campaigns.
But there is a major issue. On the campaign map, the Black Sea has been replaced by a gigantic volcanic caldera. It is explicitly stated that this Death Sea fills the Black Sea's basin. Which creates huge problems when doing worldbuilding. Look, I'm as ready as anyone to accept huge magical effects in this setting, but this is just too much!
The Black Sea has a surface area of 436,400 km2 (168,500 sq mi) (not including the Sea of Azov.) Lava, the proper term for liquid magma that reaches the surface, has a temperature that runs from 800 to 1,200° C (1,470 to 2,190° F). Normally, lava quickly cools into various fun forms of igneous rock. But here we're told the liquid state is constant. This is going to have extraordinary effects on every land that borders the Death Sea.
For starters, there is going to be a dead zone extending many miles from the coast. The heat, poisonous gasses, and just the ground being baked into fired clay pottery will kill everything. But that's minor compared to the climatic nightmare this would cause. As we all know, hot air rises. The air over this huge area will become superheated and rise quickly, creating an ungodly low-pressure system over the entire area. A book on climatology I read described Earth's atmosphere as desperately seeking to achieve equal pressure across the globe, but being constantly foiled by uneven heating and terrain.
Imagine the massive, constant hurricane-force winds rushing to the Death Sea. The collision of this relatively cool air and the already-heated air over the lava we'll create endless storm fronts that spiral off spawning tornados and world-shattering dry thunderstorms. The near-vacuum at the center of the sea will be a fountain of superheated air that will spread out and fall as it cools, creating storms hundreds if not thousands of miles from the sea.
Seen from space, the Death Sea would be akin to Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a never-ending cyclonic storm covering a huge area. Oh, did I mention that? Cloud cover that blots out the sun for years at a time. Given all this, most Kaers in Barsaive would open their gates, take three steps outside, and say "Well, this sucks" before resealing the gates and going back to work on 101 Ways To Spice Up Your Mushroom Stew.
Later retcons reduced the lava area to a few hundred miles around the Crimean Peninsula. But still, you have the same issues. Kīlauea showed an impact on the weather of the Big Island during its decades-long eruption. So we need a better fix.
I, of course, have one.
Let's put a Kaer on the Crimea right where Sevastopol exists. During the Time of Horrors, the Sorcerors maintaining the defenses also developed a doomsday device, a magical retribution strike that brought E=mc² into play. When a Horror did breach the defenses, the spell was triggered. Kaer, Horror, and a huge amount of territory vanished in an instant. What was left was a massive volcanic rift system that has grown to Mt. Doom proportions. The seabed cracked for hundreds of miles, releasing natural gases that ignite when they reach the surface.
So the Sea of Death becomes the Sea of Blue Fire. Life along the shoreline is still stunted and twisted, and the entire area stinks of rotten eggs and death. Sailing the affected areas is dangerous, not just because of the constant threat of fire (remember, these flames are still magical even if they come from a natural source) but because every so often a huge bubble of gas comes to the surface and explodes. Just being caught by the bubble can break your keel.
Closer to the site of the destroyed Kaer, the threat of volcanic activities rises. Plus, vengeful ghosts, Horror-touched monsters drawn to the inherent magical aura of the area, and a dragon. Because I need at least one Greater Wyrm in this place. What might be really fun is to drop clues that the Sorceror-Kings of that Kaer also built the magical equivalent of an aircraft's flight data box, holding their greatest secrets, including how to replicate the spell that destroyed the Kaer.
But there is a major issue. On the campaign map, the Black Sea has been replaced by a gigantic volcanic caldera. It is explicitly stated that this Death Sea fills the Black Sea's basin. Which creates huge problems when doing worldbuilding. Look, I'm as ready as anyone to accept huge magical effects in this setting, but this is just too much!
The Black Sea has a surface area of 436,400 km2 (168,500 sq mi) (not including the Sea of Azov.) Lava, the proper term for liquid magma that reaches the surface, has a temperature that runs from 800 to 1,200° C (1,470 to 2,190° F). Normally, lava quickly cools into various fun forms of igneous rock. But here we're told the liquid state is constant. This is going to have extraordinary effects on every land that borders the Death Sea.
For starters, there is going to be a dead zone extending many miles from the coast. The heat, poisonous gasses, and just the ground being baked into fired clay pottery will kill everything. But that's minor compared to the climatic nightmare this would cause. As we all know, hot air rises. The air over this huge area will become superheated and rise quickly, creating an ungodly low-pressure system over the entire area. A book on climatology I read described Earth's atmosphere as desperately seeking to achieve equal pressure across the globe, but being constantly foiled by uneven heating and terrain.
Imagine the massive, constant hurricane-force winds rushing to the Death Sea. The collision of this relatively cool air and the already-heated air over the lava we'll create endless storm fronts that spiral off spawning tornados and world-shattering dry thunderstorms. The near-vacuum at the center of the sea will be a fountain of superheated air that will spread out and fall as it cools, creating storms hundreds if not thousands of miles from the sea.
Seen from space, the Death Sea would be akin to Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a never-ending cyclonic storm covering a huge area. Oh, did I mention that? Cloud cover that blots out the sun for years at a time. Given all this, most Kaers in Barsaive would open their gates, take three steps outside, and say "Well, this sucks" before resealing the gates and going back to work on 101 Ways To Spice Up Your Mushroom Stew.
Later retcons reduced the lava area to a few hundred miles around the Crimean Peninsula. But still, you have the same issues. Kīlauea showed an impact on the weather of the Big Island during its decades-long eruption. So we need a better fix.
I, of course, have one.
Let's put a Kaer on the Crimea right where Sevastopol exists. During the Time of Horrors, the Sorcerors maintaining the defenses also developed a doomsday device, a magical retribution strike that brought E=mc² into play. When a Horror did breach the defenses, the spell was triggered. Kaer, Horror, and a huge amount of territory vanished in an instant. What was left was a massive volcanic rift system that has grown to Mt. Doom proportions. The seabed cracked for hundreds of miles, releasing natural gases that ignite when they reach the surface.
So the Sea of Death becomes the Sea of Blue Fire. Life along the shoreline is still stunted and twisted, and the entire area stinks of rotten eggs and death. Sailing the affected areas is dangerous, not just because of the constant threat of fire (remember, these flames are still magical even if they come from a natural source) but because every so often a huge bubble of gas comes to the surface and explodes. Just being caught by the bubble can break your keel.
Closer to the site of the destroyed Kaer, the threat of volcanic activities rises. Plus, vengeful ghosts, Horror-touched monsters drawn to the inherent magical aura of the area, and a dragon. Because I need at least one Greater Wyrm in this place. What might be really fun is to drop clues that the Sorceror-Kings of that Kaer also built the magical equivalent of an aircraft's flight data box, holding their greatest secrets, including how to replicate the spell that destroyed the Kaer.
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Date: 24 Jan 2023 12:50 (UTC)