The Diaemus Project

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

I like Lumatites or Lumanites. Even more, though, I like them having different names in different cultures and languages. We have 3 major races (humans, raptors, and arachnids - although it's not fully settled yet). Each of these is going to have multiple culture groups, with empires, kingdoms, tries, and so on. Each is going to have multiple, maybe many languages. Each is going to approach their magic in a different way. That's my take, at least.

 

Yeah, but I have a compulsive desire to invent lingo whenever we're dealing with something like this.  It's our lingo, uh... dawg, not the peoples'. Also: Lumuoles. Keeps the pronunciation but changes the weird spelling. Or, well, meh...

 

Everyone knows so much more than me.

 

A professional's map is probably going to be a lot better than one I make, so I can't be too disappointed. I would really really like to at least draw one of the races, though. 

 

I like the "Mineral Model." Though, it wouldn't have to be exactly the same definition of mineral, would it? For example, could perhaps there be some more ways of there being minerals than there are on earth. Like, they're more abundant than on Earth?

 

 

I wish I knew more stuff! Everyone is so smart!

 

Pretty much everything I (at least) know about science comes from Nova and the internet. I wanna know about types of islands? Well, there was that episode on Zealandia that I watched, so I'll just supplement it by googling it. Bam. I'm already an islandographin... an islandogrephe... an islandenamagraphe... a guy who knows stuff about islands.

 

 

 

My random input on those biomes: Those temperate forests don't seem right unless your planet axis tilt is upside down.

 

We owe our seasons to Earth's axial tilt. It determines not only seasons, but biomes distribution by interfering with the temperatures, which are linked to the sunlight falloff on the planet's surface. It's true it's hot at the Equator, but the temperature at 20º to the north of the Equator isn't the same of the temperature 20º to south.

 

If I remember it right, tilted planets kinda "wobble" like top toys. Earth receives a more constant sunlight at South than North. The Tropic of Capricorn is over a region of constant temperature, while Cancer sees an extreme variation. It's possible to find tropical biomes at South where you'd find temperate ones if you moved the same distance north.

 

 

You planet would have tropical forests where your temperate forests are, or, to keep the mostly the same biomes, it'd either have higher altitudes where those forests are or be tilted the other way around, if it's not the rest of your universe upside down.

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by Sera, Today, 02:47

 

I'm sure Jerric is happy for the feedback.

[Lindel he/him]

As I've mentioned previously, my vote is with the "lumin" model. (Lumin, lumule, luminite?)

Although, as Seonid pointed out, it might actually be possible to combine the mineral and microorganism models. If the source is a specific element that the microorganisms were capable of filtering to access the power... That could work.

I'm also in favor of some concrete guidelines as to what the magic actually does, but this is Brandon Sanderson's fansite, so I think we're probably all in agreement there.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

I'm also in favor of some concrete guidelines as to what the magic actually does, but this is Brandon Sanderson's fansite, so I think we're probably all in agreement there.

 

Right. No Sword-of-Truth-esque magical reveals.

[Sir Jerric he/him]

Well, since you asked (and I hate to ruin your beautiful map with my pathetic scribbles,) here are some suggestions for islands on the west coast. The size is probably way off here, so I probably wouldn't worry to much about the specific islands I've suggested, just the general trends, maybe?

 

 

-The ones with an arrow labeled "SB" pointing in their general direction are a range of subductive islands straddling the west coast of the continent. In the center-ish area of this chain is a large, compact group of these islands, which could potentially support an independent civilization.

-SC denotes a partially submerged continent. I suggested two of these: One is pretty close to the large subductive archipelago and the other is near the equator. These continents could be bastions for unique species that have long-since become extinct on the mainland.

-VC denotes an area with a particularly thin shelf seperating it from the mantle, making it prone to volcanic activity and, thus, a bunch of tiny islands. These would be mostly disparate with a handful of small chains which could be home to some proto-empires.

 

So yeah, I could see the western ocean as being Diaemus' equivalent of the Pacific. How about you guys?

 

EDIT: Oh! And by the way, we need a word for the little balls of light... Diaedites? Diaemites? Lumules? Verdates? These are bad names... actually, I sort of like Lumules for some reason. More zippers, Lumule!

Yay! Feedback!

*ahem*

But seriously, thanks for the input. The geology aspect is not an area I studied thoroughly, so I appreciate the notes on island styles; that will be quick helpful. If I may ask, is there any particular reason for placing them exclusively along the west-northwest arc?

 

 

My random input on those biomes: Those temperate forests don't seem right unless your planet axis tilt is upside down.

 

We owe our seasons to Earth's axial tilt. It determines not only seasons, but biomes distribution by interfering with the temperatures, which are linked to the sunlight falloff on the planet's surface. It's true it's hot at the Equator, but the temperature at 20º to the north of the Equator isn't the same of the temperature 20º to south.

 

If I remember it right, tilted planets kinda "wobble" like top toys. Earth receives a more constant sunlight at South than North. The Tropic of Capricorn is over a region of constant temperature, while Cancer sees an extreme variation. It's possible to find tropical biomes at South where you'd find temperate ones if you moved the same distance north.

 

[image removed for space]

 

You planet would have tropical forests where your temperate forests are, or, to keep the mostly the same biomes, it'd either have higher altitudes where those forests are or be tilted the other way around, if it's not the rest of your universe upside down.

Yay! More feedback!

*ahem*

Thanks a bunch for putting some thought into this. Nice to have someone watching closely.

 

First question: What does an upside-down axial tilt look like?

Second question: As I understand it, the biomes in the system I used are labeled by temperature and precipitation patterns, and boundaries are defined by the native flora distributions. Am I incorrect?

Third question: When you trace the two Tropics on Earth, which crosses more ocean? Which crosses more continuous land?

Fourth question: When you trace what is visible of the southern Tropic on Diaemus, which is the better comparison? (For reference, the Tropic is on the sixth latitude line south of the marked equator.)

 

Not a question: On the wobbling axis point, I did refer to that back in this post, but nobody replied before. I don't suppose you'd have any thoughts on how such a proposal might impact the climate of a planet like this? Please?

---

@Maill: Perhaps I can interest you in the cultural implications of the wobbling-axis / extended-season phenomenon? How would people design their calendars in such a scenario? How do you handle the famine potentials?

 

 

I don't know... I think we can be original without having to be sort of, well, weird (but it's probably just me.) We need more people to express their opinions in this, though. The more democratic this thread is, the better this world is probably going to be.

[snip]

Again, the more people talk about this, the better.

 

@Mckeedee123 and Lindel: I heartily agree with having more people talk, but I don't favor the democratic model. Equal votes leads to averaging out and compromising.

 

The original proposal for this project was to give everyone autocratic control over a region and let them negotiate the intersections with each other. More chaotic, but more supportive of creativity. You are welcome to pursue all of your own ideas, even when someone else prefers a different direction. You can make your own races, flora, fauna, and history, and then create border conflicts with your neighbors.

 

This business of creating shared dominant races is fine too, but nobody has to use them in their regions. For the magic system, I can easily see the Sandersonite bias. If everyone wants to create a shared source material or whatever to give a feeling of cohesion, that is fine. But I would ask that people leave enough flexibility for everyone to explore their own ideas for powers and limitations.

 

@ the Magic Models debate: Can't we use both (all) models at once? What if the glowing magic bugs shed their carapaces from time to time, and those provide a magic "mineral" component to the environment? Trampled into forest loam, floated down streams, ground into sandy beaches, washed into piles in rocky crevices and buried (fossilized). Various concentrations, mixed mediums, and stronger ecological cycles.

 

And that "hard" magic vs. "soft" magic business: I think you all are really overusing the terminology. "Hard magic" makes good tools for solving story problems. "Soft magic" makes colorful and interesting messes to be cleaned up.

 

For the worldbuilding that we are doing, neither matters. What you are working on during worldbuilding is costs, ramifications, and consequences. "Hard" or "soft" is a plotting question. The main questions come in the form of "If _this_, then what changes?"

 

[end rant]

Sorry. You've been driving me up a wall.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Yay! Feedback!

*ahem*

But seriously, thanks for the input. The geology aspect is not an area I studied thoroughly, so I appreciate the notes on island styles; that will be quick helpful. If I may ask, is there any particular reason for placing them exclusively along the west-northwest arc?

 

 

@Mckeedee123 and Lindel: I heartily agree with having more people talk, but I don't favor the democratic model. Equal votes leads to averaging out and compromising.

 

The original proposal for this project was to give everyone autocratic control over a region and let them negotiate the intersections with each other. More chaotic, but more supportive of creativity. You are welcome to pursue all of your own ideas, even when someone else prefers a different direction. You can make your own races, flora, fauna, and history, and then create border conflicts with your neighbors.

 

This business of creating shared dominant races is fine too, but nobody has to use them in their regions. For the magic system, I can easily see the Sandersonite bias. If everyone wants to create a shared source material or whatever to give a feeling of cohesion, that is fine. But I would ask that people leave enough flexibility for everyone to explore their own ideas for powers and limitations.

 

@ the Magic Models debate: Can't we use both (all) models at once? What if the glowing magic bugs shed their carapaces from time to time, and those provide a magic "mineral" component to the environment? Trampled into forest loam, floated down streams, ground into sandy beaches, washed into piles in rocky crevices and buried (fossilized). Various concentrations, mixed mediums, and stronger ecological cycles.

 

And that "hard" magic vs. "soft" magic business: I think you all are really overusing the terminology. "Hard magic" makes good tools for solving story problems. "Soft magic" makes colorful and interesting messes to be cleaned up.

 

For the worldbuilding that we are doing, neither matters. What you are working on during worldbuilding is costs, ramifications, and consequences. "Hard" or "soft" is a plotting question. The main questions come in the form of "If _this_, then what changes?"

 

[end rant]

Sorry. You've been driving me up a wall.

 

Nope. I just wanted for the world to have at least one ocean brimming with islands. The rest of it is up to you (or anybody else who cares.)

 

As to the democratic thing, I didn't mean, well, voting. I just thought I noticed a pattern where an idea was suggested, one or two people voiced agreement, then it was assumed that was the general opinion and people were hesitant to argue with it. I just want to make sure everybody expresses themselves fully.

[Young Bard he/him]

Okay... In terms of lumuoles vs. minerals, how about this? (P.S. This is just an expansion of what Sir Jerric said.)

 

So lumuoles, for whatever reason, have gained access to 'magic'. It's not one particular kind of magic, it's just sort of... there. However, when it dies, it's magic begins to 'leak' into the ground surrounding it, eventually reaching mineral deposits. From there, depending on what kind of mineral it reaches, it alters the form of magic to whatever.

 

I know that sounds a bit Mistborn-y, but I think that's as good a compromise as we're going to get. It means that theoretically, people still have access to lumuoles and minerals without them being mutually exclusive. What do you guys think?

 

Also, Venture, is this the area you wanted? I haven't given you the whole area of the yellow just yet, but if no-one else puts their hand up for that, I'll adjust it.

 

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I'll work on it, Jerric.

Bard, did you see my comment about the part that I would like. It's actually in the northern part of the large continent.

[Young Bard he/him]

Yes, but the area you originally indicated wasn't jungle, it was rainforest, which made me slightly confused. Do you want me to put you in the rainforest instead? (Just a note, rainforests are dark green, jungles are blue-green).

 

Edited September 19, 2015 by TheYoungBard

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

So lumuoles, for whatever reason, have gained access to 'magic'. It's not one particular kind of magic, it's just sort of... there. However, when it dies, it's magic begins to 'leak' into the ground surrounding it, eventually reaching mineral deposits. From there, depending on what kind of mineral it reaches, it alters the form of magic to whatever.

 

Well, Jerric brought up a few good points to refocus things, and yeah. We need to structure the thing in such a way that people can do whatever they want with magic, including this, in their respective regions.

 

That being said, we obviously need to have a codified "base" for the magic system before we can get into our individual worldbuilding, so right now, I have this:

 

-Outside the realm of human perception, there exists a spiritual plane filled with magic. This leaks into the world in random places on the land. The type and intensity of the magic coming out of this "leak," as well as the leak's size, vary wildly.

-The only beings that can access this magic are a class of bioluminescent single-celled organisms called "Lumuoles," who use it as an energy source. Lumuoles are usually found as large groups of pinprick-sized colonies, floating through the air.

-Lumuoles can be found as different colors based on the type of magic leaking out: Red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, and white are the most common. White Lumuoles don't glow and even large colonies are nigh imperceptible.

-The unique residue from Lumuole colonies' methods of glucose production can be used by organisms to do magic "stuff" when ingested, with the exception of the residue of White Lumuoles, which needs to mix with silicon before it becomes a viable magic source. Each species of Lumuoles' residue is slightly different.

-A large portion of the continent is covered with massive, weak, sources of the type of magic leak that powers White Lumuoles. Over millions of years, the failed colonies that fall to the ground become fossilized in veins or are absorbed into the soil, mixing with silicon to become usable.

-Great Lumuoles appear extremely rarely, and their ingestion links an organism permanently to one of the six corresponding sections of the spiritual plane. Its descendants will have unique abilities and powers, and it will be able to influence the physical world after its death.

 

I think... that's it. Again If anyone cares to voice an objection, I beg of you to do so, but I think this codification is open to interpretation in all the right places.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Zathoth]

I love the name of lumuoles.

 

How about this: Different kinds of lumoules are attracted to certain things (kind of like spren), green lumoules are attracted to plants, brown lumounes are attracted to a certain kind of mineral and so on.

 

Or if we are going with the only one kind of lumoune we can have specific things that attracts them. The mountains have a certain kind of mineral that attracts lumoune (Lumounite?) the woods have a certain kind of fruit that only grows on very tall trees, theres lumoune in the clouds which means that there is an abundance of lumoune after a rainfall and so on.

 

Opinions?

 

 

 

 

PS. I had the idea of giant, sabertoothed half-plant tigers before falling asleep last night, just thought that was a cool idea.

[+Slowswift]

Tell me when you're done with all this hardcore biology-geography stuff, so I can actually offer input.

[Young Bard he/him]

I love the name of lumuoles.

 

How about this: Different kinds of lumoules are attracted to certain things (kind of like spren), green lumoules are attracted to plants, brown lumounes are attracted to a certain kind of mineral and so on.

 

Or if we are going with the only one kind of lumoune we can have specific things that attracts them. The mountains have a certain kind of mineral that attracts lumoune (Lumounite?) the woods have a certain kind of fruit that only grows on very tall trees, theres lumoune in the clouds which means that there is an abundance of lumoune after a rainfall and so on.

 

Opinions?

 

I'll start a poll about all of this as soon as a Diaemus subforum is up, just for clarity. I know that a lot of people are tossing around ideas at the minute, but there seem to be more theories than people at the minute (which is perfectly fine, by the way. Early stages, and all of that.)

 

In response to this specific theory, I'd just like a clarification. Do the lumuoles 'leak' magic into the minerals, plants, etc. or do they just stand nearby. I think the former would be better, as it allows the magic to influence the biology to a certain extent, which seems to be a popular idea on this thread.

 

But if that's the case, then it seems to imply that the lumuoles have either create magic from somewhere or gather it. Gathering it would require it migrating from - somewhere, and creating it would require a process sort of similar to photosynthesis, where you input a number of properties, and get... magic.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

I love the name of lumuoles.

How about this: Different kinds of lumoules are attracted to certain things (kind of like spren), green lumoules are attracted to plants, brown lumounes are attracted to a certain kind of mineral and so on.

Or if we are going with the only one kind of lumoune we can have specific things that attracts them. The mountains have a certain kind of mineral that attracts lumoune (Lumounite?) the woods have a certain kind of fruit that only grows on very tall trees, theres lumoune in the clouds which means that there is an abundance of lumoune after a rainfall and so on.

Opinions?

PS. I had the idea of giant, sabertoothed half-plant tigers before falling asleep last night, just thought that was a cool idea.

 

I intentionally left the "spiritual realm" thing as pretty vague in this attempt at codification. Basically, we don't know what the heck is going on over there, but some amount of magic is leaking through somehow and it changes Lumuole distribution over on this end. Perhaps in one of your areas, that's how leaking works. Perhaps in one of my areas, leaking tends to happen in places where feats of magic have been performed by ascended spirits. This system is pretty user-friendly, for us worldbuilders.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Zathoth]

I'll start a poll about all of this as soon as a Diaemus subforum is up, just for clarity. I know that a lot of people are tossing around ideas at the minute, but there seem to be more theories than people at the minute (which is perfectly fine, by the way. Early stages, and all of that.)

 

In response to this specific theory, I'd just like a clarification. Do the lumuoles 'leak' magic into the minerals, plants, etc. or do they just stand nearby. I think the former would be better, as it allows the magic to influence the biology to a certain extent, which seems to be a popular idea on this thread.

 

But if that's the case, then it seems to imply that the lumuoles have either create magic from somewhere or gather it. Gathering it would require it migrating from - somewhere, and creating it would require a process sort of similar to photosynthesis, where you input a number of properties, and get... magic.

Well, I have no idea XD I guess those plants or whatever could be the portals.

 

 

I intentionally left the "spiritual realm" thing as pretty vague in this attempt at codification. Basically, we don't know what the heck is going on over there, but some amount of magic is leaking through somehow and it changes Lumuole distribution over on this end. Perhaps in one of your areas, that's how leaking works. Perhaps in one of my areas, leaking tends to happen in places where feats of magic have been performed by ascended spirits. This system ispretty user-friendly, for us worldbuilders.

I tried to merge the minerals and lumounes ideas together, the argument for minerals was that they would be harder to reach so it would make the races different in evolving so they could reach the lumounes (Confused sentence).

 

Anyway Im down for your idea, I like it a lot.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Yes, but the area you originally indicated wasn't jungle, it was rainforest, which made me slightly confused. Do you want me to put you in the rainforest instead? (Just a note, rainforests are dark green, jungles are blue-green).

35ddf027fec68132570901b79309ff59 v2.png

Ah, got it. I wasn't sure of the difference there. That's the area I was thinking of. I'm wondering if I might change it though to a more plains next to a forest area.

[Sera]

@Winter Cloud and @Mailliw73
Don't feel that way, we're just enthusiasts. You bet my education level didn't play a part on my understanding of geography, planets and other crazy stuff, only my age—I had more time to research stuff like this than you! =P

It's about being curious. It's darn useful to develop the habit of mulling over how stuff works if you want to work (or is a hobbyist) in creative fields like writing or painting.

 

---

 

Yay! More feedback!
*ahem*
Thanks a bunch for putting some thought into this. Nice to have someone watching closely.
 
First question: What does an upside-down axial tilt look like?
Second question: As I understand it, the biomes in the system I used are labeled by temperature and precipitation patterns, and boundaries are defined by the native flora distributions. Am I incorrect?
Third question: When you trace the two Tropics on Earth, which crosses more ocean? Which crosses more continuous land?
Fourth question: When you trace what is visible of the southern Tropic on Diaemus, which is the better comparison? (For reference, the Tropic is on the sixth latitude line south of the marked equator.)
 
Not a question: On the wobbling axis point, I did refer to that back in this post, but nobody replied before. I don't suppose you'd have any thoughts on how such a proposal might impact the climate of a planet like this? Please?

No problem!
 
First question: It would look like my second picture, upside-down. I'm calling it "inverted", but saying it's a tilt greater than 90º would be more accurate. Earth's tilt is 23.4º, to get the upside down equivalent the tilt would be 156.6º (180º, which is half circle, minus 23.4º). Instead of wobbling at the top, the planet would wobble at the bottom.
 
(Note: Since this world is fictional you kinda get to pick where your North and South are, so don't worry about ending with the continent in the Northern Hemisphere when working on the axis, just pretend it was the Southern Hemisphere all along. =P)
 
Second question: You're correct. Biomes with similar climate, animals and plants can still vary a lot. E.g.: The tropical forests from Brazil are nothing like the ones from Malasya, the height of trees, the size of animals, the predators and critters, they're all different. You can still have a hell of a lot of fun with ecosystems after picking a given temperature/moisture.
 
Third question: If my geographic knowledge doesn't fail me, Capricorn (southern, hotter) crosses a wider stretch of ocean, and Cancer crosses more continuous land.
 
Fourth question: Again, if I'm not wrong, the tropics position depend on your planetary axial tilt; they're linked to the solstices. My lazyass solution to trace a tropic would see where the sun rays hit the planet at a 90º angle when the planet is in solstice position (perfectly tilted in relation to the sun). (Example)
 
The opposite tropic will be a mirrored version of your tropic 01. If you're going to use that trick, for the sake of simplicity consider all the sun rays as horizontal lines, not a radial-shaped emission.

__
I wasn't around around when you posted about the wobbling. I particularly like eccentric seasons, but you shouldn't count my vote—I don't intend to fiddle with Dieamus. I just stumbled on this topic when exploring the forum. I also should mention my knowledge on such matters is full of holes. I'm just a way too curious enthusiast.
 
I think a bigger tilt gives you more drastic seasons, but I don't think it can give a three years season. All seasons will still be contained inside a single year, because per definition a solar year is a full cycle (e.g; solstice to solstice). They can only be more or less accentuated. To give you a real life example of "different" seasons: The Northern Hemisphere can see snow in winter. You see clearly defined seasons in these places: sunny summer, falling-leaves autumn, frozen winter, rebirth of life in spring.
 
Then you look at the Southern Hemisphere. I live there, exactly under the Tropic of Capricorn, where temperatures are fairly constant and seasons are boring less drastic. You see the infernal and rainy summer, the second summer, I mean, autumn, the drier and colder (not even close to snow) winter, the slightly hotter spring. That's why our tropical forests are evergreen and no animal hibernates. There's absolutely no need for that, because temperatures never drop low enough to become harmful to them.
 
Anyway, to get seasons spanning several years you modify the orbit of the planet. You can make it more eccentric (oval and closer to sun at one edge), you can do your planet orbit a binary system (two suns), etc. There are many ways to make something as harsh as GRRMartin's winter plausible.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Tell me when you're done with all this hardcore biology-geography stuff, so I can actually offer input.

 

I think that it basically is done. Provided everyone thinks that they could work their ideas into this magic system, we can probably just put this whole thing temporarily to rest.

 

Actually, I'm going to change it to say that there are seven main types of Lumuoles, so that people can make new ones if they feel so inclined.

 

EDIT: Ooh! by the way, can I have a coastal chunk of the red biome on the western end of the continent? Waterfront property, baby!

 

Which of those islands are you planning to include, Jerric?

Edited September 19, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Kobold King he/him]

I am already lost in this labyrinth of brilliance.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I'd actually like to change my area to that of the tropical forest(light green) area from the east coast to the west, where the water cuts into the land. If that makes no sense, let me know.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

So, I'm starting to do some worldbuilding on the Torbud Empire, and how are we going to figure dates in Diaemus?

Edited September 19, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Edgedancer he/him]

Might I throw in one last point about what bugs me with the microorganism idea? Namely it seems like a concept biased from a viewpoint based within evolution on earth, aka. these races would have evolved essentially like on earth and then adapted to the magic. However, unless this setting was artifically created I have problems seeing that because life shouldn't have evolved mainly as on earth but it should have evolved as on Diaemus and on Diaemus microorganism (meaning organic lifeforms) can create magic, so what happened?

Did the magic stuff evolve, even though it had no advantage from it whatsoever and did so long before life was capable of actually entering a symbiosis to support it, did they get an advantage for it but for some reason evolution didn't follow survival of the fittest and the not magical part of life evolved or did the magical part of life evolve but then lost its ability to metabolize raw magic, even though there was no better alternative?
To put it into perspective, this is like all the (higher) creatures on earth not being able to drink water directly, so they first have to fish these weird things out of the water, squeeze some kind of liquid out of them and then drink that. Case in point, we didn't evolve with such an extra link in our ecosystem.

I'd vote that if you guys want to keep something like this, then we at least make them more seperated from biology/evolution and make them entirely magical in nature. Although to be fair, given that we are on a Sanderson fan-site I have a hard time not thinking of these things as a blander/less cohesive version of Spren already, they even have the luminescent glow of Stormlight.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Edgedancer

[Young Bard he/him]

@Mailliw: Do you still want mountains in your area, or not? (I know the general area you're talking about, I just need to sort out details.)

[Sir Jerric he/him]

@Sera: Thank you for the detailed replies. Now that I have a better handle on our mutual experience levels, I'll make some more direct responses. I prefer the question-based approach, but with this long of posts, trying to clarify by roundabout is going to take a huge amount of time (and I'm supposed to be detailing coastlines ). So I hope you'll forgive me if any of the following reads in an aggressive tone, and please know that you are welcome to call me on any errors I make. After all, "Yay! Feedback!"

No problem!
 
First question: It would look like my second picture, upside-down. I'm calling it "inverted", but saying it's a tilt greater than 90º would be more accurate. Earth's tilt is 23.4º, to get the upside down equivalent the tilt would be 156.6º (180º, which is half circle, minus 23.4º). Instead of wobbling at the top, the planet would wobble at the bottom.
 
(Note: Since this world is fictional you kinda get to pick where your North and South are, so don't worry about ending with the continent in the Northern Hemisphere when working on the axis, just pretend it was the Southern Hemisphere all along. =P)

Any object suspended by the pull of gravity is going to wobble at its center of mass. The axis in your picture is imaginary on a planet, nor does it have a surface on which to dance.

 

Even disregarding that, the northern hemisphere has summer when the north pole tilts toward the sun (as shown here). If we wobble the axis to tilt the opposite way at every point in the orbit, the effect is a reverse of the seasons (as shown here).

 

I personally pick "Sun rises in the east" and layout the compass from there. Magnets don't define things well enough, since the magnetic polarity of a planet is independent of its spin (Earth's polarity is expected to switch at some uncertain interval.). As drawn, this is definitely a southern continent.
 

Second question: You're correct. Biomes with similar climate, animals and plants can still vary a lot. E.g.: The tropical forests from Brazil are nothing like the ones from Malasya, the height of trees, the size of animals, the predators and critters, they're all different. You can still have a hell of a lot of fun with ecosystems after picking a given temperature/moisture.

Right, right. Good, good. You have a handle on this subject.
 

Third question: If my geographic knowledge doesn't fail me, Capricorn (southern, hotter) crosses a wider stretch of ocean, and Cancer crosses more continuous land.

Right again. Why was that important?
 

Fourth question: Again, if I'm not wrong, the tropics position depend on your planetary axial tilt; they're linked to the solstices. My lazyass solution to trace a tropic would see where the sun rays hit the planet at a 90º angle when the planet is in solstice position (perfectly tilted in relation to the sun). (Example)
 
The opposite tropic will be a mirrored version of your tropic 01. If you're going to use that trick, for the sake of simplicity consider all the sun rays as horizontal lines, not a radial-shaped emission.

Right again, though this didn't quite answer the question. Again, why did I ask what I did?
 

__
I wasn't around around when you posted about the wobbling. I particularly like eccentric seasons, but you shouldn't count my vote—I don't intend to fiddle with Dieamus. I just stumbled on this topic when exploring the forum. I also should mention my knowledge on such matters is full of holes. I'm just a way too curious enthusiast.
 
I think a bigger tilt gives you more drastic seasons, but I don't think it can give a three years season. All seasons will still be contained inside a single year, because per definition a solar year is a full cycle (e.g; solstice to solstice). They can only be more or less accentuated.

I (as I expressed) don't consider anyone's vote. I consider their logic. I want feedback to make sure that I haven't ignored something important, or that I haven't gotten something completely wrong.

 

Yes, a bigger tilt increases seasonal variation and moves the tropics and the wind patterns. And no, it would not give longer seasons.

 

A solar year, when I Googled it, is unfortunately ambiguous. The more precise term for what I wanted was a sidereal year (measured by the other stars). A tropical year is summer solstice to summer solstice. Either can be called a solar year.

 

I did not propose changing the degree of tilt through the sidereal year. I proposed wobbling the direction of the tilt during the sidereal year. Depending on the direction and pace of the wobble, seasons would be either shorter or longer (though all four are still near-equal in duration in all cases).
 

To give you a real life example of "different" seasons: The Northern Hemisphere can see snow in winter. You see clearly defined seasons in these places: sunny summer, falling-leaves autumn, frozen winter, rebirth of life in spring.

 

Then you look at the Southern Hemisphere. I live there, exactly under the Tropic of Capricorn, where temperatures are fairly constant and seasons are boring less drastic. You see the infernal and rainy summer, the second summer, I mean, autumn, the drier and colder (not even close to snow) winter, the slightly hotter spring. That's why our tropical forests are evergreen and no animal hibernates. There's absolutely no need for that, because temperatures never drop low enough to become harmful to them.

Having lived in both central and eastern North America, I've seen a lot of seasons. I currently live in a light blue region, if you are curious.

 

So, the reason for the third and fourth questions. The fact of "Southern Hemisphere" is not the cause of those biome layouts. The hemispheres are mirrored. Allow me to quote my old textbook, since this one line talked me into toying with (a series of) southern mega-continents in the first place:

 

The severe midlatitude climates occur only in the Northern Hemisphere because the Southern Hemisphere has limited landmasses at the appropriate latitudes---between 40° and 70°.

The reason Earth's Southern Hemisphere is warmer is because the landmasses are skinny and concentrated northward. As soon as I saw that, I wanted a setting in which people traveled north to find a warmer clime. (And then Brandon Sanderson wrote one.)

 

I like fantasies that mess with little assumptions like "the south is warmer." Seriously, who questions that? (As I noted above, "the sun rises in the west" is technically invalid to the best of my research, so please don't do that unless you have a REALLY good argument.)
 

Anyway, to get seasons spanning several years you modify the orbit of the planet. You can make it more eccentric (oval and closer to sun at one edge), you can do your planet orbit a binary system (two suns), etc. There are many ways to make something as harsh as GRRMartin's winter plausible.

Those are orbits I do not want to mess with, because there are a lot of extra consequences, identifying which I know I will fall woefully short on. Wobbles are plenty of trouble as it is.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Sir Jerric

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Might I throw in one last point about what bugs me with the microorganism idea? Namely it seems like a concept biased from a viewpoint based within evolution on earth, aka. these races would have evolved essentially like on earth and then adapted to the magic. However, unless this setting was artifically created I have problems seeing that because life shouldn't have evolved mainly as on earth but it should have evolved as on Diaemus and on Diaemus microorganism (meaning organic lifeforms) can create magic, so what happened?

Did the magic stuff evolve, even though it had no advantage from it whatsoever and did so long before life was capable of actually entering a symbiosis to support it, did they get an advantage for it but for some reason evolution didn't follow survival of the fittest and the not magical part of life evolved or did the magical part of life evolve but then lost its ability to metabolize raw magic, even though there was no better alternative?

To put it into perspective, this is like all the (higher) creatures on earth not being able to drink water directly, so they first have to fish these weird things out of the water, squeeze some kind of liquid out of them and then drink that. Case in point, we didn't evolve with such an extra link in our ecosystem.

I'd vote that if you guys want to keep something like this, then we at least make them more seperated from biology/evolution and make them entirely magical in nature. Although to be fair, given that we are on a Sanderson fan-site I have a hard time not thinking of these things as a blander/less cohesive version of Spren already, they even have the luminescent glow of Stormlight.

 

I guess I've sort of been working with the assumption that life on Diaemus was created somehow rather than evolving, because of, yes, stuff like this. Not to say that evolution didn't happen but that life here has been influenced to reach the point it's at. How else could creatures possibly have evolved weird and unique adaptations to use magic with? How else could you have independent sapient species that didn't wipe each other out as they expanded across the planet? (Well, I suppose that if they occupied different niches, it's plausible, actually.)

 

Well, we chose not to acknowledge this one before, apparently, but if it bugs you, the nature of these balls of light is definitely mutable. I assume nobody has any problems with removing the biological aspect, correct? 

Edited September 19, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Edgedancer he/him]

Huh, makes more sense, in that case shouldn't we at least lay down the basics of what created the world and why, before we starting building an ecosystem based on some kind of greater force? (Maybe it's a mix of a space zoo and a relaitiy show )

Edited September 19, 2015 by Edgedancer