The Diaemus Project

[Sera]

I put my reply to Sir Jerric in a spoiler tag because I don't want to detract attention from the ongoing discussion on magic/culture.
 

@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!"
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.

You ended sounding passive-aggressive regardless of your intentions due your roundabout approach. Feel free to be direct, ask the questions you truly want to ask, and state when you feel something is not up for discussion. Two people discussing a matter which actually was never open for discussion is an exercise of futility. My feelings aren't that brittle, but I'm not willing to waste time writing answers you actually wouldn't care about. (:
 

(...)
 

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?

 

I have no idea. You're the one bringing up land and water, you're the only one who can answer why you thought asking such question was 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?

 

It did answer the question. I don't know Dieamus' axial tilt, it's impossible to determine tropics locations without it. Thus I showed how determine any tropic location. The tropics themselves aren't important, it's what they represent (peak insolation).

Now, whether you think it's important or not is up to you.
 

(...)
 
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.)
 
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.

I also like to mess with these, and that's precisely the reason I first posted here. The geography of Dieamus + Earth's settings (tilt, etc) would still have a colder North, and I felt people wanted a colder South. I wasn't sure if people were considering south (colder) > north (hotter) or south (colder) > equator (hotter) > north (colder), which would be implausible/break seasons.

I reckon the role of land-water distribution in the southern hemisphere's temperature is being overestimated. We're disagreeing on this point: I'm arguing the south is warmer thanks to other factors. If you consider the land and ocean distribution alone to calculate the overall temperature the southern hemisphere is colder than the northern hemisphere.

Shape has little impact on radiation absorption; area difference does affect it, so does albedo. Since planets aren't flat, the intensity of solar insolation striking one's surface depends on its angle of incidence. Albedo + angle of incidence = havoc.

Quite frankly, I'm not sure if I should drag this discussion further by showing calculated year-round radiation absorption of both hemispheres using the good stuff (material albedo values, lambert's cosine law for land reflectivity at a given angle, fresnel for water reflectivity at a given angle). I'm afraid I'd bore you to death, I'm not even sure if you're familiar with lambert and fresnel concepts.

We're agreeing on "It's possible to have a colder South" for different reasons. Me, due precession orientation (the infamous tilt "wobble"), you, due land area (or shape). Wasn't determining if it's plausible the entire point? If we both agree on it being plausible, and ended with the same climate distribution, that's enough walls of text already.

It's worth mentioning that those exotic seasons are also plausible, but unless two suns are involved in it what causes them would be of little consequence to Diaemus inhabitants. So, yes, let's not go there either.

[Young Bard he/him]

Okay, for the 'Who gets what' map, I have a few things. (And Lindel, it will be a while until we start doing individual work, I'm just trying to make sure that we're ready to go at the end of the group planning stage)

 

Mailliw: I think the area that you mentioned is technically steppes, not desert (but I think it could still work for herding otters). If you have an issue, just say something.

gwslow: Can you see the map to confirm that you're happy with those areas?

Edgedancer: I've temporarily placed you the top half of the main mountain ranges. If you're not happy with that, just let me know. (If you are happy with that, let me know anyway.)

Winter: I need a lot more information than that, Winter. There is dark brown (steppes) and light brown (desert). Then, you can still decide whether you want to be near the coast, etc.

 

[Esaias he/him]

gwslow: Can you see the map to confirm that you're happy with those areas?

I meant the Eastern desert.

[Young Bard he/him]

I meant the Eastern desert.

 

Here?

 

[Sir Jerric he/him]

Sorry, I'm trying to figure out all the map's regions climates. I'm trying to use the Koppler "letter" system to figure it out, but some of the regions placed next to each other wouldn't work, as well as the colors being visually confusing. The Red region one, would guess to be a desert but according to the system found on wikipedia, it's really a more temperate subtropical region. I'm just really confused about the map, and wonder if the colors could be fixed for a more intuitive fit, or for an explanation to be given.

Yeah, I was aware that the map as I shared it was going to be imprecise on this front. Once I get the coastlines and islands done, I'll provide a larger, Koppen-labeled version to make matching the regions to the descriptions simpler. I used the colors of my original textbook, but when I linked to the wiki they had a totally different palette and I just threw up my hands, since I didn't have the time right then.

 

Would you (and others) like me to redo the palette to match the wiki's image while I'm labeling? It won't be too much extra work.

 

@Sera: thanks again for the thoughtful reply. I'm pressed for time at the moment, so I cannot respond in kind just yet, but I do value detailed feedback, and negative feedback more than positive. Since you are concerned about distracting, I'll send a private message later, if that is alright by you?

[Lindel he/him]

Can I have a chunk on the coast of the western desert? Unless I want to run with the dragonfly race, that'd work out better in a rainforest or somesuch. I'll claim the western desert coast for now, but that may be subject to change. I'll let you know my final decision by Monday night.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

I'd like to work with the coastal part of the red biome

[The Honey Badger he/him]

@Sir Jerric, If it's not too much trouble that would be great. Thanks!

 

Are there going to be humanoid, non-human races on Diaemus? I have some ideas for those, but I'm not sure if they would fit the world. I really like what is going on, maybe we should start to nail down all the characteristics of our several main races, before giving them a territory to rule over. 

 

I'm under the impression that the three main races thus far are the Arachnids (cool name forth coming), The humans, and the raptors. 

 

Arachnids-

-I'm thinking subterranean or at least in dark, more tropical environments.

- Possibly subsets with venomous pincers ( maybe a venom laced with Lumoles with an abrasive influence)

- I don't believe they would develop the idea of clothes, though it is possible that decorative sashes or something similar could show rank or caste

- I believe that they would value things from the surface or things from the unknown, maybe sea shells. Because they live underground and minerals probably don't mean much to them. 

 

Just some of my thoughts on this race concept.

[Young Bard he/him]

Okay, Lindel & McKeedee, please check that you're OK with the biomes you selected.

 

[Edgedancer he/him]

Okay, Lindel & McKeedee, please check that you're OK with the biomes you selected.

 

Who owns what copy.jpg

I'm okay with that part of the map, thanks, although we are getting a bit bunched up.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

That's fine, though come to think of it, could you also include the section of the steppe immediately above that? (Compressing us even more.  Sorry Edge.)

Edited September 20, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Esaias he/him]

Here?

Yes. Though, moving it closer to the center, right around the place where the orange and the desert meet, would give the other two more space.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

And I can move my area further west so that it's the west coast of the light green with the steppe right across from it.

[Young Bard he/him]

Mailliw, could you elaborate? I'm not completely sure I understand.

 

gwslow & McKeedee: I've edited your parts of the map. Please check if it's acceptable.

 

[Mailliw73 he/him]

There's that steppe land to the west that juts out towards the northeast. A smaller coastal area there with the light green area directly across the water from it.

[Young Bard he/him]

Mailliw: Like this?

 

[Esaias he/him]

gwslow & McKeedee: I've edited your parts of the map. Please check if it's acceptable.

Yep, that works for me. 

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Yep. Thanks!

 

EDIT: By the way, can I bring up the subject of dates again? I'm using a calendar based pretty heavily on our own: The climate shifts that lead to the development of agriculture happen around 10,000 BCE, civilizations start appearing around 3,000 to 2,000 BCE, and the "modern period," the part of history where we'll stop, is 1,000 CE. Does anyone want to do things differently? Including suggesting of a new way to figure dates?

 

EDIT 2: And just a basic summary of my region, for Lindel and Venture. The people in the steppe are called the Sessets. They're pastoral nomads who herd sheep, horses, and snifflers (tapir-like animals that lay eggs.) The tribes are constantly at odds with each other, but they often raid south into the agricultural region. This red region is home to the Torbud Empire, which practices a fire-based system of agriculture (the staple crop, anrulath, is highly fire-resistant, so farmers set fire to the fields periodically to kill off weeds.) It has one of the oldest magical bloodlines in the planet, a family of pyromancers, who rule most of the empire. It developed agriculture independently.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Young Bard he/him]

@McKeedee: You might be interested in reading up more about back burning. It's a technique sometimes used for clearing land, or preventing uncontrolled fires from arising.

[Kobold King he/him]

If it's not too late, I would like to claim the alpine tundra region in the far south. That southernmost outcrop of mountains that extends into the purple region, and maybe a little bit of the tundra around it.

 

Please and thank you.

[Sera]

@Sera: thanks again for the thoughtful reply. I'm pressed for time at the moment, so I cannot respond in kind just yet, but I do value detailed feedback, and negative feedback more than positive. Since you are concerned about distracting, I'll send a private message later, if that is alright by you?

 

Sure. Let me know if you familiar to Lambert's Cosine and specularity in this pm, because they're fundamental in my climate musings and I'll need to explain and show how I'm using them otherwise.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Sera

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Thanks, Bard, that's great.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

If no one has taken it so far, could I have some of the coastal tundra, perhaps extending into the polar region?

[+Slowswift]

As long as it's not a hot, sandy desert, I'm fine...

[Kobold King he/him]

If no one has taken it so far, could I have some of the coastal tundra, perhaps extending into the polar region?

 

We can be polar buddies!