Kobold King

Thank you, everyone! I mean that. Thanks to those of you who've showed enthusiasm for the setting, and doubly thanks to the mathematical wizards who're making the setting feasible. A note of confession: I don't understand any of the mathematics you've gone through, Seonid and Voidus. These kind of calculations are really not my strong suit. I can usually understand the issues involved in astrometrics, but seldom can I comprehend the equations and formulae used to solve them. What I believe I have gathered--and please correct me if I'm misunderstanding anything--is that a Titan-sized moon orbiting at roughly 400, 985 kilometers from a Saturn-sized planet would be feasible, and that it'd orbit well out of the range of extinction-level Ring particulates. In fact the overwhelming majority of Ring particulates would exist between Rimenight and the host planet; assuming a synchronous rotation, I believe this means that the characteristic Rings of Rimenight's sky would only be visible from one side of the moon. A touch disappointing, but nothing serious. If what I think I've gotten from your calculations is correct, then I've got a pretty solid foundation to start worldbuilding from. Once again, I cannot express my gratitude enough! If there's an interest, I'll keep this thread updated with details on Rimenight's flora, fauna, and possibly sapient aboriginals. And of course, if you have anything to add or correct on the astrometry as I currently understand it, don't hesitate to speak up. Or if you want to take me up on the naming offer; there's still room for a Voidus Forest, a Seonid Sea, or practically any other feature someone might want to call dibs on.

Night's Sorrow as an Epic necromancer could be really cool, but isn't there a line in Steelheart about no Epic being able to raise the dead? In context the line may have been referring to the restoration of the soul and personality of a deceased individual, but it'd still be a pretty odd line if there was going to be a necromantic menace in the third book.

Granted. It is possessed by the spirit of Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, rendering it immortal, invincible, and powerful beyond human comprehension. Over the next thirteen years it slowly sucks the life out of your body, turning you into a withered husk of the man you once were. Once it has drained all the life it can from your fetid human form, it subdues the forces of humanity and declares itself the God Pharaoh of the Earth. Happy vaping. I wish to claim the planet Saturn as my personal property, and for the nations of Earth to accept my claim.

That's my motto. For some reason nobody likes playing board games with me. Panda's displayed enough control over his own body that it's my opinion that he could survive, if only barely. He'd probably lose a substantial amount of body mass from the ordeal, but I believe that if he made retreat his priority, he could definitely live. I believe we need to introduce Backtrack to Mommy pronto. Somebody needs a hug.

Wow. I didn't realize I was straying into such overkill territory. Should I edit the post so that the copter just spews bullets into him, or shall we allow Panda to limp away from a bombardment of Hellfire Missiles? Autumn Glass tries not to freak out. Backtrack freaks out. Shiny Sparkle freaks other people out. They make quite the trio.

Granted. Neither you nor your dog possess memory of the last five years. I wish for the ability to telepathically control jellyfish.

His archenemy is the dreaded Me.

Wow. I just want to say that this is one of the most flattering things anyone's ever said to me. That really means a lot to me. I'm glad I could inspire you, Seonid.

The forest frosts around you, but there's a spring in your step. The wood's getting colder by the hour, and already most of the region's larger wildlife has retreated to its dens. Or at least, so you hope; not many of Rimelight's nocturnal fauna have been catalogued yet. Stopping by the shores of an iced over lake, you set your gaze skywards. A mere glance upward justifies this world's name; the sky itself almost seems to have frosted over. Arcs of magnificent icy rings dominate the heavens, appearing in celestial increments around the enormous turquoise globe in the center of the cosmic firmament. Finding yourself beaming once again at the sight, you begin setting up your trusty telescope. There's a lot of ring-gazing to do before the sun rises in twenty more Earth-hours. This is the vague conception I have for a new science fiction worldbuilding project: I am attempting to design a planetary system in which a functioning multicellular ecology could evolve on a shepherd moon. I think I could do some pretty nifty things with the setting, but I need a little guidance on the proper astrometrics of such a system. A shepherd moon is a moon that orbits around the edge of a gas giant's ring system. They may also appear within gaps between the rings. A shepherd moon is defined by the gravitational effect it projects upon the ring particulates--it "herds" the dust and ice particles into sharp, stable shapes like those of Saturn's characteristic rings. Shepherd moons orbit close enough to the rings of their planet that I imagine the view from one would be spectacular; unfortunately, there are a few astronomical issues I'm facing in this world construction. First of all: the moon can't be located too close to the planet itself. The tidal forces of an object as large as a gas giant could literally destroy the moon every other week. If you don't believe me, check out the maps of Io--or the lack thereof. Jupiter's tidal forces, coupled with those of the nearby moons, is enough to bring the moon's magma to the surface and completely restructure the continents on a regular basis. It's hard to imagine carbon-based, water-filled life surviving in such an inhospitable habitat. That means that the moon of Rimenight will need to be an outer shepherd, orbiting far enough away from the planet that the tidal forces don't tear the crust apart like an almond flour pizza crust that's been in the oven too long. But if I position the moon too far away, it could take well over a week to orbit its parent body--thus radically lengthening the day/night cycle. Weeks of day followed by weeks of night could make for a fascinating setting itself, but it isn't at all what I want for Rimenight. I want a day/night cycle no longer than three Earth days. The proper distance from the gas giant would be bewildering enough for me to figure out--but since I want this to be a shepherd moon with a good view of the rings, I'll need to contend with the issue of the moon's "flock." Wikipedia cheerfully informs me that one of the primary mechanisms of a shepherd moon's herding is the accretion of rogue particles from the ring system. Now, "accretion" is just fine for a rocky potato like the ones that pick up rocks as they orbit Saturn, but for a world with a complex ecosystem, "accretion" looks more like this: I'm fine with a few extinction-level impact events on this world. As long as the major impacts are limited to once every thirty million years or so, I can play around with a fascinating Eocene-like ecosystem for this moon's bioregions. But my concern is that a shepherd moon, even one with a thick atmosphere, even one with other moons drawing away fire, would undergo such a massive and continuous pummeling that cellular life, much less multicellular life, might never get the chance the evolve. So in summary: I need to know the habitable zone for a moon orbiting a Saturn-sized gas giant. I also need to know how common and how severe impact events would be over this moon's history. If the answer to the previous question is "pretty sparking bad", then I'd appreciate some guidance on how to lessen the hostility of the environment. Thanks in advance! Anyone who posts comments on this thread gets a Rimenightian geologic feature named after him/her!

Lightwards, Lucentia, and Blackwave all become so infuriated that they destroy the whole of Oregon just to get rid of him. (That's such an awesome picture I can't upvote it enough. )

I was purposefully vague on which projectiles hit in order to facilitate discussion. However, I think it's probable that at least one missile would have gained a direct hit, and at least two or three anti-aircraft rounds would have went through his skull. I may be far off base with that assumption, but I simply find that to be the most likely outcome. I think the Panda would need at least a post to get out of the helicopter's range and begin recovering. I do not believe attack should be the Panda's top priority in this situation. In other news--Awesome Thoughttown scene! Honestly, I wasn't expecting

Never fear--the non-Australian is here! Kookaburra Red Kangaroo Rock Wallaby Wombat Duck-Billed Platypus Short-Beaked Echnidna Koala Can I get extra credit for naming extinct animals? Marsupial Lion (Thylacoleo) Diprotodon Megalania Australovenator Koolasuchus Leallynasaura Muttuburrasaurus Thylacine EDIT: Misspelled Leaellynasaura. Name six dinosaurs not featured in Jurassic Park.

Granted. You now suffer the inability to distinguish whether or not you're wearing clothing. I'd hire some maids to help you get dressed every morning, if I were you. I wish for a pegasus steed, with whom I may embark on many adventures.

If you mean romantically, then a staunch Sell. I'd Buy it if you mean as a travelling companion, though. There will be a Cosmere magic system that revolves around computer code. (The Sanderson said at one signing that he'd had a lifelong interest in certain types of coding.)

I'd have to do a bit of digging to find it, but if there's interest I might pretty it up a bit and post it.

I once wrote an entire essay on why I believe that in-universe, the Star Wars movies are a series of propaganda films produced to promote the charismatic dictatorship of Luke Skywalker, and that the Sith are actually an oppressed religious minority analogous to the Jews of Nazi Germany. My mother/teacher said that she'd never look at those movies the same way again. I've also been told that I should be writing fanfiction.

I did a double take before I realized you were referring to your rep level. Who's up next in Baxter Game's office? I forget.

Pizza's the secret to keeping control of her organization. Anyone who goes against the Donna Oregona's wishes doesn't get a slice. Unrelated, but I made a pony comic. Essentially a summary of the Prof-David relationship in Firefight, so there are a lot of spoilers. BIG spoilers.

If I'm the Kobold Capo, you're the Donna Oregona.

The existence of Jak the Allomancer's already canon, isn't it? His stories appear in Elendel newspaper clippings throughout The Alloy of Law. Since he's already been namedropped in an official Mistborn novel, it seems like a flesh and blood cameo wouldn't have any greater effect on canon than he already has.

I'll be the guy who dies first to show how dangerous the situation is.

"Or a resurrection Epic, and you're not factoring in Cognitive shadows at all. Really man, check your facts better next time."

You'd make one Calamity of a good lorist. Judging from this chart, I'd make the educated guess that CorpseMaer has Tier 3 or Tier 4 invulnerability, as his body can still be affected by caffeine in sufficiently high doses.