A Second Sun

[Sriram]

I am making a new campaign named "A Second Sun"(Not yet on the add-on server)
It deals with the story of creation of a new Sun called Naia in the future. I have a few theories on how the new Sun will Operate but am unable to decide which one is the best one.
As has been clear from UtBS that Naia is a mountain that is revolving around the Irdya. But I have to decide on the source of energy for this sun

Idea One: Magic
The energy required for this light is derived from Magic.

Idea Two: Transparent atmosphere
The atmosphere(of Earth at least) reflects most of the radiation incident on it. Some of this radiation can be absorbed throgh magic into the mountain and used to illuminate the land.

Idea Three: Transport Light
During the other half of the day Sela is on the other side of Irdya and it's day there. If this light is transported to Wesnoth then it can illuminate the land. This will result in perpetual darkness in the other side of the planet and perpetual light in Wesnoth. This theory has another advantage: suppose this absorption pattern shifts slightly it could result in there being a long dark in Wesnoth.

There has already been a discussion on Naia in the calendar forum. http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php ... 2&start=17

[Gambit]

You want to discuss the science behind an artificial sun put into the sky by magical elves in a fiction universe?

Idea number one is the winner.

[Telaron]

Is this supposed to be about Tatooine? Reminds me of starwars...

[pauxlo]

As I understood UtbS, it were not elves but humans (from Wesnoth) who raised the second sun (and later tried to raise a third one, which failed greatly).

(But maybe it changed after I last played the campaign.)

[sur.nhm]

As I understood UtbS, it were not elves but humans (from Wesnoth) who raised the second sun (and later tried to raise a third one, which failed greatly).

(But maybe it changed after I last played the campaign.)

Indeed.

[artisticdude]

That's the way I remember it as well. Although I must say that I've always found that particular point to be rather weird... why not hoist a couple more moons and a few thousands more stars while you're at it? I'm not sure why, but there's something about that aspect that bugs me, for some reason.

But anyway, it's been pretty firmly established that magic is the only way to explain the process.

[IntuitionJo]

I've debated and toyed with several campaign ideas just within my own mind set in the post-Naia Wesnoth. From what I've gathered, the mountain lifted must have been truly massive, enough so that the gravity of the planet was affected. The axis must wobble in such a way the original orbit around Sela would be disrupted, causing the Long Dark. The other factor would be that Naia's orbit isn't perfect. It's a long ellipse, with the planet caught on the closer side of it. That would be the other contributing factor to the Long Dark, eventually.

The above negates the need for idea 3, as it explains the long dark. Idea 2 would, in theory work, but that would be assuming that a mountain would have enough gravity to sustain an atmosphere capable of absorbing the radiation. Idea 1 would be the best idea for the generation of the light, but the light itself would simply just be radiation, similar to the way Uranium can glow under certain circumstances. The magic would simply be used to set up these conditions, rather than have to be constantly upheld.

I hope that helps somewhat.

[artisticdude]

I guess that makes sense in a way... but still, the sun is how many times larger than the earth? A thousand? And we're talking about a flaming ball of gas that will damage your eyes if you're just looking at it from thousands of miles away. I mean, I know WINR and everything, but...

Anyhoo, it's an official part of Wesnoth now, so my skepticism is rather misplaced, I suppose.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

In the real world the sun is a flaming ball of burning gas, but is that what it is in the world of Wesnoth?

[thespaceinvader]

The original is a sun - the two new ones were large artificial moons which glowed under their own power.

Or at least, that's how I always read it.

[Hariram]

We(I'm working with Sriram) have based our [underdevelopment]scenarios on the first idea.

The storyline:

It is like a treasure hunt. The mages are called to make another sun. They learn about a stone somewhere and go to find it. The stone is in a cave of firebirds who have been giving it energy since eternity. The mages think the stone can then power a mountain forever.
This place is isolated so the firebirds had never been discovered in the past.

[Jarkko]

Sounds like a brother of a certain other artifact.

Spoilered this just in case:

Namely, the Ruby of Fire. It could be that Ruby of Fire and the second sun are of the same substance - possibly a mineral of somekind, exclusive to a handful of of accessable places in the world.

I guess, we all know the power of the Ruby. It states here, that it was imbued by magic (not sure, if it's man-made then) - so what would an isolation of a very long time in a presence of firebirds do to it's possible brother?

Not sure, if I'm just wearing out the storyline here, but to me it sounds like a plausible option for a power source.

[Icarusvogel]

I wonder if you could enclose a great "Ruby of Fire" in a ball of stone (formed by magic), thus forming a second sun.
A Ruby as big as a moon, well, would not really fit. I do not think even the most skilled spellcasters of the Elves could accomplish that. And anway, if a small ruby burns with such violence, a ruby as big as the sun? Aaargh!

[Sriram]

A mountain(not a ball of stone) was lifted into the sky. I think the gem would be inside it burning the whole mountain.
Human archmagi made the second sun. Most probably Elves wouldn't have liked this idea so they would have opposed the idea rather than help.

[Icarusvogel]

It would still be a big Ruby. The original one is way to weak to light/heat a whole land through miles of rock.

Personally, I prefer the "mighty incantation" story over the "Ruby" one.