Size of the World

[Prysus]

Greetings and Salutations. My apologies if this question has been asked before, or the answer is staring me in the face somewhere, but neither my memory nor my research skills are the best. I was curious to the size of the Palladium World in general. For some reason I felt it was written somewhere to a general size, or compared to something (like Hades is three times the size, and if so then how big is Hades since we have it mapped out now to extrapolate the information). Looking at the landmass in the main book with the chart it appears (I don't have a very good ruler, and I'm bad at geography) somewhere around the same size of landmass as Asia (general ballpark, not exact). Now, for those that are really good at math I'll explain why I'm asking and if anyone has any ideas.

I was trying to figure out the length of days. The easiest, naturally, would be to have it still 24 hours. It's quick, easy, and relatable. Though if it is the same length of days then would that mean the size of the planet is the same? So the barrier at the edge of the world would be comparable to the size of Asia (if I did that part right) and that would indicate how much other landmass may be out there. If it's smaller or bigger but same hours of the day then does that mean it's rotation is faster or slower and would that then affect things like gravity? I'm not trying to figure out what is out there, just thinking about things like the length of day and what types of implications it may have on the world (even if what is out there is unknown).

If there is official information that would be great (I realize it probably doesn't mention the hours of the day, but that doesn't mean it can't mention things like size of the world or other facts that can help), but if there isn't anything a thought out explanation is well appreciated as well. Any other thoughts are welcomed (because everyone's views are important, and no one person's games are more important than another), but I'm trying to view it by the book or more scientifically (I'm bad at science so I can't figure it out myself). Thank you for your time and patience, please have a nice day to all. Farewell and safe journeys.

[Veknironth]

Well, the planet could be smaller and yet have days the same length, if its rotation was slower. So, you can have the days be as long as you want regardless of the size of the planet.

-Vek
"How long for a Daze?"

[Library Ogre]

I measured it out, once, and did a little math. I don't recall it off the top of my head, but it's about the size of Earth, based on a few things.

1) Byzantium is south of the arctic circle, since it doesn't have days of 24 hour light or darkness.

2) The Floenry Islands are tropical, and but likely north of the Equator itself.

If you run the north-south numbers from Byzantium and Floenry, knowing these facts, put it at approximately the size of Earth. However, I'll have to search the forums to find where I did the numbers.

[Natasha]

Yea, I always kind of thought of it as Asia sized, too.

The size of the planet does not affect the length of the day; the length of day is measured by how long it takes the planet to rotate one time.

The rotation of the planet does influence climate (wind, hydrologic cycle).

We experience seasons on Earth that we do because it's tilted on its North-South axis by almost 25 degrees; if there were no tilt there would be fairly constant weather and everyday would be like the equinox.

[gaby]

I make it,the size of Earth,too me the Continent of palladium is the size of Asia so ther is room for Other continents if I want.

[AaronCE]

There are two things that screw up this line of thought. First, if you want to do a base size/land mass calculation, more power to you. But it has next to nothing to do with the mass of the globe the Palladium world is on.

The reason? The wall at the edge of the "world." A random dimensional rift that encircles the "known" Palladium world.

So basically we're looking at a section of a globe. How big is that globe? Dunno. We don't have longitude or latitude lines as reference. So it could be most of a slice of a globe or it could be "North America."

Something that things brings up, are there time zones in the Palladium world? Since there are no clocks, there wouldn't "technically" be, but functionally? Again a size of the globe question.

~A

[Natasha]

Functionally there would be timezones.

Unless it was an odd planet like Mercury where our concept of night and day would be different.

[Library Ogre]

There are two things that screw up this line of thought. First, if you want to do a base size/land mass calculation, more power to you. But it has next to nothing to do with the mass of the globe the Palladium world is on.

The reason? The wall at the edge of the "world." A random dimensional rift that encircles the "known" Palladium world.

So basically we're looking at a section of a globe. How big is that globe? Dunno. We don't have longitude or latitude lines as reference. So it could be most of a slice of a globe or it could be "North America."

Something that things brings up, are there time zones in the Palladium world? Since there are no clocks, there wouldn't "technically" be, but functionally? Again a size of the globe question.

~A

Actually, we can make some reasonable guesses, based on geometry and climate.

From the Floenry's to a bit above Byzantium is about 1700 miles. Now, Byzantium isn't above the Arctic circle... we know this because day-long nights are mentioned in either Adventures in the High Seas or Northern Hinterlands. The Floenrys, on the other hand, are definitely tropical, while Timiro doesn't seem to be. That means the Floenrys aren't too deep into the tropics, giving us a range to play with.

I'll have to do the numbers when I get home, however.

[Natasha]

Assuming the Palladium World planet is Earth-sized: at 1700 miles North to South, the Known World has about 25 degrees of latitude. On Earth if we put the southern end at the edge of the tropics (around 24 degrees), then the Known World will go north to just off the northern coast of the United Kingdom.

[Library Ogre]

Assuming the Palladium World planet is Earth-sized: at 1700 miles North to South, the Known World has about 25 degrees of latitude. On Earth if we put the southern end at the edge of the tropics (around 24 degrees), then the Known World will go north to just off the northern coast of the United Kingdom.

Which, given the climate of Byzantium, works pretty well.

[J. Lionheart]

Just to be devil's advocate here, the "calculations" of Palladium's size, based on relative climates compared to Earth, assumes that the extremes of the overall globe Palladium is on are the same. It could very easily be a relatively narrow band of habitable area around the upper mid-section of a huge planet, with extremes of hot and cold at the equator and pole unlike anything the Earth has seen. It isn't hard to imagine a pole with negative 200 degrees, or an equator with positive 200, and this just happens to be the part inbetween that's fit to inhabit. I'm not suggesting that's really the case, Kevin has plainly said he views the known world as approximately a quarter of the globe, but I wanted to point out that we can't make assumptions based on temperature.

Similarly, day length has everything to do with wobble in the Earth's rotation, which is not necessarily the same amplitude in Palladium's world. The existence of distinct seasons certainly does suggest it occurs, but again, we have to be careful with our assumptions. Byzantium could just as easily be on the north pole, and if the planet has a severe rotational wobble, night and day would still occur.

Devil's advocate, blah blah blah, etc.

[The Dark Elf]

An alternative.....

The size of the world is as mapped due to the fact that Palladium isnt a planet and its a flat(ish) realm created by the gods. The weather patterns are indicative of the gods that live there and it is they who create the hot temperatures, snow, wind patterns etc.

Another alternative.....

According to my map its as big as a page of A4.

Another alternative.....

According to K.S. its "as big as your imagination will allow." (btw thats not a real quote). And we all know that us guys can have really big imaginations when it comes to size

[Natasha]

Similarly, day length has everything to do with wobble in the Earth's rotation, which is not necessarily the same amplitude in Palladium's world. The existence of distinct seasons certainly does suggest it occurs, but again, we have to be careful with our assumptions. Byzantium could just as easily be on the north pole, and if the planet has a severe rotational wobble, night and day would still occur.

Well now that's some food for thought. Good post.

On Earth, the seasons are the result of the planet's axial inclination. The north pole points toward the Sun for part of the year and away from the Sun for the other part. The Sun's rays strike the atmosphere at changing angles over a fairly long period of time. The Sun powers the weather, the tilt - not the wobble (distance to the Sun from the wobble would not be an important factor as in January the Earth makes its closest approach to the Sun yet it's well into winter for the northern hemisphere and it's well into summer when it's the furthest from the Sun) - gives rise to the seasons. Without a tilt the weather range would be the same year round.

That much I know.

Now we're getting into my opinion.

I see a few problems with removing the tilt and adding more nutation. The Earth's wobble is over a period of years. To get one that's a lot faster would give rise to a couple of problems I think. A large wobble fast enough to cause sun rises and sets at the pole would cause a bouncing Sun for the southern observer. And the heating and cooling periods, it seems to me, would be the same difference as if there were a small wobble and no axial inclination; thus, no seasons, but perhaps more extreme weather as the wobble, it seems, would really shake the oceans up. And if there's something massive nearby causing the extreme wobble, the tidal forces would be more extreme as well.

Devil's advocate, blah blah blah, etc.

You really made me regret not paying more attention in school.

It seems to me that I have seen 24 hour periods measured as days in the books, so I would say that the length of the day is 24 hours. The length of daylight would depend from the observer's latitude and the planet's axial inclination. Without an inclination you would have less and less darkness as you approach the poles since there would essentially be no "dark" side as you approach the poles. The tilt is what makes the long days and nights there. Of course, if the planet's orbital inclination is large then you have a sort of axial inclination, but I can't imagine how a planet close enough to a sun to sustain life would be in such an orbit to begin with.

There's probably a gazillion ways the planet got to be where it is, including The Dark Elf's variants; it's all a matter of personal taste in any case.

[GMDijarian]

Wiki pedia states the the Palladium world is slightly smaller than Mars.

"The game takes place on a single continent, and several nearby islands. The extreme south of the world is tropical, having a jungle on the western coast, while the extreme northern portions of the country are subarctic forest. Given the size of the continent (approximately 2500 miles north to south), this makes the planet slightly larger than Mars. The continent represents only part of the world, but it was revealed in the sixth supplement, Island at the Edge of the World, that the game setting is surrounded by a large, impenetrable black wall for unknown reasons. The supplement Land of the Damned Two: Eternal Torment also revealed that there were other lands on this planet, that were not involved in the war against the Old Ones." -Wikipedia

[ronekiln]

I like the idea that the rest of the world threw up the barrier to lock up the Old Ones, and then forgot about them. Not knowing the Old Ones are toast, they never bothered to bring the barrier down.

[Northern Ranger]

Just to add my two cents, (which in reality is probably more like one cent) I've always just played it as being roughly earth sized and the continent that we know of is blocked off for some mysterious, uknown reason. It's possible that to those outside of the barrier it's not even visible and they have kind of a Bermuda Triangle mythos about it. I've never bothered to do the math, not because I'm incapable but because I'm too lazy. However, I know that life exists beyond the barrier... because I've created some of it for my games!