# Loony Presents and Futures *The Urth list — 3 messages, 3 voices, 20 Nov 1999* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### Jim Henley *20 Nov 1999, 21:42* Okay, we got three terraformed planets (in the old sense) we know about in the solar system: Skuld, Lune and Verdanthi, aka Venus, The Moon and Mars. Two questions: 1) What's going on on those three worlds during the tail end of the Age of the Autarchs? 2) What are the effects of the New Sun on those worlds? Frex, might the NS kill all the vegetation on Lune, returning it within a couple of centuries or a millenium to the appearance we all know and love? Was the terraforming of Skuld possible only with the cooling of the Old Sun? Did life on Verdanthi really start to _suck_ as the OS grew weaker over the millenia? (It's interesting that while Lune is green, Verdanthi is still?/again? red...) I'm especially interested in hearing relatively rigorous planetological speculation on point 2, but theories on point 1 are more than welcome. Do the exultants travel freely between Urth and the other worlds of the solar system? Are the other worlds also terminally poor, bitter-end societies like we know on Urth? Are they playgrounds for the remnant of "rich" humans? Or are they they Checkpoint Charlies of cacogen defense policy? Best, Jim ***************************************** "All God's children got a little bit of soul but not that much . . . " -- Graham Parker, "Obsessed with Aretha" --- ### Daniel Fusch *21 Nov 1999, 06:24 · follows Jim Henley* Regarding Question # 1: When Severian is talking with Rudesind in chapter V of TSOTT, they mention the theory that Vodalus might hiding "in the forests of Lune." That this suggestion is even made suggests that it is, in fact, possible for an Urth exultant to hide in the forests of Lune; Rudesind's comment that if Vodalus in on Lune, it may be a while before the Autarch catches him--seems to suggest that travel from Urth to Lune is difficult...at least to the point at which you have trouble landing large search parties there. That's one possible reading, anyway. Question #2--I have no idea about this one. > From: "Jim Henley" > Reply-To: urth at lists.best.com > To: urth at lists.best.com > Subject: (urth) Loony Presents and Futures > Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1999 21:42:06 -0500 > > Okay, we got three terraformed planets (in the old sense) we know about in > the solar system: Skuld, Lune and Verdanthi, aka Venus, The Moon and Mars. > Two questions: > > 1) What's going on on those three worlds during the tail end of the Age of > the Autarchs? > > 2) What are the effects of the New Sun on those worlds? > > Frex, might the NS kill all the vegetation on Lune, returning it within a > couple of centuries or a millenium to the appearance we all know and love? > Was the terraforming of Skuld possible only with the cooling of the Old > Sun? Did life on Verdanthi really start to _suck_ as the OS grew weaker > over the millenia? (It's interesting that while Lune is green, Verdanthi is > still?/again? red...) > > I'm especially interested in hearing relatively rigorous planetological > speculation on point 2, but theories on point 1 are more than welcome. Do > the exultants travel freely between Urth and the other worlds of the solar > system? Are the other worlds also terminally poor, bitter-end societies > like we know on Urth? Are they playgrounds for the remnant of "rich" > humans? Or are they they Checkpoint Charlies of cacogen defense policy? > > Best, > > > Jim > ***************************************** > "All God's children got a little bit of soul > but not that much . . . " > -- Graham Parker, "Obsessed with Aretha" > > > works --- ### JMCAzurin *22 Nov 1999, 11:01 · follows Daniel Fusch* > From: "Jim Henley" > > 1) What's going on on those three worlds during the tail end of the Age > of > the Autarchs? Given that Urth's core has solidified by Sev's time, the same would have happened to Verthandi and Skuld. They wouldn't have geothermal (urr...venothermal? marothermal?) plants. Barring their possession of technogical wizardry that's not present on Urth, their primary energy source would likewise be the darkened sun. They'd probably be pretty dismal places to live as well. Their mineral-richness or -poorness is arguable though. They may not have been as thoroughly mined. Another loony idea: what if Wolfe had tipped his hat to Arthur C Clarke and had the Hieros ignite Jupiter instead? Certainly seems easier than transporting a white fountain. Mikah - Are you crying? - No, I'm bleeding. ---