Geography of Tear

 

Tear

Tear itself is a wet world, with over 75% of the surface covered in water. It is a rocky world formed predominantly of iron and silicate minerals with an atmosphere that is mostly nitrogen and oxygen. The surface gravity is 1g. Surface temperatures typically range from -20 to 20 degrees celsius, with the most extreme temperatures rarely exceed 50 celsius in the hottest climates (the equatorial deserts of the southern Odeshi Wastes) or drop below -50 degrees in the coldest (the icy plains of the Nornges Taiga in northern Obersch).

Because Tear is a moon, and not a planet, there are several important and non-intuitive considerations that need to be taken into account. These differences have a profound impact on the geography of the world, and on the perception of cycles used to measure the passing of time.

Map of Tear

Tear Map

Continents of Tear

While the distinction of land masses into different continents is somewhat arbitrary, Tear is generally considered to have 11 continents. These vary significantly in size and shape. Waeyron is very small, while Golanicja is very large, and Senecia is an archipelago made of many islands and a large main island. Each of these continents has several regions, which are typically loosely differentiated based on variations in climate, terrain, or ecology. Certainly in many cases, over centuries, these regional differences give rise to different cultures and and different social and political structures. Each of the continents, and there regions, are detailed and described in their own entry.

Geology

Tear is a very large rocky moon, with a solid crust, but a liquid metallic core that both warms it from the inside, and also provides a magnetic field that shields the surface from stellar radiation. The magnetosphere of Tear is within the magnetosphere of Vehira, creating an additional layer of protection against solar activity.

Tides

While Tear is tidally locked, this does not mean it does not experience tides: the other moons generate significant tidal forces that both contribute to the warming of Tear and also cause highly variable and chaotic tides around the world. Additionally, Vehira's magnetic field also induces currents in the ionized salt particles in Tear's salt water oceans, further complicating the tidal patterns.

Tides on Tear are extremely unpredictable, and consequently there is no such thing as a tidal chart. Tides are considered to be more like weather, on Tear - predictable with accuracy perhaps only a few hours in advance, and also subject to occassional extreme tidal events.

By happenstance, the orbital periods of Vehira’s moons are all prime multiples of Tear’s 24 hour day, meaning conjunction is rare. Additonally, because the two other large moons are the two furthest, gravitationally significant conjunctions happen infrequently, with the three largest moons only aligning once every decade and all of the moons only aligning every 3827 years.

Magnetic Fields

For a tidally locked moon, Tear has an unusually strong magnetic field which shields the surface from harmful solar radiation. The proximity of Tear to Vehira means it is also powerfully affected by the magnetic field of Vehira. The overlap and intersection of these magnetic fields can cause sudden, powerful electric storms on the surface, and also leads to spectacular light displays in the upper atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the twin, overlapping magnetic fields make navigation by magnetic compass impossible on Tear, as moving over the surface can cause a magnetic compass to point in different directions.

Fixed Reference

On the side of Tear that always faces Vehira, there are several conveniences. First, Vehira acts as a fixed directional reference, particularly in regions where it is closer to the horizon such as in the eastern Great Spiral Sea and the western Widow’s Sea.

Second, the line of the terminator on Vehira can be used to tell the time with a high degree of accuracy, particularly when used in conjunction with simple tools, such as a metal ring with markings etched in it known as a timpinelu; more commonly referred to as a Loop of Vehira. Simple timpineli are specific to a given region and are accurate to within about a quarter of an hour within about 500 km of where they are made. Expensive, adjustable timpineli can give accurate time to within a few minutes anywhere where Vehira is visible provided the user knows their exact location in order to configure the timpinelu properly.

These advantages to navigation benefitted the development of the smaller continents of Inik, Sekhu, Jumira, and Waeyron, as well as the islands of the Senecian Archipelago which otherwise may have been underdeveloped compared to the larger, contiguous continents of Golanicja, Tulosz, Ayodesh and Kashdush.