Interconnected world surfaces.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Some time ago I posted a thread called "Pimp my tropes" in which I proposed a multiverse linked by portals.  Unfortunately the implications for warfare started turning me off, and the feeling of bottlenecks was making me claustrophobic.  I abandoned the idea.

Recently I ran across this thread about world fragments and was particularly struck by the idea that stuff on the worlds doesn't always recognize the boundaries of the fragments but sometimes just continues to another ignoring the intervening distance.  I decided that was a very cool idea, and I'm going to adapt it to bring back my multiple worlds.

So here's how it's going to work:

There are a bunch of planets existing in who knows what kind of situation (different or same dimensions, it doesn't matter).  Occasionally areas of their surface (of various sizes) blend in to the surface of another planet so that you can travel around different planets as easily as on the surface of just one (barring the occasional oddity such as stepping off into a sea made of clouds).  These transitions are possible to notice from outside (such as seeing a short stretch of different horizon or that something built across the transition disappears in the side-view), like giant doorways with no visible frame.

Everything else grows out of that.  Also I've avoided that issue of tossing a bomb through a portal because now it's no better than tossing a bomb across your border (yes, the transition zones are important military and economic targets, but no more than other "gateway" features).  Also, with bigger doors, I'm not so claustrophobic.

(Steerpike one introduced me to the idea of using a giant planet instead, so some people may wonder why I don't just use that.  That's just how my mind works: it doesn't matter how big the planet is, it's still just one planet.)

I realize I haven't said much that anyone would need to critique, but it was important for me to tell someone my idea for better visualization on my part.  Thank you for reading even if you do not post anything in reply.

[Ghostman]

How large do these transition zones get? Could one even stretch from horizon to horizon, if you were standing near it's midpoint? Do they all appear and disappear randomly, or are there more stable ones?

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

How large do these transition zones get?

I'm not good with actual size measurements, so bear with me.

The biggest can probably fit the entire Greater Tokyo Area inside.  They don't usually get that large, but there are many that can fit a modern Earth city (not the entire metro area, just the city proper) inside.

Could one even stretch from horizon to horizon, if you were standing near it's midpoint?

Given what I've just said and assuming the individual in question is 6 ft tall or less then yes.

Do they all appear and disappear randomly, or are there more stable ones?

All the better known and all the large ones are perfectly stable in position and stay open.  Really small ones (say, Stargate size) sometimes have to be opened.  Usually not.

[Mathus]

What about transitions involving a large transport of matter? Clouds of gas (poisonous or not it will affect the weather/ecology), Water, large temperature differentials...

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

What about transitions involving a large transport of matter? Clouds of gas (poisonous or not it will affect the weather/ecology), Water, large temperature differentials...

The differences would defuse over the transition and either end and mess with each others' natural patterns if that's what would logically happen.

These aren't selectively-permiable portals or portals that open and close.  These are big, easy to move through, permanently open holes in the fabric of space that have (probably) always been open like they are, and whatever weird result that causes is what happened.

[Superfluous Crow]

hmm, yes, it stands to reason that all the overlapping worlds have the same system and atmosphere, although gravity might differ.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

hmm, yes, it stands to reason that all the overlapping worlds have the same system and atmosphere, although gravity might differ.

It's certainly more reasonable than unrelated planets just happening to have similar sorts of atmospheres (and creatures,  ;) ).

[Superfluous Crow]

I just mean that if different worlds came into contact with each other air and pressure and such would probably even out over time if there were no outside factors, and as such all the worlds should be equally hospitable or inhospitable. Of course this wouldn't count if you changed the fundamental laws of nature, but i reckon you won't do that as it causes a lot of trouble.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

I just mean that if different worlds came into contact with each other air and pressure and such would probably even out over time if there were no outside factors, and as such all the worlds should be equally hospitable or inhospitable.

I don't see how that's a bad thing.

Of course this wouldn't count if you changed the fundamental laws of nature, but i reckon you won't do that as it causes a lot of trouble.

By "change the fundamental laws of nature" I'm assuming you mean "no more than goes into fantasy or loose sci-fi"?

[Ghostman]

Athmospheric pressure and chemical composition should even out, given enough time. A similar thing would happen with oceans if the transitions are located in them. If one planet has a transition zone in a body of liquid, and the other end of the portal is above the other planet's sea level, you end up in a situation where the liquid will pour from one planet to the other until A) the outputting planet's sea level drops below the transition zone (thus stopping the flow of liquid) or B) the receiving planet's sea level has risen to the point where it's equally high above relative to the transition as on the outputting planet's side.

This is a simplification that doesn't take into account such things as different densities for different kinds of liquid substances, and the possibility of having multiple transitions between the same planets but at wildly different relative altitudes. Needless to say, things can get pretty damn complicated if you try to look too deeply into this :-p

Anyway, one thing that *won't* be globally evened over time is temperature. Say you have a hot planet and cold planet connected. The transition zone on the cold planet will act as a source of heat that will warm up a small area surrounding it, but that's about it. The transition of heat could hardly be significant enough to cause more than a local-scale anomaly (depends somewhat on the size of the zone, of corse). It can become more significant if you have some liquid flowing through the transition, in the form of a river or an ocean current; the liquid would be able to convey heat over longer distances.

[Nomadic]

Athmospheric pressure and chemical composition should even out, given enough time. A similar thing would happen with oceans if the transitions are located in them. If one planet has a transition zone in a body of liquid, and the other end of the portal is above the other planet's sea level, you end up in a situation where the liquid will pour from one planet to the other until A) the outputting planet's sea level drops below the transition zone (thus stopping the flow of liquid) or B) the receiving planet's sea level has risen to the point where it's equally high above relative to the transition as on the outputting planet's side.

This is a simplification that doesn't take into account such things as different densities for different kinds of liquid substances, and the possibility of having multiple transitions between the same planets but at wildly different relative altitudes. Needless to say, things can get pretty damn complicated if you try to look too deeply into this :-p

Anyway, one thing that *won't* be globally evened over time is temperature. Say you have a hot planet and cold planet connected. The transition zone on the cold planet will act as a source of heat that will warm up a small area surrounding it, but that's about it. The transition of heat could hardly be significant enough to cause more than a local-scale anomaly (depends somewhat on the size of the zone, of corse). It can become more significant if you have some liquid flowing through the transition, in the form of a river or an ocean current; the liquid would be able to convey heat over longer distances.

That would be a neat way to have a sort of river of life thing with a hot planet pouring its steaming ocean through a gap onto a cold planet. The hot river winding its way through the land and providing a band of warmth before finally losing out to the cold many hundreds of miles away.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Athmospheric pressure and chemical composition should even out, given enough time. A similar thing would happen with oceans if the transitions are located in them. If one planet has a transition zone in a body of liquid, and the other end of the portal is above the other planet's sea level, you end up in a situation where the liquid will pour from one planet to the other until A) the outputting planet's sea level drops below the transition zone (thus stopping the flow of liquid) or B) the receiving planet's sea level has risen to the point where it's equally high above relative to the transition as on the outputting planet's side.

This is a simplification that doesn't take into account such things as different densities for different kinds of liquid substances, and the possibility of having multiple transitions between the same planets but at wildly different relative altitudes. Needless to say, things can get pretty damn complicated if you try to look too deeply into this :-p

Anyway, one thing that *won't* be globally evened over time is temperature. Say you have a hot planet and cold planet connected. The transition zone on the cold planet will act as a source of heat that will warm up a small area surrounding it, but that's about it. The transition of heat could hardly be significant enough to cause more than a local-scale anomaly (depends somewhat on the size of the zone, of corse). It can become more significant if you have some liquid flowing through the transition, in the form of a river or an ocean current; the liquid would be able to convey heat over longer distances.

That would be a neat way to have a sort of river of life thing with a hot planet pouring its steaming ocean through a gap onto a cold planet. The hot river winding its way through the land and providing a band of warmth before finally losing out to the cold many hundreds of miles away.

See, these are the sorts of things that make this interesting to do.

In fact not only would certain important environmental conditions be uniform -- with reason! -- but don't you suspect this would have a very interesting implication for what sort of lifeforms you'd find?

[Ghostman]

don't you suspect this would have a very interesting implication for what sort of lifeforms you'd find?

Sure. While the transition zones can enable lifeforms to migrate from one world to the next, they might also become homes to unique lifeforms that aren't found anywhere else, simply because the envinronmental conditions that can support these species are present only in the zones.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

While the transition zones can enable lifeforms to migrate from one world to the next, they might also become homes to unique lifeforms that aren't found anywhere else, simply because the envinronmental conditions that can support these species are present only in the zones.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that!