Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts

Thursday 20 August 2015

The Odin Star System (Life of Other Worlds, Part 2)

Life of other worlds: drawings and sketches from one space explorer's travel journal is a series focusing on various other star systems in the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Odin Star System (NOTE: Planet and orbits not to scale)

The Odin System is a yellow star system consisting of six planets. Balder and Njord are the only planets with life forms. Dr. Dag Stassen discovered the system during the exploration mission of the European Space Agency Interplanetary Space Probe in the early 21^st century. The ESA gave it names according to mythological Norse gods and goddesses.

Frigg

The first four planets are rocky. The last two planets are gas giants; Thor being a super gas giant. Between the two gas giants there is a large asteroid field called The Valkyries, which contains some of the largest asteroids ever recorded. The gas giants, Thor and Loki, seem to keep the asteroids in check and corralled into their orbit around the star Odin. Without Thor and Loki, the asteroids would cause havoc within the system. However, it is believed that the gravitational pull of the collective asteroid belt and Loki prevented Thor from being pulled further into the system, thus keeping the inner planets safe. (Note: Planets and their orbits are not to scale.)

Frigg

The first planet is Frigg, named after the wife of Odin and goddess of married love. It is geologically inactive with a high surface temperature.

Hel

Hel

The second planet in the Odin System is called Hel, named after the Norse goddess of death. Hel is a turbulent geologically active planet which lives up to its name.

Balder

The third planet Balder is an Earth-sized world with a similar gravity and atmosphere. It is named after the Norse god who was the son of Odin and the favourite of the gods. It has one moon named Hoder. Balder is a geologically active planet with a continuous rocky, mountainous terrain. Unlike Earth, Balder contains most of its water underground. Caves are a common geological form. Water on Balder has a very high mineral content and is very saline. Most of the large creatures on Balder exhibit qualities of both reptiles and mammals on Earth. Plant life consists mostly of lichen-like and moss-like plants. Vines are the dominant plant, covering rock spires and mountain ranges, sometimes reaching several meters in diameter.

A repto-mammal that hangs from cliffs and lures in small flying nectar-sucking creatures - its mouth resembles a certain flower and oozes oil that smells like the nectar.

One of the exobiologists on the team stated that this was not a dinosaur. I beg to differ.

An actual flying snake, well it was really more of a clumsy glider, flapping and gliding from one cliff to the other. The landscape was littered with high jutting cliffs, making this creature quite at home

Njord

The chilly water world of Njord

The fourth planet Njord is a chilled water world. It is named after the Norse god of ships and the sea. It has one moon, Aegir.

Njord is 82% water. Its planetary climate resembles that of the Northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans on Earth. Most of the dry land consists of large mountainous archipelagos near its equator. The equatorial ocean is more shallow and warmer than the deep, usually frozen, polar ocean.

Aquatic life on Njord is extremely diverse. The largest numbers of species resemble the fish of Earth. There are no mammal-like creatures anywhere on the planet. Most of the scientists that have explored Njord say that it resembles Earth during its Devonian Era, though much colder.

One of the surprises of Njord is the existence of several large shark-like creatures. The largest carnivore creature on the planet, the Fury Fish (Pistrix furiosus) make the Earth's sharks seem tame in comparison. After the death of several explorers, a planet-wide caution is in place to anyone near a body of water that is connected to the open ocean.

the Fury Fish (Pistrix furiosus

Pistris piscatus - Distant cousin to the Fury Fish, this creature takes a gulp of water into its "blowhole", and then pulls itself through shallows (and sometimes on to shore) using its arm-like fins in order to capture trapped prey.

Pistrix tenoris -- Related to the Fury Fish, this slow relation uses baleen to sieve the waters of the ocean world of Njord.

Thor

Thor, named after the Norse god of thunder and the sky, is a gas super giant. It has two rocky moons, Fjorgynn and Sif. The moons are warm desert worlds even though they are in the planetary cold zone. As a gas supergiant, Thor radiates heat, passing it along to its moons. Due to the distance from the inner planets and solar winds, Thor’s heat has little effect upon the smaller planets of the system.

Loki

Loki is the last planet of the system. It is named after the Norse god of mischief.

It is a gas giant, with one moon named Sigyn.

Loki

Next in the series : The Aten-Ra Star System

Sunday 16 August 2015

The Helios Star System (Life of Other Worlds, Part 1)

Life of other worlds: drawings and sketches from one space explorer's travel journal is a series focusing on various other star systems in the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Helios Star System (Note: Planets and orbits not to scale)

Dr. Eva Psyhogeos first discovered the Helios System during the exploration mission of the Einstein Deep Space Probe (EDSP). When Dr. Psyhogeos saw that the eight-planet system somewhat resembled our own Solar System, she decided to name it according to the Greek gods and goddesses. The names start out as analogous to our Solar System but change after Zeus and end with Hades. Zeus and Hades are the only gas giants in the system; the other six planets are rocky worlds.

The planet Hera, Hera’s two moons, and Athena probably started out as moons of Zeus. Dr, Psyhogeos developed a theory about the system that gave the system seven planets originally. The theory states that The Titians, an asteroid field between Ares and Zeus, was originally a planet called Morpheus. Morpheus was destroyed most likely by a comet or asteroid. The devastation of Morpheus knocked Hera, its moons, and Athena from their orbit around Zeus. They began to orbit Helios as planets; Hera eventually capturing Hebe and Hephaestus as its moons. Debris from Morpheus in orbit around Zeus became the asteroidal moons called The Consorts of Zeus. It is theorized that Morpheus was a “super-sized” rocky planet with a large amount of water –some believe the water eventually made its way to watery Poseidon, frozen Ares and the icy planets of Hera and Athena. Recent archaeological evidence shows that in the very distant past, Poseidon was a much drier world.

Poseidon (White areas are shallow seas, islands are gray or black)

Poseidon is a planet of 85% surface water. Most of the dry land consists of landmasses on the eastern hemisphere of the planet. Large storms and super-hurricanes are always present on the planet. Poseidon is the only planet with multi-cellular life. One-celled organisms have been found on Ares and Aphrodite, but it seems they might have come from Poseidon. (Note: Planet and their orbits not to scale)

The largest animals on the planet exist in the global ocean. Land animals of any great size are absent and they consist of mainly amphibious creatures. Large plants are nonexistent; most vegetation on land is adapted algae and fungi.

Croak with eggs

The Croak is one of the few amphibious animals of the plant Poseidon. They live most of their lives on the islands of Poseidon, traveling to the sea to lay eggs and mate. Found usually near the shoreline or swampy regions. Some Croaks form large colonies on floating Insulanozoa (see below), creating a symbiotic relationship. Predators are lured toward the colonies and are consumed by the Insulanozoa. The Croaks keep the shell of the Insulanozoa clean. The Croaks ooze a chemical that makes them invisible to the Insulanozoa.

Fish like we know on Earth never developed on Poseidon. On a planet where fishes never developed, the young of amphibians developed into the dominant water creatures. The class Amphish contains the greatest number of species in the global ocean of Poseidon. The family of Capucauda consists of tadpole-like creatures and is the largest group of Amphish.

Examples of Capucauda

Poseidon also contains a large number of creatures similar to Earth’s gastropods and cephalopods. One example is the Banded Squidshell (one of six species of squidshell). The young will bud off the adult -not quite clones- their genetic makeup includes incorporated DNA from other young of the same species the parent has devoured.

Banded Squidshell

Poseidon has many invertebrate life forms, many of which are shelled. An example of a shelled invertebrate is the Insulanozoa, the shell of which becomes a living, floating island. The Insulanozoa feeds upon creatures in the ocean as well as amphibians that try to swim to it or nest on it (with exceptions (see above)).

Insulanozoa

With no aquatic mammals or sharks, amphibians occupy the top of the food chain on Poseidon. The Greater Sea Dragon (Gigus diabolius) is the largest aquatic animal on Poseidon, measuring up to thirty meters. The eggs of most Gigus species hatch in the ocean and the young will then make their way to islands. They exist in a terrestrial form for up to two years before finally making their way back to the ocean for the rest of their lives.

Greater Sea Dragon (Gigus diabolius)

Next in the series : The Odin Star System

Saturday 20 June 2015

Petunia the Donkey (Television Personality)

"One of the most important jackasses in American television history...a definite cultural icon." -American Institute of Television

Life with Petunia (1956-1960)

A pet donkey named Petunia follows two muleskinners, Pork and Beanz, around the Wild West. Petunia could talk to the audience by using subtitles, but Pork and Beanz could only hear her bray. The two would get themselves into all sorts of wacky adventures resulting in catastrophes from which Petunia would save them. Petunia was famous for her line “Pork and Beanz is going to get canned!”

The show generated lots of merchandise during its initial run –from lunch boxes to Petunia dolls. The best selling item among girls was a straw hat like the one Petunia wore with a yellow sunflower and donkey ears; boys preferred the gray or blue muleskinner hats like the ones Pork and Beanz wore.

The show most people remember is the last episode in which Petunia drags Pork and Beanz into the wagon after they knock themselves out trying to get away from lit sticks of dynamite they thought were candles. Petunia then jumps into the back of the wagon, grabs the reins of the workhorse Theodore, and drives the buggy to the doctor’s office in Gold Nugget City. Memorable line from the episode: Doc: “I seen a horsefly, but by tarnation, Sheriff, I’ve never seen a donkey drive.”

Characters
Petunia as herself
Rock Boylan as Pork
Kenny Smith as Beanz
Theodore as himself
Winston Smith as Doc Johnson

Petunia’s Wagon Train (1960-1965)

Everyone’s favorite donkey is back –in Full Color! In this series, Petunia is a member of a wagon train going further west. She is accompanied by a cowgirl named Bessie and an Indian named Bumblin’ Bee. Bessie is the only person that can understand Petunia and together every week they save the wagon train and Bumblin’ Bee whenever trouble occurs. Hilarity always ensues!

According to television legend, the actor that played Bumblin’ Bee, the British actor Harrington Cross III, hated animals, especially donkeys, making it easy to play his character which had a love/hate relationship with Petunia. Bumblin’ Bee is famous for the line, “If I a choice, you’d be a pair of moccasins (or teepee or saddlebag or leather belt or whatever –it was changed every week)

Characters
Petunia as herself
Mary Alexander as Bessie
Harrington Cross III as Bumblin’ Bee

Mack Kennedy as Colonel Frederick Beauregard

When the series was cancelled in 1965, four movies were made to continue the franchise:

Son of Petunia, 1965

Bessie (played by Mary Alexander) must find a way to get Petunia to St. Louis to give birth to her colt; however, somebody wants to stuff her and put her in an Old West museum.

Brewster Kicks It Home, 1967

Petunia’s son, Brewster, must find his way home after accidentally getting off a train in Los Angeles. While traveling he meets Freddy (played by Mack Kennedy), a down on his luck veteran. During their adventures, Brewster and Freddy are hired to play for a local baseball team. Brewster helps the team to victory and becomes a star. He finds his way home traveling along with the baseball team.

(NOTE: This movie is set in the 1960s instead of the Wild West. The movies that follow after this will also be set in more modern times)

Brewster Kicks Across Europe, 1970

Brewster the donkey travels to Europe to play in baseball game and discovers relatives destined for the glue factory. He defeats, with the help of his friend Freddy (played by Jack Farnsworth*), the evil glue factory millionaire Sir Alfred Stickibunns (played by veteran Shakespearean actor Sir Charles Fenwick). He and Freddy help the donkeys find a home in a petting zoo in London. Cheerio!

*Mack Kennedy died in 1966 and was replaced by the younger Jack Farnsworth

Brewster Kicks Again!, 1973

Brewster meets a circus donkey named Lovey, and he and Freddy (Jack Farnsworth) must help her save the big top from a scheming corporation bent on closing down the Algernon Brother’s Family Circus.

Later in the seventies, a movie was made to try to bring the famous franchise back to television:

Son of Brewster (made for TV movie), 1976

Brewster the Donkey’s son, Algernon, saves a little town from being demolished and ultimate finds a quiet pasture for his entire family.

The reboot movie:

Three Donkeys (animated) 2016

Three donkeys (Petunia, Brewster, and Algernon) must save the world from the archvillian Zazu and her evil henchmen. Zazu wants to poison all the farms with a monster plant she has created in order to force everyone to buy food from her factories. It is up to the three donkeys with an orphan named Bess and a bumblebee sidekick named Bebe to stop the evil Zazu.

Thursday 11 June 2015

“Do wizards need money?”

I should be working on my writing. Procrastination has set in. This is merely done for the fun of it. I enjoy Ms. Rowling's imaginitive writing, but I get these questions in my head and want to answer them (writing practice and mental exercise is my excuse). So to get the formalities out of the way: Disclaimer: All Harry Potter names, characters, places, incidents et al. herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and her legal licensees, including but not limited to Bloomsbury/Scholastic, etc. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended and no money is being made.

Muggle-born Orientation Lecture (MOLe) #22,

presented by Prof. Amelia Tillywig, answering the question,

“Do wizards need money?”

Professor Tillywig: “Most wizards have a large stockpile of gold, silver, and bronze metals in the bank. Some of the most powerful wizards and witches in history are said to have had the powers of alchemic transmutation –the ability to turn base metals into precious metals. All magical folk have the power to feed, to clothe, and to shelter themselves without the need of money. Magical folk can exist without money or an economic system, yet we choose to use the gold Galleon, the silver Sickle, and the bronze Knut everyday. Why do we bother with a system of money?

It happens that gold, silver, and bronze have the unique characteristics of being incredibly powerful conductors and intensifiers of magic. Rarely are wands made using gold, silver, or bronze due to their power potential; when one of the precious metals is used in creation of a wand it must be used in small amounts by a powerful wizard using other substances able to subtlety balance the effects of the potent metal. Any spell using these metals should be considered very forceful and extremely effective (and should only be attempted by accomplished magic folk). Charms, amulets, and other magical items made of one of the precious metals has the magic of the item amplified many, many times over. A witch and wizard can successfully use magic without ever using the precious metals; however, the metals remain an extremely strong cultural symbol of increased magical power and potential.

The symbolism of the metals is actually the basis of the wizard ‘monetary system’. Magic folk could easily swap needed items or use a simple barter system, yet they prefer to use a system of ‘power exchange’.

When a magic person offers the owner of The Three Broomsticks Pub two sickles for a pint of butterbeer, he isn’t offering money –he’s offering power. He’s saying, in effect, ‘Take this small representation of potential magical strength in exchange for the butterbeer’. It is an exchange of power having nothing to do with economics.

Old wizarding families that sit upon outrageous uncountable fortunes would look wealthy by Muggle standards but to magic folk they are powerful –powerful enough to give away bits of potential magical power in exchange for grand finery without worry. Magic people with more limited stashes of the precious metals must be a bit more conservative.

Why not just make more precious metals using magic? The alchemic transmutation of base metals into precious metals is difficult for even the most experienced and powerful wizards using huge amounts of magic; and even then, it has its limitations. Most available precious metals have been secured into family vaults and are passed on to following generations.”

“Why do some magical spaces seem so dusty, dirty and full of cobwebs?”

Muggle-born Orientation Lecture (MOLe) #13,

presented by Prof. Amelia Tillywig, answering the question,

“Why do some magical spaces seem so dusty, dirty and full of cobwebs?”

Professor Tillywig: “One of the first things that many of you will notice is that the world of magical folk is a bit dusty. It isn’t because magical folk are particularly dirty or unclean; we’re just all very careful. The wizarding world has dangers never seen in the other world –the most mundane object can be imbued with a magic spell or charm and become dangerous if treated without caution or respect. Well what does this have to do with the dust and cobwebs found in many places in the magical world, you may ask? I can easily answer that for you.

As I was wizard-born, I can tell you that we are told from a very early age to keep our hands in our pockets when we went to the house of a wizard or witch. To go around touching strange objects in a strange magical environment can get you hurt very badly or even kill you. My cousin Bartimelous was killed when he picked up a charmed pair of secateurs in the shed of an old witch – it cut him up like he was an old hedge. He had neither the ability to control it nor the power. As they say in the Muggle world, ‘let sleeping dogs lie’. Because we have been trained not to touch or interact with things we don’t know, you’d never see a magical being going into the house of a dead magical person to have a clear out. We’ll just let the dust collect and leave most of the objects alone. No one wants to be the victim of contagious magic.

That is one of the biggest problems in the magical world –contagious magic. Contagious magic is when objects are still linked to a witch or wizard or still imbued with a charm with the potential to suddenly become magically active. This is a problem especially if a spell or charm has not been carried out to fruition. A needle can be charmed to, say, repair a tear in a robe, but the magical person might walk away before the act is accomplished. That needle might retain the charm and end up poking someone in the eye or sewing up his or her mouth. [The professor makes a sewing motion across her mouth, and then pretends to try to speak. She throws her hands into the air with feigned exasperation, then continues.] Always be sure to carry your spells and charms to fruition or nullify them. As the saying goes, ‘if you can’t carry it out, then put it out. Nullify, nullify, nullify.’

Even when things are not purposely imbued with magic, natural objects can still have magical effects. For example, feathers are powerful objects used in the magical world for many purposes. The quill itself that you are holding is an important magical tool. Feathers have been used in magic for thousands of years because of their magical potential. To rub a feather duster across an assortment of objects could be a very dangerous act. Let me demonstrate; [The professor walks to her desk and positions a small clay pot of ivy near the edge. She picks up her wand and turns the pot of ivy into a pot of ‘poison ivy’. The spines on the tip of the leaves strike against the pot making tiny pinging sounds. The enchanted vine twists and turns, occasionally striking at nearby objects like an angry serpent. The professor picks up a quill and moves the tip toward the ‘poison ivy’ which strikes at it.] As you see the charmed ivy is very dangerous as this simple quill can be. [She reaches into a nearby drawer and pulls out a polished ball of quartz] As you may or may not know, quartz is also a powerful natural object often used in charms, spells and rituals. The combination of feather and quartz can produce an intriguing elementary charm. Watch. [She sets the orb onto the desk and rolls it toward the potted plant. It hits the clay pot, with a sharp tap. The ‘poison ivy’ coils then strikes out at the quartz. The professor reaches in with the quill and rubs it across the polished surface of the quartz. Immediately, the ‘poison ivy’ reverts back to a pot of ordinary harmless ivy. The professor stops rubbing the quill against the quartz and the charmed ivy then returns to its venomous state. The professor rests against the edge of her desk and crosses her arms. The tip of the quill brushes against her nose and she lets out a small sneeze. She regains her composure.] Rubbing a feather, quill or not, over a polished quartz can temporarily create a nullifying magical effect – it, of course, only lasts seconds and can only be done once with each feather. Imagine the effect if that is done near a binding spell keeping a dangerous enchanted object at bay. Imagine if it was done near a magical lock keeping something dangerous imprisoned. It is a very weak piece of magic but the potential is there.

What I’m saying is that it is the magical potential of objects that prevent magical folks to approach unknown objects with caution and respect. You wouldn’t find many witches or witches that would randomly pick up an object and wipe it with a cleaning cloth or polish it with a chamois. No magical folk would walk into an unknown room and begin to dust everything with a feather duster. I hope you will conduct yourself accordingly.

It must also be noted, however, that some magical spaces are kept very clean for security reasons. Magical powders and dustings can easily be disguised as ordinary house dust. Spiders, as well as other small creatures, might be employed as ‘bugging devices’. Cleanliness is simply a security measure. Aurors will go into a space that needs to be secured and they will inventory every object. They will also disintegrate every dust particle and cobweb. They will use enchantments to repel small creatures and dirt. It is a long and intense charm session that most magical folk wouldn’t want to conduct.

Monday 15 December 2014

The Alien History of Earth: Novaterra

Some people believe aliens exist.

History knows they do -

and you'll never believe who they are.

Ty and Ash Edwards, twins recovering from a family tragedy, are taken to live with a distant family member. An adventure beyond belief begins –and they discover that their lives are more complicated than they could ever imagine.

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