HarnWorld:Main Page
Harn is a fantasy setting, designed with the goal of verisimilitude, and it takes painstaking care to detail many many small areas that are frequently left out of the more broad brush strokes of other game settings. Something like thirty man-years of effort have gone into creating the setting from N. Robin Crossby and his fellow players.
It contains star charts, vegetation maps and notes, prevailing winds and currents, tectonics and vulcanism, in addition to all the common features such as cultural information, and more common geographical features.
The following pages will hopefully serve as a link to the HarnWorld setting and specifics of information about the world that Harn exists in, as opposed to the more general information available elsewhere and in the above links. These pages are collections from the Encyclopedia Harnica and other various HarnWorld products.
Contents
Kethira
HarnWorld: Kethira is HarnWorld: Harn's planet. It is the second of five planets of the star HarnWorld:Nolomar. The planet is slightly smaller than Terra and has one moon called HarnWorld:Yael. It is predominantly a water planet. Oceans and seas cover seventy eight percent of the surface area, including two large polar ice packs, neither of which cap any continental mass. There are only three continents, in order of size: HarnWorld:Lythia, HarnWorld:Mernat, and HarnWorld:Kamerand.
Kethira: Sky & Stars
Few Lythians have any real knowledge of astronomy. Most of what there is rests with pilots, astrologers, and mages, those whose livelihood depends on their familiarity with the stars and constellations of Kethira's sky. But even casual skywatchers cannot fail to note that the night sky changes with the seasons in an endlessly recurring pattern. Only the planets seem to wander aimlessly about the heavens but even the mystery of their courses will yield to diligent study.
Most star gazers study the heavens intent on discovering patterns that can be related to the lives of men and kingdoms, knowledge whetted by a desire for the power gained through successful prediction of the future. However, a few arcane loreists practice true astronomy. They own a few telescopes of widely differing capabilities, each a jealously guarded secret.
The Kethiran system contains 6 bodies. HarnWorld:Nolomar is the system's primary. It is circled by three terrestrial planets (HarnWorld:Epeon, HarnWorld:Kethira, and HarnWorld:Alaran) and two gas giants (HarnWorld:Kenor and HarnWorld:Mergus).
Kethira: Natural Vegetation
Kethira, being a fully temperate world of approximately 1AU from its primary has the full range of vegetation that any earthlike world would. The vegetation map details the rough outline of typical vegetation types, and where they are found.
Kethira: Prevailing Winds
Winds are driven by the same forces as ocean currents, but air is far more fluid and volatile than water. The effects of wind are even more important than ocean currents to mariners and to the climate. It is the wind which allows heat exchange between the surfaces of ocean and land. Prevailing winds carry moisture inland, feeding rivers and vegetation. However, by the time winds reach deep into continental interiors, or cross mountain ranges, they have lost all or part of their moisture content and speed. As a consequence the continental interiors are arid and subject to temperature extremes.
The movement of air masses is extremely complex, especially where the topography interferes. Winds and currents work as a team, their effects are greatest where they are close together. Hence, prevailing winds are less meaningful inland than in coastal areas. wind map
