MAPS OF SOLACE

The planet Solace is tidally locked. That means rotation and revolution are in perfect synchrony. One year, one loop around the sun, is the exact amount of time it takes the planet to spin once. Practically speaking, to all life on the planet's surface, the sun never moves through the sky, so the regions in darkness are always in darkness, and the sun remains directly above one specific point (called the subsolar pole).

Ninety-nine percent of the population of Solace lives within the TWILIGHT RING, a narrow strip of land that constantly remains neither in darkness nor in direct sunlight. The Twilight Ring is the dominant focus of all solaccian cartography. Its width spans approximately 7.5 degrees of the planet's total 360 degrees, or 2% of the planet's circumference, a relatively small part of the whole. This is commonly said to be 600 kilometers, but the zone itself is simply a gradient, so the width varies based on the parameters set by the surveyor.

Maps of Earth are often drawn from a perspective directly above the equator. On Solace, maps are drawn from a perspective directly above the north or south poles, treating the Twilight Ring as if it were our equator.

The STARSIDE of Solace is usually oriented in the upward direction (like north on Earth), while the SUNSIDE is down (like south on Earth). This convention came from miina tradition, and the colonists adopted the perspective, making its use ubiquitous.

On Solace, north is commonly called the BOREAL POLE, while south is called the AUSTRAL POLE. If one travels from the boreal pole, following the Twilight Ring leftward, and stops on the equator, that point is known as the WINDSIDE POLE. Following the Twilight Ring from the boreal pole in the opposite direction to the equator, one arrives at the LEESIDE POLE. On a boreal (north-pole) map, windside is oriented to the left and leeside is oriented to the right. However, on an austral (south-pole) map, these are reversed.

From the perspective above the boreal pole, the winds tend to travel in a clockwise direction, which is called WINDWARD. This trend can only be observed at higher altitudes. As the winds travel, they drop in temperature and altitude, so that on the surface, winds generally tend to travel toward the sun. Directly beneath the subsolar pole, the heat is most intense, and as this heat bubbles out, the planetary motion drags it across the windside pole, starting the higher-altitude trend of the gales. However, although certain patterns dominate, the winds of Solace vary greatly. Also, the austral and boreal poles tend to be the mildest zones for wind.

There are, of course, maps focused on the geography of the starside and sunside, which do not follow the conventions mentioned above, but these are specialties for cartographers and are considered rare and unusual. Some areas of these extreme climates are barely charted at all. Most maps that show the starside and sunside only show regions in close proximity to the Twilight Ring, and this is sufficient for the vast majority of use cases.

NAVIGATION: Arcos and Reach

Positional coordinates on Solace are measured in arcos and reach. With just two numbers, one can pinpoint any place on the planet. (The third dimension, verticality, is measured in height or depth from sea level.)

ARCOS is a measurement around the Twilight Ring. It is in essence the x-coordinate of a Cartesian system, but one that loops around a 360-degree planet rather than spanning an infinite plane. At the boreal/north pole, arcos starts at zero (A0) and counts upward to toward the leeside pole (A90), the austral/south pole (A180), the windward pole (A270), and back to the boreal (A360/0). Thus, rather than using East and West, the right and left sides of the map can be thought of as the positive and negative directions.

If Arcos measures x-coordinates, then REACH measures y-coordinates. Positive numbers move from the Twilight Ring upward toward the starside. Negative numbers move downward toward the sunside. Lines measured by reach all converge on either the starside pole (i.e., antisolar, at R90) or the sunside pole (i.e., subsolar, at R-90), much like longitudinal lines on Earth. Thus the distance between reach lines is widest directly at the center of the Twilight Ring and diminishes as one ventures farther away from that center. Convention requires that reach should never exceed the bounds of R90 and R-90.

The Twilight Ring is 360 arcos wide and 7.5 reach tall. Because activity centers around this populous area, most reach numbers are within 3.75 and -3.75. As an example of coordinates, New Kingstrong lies at A37.394 -R1.101.

On a related note, ancient navigation had to be done using the sky as a framework. From the starside, one could observe the stars rotating every 1.7 millos (a solaccian year). This rotates centers around the star Vitralion, the polestar of Solace. A year on Solace is roughly 45 cycles (~days). On the Twilight Ring, the highest peak of Mount Aushtross is almost directly below Vitralion, making it a landmark that can be used in place of a polestar for that region.

• ă – ask

• ā – ate

• ä – awesome

• ĕ – let

• ē – fleet

• er – learn

• ĭ – lit

• ī – light

• ō – lone

• oo – look

• u – luck

• ū – luke

Abiisu \ ä • BĒ • sū \

Adiin \ ä • DĒN \

Ahvoos \\ A sweet and tangy fruit native to Solace.

Aion \ Ī • än \

Akidae \ u • KĪ • du \ A fictional character from a strategy game Nak and Cup played against each other called Junto.

Akzerath \ ĂK • zĕr • ăth \

Amk \ ÄMK \

Ancor \ ĂN • kōr \

Anomis \ ä • NŌ • mĭs \

Atmosdrive \ ĂT • mōs • drīv \

Balmuug \ BÄL • mūg \

Bronse \ BRÄNS \

CPC4K3 \ KUP • kāk \

Chronometer \ kro NOM et er \

E lusia kalha \ ĕē • lū • SĒU • kä • LÄ \

Feath \ FĒTH \

Gaiing \ GÄ • ēng \

Gedicon \ \ An ancient text that tells the fall of the Zhani.

Genosis \ jĕ • NŌ • sĭs \

Goeb \ GŌB \

Grezyk \ GRĔ • zĭk \

Holcnact \ HŌLK • NĂKT \

Illuminon \ ĭ • LŪ • mĭ • nän \

Infraspace \\ The foundation upon which reality has been built and which surge channels lead to. Bloody Wings have direct access to infraspace, which allows them to skip across immense distances.

Iod \\ A planet which does not have a federalized police force and which, surprisingly, has the lowest crime rates in the galaxy.

Isochron \ Ī • sō • krän \

Jethers \ JĔ • thers \ Some dialects pronounce the TH hard (as in "tether" or "breathe") instead of soft (as in "math" or "breath").

Jethore Dynasty \ JĔTH • ōr \

Junto \ JŪN • tō \ A strategy game Cup and Nak play against each other

Jyngsoo \ JĒNG • sū \

Kaipanther \ KĪ • păn • ther \

Kalh \ KĂL \

Kalhette \ kăl • ĔT \

Kanfruit \\ A fruit local to the starside edge of the Twilight Ring on Solace.

Kemushik \\ The founder of the Shadowlyss, on whom Dray based his own tattoo.

Kerse \ KERS \

Kinosis \ kĭ • NŌ • sĭs \

Kinotic \ kĭ • NÄ • tĭk \

Kirehawk \ KĪR • häk \

Kobchi \ \ A lunch pastry from the colonist tradition on Solace

Koischioux \ KŌĒ • sho \

Lantielle \ LĂN • tē • ĕl \

Leciashona \ lĕē • SĒU • shō • nu \

Lethos \ LĔ • thōs \ The TH is soft, as in "math," with breath but no voice.

Liib \ LĒB \

Liink \ LĒNK \

Lysia \ LĬ • sēu \ Though Kalh and those close to Sia pronounce her name as the ancient word, anyone unfamiliar with the name's roots tends to pronounce it \ lī • SĒU \.

Millo-aion \ MĒ • lō • Ī • än \

Miin \ MĒN \ A six-legged, panther-like race native to Solace.

Moriant \ MŌR • ē • ănt \

Nak \ NĂK \

Nethune \ NĔ • thūn \

Nosaui \ nō • SÄŪ • ē \

Novan \ nō • VĂN \ A system that only the surge drive of The Sanctum can reach. It has at least two habitable planets.

Olioges \ ō • lē • Ō • zhĕz \ A small orange berry.

Omnipathens \ äm • NĬ • pu • thĕnz \ This TH is soft, as in "math." Noun. Adjective is omnipathent. Omniscience is knowing all; omnipotence is doing all, and omnipathens is feeling all.

Orban \ ōr • BAN \ A planet renowned for its significant technological advances, including ambrosia, an expensive substance that can significantly extend mortal lifespan. Also where standard galactic time originated.

Otherworld \ \ The segment of the ethereal world where justice is meted out to souls.

Phantetios \ \ An ancient manuscript that tells of the beginnings of the Shadowlyss, focusing mainly on the tale of Kemushik, the organization's tattooed founder.

Photoss \ FŌ • täs \

Psykatana \ SĪ • kä • tä • nä \

Ptolis \ TŌ • lĭs \

Raewasp \ RĀĒ • wäsp \

Redhelm \ RĔD • hĕlm \

Sacredspark \ SĀ • crĕd • spärk \

Scintillon \ sĭn • TĬL • än \

Seq \ SĒK \

Sequel \ SĒK • wĕl \

Shadowblade \ SHĂ • dō • blād \

Shadowlyss \ SHĂ • dō • lĭs \

Shartriin \ shär • TRĒN \ A city on Solace inside the Twilight Ring where the PSD massacred over a hundred protestors, including Liink's older brother. Liink was in attendance but survived.

Shauu \ SHÄŪ \

Sia \ SĒU \ Short for Lysia (see Lysia)

Silentsong \ SĪ • lĕnt • säng \

Singblade \ SĒNG • blād \

Skullhugger \ SKUL • hu • ger \

Solassian \ sō • LĂ • sē • ăn \ An adjective meaning originating from or pertaining to the planet Solace.

Sorjis \ SŌR • jĭs \

Spuunar \ SPŪ • när \

Sream \ SRĒM \

Starsight \ STÄR • sīt \

Taiberos \ TĪ • ber • ōs \

Takoonii \ tä • KŪ • nē \

Tiirsuerth \ TĒR • sū • ĕrth \

Voer Thawn \ VŌ • er • thän \

Toar \ TŌR \

Ugmoth \ \ A class of Renegade skycraft, which Adiin flies.

Uuash \ Ū • äsh \

Uumaki \ ū • MÄ • kē \ A wizened old starside miin who manifests kindness and goodwill.

Vayonis \ vī • ÄN • ĭs \

Vitralion \ vĭ • TRĂ • lēän\ The brightest star most directly above Solace's north pole, around which the stars seem to rotate on an annual basis. The polestar.

Whitesun \ WĪT • sun \

Xetherush \ ZĔ • ther • ush \

Xylander \ ZĪ • lăn • der \

Zentisal \ ZĔN • tĭ • săl \ In any given three-dimensional space or framework, there are three axes: horizontal, vertical, and zentisal.

Zhan \ ZHÄN \ Zhan is singular noun. S is to SH as Z is to ZH.

Zhani \ ZHÄ • nē \ Zhani is a plural noun and also an adjective. Exempli gratia: "That Zhan carries a zhani weapon."

Zocaster \ ZŌ • căs • ter\ A Renegade politician on Solace who represents the Freedom Riders.