The Rift Between Us

It's time we discuss something...

Photo by Holiday4free.com (Manuel) on Unsplash

Okay… maybe you and I don’t have a rift between us, but there is a pretty important (series of) chasm(s) that needs to be addressed. You know, the ones that lie to the north of Amashik? You’re right, let me back track a bit, I am forgetting that we need to have this conversation because I’ve kept a pretty big secret from you.

As the writer of Ennead: The Rule of Nine I’ve tried hard to focus your attention on the events surrounding the third generation of the 1st Ennead. Considering that all this began as a worldbuilding project that is really hard to do. Everything from religious cults, to magic systems, and even political hierarchies have been created for the most of known world. I want to share those things. I don’t. Why? They would absolutely destroy the story I’m trying to tell.

Yet every now and then I just can’t help myself- and now is one of those times.

Amashik is a Torus-Shaped Planet

Photo by Mateusz Roman on Unsplash

Yep. Amashik is a donut because… reasons. Don’t get bogged down here with the particulars. I’m not going to do a deep dive on toroidal shaped planets (but here’s a cool video on the subject) but I wanted to explore how one would work (here’s a second video because it’s late and I have been dying to share this). To sum it up, these planets are theoretically possible, though there would need to be an enormous force in the center of the donut hole to keep the planet from collapsing in on itself. Magic anyone?

Along with a massive force keeping the planet intact it would also need to rotate exceptionally fast. Making for shorter days, extreme weather at the poles, and some weird gravitational related phenomena. Sounds cool, right? Considering this isn’t a science fiction tale, none of our characters have any idea about the rotational speed of the planet, though at least one person you met knows about the enormous amount of magic in the middle keeping it all together.

I’ve been fascinated by the ideas that this type of planetary structure allows an author to play with just as much as I have been by the boundaries and obstacles it sets up. So I’m excited to share that tomorrow, you’ll get a little taste of what folks do a bit closer to the poles of Amashik. Not so close that they experience some of the severe pole related weight loss that physicists speculate would occur on a planet like this, but definitely close enough to have some… fun.

Picture this:

Mega storms rage in a shattered bit of land known affectionately as ‘the rifts,’ these storms are said to bring strong winds, large thunderstorms, hail, flash floods, and more. A band of storm chasers travel north of Mytta in the Horaghian Confederation with the hopes of hunting some of Amashik’s rarest inhabitants.

Come back here tomorrow to read a brand new short called “The Riftstorm.” The Riftstorm is a part of something larger than I’ll be unveiling over the coming months. The piece is twice as long as my typical prose chapters are. Tis first piece will be free for all to read, the rest this series will be a subscriber exclusive.

Lots going on behind the scenes here in Amashik, I can’t wait until you get to experience it.

JL