I think this post more than any other put me straight, thanks
>
> "chrphrgrv"
>
>
> > Being how Glorantha is flat would the experiance of the passing sun not be
> > dramatically different based on what longitude you are at?
>
> Such an argument could be made. However, the Inner World is a mere five
> time zones across, and the way to the gates of Dusk and Dawn is at least
> that far.
>
> Then there is the problem with magical heights - the inner world reaches
> maybe 10 km above sea level, somewhere on the way you start to enter the
> Middle Sky where absolute distances are less meaningful.
>
>
> > For those living in the middle latitudes the following:
>
> > In the far east, the sun must appear to shoot up, or rush in from the
> > hazy eastern distance in the morning, pass by fairly quickly and then
> > appear to be moving slower and slower in the western sky until for a while
> > the sun would not appear to be moving at all, finally the sun would dip
> > down quickly. Regardless for much of the day the suns power would slowly
> > diminish. The concept of noon would be non existence. Long shadows would
> > spring up in the morning and at a rate almost disorienting to us terrans
> > shrink and then grow again in the other direction, though after a certain
> > point the lengthening would be very very slow indeed.
>
> This might be the case near the Gates of Dawn, provided the sun moves west
> from there at once. There are some Eastern Isles supposed to be as far out
> or even farther as the Gates of Dawn, but they are hardly part of the
> Inner World any more than say Altinela in the distant north of Genertela
> or the Luathelan archipelago.
>
>
> > In the far west, the sun would suddenly rise up dim in the far eastern sky
> > and gradually grow stronger and swifter all day in ever increasing orders
> > of magnitude until with all his glory he would pass swiftly overhead and
> > in a relatively brief time dive down quickly to a misty far away point in
> > the west where he would disappear again.
>
> Somehow, this is counter-intuitive to the denominators "Lands of Dawn" and
> "Lands of Dusk".
>
> So, how about this: the sun lingers on those horizons because it doesn't
> appear to go straight up/down, but outward to meet the sky?
>
>
> > In the center of the world this effect would be less but still apparent.
>
> In the center of the world - i.e. all over Genertela and Pamaltela - there
> is no measurable parallax. The sun will reach Pole Star's position at noon
> anywhere, and it will be directly above your "meridian" at noon, whether
> in Kralorela or Seshnela. In Summer, it will appear to the north of you,
> in winter to the south.
>
> In this regard, Glorantha is a tropical world - nowhere will the sun creep
> along the horizon, as it does in arctic areas.
>
> It won't be possible to remain north of the sun in summer without leaving
> the Inner World - possibly not even visiting Altinela. Sailing Sramak's
> River might make that possible, but that takes Sendereven magics (and even
> they prefer to take to port in Altinela).
>
>
> > To the extent that you are watching this spectacle from a far northern or
> > southern point the suns progress would appear more steady. Its strength
> > would feel more constant. But shadows would not lengthen as appreciably
> > and would rather be marked by their fairly swift movement from one
> > direction to the other as the day progressed.
>
> > Or is there some mythic magical intersession that allows all Gloranthans
> > to experience the passing of the sun in similar ways? I am hoping no.
>
> Let me put it this way: the Dawn was a universal event, but it may have
> taken place at different times. The Darkness in the East Isles was
> different from that in Genertela, and there appears to have been a sun-lit
> Gray Age there.
>
> > I'm not terribly mathematical so I don't know how to balance the changes
> > in curvature would do to the perception of the distance of the sun. But
> > it is inconceivable that the Gloranthan sun is anywhere near as far away
> > as our sun or anywhere near as big.
>
> As I said above, as soon as you leave the Inner World, absolute size
> becomes less meaningful.
>
> If you still want to do calculations, consider this: the Crater in Peloria
> defines the minimum circumference of the Red Moon. (in my personal theory,
> it defines the visibility limit of the moon from the surface around the
> upper pole of the moon, and the inside of the crater is a vast sphere
> whose surface can be seen in the sky)
>
> Assuming that the moon (as seen from outside of the Glowline) is about as
> big as the sun, you could make assumptions about the diameter of the sun
> which passes above the moon.
>
> Now, from within the Glowline, the moon appears a lot further up, and IIRC
> smaller. Still, the sun is far above it, and retains its apparent size.
> This means it is very far away and very large.
>
> One question about sun and moon is: are there Lunar eclipses?
> Theoretically there ought to be daily eclipses in a curve on the surface
> of the northern world, depending on the height and northerly course of the
> sun.
>
> To our knowledge, no such eclipses have been observed south of the Crater,
> or even within the Lunar Empire. Within the Glowline, there is no reason
> this should happen, because the sunpath will never reach the place
> occupied by the moon in the Upper Sky. Outside of the Glowline and north
> of the Crater latitude, you might look at the Crater (with the Red Moon
> vertically above the Crater) and see the sun pass north of you in the sky.
> You might expect an eclipse once a day, for at least two weeks a year.
>
> I don't recall what the official position on the existance (and possibly
> seasonal variations) of these eclipses was. I seem to remember "not in the
> Inner World" from discussions during the editing of "Under the Red Moon"
> when I was involved in some of the geometry experiments.
>
>
> > This too would dramatically impact
> > the perspective of the suns passage especially from the far north and
> > south where after a certain point the passage might appear far lower in
> > the sky very quickly though it would never appear as low as it does for us
> > on a globe.
>
> Again, that's leaving the Inner World, where distances and size are
> dependent on other factors than mere measurements. In my Glorantha, these
> size effects even happen when putting on "too much" magic - when there is
> an overdose of myth or magic, a single individual may appear bigger than
> an elder giant, and possibly able to take on a True Dragon on the usual
> scale of dimensions (i.e. maybe at a size disadvantage of 1:10) even
> though that dragon just left an immense valley at his resting place (which
> appeared as a mountain range before). So, if you are sufficiently
> magically powerful to get there, you may be tall enough that the sun would
> have to appear lower.
>
> > I like all this. It would force me to rethink the attitudes, myths,
> > temperament etc. such as the Brithini and the Varelans and especially the
> > folk of the East Isles.
>
> As long as it doesn't become counter-intuitive, with the lands of Dawn
> experiencing hardly any morning and the lands of Dusk hardly any evening,
> speculate away.
>
> There might also be ceremonial reasons for the sun to linger in the
> respective eastern and western lands, accepting the homage of morning or
> undergoing the preparations for the Underworld. And yes, there ought to be
> entire cultures dedicated to these tasks.
>