My version of Glorantha is a more magical place than some people's real world rationalizations. I don't have physics per say, but magical substitutes which I find far more MGF. The following is all IMO and not cannon in any way.
My sky dome is litterally a half dozen miles wider in diameter than Glorantha itself. So if the world is 10,000km (whatever) across, the hieght of the sky dome is 5,000 km.
The element of storm (air) fills up the space between the land and the sky dome, so if you could cast a fly spell long enough to travel 5,000km, you'd still be able to breath up to the top of the dome (but way before then one of the stars would probably blast you out of the sky!).
There is air in hell, ever since Orlanth made his lightbringers quest. Before then there was only darkness, trolls and dead souls. But that was all right because the dead didn't need to breath!
Air is completely transparent in my Glorantha and thus the light of the stars is clearly visible to watchers from the ground. There is no horizon and no haze from air thickness. If you were able to cast a Farsight 300 then you _can_ watch the Red Emporer from the summit of Kero Fin. Clouds (Heler's sheep) and mist will obscure things, but invisible water vapour (over large distances) doesn't.
Yelm travels from the gates of dawn to the gates of dusk each day. Sunrise and sunset is obviously at the same time for all gloranthans. Noon varies depending on where you are on Yelm's path and its good fun to have adventurers realise that noon varies when they travel large distances east and west. It can be used to figure out your 'longitude' (I don't want to resurect this again!). All my cultures regard off centre noon's to be perfectly normal. There are no time zones.
When I say that Yelm travels through the gates of dawn and dusk I
_really_ mean it. Built into five mile high mountain ranges on the
east/west edges of Glorantha _are_ huge 500 feet high bronze and gold
doors. Each morning/evening the respective doors are opened to a
resplendant fanfare of Yelmic trumpets and choral singing.
Then appears a long procession of demigods, heros and servants proceeding in advance of Yelm himself, displaying his prowess and justice. They are his bodyguards and advisors who protect him on his trip through hell each night.
Yelm himself follows riding in/on a chariot/horse (depending on the culture you come from) and rides up into the sky. At this point he is only a few km away from the surface, but he travels up following the curve of the sky dome. He does not radiate extreame heat either. Wherever his light falls, the same gentle warmth occurs no matter what the distance. What counts is the amount of other elements in the area. Thus in a still desert his warmth is at its maximum undiluted strength. At the summit of a mountain, air (storm) reduces his power and so makes it feel colder. At dawn where some darkness still lingers in the shadows of houses and hills it feels colder too. Under the earth where no light reaches it is always cold, etc. The season alters Yelms warmth too. During Fire season the sky is at its peak of spitual power and so Yelm is strongest then.
The gates are simutaniously in the real world and the hero plane, so if a character wishes to travel there by mundane methods he can. The local areas around the gates are inhabited by fanatic worshippers of Yelm, so non-Yelmic PC's find it difficult to actually reach the base of the mountains. The mountains themselves are full of Yelmic monsters who patrol the slopes to find and kill the chaos beasts which climb in over the edge of Glorantha there. Finally each gate has a diety and an small army of demi-gods and heros which protect it from unlawful access or being opened at the wrong time.
If you somehow survive to climb the mountains the sky dome would be a mere couple of miles from you. Looking away from Glorantha you'd see small holes left from dead stars and the seas of raw chaos would be visible through them, causing madness to the viewer. Over the edge is an unclimbable plateau edge which leads down to hell. You have a better chance of surviving by travelling through the tunnels behind the gates of dawn/dusk. It is this horizontal belt of the skydome where most chaos enters the world, for the sky divinities protect the upper dome, and the darkness dieties protect the lower. Nobody does much work in the intersection for fear of polluting themselves...
I allow heroquesters to travel to the gates so thay can either gain
entry to the heroplane, or join Yelm's procession as it travels through
hell. Those characters who gaze directly at Yelm are struck blind by his
brillience, but forever remember his divine magnificence! It is also a
_very_ tough quest for Troll heroquesters who want to join Xentha's
entourage to gain extra darkness powers.
As you can see. I prefer to remove physics from Glorantha and replace it with myth. Saves on the arguments anyway!
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