The desire popped into my head recently to run a campaign on the planet Triaxus (of Golarion's system) that takes place over several hundred years with the players taking control of the descendants of the or characters. It would start in a more carefree time as the jungles flourish and eventually, as the group gets higher in level, will become a frozen land.
I'm pretty much set on humans being one of the major races in the area, but I am not decided on how I would describe their appearance or what names they would use.
I was wondering if there any ideas for the other civilized natives of the land. I am generally happy with elves, dwarves, and such, but for this game I would like to avoid them to make the world feel more like a different world.
Another question I have is to ask if there were any suggestions for the exact length of a Triaxus year as well as how it's orbit actually works.
Unless I missed something, a planet going getting as close as Venus and as far away as the gas giants would take about five Earth/Golarion years to make one trip around the Sun assuming an elliptical orbit (as opposed to hundreds of years.
Right now I am planning to describe Triaxus as having an very odd orbit where the gravity of the other planets of the system keep it from traveling the system at a "normal" pace, but I would love another suggestion how this planet works.
I have been trying to make sense of the long period of Triaxus's rotation (again, unless I am looking at the wrong information), just so I might have some explanation if the question comes up. While I could default to it just being completely magic.
Triaxus's orbit could just be really erratic. I imagine that it might be possible that Triaxus spends about half of it's time spinning in an elliptical orbit in the area of the inner planets and, at some point, it gets close enough to Liavara that the gravity causes Triaxus to be held there between Liavara and the Sun. Eventually it would fall back into it's lower orbit and repeat the cycle over again. I don't even want to try to figure out the values needed for this to happen like this. While I think it might be possible, I think it is more likely to be impossible without just saying that it is maintained by magic.
Triaxus is in another dimension? The wandering planet might be described as being between two dimensions. The rift between dimensions exists around the planet, allowing the light from the Sun to pass through to the planet and back to observers on other planets, but the rift doesn't translate gravitational forces. It isn't touched by the gravity of the Sun, instead it orbits a smaller object in the other dimension which explains it's slower rate of travel and, if the object is not in the same position as the Sun, it would make Triaxus's movements seem erratic in comparison to other bodies.
Time flies on Triaxus. Around the planet Triaxus, time just moves quicker than it does on Golarion. For every second that passes on Golarion, fifty could have passed on Triaxus.
I would be sort of fine with the two previous explanations, but they both still feel like I'm just saying that the planet is magic, only with more words.
There are a few other options as for explaining it including moving Triaxus to a different system or having Triaxus fly farther than the gas giants (and then explain why the planet is still livable when it is so very far from the sun most of the time.
I was thinking about this subject today because I am preparing "The frozen stars" for my group.
I was trying to find an explanation for the short spring and autumn on Triaxus.
I was trying to figure out how Triaxus might work, and this was what I came up with so far, but both theories have advantages and disadvantages:
The long orbit is elliptical and revolves around the sun (in summer) and around another object (in winter), probably a black hole or perhaps something extradimensional. However, this does not explain the short spring and autumn. This could only be explained if the planet is in orbit around the sun, then sort of hurled to the other end of its trajectory and then orbits around something else and is hurled back to the sun again.
Actually it could have two orbits, one close to the sun, and another orbit further away from the sun. So it turns round the sun at a short distance first, and then is pulled away (e.g. by Liavara) and orbits the sun again at a longer distance. Then the sun (or one of the planets again) pulls it back to the shorter distance, where the cycle starts again.
However, I am not a physicist and I would like to know what someone who knows more about physics would say about that. Otherwise the only solution would be magic I guess.
I have been trying to make sense of the long period of Triaxus's rotation (again, unless I am looking at the wrong information), just so I might have some explanation if the question comes up. While I could default to it just being completely magic.
Triaxus's orbit could just be really erratic. I imagine that it might be possible that Triaxus spends about half of it's time spinning in an elliptical orbit in the area of the inner planets and, at some point, it gets close enough to Liavara that the gravity causes Triaxus to be held there between Liavara and the Sun. Eventually it would fall back into it's lower orbit and repeat the cycle over again. {. . .}
This might be possible, but it sounds like it would be really unstable, with very dangerous consequences not only for Triaxus but for other planets in Golarion's solar system if things got disturbed the slightest bit.
Triaxus is in another dimension? The wandering planet might be described as being between two dimensions. The rift between dimensions exists around the planet, allowing the light from the Sun to pass through to the planet and back to observers on other planets, but the rift doesn't translate gravitational forces. It isn't touched by the gravity of the Sun, instead it orbits a smaller object in the other dimension which explains it's slower rate of travel and, if the object is not in the same position as the Sun, it would make Triaxus's movements seem erratic in comparison to other bodies.
Again, this sounds like it would be very dangerous for other planets in Golarion's solar system; even if Triaxus' gravity is completely shielded, the other body it is orbiting moving in and out on an elliptical orbit is eventually going to cause a wreck.
But you almost have a safe answer here. Instead of the dimensional rift blocking gravity, it blocks part of the light from the Sun -- since it only takes a few percent change in insolation to cause major climate change, the Sun only has to look slightly dimmer from the surface during the winter, and observers from outside see a faint shimmering barrier around Triaxus during the winter. If the barrier flips between On and Off without much (or an) transition time, the Spring and Fall will be short.
Time flies on Triaxus. Around the planet Triaxus, time just moves quicker than it does on Golarion. For every second that passes on Golarion, fifty could have passed on Triaxus.
I would be sort of fine with the two previous explanations, but they both still feel like I'm just saying that the planet is magic, only with more words.
There are a few other options as for explaining it including moving Triaxus to a different system or having Triaxus fly farther than the gas giants (and then explain why the planet is still livable when it is...
The problem with magic for an explanation is that even deities couldn't stop the Starstone, so if magic is messing with orbits, WHOSE magic is it? Magic messing with partial light reflection seems a lot easier.