After Earthfall, there seems to be a lot more water on Golarion. Hear me out.
Earthfall destroyed a land bridge between Avistan and Garund, causing tons of water to flow into a valley and create the Inner Sea. It also caused the giant mining pit that is now Lake Encarthan to fill up with water.
It also covered the former realm of Bakrakhan to "sink into the sea" and become underwater. And the former Isle of Xin went underwater. And of course the former continent of Azlant is also now mostly underwater.
So the water level of the ocean doesn't seem to have gone down despite filling up the Inner Sea. It fact, water levels seem to have risen instead.
It seems like the amount of water increased significantly after Earthfall.
I'm okay with this, of course, but where did all this water come from? Has anyone else even thought of this?
Are sure Earthfall didn't just crack open a couple of ancient aquifiers as various bits of land collapsed? It's not like anyone would particularly notice a salinity change when the Eye of Abendego is dumping a ludicrous quantity of freshwater out of the sky every single day.
Maybe the Aeon Star (asteroid) mostly consisted from ice? It melt down in Earthfall and fell as rain.
Maybe the Aeon Star (asteroid) mostly consisted from ice? It melt down in Earthfall and fell as rain.
My thoughts too, except Rainfall lacks the gravitas for a major cataclysm.
Also, there doesn't need to be more water for more of the surface to get covered by water. It could be their oceans have grown shallower as continents sank. As in, if all the land were smoothed down, it'd all sink underwater (at least on Earth).
Also Azlanti has that Atlantis vibe, so even lost territory isn't truly lost what with ancient magics and sapient underwater species/hybrids. I've long hoped for an underwater AP, once Paizo can develop it beyond that premise, make it relevant, and make one where they story's so interwoven with aqua-Golarion that the AP kinda needs to occur underwater. So much to explore too, from sprawling civilizations (and their armies) to the deep abysses where madness sleeps.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Even if the impacting bodies were mostly comets, for there to be enough of them to significantly impact sea level would produce significantly more destruction than is implied in Earthfall. Frankly, a single astronomical body that size probably wouldn't be an asteroid or a comet, it would be a dwarf planet.
However, if several impacts landed in the sea, or on costal regions that set off massive landslides or techtonic activity, the resulting tsunami might have washed over a number of low-lying land masses such as small islands or coastal plains. Bakrakhan might not have been due to the sea rising in perpetuity, but the combination of erosion and pressure from both the water's onset and its recession physically lowering the landmass, simmilar to Doggerland, the land bridge that formerly connected Brittain to mainland Europe. Presumably the Varisian Gulf is fairly shallow, otherwise it's also possible much of Bakrakhan was already below sea level, similar to Death Valley, but was protected from flooding by a small mountain range that now makes up the archipelago on the Gulf's western edge, and the tsunami from Earthfall merely broke that dam.
Azlant I had assumed was actually hit by the meteors; looking at the map there are a few conspicuously circular gaps in the landmass.
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
My theory;
If large masses of land, such as Azlant, Bakrakhan, etc. sank into the sea, that would displace an equal amount of water, which would rise and cause coastal flooding or whatnot.
And, of course, it's also a fantasy world, so even ignoring water displacement, something fantastic might have happened, like the impact blasting open a temporary portal to the Plane of Water or something.
Plot twist! There's still some Marids pissy about Golarion 'stealing' some of their elemental territory, and they want it back, and are working on a giant ritual to suck Golarion's oceans into the plane of Water (all of Golarion's oceans, they are charging interest on the water 'stolen' and the exact amount is... complicated, but all of Golarion's oceans should just about cover it!).
But water displacement should be a fine enough explanation. Save the elemental water bit for a conspiracy theory espoused by some particularly petulant water genie who primarily wants to extort Golarion for something cool to not go through with this cataclysmic ritual.
My theory;
If large masses of land, such as Azlant, Bakrakhan, etc. sank into the sea, that would displace an equal amount of water, which would rise and cause coastal flooding or whatnot.
And, of course, it's also a fantasy world, so even ignoring water displacement, something fantastic might have happened, like the impact blasting open a temporary portal to the Plane of Water or something.
Plot twist! There's still some Marids pissy about Golarion 'stealing' some of their elemental territory, and they want it back, and are working on a giant ritual to suck Golarion's oceans into the plane of Water (all of Golarion's oceans, they are charging interest on the water 'stolen' and the exact amount is... complicated, but all of Golarion's oceans should just about cover it!).
But water displacement should be a fine enough explanation. Save the elemental water bit for a conspiracy theory espoused by some particularly petulant water genie who primarily wants to extort Golarion for something cool to not go through with this cataclysmic ritual.
I also thought of the laws of physics like Matter/Water Displacement.
the aquifiers thing wouldn't add water, but can cause lands sinking even without raising sea level and the effects stack.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
You’ve also got the underground oceans and seas to consider. Maybe the impact caused a shift and led to more water coming up.
Opening communication between surface and subsurface oceans would cause the surface oceans to drain down, unless the caverns containing the subsurface oceans were squeezed shut so as to force water up.
You’ve also got the underground oceans and seas to consider. Maybe the impact caused a shift and led to more water coming up.Opening communication between surface and subsurface oceans would cause the surface oceans to drain down, unless the caverns containing the subsurface oceans were squeezed shut so as to force water up.I think basically you've got to run with "it's a fantasy world" and not think to closely about the geology or physics of it all.
In setting this is pretty much the case already with a connection between a subsurface ocean and a surface one.
ties to the plane of water could be here?
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
In setting this is pretty much the case already with a connection between a subsurface ocean and a surface one.
As I understand it the Inverted Sea, which is connected to the Sightless Sea is directly underneath the Arcadian Ocean where Azlant used to be, and the Algollthu have maintained the "ocean on the roof" connected to the Arcadian ocean through some unassuming vents via extensive magic. If that magic were to fail for any means, I assume that conventional hydrodynamics would take over (the Inverted Sea would fall into the Sightless Sea and the Arcadian Ocean would start flooding Orv.)