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Destiny

Discuss all things Destiny.
9/28/2015 6:19:51 PM
13

Syzygy is a real thing!

So if you've read the book of sorrows, you know that the Syzygy [siz-a-gee] was an event when the 52 moons of Fundament lined up, and would cause a deadly tidal wave that would have eliminated the "proto-hive" species. Now, first time I read this, I thought syzygy was just a made up word for "disaster", as it sounded similar to a kind of collapse or whirlwind as other races call it. BUT, as it turns out, a syzygy is a real thing, and Destiny "kinda" gets it right. In real life, a syzygy is when 3 celestial bodies align. The Earth, Moon, and Sun are in syzygy during a full moon, new moon, or during an eclipse. And during a full or new moon, sea levels do rise. In Destiny, Aurash's father says: "Aurash, my first daughter! The moons are different! The laws are bent!" The Syzygy grimore card goes on to describe the 52 moons aligning (though Aurash says it would only take a few massive moons to align) and causing the sea to bulge and fall when the moons moved, causing "a wave big enough to swallow civilizations. A God-Wave." So we have: Celestial alignment, check Increased tidal forces, check Large waves as a result, check Here's where it differs and why you don't need to worry about such a "God-Wave" here on earth. On earth, the sun causes less than half the tidal force the moon causes, and Jupiter causes 0.001% the force the sun causes, all other forces are negligible. Think just how enormous the sun and Jupiter are, but also how far away they are. During full and new moons, spring tides and neap tides occur, but only result in a 20% rise or drop in tide from normal. Might ruin your sandcastle, but probably not all of civilization. The world of Fundament, however, might experience a different issue. A moons orbit is related to its mass and velocity. To remain in orbit, an object has to move fast enough that gravity continues to pull it towards the center, but not so fast it escapes gravity's influence. The more mass an object has, either the faster it has to move, or the farther away it needs to be. Think a satellite compared to the Moon. For a large planet like Fundament, massive moons would need to be relatively far away, and would probably cause more problems for other moons when aligned than the planet. Would it still cause tidal forces, yes. Would it cause a "God-Wave"?, hard to say without dimensions to work with and analyze, but given the urgency in the grimore, let's say sure Would it end all civilization?, considering they were a sea faring race, probably would lead to an extinction level event where most would die leaving not enough survivors to repopulate, but it's hard to say. Sorry for the wall of text and occasionally rambling, but I hope you've learned something new from all this. Guess it's not just "Space Magic" after all. Thanks for reading and have a great day.

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