RPG plot help: What does the statue reveal? - Page 3

RogerBW · 11-26-2014, 05:49 AM

Presumably the débris belt is mostly around LEO, i.e. 160-200 miles up?

Given the thickness of the belt I suspect you might not actually get the slant of 53° above the horizon that you need for sunlight to hit the earth far away from the tether.

But OK, assuming the belt is thin enough for this to work, what you get is a spot or shaft of sunlight moving from west to east at something like 50-75mph (15 degrees per hour, 200 miles from surface to gap). If this was planned, you might find that the city has a slightly curved road leading west from the statue, so that the solstitial sunbeam can track along it.

I agree that you probably won't get a beam directly along the equator at a solstice. At both equinoctes (equinoxes if you prefer) would make more sense, though then it happens twice a year.

SolemnGolem · 11-26-2014, 04:17 PM

Thanks, that's more or less what I was trying to get at. I could just handwave it, but it would be good to have some basis in astronomical fact.

I'll apply handwaving liberally, but I have no problem with this happening twice a year rather than just once.

The final thing I was thinking of was having the sunlight illuminate different surfaces of the statues as it progresses along, and maybe printing out a poem on the face of the mountain to the east.

Something like the "seven-kill stele" from Zhang Xianzhong's genocidal regime could be rather apropos, if the intent is to show the Chinese contractors as a nihilistic bunch who went gradually nuts after living in a nation so far removed from home...

SolemnGolem · 01-04-2020, 04:43 PM

A very late bump.

The final decision was made to have the statue reveal the Chinese character 华 ("hua2"), which is one of the shortened terms for China itself.

I figure the idea of having three women standing side by side - with limbs outstretched in monumental gestures of inspirational leadership - could feasibly cause a sunbeam approaching from the west to cast a simple Chinese character eastwards onto the mountain range.

11-26-2014, 05:49 AM	#21
RogerBW Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: near London, UK	Re: RPG plot help: What does the statue reveal? Presumably the débris belt is mostly around LEO, i.e. 160-200 miles up? Given the thickness of the belt I suspect you might not actually get the slant of 53° above the horizon that you need for sunlight to hit the earth far away from the tether. But OK, assuming the belt is thin enough for this to work, what you get is a spot or shaft of sunlight moving from west to east at something like 50-75mph (15 degrees per hour, 200 miles from surface to gap). If this was planned, you might find that the city has a slightly curved road leading west from the statue, so that the solstitial sunbeam can track along it. I agree that you probably won't get a beam directly along the equator at a solstice. At both equinoctes (equinoxes if you prefer) would make more sense, though then it happens twice a year. __________________ Podcast: Improvised Radio Theatre - With Dice Gaming stuff here: Tekeli-li! Blog; Webcomic Laager and Limehouse Buy things by me on Warehouse 23

11-26-2014, 04:17 PM	#22
SolemnGolem Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: The Hall of Fallen Columns	Re: RPG plot help: What does the statue reveal? Thanks, that's more or less what I was trying to get at. I could just handwave it, but it would be good to have some basis in astronomical fact. I'll apply handwaving liberally, but I have no problem with this happening twice a year rather than just once. The final thing I was thinking of was having the sunlight illuminate different surfaces of the statues as it progresses along, and maybe printing out a poem on the face of the mountain to the east. Something like the "seven-kill stele" from Zhang Xianzhong's genocidal regime could be rather apropos, if the intent is to show the Chinese contractors as a nihilistic bunch who went gradually nuts after living in a nation so far removed from home...

01-04-2020, 04:43 PM	#23
SolemnGolem Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: The Hall of Fallen Columns	Re: RPG plot help: What does the statue reveal? A very late bump. The final decision was made to have the statue reveal the Chinese character 华 ("hua2"), which is one of the shortened terms for China itself. I figure the idea of having three women standing side by side - with limbs outstretched in monumental gestures of inspirational leadership - could feasibly cause a sunbeam approaching from the west to cast a simple Chinese character eastwards onto the mountain range.