Depths of the Savannah

[Whitelaughter]

The Savannah is inhabited by the spirit of every kind of animal, living or extinct. (H&H, p76a)

Oh. Oooooooh...

There have been animals on this planet for at least 580 million years, and it could be twice that. Just how far back does the Savannah go?

Possibly one reason that Jordi discourages visitors is that the environment is tailored to the local inhabitants, and so could be fatal to visitors. It's highly unlikely that there were animals before the Great Oxidation Event, so at least you can breathe something - but levels of oxygen varied wildly, and the oldest critters may predate the Ozone layer. The magnetic field has also fluctuated, as has the intensity of sunlight and the average temperature - we've had everything from Snowball Planet to an average +14 degrees above today during the Eocene.

Then there is the crazy possibility of species that rapidly developed during and directly after extinction events, and so are comfortable in truly insane conditions - frex the after effects of a meteor strike, during very low oxgyen levels, or even in the presence of hydrogen sulphide.

"Go find the Blessed child who decided to see real dinosaurs" has always been an obvious choice for an adventure set in Heaven, but it could be a lot scarier that I'd expected!

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Oh, while checking things for this post, I noticed an interesting overlap - the date given (GMG p93, 100 million years BC) for the Archangels mucking around on Earth coincides with Africa and Eurasia joining up: so the results of the ecologies mixing (and thus species becoming extinct) may have inclined a young Malphas towards keeping things separate.

[Methariel]

Originally Posted by Whitelaughter

[...], but it could be a lot scarier that I'd expected!

I am not certain if I understood your post correctly, so I humbly ask for clarification:

With regards to the whole text of your message, is it "scary" because you are assuming that there are different levels of oxygen, temperature etc. in Heaven and that this affected celestials or blessed souls in those areas adverseley, or because you are assuming that the "living conditions" of those animals are tailored to their experiences on Earth and thus - maybe wildly - different from what "younger" celestials and blessed souls are accustomed to, thus creating an environment they are feeling - maybe extremely - uncomfortable in?

Thank you in advance,

M.

[Whitelaughter]

Both.

Granted that a celestial being doesn't need corporeal oxygen to breathe, but it's already established that the celestial realm can harm beings in the same fashion as on Earth; frex Gabriel's volcano. So the threats of radiation, extreme heat and cold or hypoxia would all be very real.

Possibly Ofanim of Fire would be the best beings to send in, as they have speed from their choir and immunity to radiation from their attunement.