The World of Lydera: An Overview
Lydera is the natural home of all material life. It is a spherical planet that orbits the sun, alongside the planets Hretham and Ethron. Lydera is itself orbited by the two moons Sesaka and Ibsesaka. The surface of Lydera consists mostly of ocean with two known continents and many smaller islands. Much of Lydera is taken up by Atsura, the name given to the unexplored half of the planet.
The circumference of Lydera is estimated at approximately 60,000 kilometers.
What's going on here?
Lydera is filled with mysteries, and not everything about the world is known. As such, the information in these lore pages is not written objectively or with perfect knowledge of the world. Instead, it is written from the perspective of the people of Lydera. It contains the flaws in their thinking, the gaps in their understanding, and the limitations of their technology. Think of it as Lydera's own Wikipedia. The information within represents the best that Lyderan scholarship can offer, presented in an encyclopedic tone.
When faced with uncertainties, Game Masters are encouraged to expand the setting. It's unknown who or what the Icarians may have been, so the GM gets to decide what really happened. One campaign may be set in a version of Lydera where the Icarians are space aliens that will one day return to invade, and another campaign may have Icarians as a historical cover-up perpetuated by secret societies.
Why this box, then?
These pages aren't just lore. Some game rules may appear in certain pages to supplement the lore. These will generally be functional effects of legendary items or in-game stats for specific characters. When these game rules show up, they will be contained in a box (just like this one!). In essence, these boxes represent "out-of-character" statements.
Cosmology
| Name | Diameter | Appearance | Orbital Period | Placement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fosaka (The Sun) | ~70,000,000 km | Orange, extremely luminous | - | - |
| Lydera | ~19,000 km | - | 1 year (365.5 days) | 1st planet around Fosaka |
| Hretham | ~10,000 km | Blue-grey, dull | ~1.5 years | 2nd planet around Fosaka |
| Ethron | ~50,000 km | Pale yellow, luminous | ~13 years | 3rd planet around Fosaka |
| Sesaka | ~300 km | Blue-gray, luminous | 24 hours | 1st moon of Lydera |
| Ibsesaka | <50 km | Tan, dull | 21.3 days | 2nd moon of Lydera |
Lydera is a spherical planet that orbits around Fosaka once every 365.5 days, with each day lasting 24 hours. It rotates with an axial tilt of 29° which causes the shifting of seasons throughout the year. This orbit is hypothesized to be the cause of wind currents, tides, storms, and earthquakes through centripetal force and the Coriolis effect.
Lydera is orbited by the two moons Sesaka and Ibsesaka. Ibsesaka is smaller, farther away, and has an irregular oval-like shape. Both are tidally locked, but Sesaka is mutually tidally locked with Lydera, meaning that both bodies always present the same face to each other. In practice, this means that Sesaka appears locked in the same place in the sky at all times.
The planets Hretham and Ethron have both been known of for centuries, but only recent observations and the advent of gravitational orbit theory have identified them as planets similar to Lydera. Ethron looks similar to a star in the night sky and is often visible earlier than most stars, whereas Hretham requires a telescope to see. They are named after the Darsith legend of the brothers Hretham and Ethron?.
Thousands of stars can be seen in the sky at night, often organized by different cultures into constellations. They have been important throughout history for navigation, timekeeping, and religion. Stars also play a role in specific types of magic and seem to be especially of importance for many Celestials. Emerging theories suggest that stars are similar in nature to the sun, each potentially harboring more planets.
Geography
Full article: Geography of Lydera?