Natural Philosophy of the Infinite Plane
A Treatise on the Celestial Mechanics and Temporal Phenomena of Angrea
By Master Theodric Ironquill, Imperial Astronomer to House Corvanimus
Written in the 689th Year of the Chrysian Reckoning
Preface
In this humble work, I endeavor to set down the accumulated knowledge of our age regarding the fundamental workings of our infinite world. Though we stand as mere specks upon Angrea’s endless expanse, through careful observation and the wisdom passed down from the ship-dwellers of old, we have gleaned certain truths about the celestial dance above and the tidal pulse below.
Let none say that we understand all - for in an infinite plane, there must be infinite mysteries. Yet what we have measured, calculated, and verified through the turning of countless years, I present here for the edification of future scholars and the curious minded.
On the Nature of Angrea Itself
The first truth, known to child and scholar alike, is this: Angrea extends infinite in all directions from Emith’s Heart. This center point lies not immensely far heartward from our own Neuranian Isles - a mere three months’ journey for a swift vessel. Those who have hazarded the journey, and lived to tell of it, tell tales of strange lights dancing below the surface of the waves. The Sidhe tell stories of an ancient city, with impossibly tall towers and streets wide enough for the Drakus to sail through. They say it sits at the bottom of the ocean, perfectly intact, seemingly unscathed by the chaos of the Drowning, save that it now rests empty and under the sea.
Our compasses, those essential tools of navigation, always point away from Emith’s Heart, giving us our cardinal directions: nightward (whence come the suns), sunward (where they journey), rimward (clockwise from sunward), and heartward (clockwise from nightward). This divine ordering allows navigation across the infinite expanse.
The Imperial Navy’s Project Infinite Meridian, launched in the 632nd year, sent ships in the eight cardinal and intercardinal directions with orders to sail for five years before turning back. Of the seven that returned (House Corvanimus still maintains prayers for the eighth), only one reported encountering any sign of civilization - a single abandoned settlement on an island 2,847 days rimward, with architecture unlike any in our records. The vast infinity contains mostly empty ocean and uninhabited islands, making our Empire a rare jewel of civilization in the endless void.
The Dance of the Suns
The Eternal Lattice
The suns of Angrea form an infinite lattice across the sky, each following its predecessor in eternal procession. At night, the patient observer can witness a truth hidden from casual eyes: the last sun fading into the sunward distance while the new sun kindles on the nightward horizon. This celestial changing of the guard occurs every night without fail, a cosmic clockwork of incomprehensible scale.
Through careful measurement, we know each sun maintains a distance of approximately 8,100 leagues from its neighbors in the lattice. They rise from nightward, arc across our sky, and continue sunward into infinity. The sight of multiple suns - one overhead, one setting, one rising - can be observed from tall mountains on clear days, confirming the lattice structure.
On Their Infinite Procession
Each sun possesses unique characteristics observable through proper optical equipment: - Size variations of up to 12% from the mean - Color temperatures ranging from deep amber to brilliant white-blue - Unique patterns of solar spots and coronas - Distinctive magical resonances detectable by qualified thaumaturgists - Specific spectral signatures that never repeat
The Mystery of Two-Sun Days
Perhaps once in a generation, sometimes twice, we witness a modification to the eternal pattern: two suns sharing the sky, both following the same nightward-to-sunward path at slightly different angles. These paired suns rise together, journey together, and set together, as if Iliana wished to provide companionship for a single day’s journey across infinity.
The last such event in the 281st year saw the primary sun accompanied by a smaller, violet-hued companion traveling three degrees rimward of the standard path. Double shadows danced throughout the day, and the tide-touched spoke in languages none could recognize.
The Sunchasers
Perhaps the most extraordinary proof of the sun lattice’s infinite nature comes from the Sunchaser phenomenon. In all the Empire’s recorded history, we have witnessed this marvel but once - in the 483rd year of our reckoning, when a fleet of forty-seven vessels swept across our islands like a storm of wood and canvas.
These people, who call themselves the Eternal Dawn Riders, have adapted their entire civilization to pursue a single sun sunward across infinity. They arrived with the pre-dawn glow and departed as night’s first shadows touched the water, maintaining perfect pace with their chosen sun. During their brief day among us, they conducted frenzied trade - exchanging goods that defied comprehension and speaking of lands so distant that direction itself loses meaning.
The implications stagger the mind: in Angrea’s infinite expanse, with infinite suns forming an eternal lattice, we witnessed the only intersection our Empire will ever have with these perpetual voyagers. Their sun will never again pass over our islands. They spoke of other Sunchaser fleets following different suns, each carving their own eternal path through infinity, never to meet even each other.
House Canae maintains the complete records of this encounter, including detailed sketches of their vessels and transcriptions of their peculiar dialect. House Carthas still attempts to recreate some of their exotic spices, with limited success.
Solar Paths and Seasonal Variation
The angle at which suns cross from nightward to sunward varies with the seasons:
| Season | Solar Arc Height | Nightward Rise Point | Day Length Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Season | 75-87° at zenith | 5-15° rimward of true nightward | 26.5 - 27.3 periods |
| Gentle Season | 45-65° at zenith | True nightward ±3° | 26.8 - 27.1 periods |
| Cold Season | 23-41° at zenith | 5-20° heartward of true nightward | 26.2 - 26.9 periods |
The Triple Dance: Our Moons and Their Influence
Iliana’s Eye
The largest and most regular of our celestial companions, Iliana’s Eye completes her cycle in precisely 27 days. Her face shows always the same serene visage, marked by what the faithful call the Tears of Joy - three great maria visible to the naked eye.
- Diameter: 3.2 times that of Korin’s Shadow
- Tidal Coefficient: 4.7 (Standard Measure)
- Luminosity: Sufficient to read by at full phase
- Color: Pearl-white with golden undertones
Korin’s Shadow
Darker and more distant, Korin’s Shadow follows a 36-day path that brings her into various configurations with her sister moon. During the dark phase, she vanishes entirely from view - some say she travels behind our plane during these times, though this remains conjecture.
- Diameter: Baseline for lunar measurements
- Tidal Coefficient: 2.1 (Standard Measure)
- Luminosity: Dim, rust-colored light at full phase
- Notable Feature: The Great Scar, supposedly from Korin’s grief
The Wanderer
Most mysterious of the three, the Wanderer defies simple prediction. Its cycle varies between 31 and 41 days, following patterns that have frustrated astronomers for millennia. Some claim to have discovered the underlying mathematics, but none have successfully predicted more than three cycles in succession.
- Diameter: 0.7 times Korin’s Shadow
- Tidal Coefficient: Variable (0.8 - 3.9)
- Luminosity: Shifts from blue to green to amber
- Path: Occasionally retrograde, unique among the moons
The Mathematics of Time
Daily Divisions
Our ancestors aboard the great ships developed our nonary system of time-keeping, which we maintain to this day. The efficiency of base-nine counting for navigation calculations cannot be overstated.
1 Day = 3 Phases
1 Phase = 9 Periods
1 Period = 9 Marks
1 Mark = 3 Turns
1 Turn = 81 Moments
Thus: 1 Day = 3 × 9 × 9 × 3 × 81 = 59,049 Moments
The three phases of the day correspond to the sun’s journey: - Dawn Phase: From light reaching daylight threshold through mid-day (Periods 1-9) - Zenith Phase: The sun’s height and afternoon descent (Periods 10-18) - Dusk Phase: Evening through to the next morning (Periods 19-27)
For those curious about conversion to the ancient pre-Flood measurements sometimes found in ruins: one of our days equals approximately 25 of what the ancients called “hours.”
The Variable Year
Here we come to one of nature’s most vexing puzzles. While we speak of a standard year of 297 days (9 spans of 33 days each), no year in recorded history has been exactly this length.
My own observations over four decades:
| Year (Chrysian Reckoning) | Total Days | Tide Days Added | Notable Events |
|---|---|---|---|
| 649 | 312 | 15 | Mild seasons throughout |
| 650 | 308 | 11 | Extended Hot Season |
| 651 | 329 | 32 | The Year of Three Winters |
| 652 | 301 | 4 | Wanderer invisible for 47 days |
Predicting the Year’s Length
The Guild of Timekeepers, operating under House Canae’s scholarly oversight, employs seventeen different methods for estimating the year’s duration, combining:
- Solar angle measurements at key points
- Tidal harmonic analysis
- Thermal absorption rates in standard stones
- Migratory patterns of the silver-winged petrels
- The color of the Wanderer at autumn’s first full phase
- Resonance patterns in temple bells
- Growth rates of chronophytic algae
Even combining all methods, predictions remain accurate only within ±9 days. The saying “as certain as next year’s length” remains our culture’s way of describing the fundamentally uncertain.
Tide Days Explained
When the accumulated difference between the theoretical 297-day year and the actual solar year exceeds approximately 0.7 days, a Tide Day must be inserted. These days exist outside the normal span structure and are announced by the Guild of Timekeepers (under House Canae’s authority) when specific conditions align:
- The solar zenith angle indicates progression beyond expected
- Tidal calculations show temporal drift exceeding tolerance
- At least three of five designated bird species begin migration
- The Wanderer enters a new phase within two days
The Tidal Symphony
Triple Lunar Influence
The interaction of our three moons creates the most complex tidal system imaginable. A competent navigator must track:
- Primary tide from Iliana’s Eye (27-day cycle)
- Secondary tide from Korin’s Shadow (36-day cycle)
- Chaos tide from the Wanderer (31-41 day cycle)
- Interaction effects when moons align or oppose
- Local geographic amplifications
- Seasonal variations in tidal strength
The Grand Harmony
Approximately every 40 years, all three moons achieve full phase within the same period. These “Grand Harmony” tides can rise 30 cubits above normal high water. The last occurred in 673, flooding the lower districts of seven major ports despite preparations made by Houses Ilmath and Drath working in concert.
The next Grand Harmony is predicted for 713 (±2 years due to the Wanderer’s variability). House Corvanimus has ordered all coastal settlements to begin preparations by 710.
Matters of Scholarly Debate
The Source of the Suns
The eternal lattice raises profound questions. If suns stretch infinite in all directions, forming an endless grid across Angrea’s sky, several theories compete for prominence:
- The Lattice Eternal: The suns have always existed in their pattern, neither created nor destroyed
- The Nightward Genesis: New suns form perpetually at infinity’s nightward edge
- The Circuit Theory: Suns travel beneath Angrea to return nightward (disproven by Sunchaser observations)
- The Divine Weaving: Iliana continuously weaves new suns into the pattern while unweaving old ones sunward
The Sunchasers provide our best evidence: they report their chosen suns remain constant in all observable properties across centuries of pursuit, suggesting suns neither age nor change during their visible journey.
The Wanderer’s Nature
Alone among celestial bodies, the Wanderer shows apparent agency. Its irregular orbit, color changes, and occasional complete disappearances suggest:
- Intelligent control (the dominant temple position)
- Interaction with invisible bodies (the astronomer’s theory)
- Passage through other planes of existence (the thaumaturgist’s claim)
- Pure chaos made manifest (the nihilist interpretation)
The Infinity Problem
If Angrea is truly infinite, with infinite suns in an eternal lattice, certain paradoxes arise:
- There must be infinite copies of every possible island configuration
- Infinite Sunchaser fleets pursue infinite suns across infinite seas
- Every possible event must be occurring somewhere at all times
- The distance to Emith’s Heart is finite, yet it centers an infinite plane
- Navigation by landmark becomes philosophically impossible
Most navigators resolve this by declaring, “I sail by compass away from the Heart, and leave infinity to the philosophers.”
Practical Applications
For the Navigator
Understanding celestial mechanics permits: - Prediction of safe harbor times using tidal calculations - Course correction via lunar positioning - Compass calibration to maintain true heartward bearing - Season estimation from solar angle relative to nightward - Storm prediction from moon interactions - Recording sun signatures for House Canae’s eternal catalog
For the Farmer
Agricultural timing depends upon: - Recognizing seasonal transitions through solar progression - Planting by moon phase for optimal growth - Harvesting before predicted Tide Days - Understanding year-length variations for crop rotation
For the Merchant
Commercial success, particularly for House Carthas, requires: - Analyzing seasonal length for House agricultural planning - Predicting market days around Tide Day insertions for House Carthas - Understanding year variations for House inventory management - Preparing for Grand Harmony disruptions decades in advance
Instruments and Observations
Essential Equipment
The modern natural philosopher employs:
The Nonadic Astrolabe For measuring solar angles and lunar positions using base-nine calculations
Tidal Harmonic Resonator Brass spheres of varying sizes that vibrate with tidal forces
Chronophytic Garden Specialized algae whose growth precisely tracks temporal passage
Imperial Quadrant Precision angle-measuring device bearing House Corvanimus’s raven seal
Solar Lattice Tracker Multiple telescopes aimed nightward and sunward to observe the eternal procession
Heartward Compass Precision instrument showing deviation from true anti-heartward bearing
The Wanderer's Glass Specially tinted lens that tracks the variable moon even in daylight
Solar Spectroscope Prismatic device revealing each sun’s unique light signature
Observation Protocols
Standardized by House Canae and enforced across all House observatories, measurements must be taken:
- At the third mark of the first period of Dawn Phase (sunrise measurements)
- When the sun reaches zenith, in the late Dawn Phase or early Zenith, depending on season
- At the first mark of the first period of Dusk Phase (sunset measurements)
- During the middle period of Dusk Phase (lunar observations)
- Pre-dawn nightward scan for approaching suns (final period of Dusk Phase)
Conclusions and Continuing Mysteries
After a lifetime of observation, I can state with certainty only this: Angrea’s infinite nature ensures that our understanding will always be finite. Each answered question reveals nine new mysteries.
Yet in this humbling truth lies also wonder. Every dawn brings not just a new sun, but new possibilities for discovery. The child who watches the tide pools today might tomorrow solve the riddle of the Wanderer’s path. The sailor who notes an unusual solar spectrum might unlock the secret of two-sun days.
I leave this record for those who come after, not as final truth but as foundation. May you build upon it structures of knowledge I cannot imagine, reaching toward infinities I will never see.
Master Theodric Ironquill
Imperial Observatory of House Corvanimus
Third Tide Day of the Gentle Season
Year 689 of the Chrysian Reckoning
Appendix: Quick Reference Tables
Time Conversion Table
| Angrean Unit | Contains | Approximate Earth Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Moment | Base unit | ~1.5 seconds |
| 1 Turn | 81 Moments | ~2 minutes |
| 1 Mark | 3 Turns | ~6.1 minutes |
| 1 Period | 9 Marks | ~54.7 minutes |
| 1 Phase | 9 Periods | ~8.2 hours |
| 1 Day | 3 Phases | ~24.6 hours |
Lunar Cycles
| Moon | Cycle Length | Tidal Force | Predictability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iliana’s Eye | 27 days exactly | Strongest (4.7) | Perfect |
| Korin’s Shadow | 36 days exactly | Moderate (2.1) | Perfect |
| The Wanderer | 31-41 days | Variable (0.8-3.9) | Chaotic |