This video showcases my Blender model of the planet that the Scud aliens call home, the fourth and final world I've mapped out for @jayrockin's "Runaway to the Stars" project. A *lot* of maps were created in service of this final render, and also in service of presenting the special qualities of this planet. I intend to show you as many of these as I can under the cut, and also in subsequent posts focusing on some of the more interstitial, ancillary maps and figures that played a part in producing the primary maps you'll see in this main post.
Before I show the first maps I made for this project, what you see below are the satellite-style maps for the Equinoxes and Solstices, in order of (Northern) Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, the latter serving as the texture for the Blender object you saw in the video.
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With that matter covered, our next focus is this project's foundation: Geology.
While I didn't spin as elaborate a tectonic history for this planet as I did for the Ayrum commission, I did work out as much detail as I could for the more recent geological activity, to set the stage for the elevation data - including a narrower focus on the coastal shallows that host the Scud populations.
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Once I could move on to climate, my first step was finding this planet's relative Insolation, which I managed thanks to @reversedumbrella's code and coaching.
With an obliquity of only 16 degrees, this planet's yearly maximum Insolation levels stick close to the equator, compared to pole-to-pole oscillation we see on Earth
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Having a rough sense of where heat would concentrate seasonally and how the landmasses would deflect water in light of the planet's retrograde spin, I was able to set down the bi-annual ocean currents (Northern Summer above and Northern Winter below), then the monthly water temperatures pushed around by said currents, and finally -after factoring in many other considerations- the monthly land temperatures as well (combined in the second gif)
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Next came the seasonal air pressure maps and subsequent wind patterns (my first time creating those from scratch), which later factored into the precipitation maps. The incredible temperatures at the largest continent's interior make a desert of most of it, and the other interiors are fairly dry too, but all that heat on the equatorial ocean generates a *lot* of evaporation which ends up coming down elsewhere.
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With temperatures and precipitation mapped out for each month, I was able to find how the accumulation and melt of ice and snow played out, too. Given such a hot equator it's surprising to see freezing temperatures hold out in some places, but low obliquity and high elevation shield what areas they can, it seems.
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All this monthly data was then painstakingly combined and compared and plugged into equations to produce maps of discrete climate zones, using both the Köppen (left) and Trewartha (right) classification systems. The higher latitudes see some overlap with Earth's conditions, but the Tropics...
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I never really finished the map I wanted to make with my own loosely customized classification system, but I *did* get as far as this breakdown of the areas that sometimes surpass 56.7 degrees Celsius, Earth's record for highest surface temperature ever directly measured. And as you can see, that earthly record is broken by a *significant* fraction of this planet's surface, and far exceeded by the equatorial continent's deep interior
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The final phase of this project dealt with creating satellite maps of this planet's surface (which you saw at the top of this post), which started with a map of dry and submerged substrate, then a density map of the vegetation that sits atop it, then the colors of that vegetation under annual average conditions (demonstrating how they would appear in-person, rather than the area's appearance from orbit), and finally plant colors under seasonal conditions (same conceit as previous). In concert with the seasonal ice and snow maps, it was the four maps in the last sequence which were overlaid on the Substrate map, using the plant density map as raster masks, to produce the final Satellite-Style maps.
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This planet's sophonts being a marine species, it was then worth focusing on the conditions underwater, which included monthly seafloor temperatures (first gif), annual discharge of sediment from rivers (magenta in the 2nd gif), and seasonal upwelling of nutrients from deeper water (blue in the 2nd gif).
The creation of all my maps seen in this post was possible thanks to Photopea, which has been my go-to for several years now. The resolution kinda got crunched when I uploaded these here, so when I share them on Reddit later I'll add those links under this. These have also already been posted on Twitter, which you can see here if you like. Thanks for scrolling all the way down here!
So I need to talk about something, and someone, important. A friend of mine, somebody I care about, and daresay love, hasn't been feeling the best as of late. Now, I wish I could signal boost this and spread it across tumblr as this cute, happy post... But my lack of followers won't allow that, so I won't post their Tumblr, but this person's name is Ellie. They are a friend I've come to know over the past few years.
This person is absolutely amazing and wonderful in so many ways. They are an extremely talented artist, so very caring towards their friends, and even though they may struggle all of the time with different things, they are always making an effort to better themselves and to stay positive. I know it's very hard for them, and I wish I could be there in person from time to time, even if only to hold their hand for a while. They are skilled with a drawing tablet, make me smile so often, and just want to be able to make others happy, something which I certainly admire. I'm proud of them for how far they've gotten so far, both in their life and as a person, and I'm so very happy for them.
I wanted to make this post to simply tell them that they are not beneath anybody else. They are an equal, they are worth other's time, and they deserve to be treated with respect, to be able to smile and be happy. I know it's likely that this will never reach them, and I don't mind that. But if it does reach them, I only have one thing to say, directly to them. So here goes.
Thank you, Ellie, for being so kind and caring towards me these past few years. Your artistic talents have only further blossomed since I've met you, and your attitude always is able to make me smile. I'm happy that I've been able to get to know you, to help how I can, and to be there for you as much as possible. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you, and for our friendship. I hope it is something amazing. Stay adorable, Ellie!
Reposted from my roleplay blog, a world map of Cybertron as it appears in Book of Hours. Under the cut are some short introductions to the places named on this map, others that aren’t, and the general geographic makeup of the Cybertronian homeworld.
This is a HEADCANON developed for my own use in fanfic and rp projects; feel free to borrow these concepts if they take your fancy, but they are NOT canon to any continuity.
♕┊ the Boreal States
Iacon.━ the Imperial capital of Cybertron, Iacon was founded as a trading hub near the north magnetic pole of the planet, and became a rich interstellar cargo port before becoming home to the Primes, who wanted to keep a close optic on their nation’s biggest source of income, in the early Age of Exploration. The city is built on top of the northernmost tip of the Manganese Mountains, the Stellar Galleries, and parts of the Polar Depression. The hive city itself is surrounded by thousands of square leagues of subcities, many of them with their own hives. The city and immediate surroundings played host to more than ninety million sparks during the heyday of the Empire.
the Observatories.━ flat-topped table mountains upon which sit Iacon’s most exclusive districts, full of old mining operations turned into boutique shopping malls and custom homes for the eccentrically-minded. One pays a lot to get up here, even to visit; the metro zone fares are jacked up to take advantage of the regular clientele.
the Boreal Flats.━ a general term for the flat plains surrounding Iacon, which at their lowest are occupied by the third largest liquid body on the planet, the Mare Chryseis. Parts surrounding the magnetic pole are known as the Polar Depression. Known widely for its bad weather.
Pion.━ a smaller city built on top of a scenic lake in the middle of the mountains, which hosts the flagship campuses of many of Cybertron’s most prestigious universities. Has a reputation for being full of snobs, because it’s a top tourist destination among the northeastern population centers of Cybertron. Also a center for Golden Age architecture, known as one of the most visually and technologically striking cities anywhere in the Empire. The population hovers perennially at around 12 million.
Rodion.━ the largest of Iacon’s satellite cities, located about a hundred leagues south on the Polar Highway. Rodion is a flat, unremarkable city, prone to flooding in its lowest levels. Bordered on the south by the lower branch of the Manganese Mountains, it sits right in the math of the annual spring melts. Rodion’s population reached 35 million during the Age of Rust. Its two largest population demographics are low-caste manufacturing workers and the military.
Burthov.━ One of the two main ports on the Sea of Rust. Burthov has a reputation for squalor, inefficiency and corruption that would make any government agent quail. The city follows the coastline of Thunder Passage for a hundred leagues, sandwiched on a narrow coastal plain between the mountains and the Sea. It is very old, and contains many relics of the Dynasty of Primes. The port dominates the city, producing a constant grey smog that lurks about the foothills. If you’re rich in Burthov, you build your house up in the Highlands. The population was estimated at over a hundred million, but it’s hard to tell because so many of the lowest castes are undocumented arrivals from other states.
Kalis.━ A sprawling city covering the hills south of the Mare Chryseis, Kalis is the northern terminus of the Western Trunk Road from Tarn. As one of Cybertron’s younger cities, it has the simultaneous reputation of being hip and modern where the money is, and an overbuilt monstrosity everywhere else. The prestigious districts in the state cluster around the satellite polity of Graveyard Sound, on the edge of the Mare. Kalis’ population is estimated at around 40 million individuals, making it one of the five largest in the northern hemisphere.
Tyrest.━ The home of the Accord between Cybertron and the Council of Galactic States, Tyrest is the third largest and second richest city in the northern hemisphere. It is also one of the oldest, dating back nearly a billion years to the time of the Cataclysm. Tyrest is primarily known for business and secondary industry, with a significant proportion of the higher caste population being involved in the intergalactic political scene. Tyrest hosts Cybertron’s largest university, the flagship campus of the Northern States Academy. Its lords are the dramatic and powerful Pax Aella clade; its most popular serial videocast is a dramatization of that clan’s rise to power long ago.
Kimia.━ Nestled on the edge of the geologically fractious Mitteous Plateau, Kimia plays host to Cybertron’s most celebrated sunsets and its most well-known minority group. The Palace of Eight Queens, from which the Arachnicon nation is ruled, rests among the crags high above the city. Kimia is a primarily industrial state, with the majority of its population involved in resource farming and mining. Population densities are low, due its location in the farthest northeast corner of the Tagan Seaboard; it is considered a good place to retire to.
Mare Chryseis.━ A low-lying and very large lake located within the Boreal polar region, the Mare Chryseis spends most of its time locked under a thick sheet of ice. The southern shores are a popular tourist destination, while the more northern parts are frequented by thrillseekers, explorers, and natural scientists. Take a magnet to the rare sandy beaches in the west; they are composed primarily of black iron sand.
the Mitteous Plateau.━ A geologically unstable and tectonically active region in Cybertron’s northeast corner, home to the Arachnicons. The Mitteous Plateau is undergoing orogeny and erosion at a rate unmatched by anywhere else on Cybertron; it can be dangerous if a traveller does not know what they are doing. The constant exposure of rich new veins of ore makes the border region of the plateau one of Cybertron’s mining hotspots. The Mitteous Plateau is primarily administered by the state governments of Kimia and Protihex.
♕┊ the Tagan Heights and Eastern Corridor
Praxus.━ a city a little larger than Iacon, and with every bit the pomp and splendor. Praxus forms the western corner of the geopolitical unit dominated by Vos, and is known by many of the same stereotypes as that city. Its largest sectors of population are involved in trade and the military, reflecting a status among the homeworld states that is second only to Iacon. Praxians developed and reified Cybertronian art forms, creating a city which is as beautiful as any on the planet. Its inhabitants carry a perhaps unfair reputation for being orderly buffoons. The population is estimated at around forty million, with a significant underground population; the city covers a land area of about five thousand square leagues.
Altihex.━ one of the smaller northern cities, located on a strategic tabletop plateau between the Tagan Heights and the Mitteous Plateau. The city plays host to about eight million sparks, most of which are tier seven industrial workers employed within the city limits or in the Tagan hinterlands. The mountains on which it sits tend to collect clouds, resulting in a significant number of days per vorn in which fog lights become absolutely necessary.
Tetrahex.━ the regional center of the western Mitteous Plateau, forming the northern corner of the Vosian sphere of dominance. Tetrahex is dominated by the military castes, and heavily influenced by the mystic order of Clavis Aurea. The city is of middling size, with a population of around 18 million. It was built among the rifts of the western edge of the Mitteous Plateau, and like Vos, to whom it owes significant cultural influence, it is largely populated by flight-capable frames. This is because, also like Vos, it is largely inaccessible to the majority of traditional groundframes. If you go holidaying in Tetrahex, invest in an offroading alt.
Polyhex.━ an industrial powerhouse of the Empire, located on the northern edge of the Praetorian Estuary about fifteen minutes’ drive from the biggest ore works and mines of the Manganese Mountains. Polyhex is tied with Tarn for first place in the dubious honour of which city-states have the least legal protections for their residents’ basic rights. Polyhex plays host to just under 80 million sparks, a full quarter of which earn under the Imperial poverty threshold. The most recognizable structure in the city is the massive black tower which housed the Polyhex Board of Ethics during the later stages of the Golden Age – and which would later be recycled by occupying Decepticons into the fortress known as Darkmount.
the Manganese Mountains.━ a chain of block-uplift mountains stretching from the Boreal pole to the southeast of the Mitteous Plateau. Rich in manganese, hence the name, and in many other useful minerals besides. The Mountains as a geopolitical unit are administered jointly by Iacon and Polyhex, who often squabble over particularly shiny bits.
the Tagan Heights.━ an extensive system of plateaux covering nearly a quarter of Cybertron’s total land area, the Tagan Heights fueled the industrial Golden Age which allowed Cybertron to become and interplanetary imperial superpower. A rugged, merciless landscape that yielded massive deposits of iron and Cybertronium when prospected, it was the Empire’s first try at large-scale terraforming. The cities of Vos, Protihex, Altihex, and Hexima are the largest in this region, with a surprisingly large total population for having the shared trait of being buried under snow and darkness for nearly half the vorn.
the Eastern Corridor.━ the wide coastal plains between the Tagan Heights and the Sea of Rust, running from Centralia in the south to the Manganese Mountains in the far north, historically known as the Tagan Rus. This became a population center during the pre-Imperial confederation period, with the populations of Praxus, Tetrahex, and Polyhex experiencing extended population booms which precipitated the founding and settlement of a multitude of satellite cities. The culture of the Eastern Corridor was derived in large part from the self-sufficient ideals of the original settlers, lending these populations a reputation for being quiet and somewhat preoccupied with themselves. Praxians, the most famous of the Eastern Corridor’s children, became the face of the stereotype, which persisted for better or for worse.
Praetorus.━ a settlement half in and out of the Sea of Rust, sprawled across islands of bedrock at the mouth of the Praetorian Estuary. Praetorus was settled by traders who worked the routes along the eastern Sea of Rust, following the fiords and rivers of the Estuary inland to the Tagan and Polyhexi industrial centers. It is one of the smallest independent city states, with a population of two and a half million.
the Praetorian Estuary.━ a complex system of rift valleys and fluvial channels which drain snowmelt from the Mitteous Plateau, the Manganese Mountains and much of the southeast Polar Depression. The estuary floods every spring, twice a year, something which is an awesome sight to see but makes farming and industry in the greater region a risky business. Despite the northern Estuary’s industrial output in the form of Greater Polyhex, it is home to some of the poorest communities outside the Southern Rust Belt, which made it an inevitable target for Decepticon recruiters.
Uraya.━ a southern neighbour of Polyhex, sharing its mineral riches and crippling social inequalities. The running joke in the north goes that Uraya is the poor mech’s Polyhex; where you go when you don’t have the money for the pretense of labour laws. ( It’s not a very fun joke. ) The population hovers around twenty five million, crammed into a narrow floodplain measuring just over a thousand square leagues in area.
Harmonex.━ the small city at the entrance of the Sonic Canyons, one of Cybertron’s most famous tourist destinations. Most visitors to the city get more than they bargained for – Harmonexsings. The nearby Sonic Canyons collect the distant sound of the city, which reverberates around the canyon network for a while and is reflected eventually back out into the Harmonexi hinterlands. The volume varies from a distant hum to a shriek like gusts of wind. Harmonex is one of a few large cities without central hives: a land area of 6000 square leagues and a population of nearly 30 million makes it one of the largest in the Eastern Corridor.
Protihex.━ the oldest city in the region, founded during the Dynasty of Primes by the Thirteen around the Well of All Sparks and Solus the Forger’s grave. Protihex was abandoned for several dozen millennia during and after the Cataclysm ; its rediscovery precipitated a vicious conflict over the office of the Prime, and a schism lasting several thousand vorn in which two mecha simultaneously claimed the Primacy. The Protihexi Prime lacked the Matrix, but laid claim to the Well. Ever since, the city’s global power has come from its custodianship of the Well and by extension all the sparks which rise from its depths. The city itself is small, but fiercely defended. Its inhabitants have a reputation for being insular and arrogant.
Vos.━ the city of Seekers, founded in a network of valleys surrounded by hundreds of miles of the inaccessible central Tagan Heights. Vos took the hive city style of architecture and turned it inside out, creating a network of spires exposed to the air which allowed for easy flight between the components of the city no matter the level. To mecha used to the heavy, ground-hugging style of other cities, Vos is a striking and alien landscape. The vast majority of its nearly 60 million sparks are flighted – the city is just plain inconvenient for grounders.
♕┊ the Central Lowlands
the First City.━ as the name suggests, this is the oldest city on Cybertron. Legend has it that it came through the upheaval of the Cataclysm unharmed, but archaeological evidence suggests otherwise. The First City is located along the banks of one of Cybertron’s rare rivers, fed by snowmelt from the Main Divide. It covers an area of approximately 8000 square leagues and hosts around 30 million inhabitants, though a significant underground population makes this a conservative estimate. The most notable feature of the city is the walled enclave surrounding the old city center, a fortified remnant of times when Cybertron was not so peaceful.
Metrotitan.━ the place where the first sparked city was created, by which name the frame type as a whole came to be known. Metrotitan is an old city, and not particularly noticeable otherwise; it came by its status of independent city-statehood by having existed prior to Imperial unification. Visitors are often disappointed by the lack of actual metrotitans.
Meridia.━ the largest city in the Central Lowlands, a metropolis of over 80 million sparks. Meridia is distinguished solely by its size – one of the largest cities on Cybertron by land area, measuring at around 14,000 square leagues. It is the conglomeration of a handful of smaller cities dating back to the age following the Cataclysm, featuring a handful of separate hive cities and half a dozen metrotitans. Like Tyger Pax, it is a cultural melting pot. Meridia’s dominant demographics are the labor and arts castes, the former by sheer weight of numbers and the latter by cultural significance. Visit Meridia for all museums and art galleries your spark desires.
the Central Lowlands / Centralia.━ the cradle of Cybertronian civilization, Centralia is where the Thirteen reportedly pitched their camp after the defeat of Unicron. The original locations of its cities are long lost under the impact craters and rift valleys of the Cataclysm, but the history lives on in place names and the underground maps of the Patterners.
Thetacon.━ located on a coastal plain in the far east of Centralia, Thetacon is the gateway to the Eastern Corridor and the Tagan Heights. Scant archaeological evidence suggest that the founding of the city prior to the Cataclysm may have had something to do with Predacons. South of the city lays a massive fossil field, much studied by archaeologists. Thetacon itself is a very large city, hosting around 55 million sparks and a handful of metrotitans. It has a reputation for being insular and crime-ridden ; if so, it hides it well.
Crystal City.━ the city of miracles, Cybertron’s premier city of science and academia. Nestled among the crystal formations of the southwestern Tagan Heights, the city skyline is dominated by glass, clearsteel, and decorative crystal cladding on a massive scale. Crystal City was founded as a stopover on the route up into Harmonex and the southern Tagan Heights, but as time went by, it came to be known as a spiritual retreat. Science came to Crystal City in the form of the purpose-built headquarters of the Interstellar Exploration Division, the Empire’s offworld colonization apparatus. At the end of the Golden Age, Crystal City hosted 35 million sparks.
Central City.━ located near the hypocenter of Cybertronian culture, Central City was founded by travellers from the First City who had outgrown the fortified walls. It was named so apparently because it laid at the geographical center of Centralia at the time, an unimaginative name for an unimaginatively built city. Central City, like the First City and many other Dynastic locations, is built flat, lacking hive cities and laid out according to a strict grid plan. The modern city is not large, having stagnated through much of the Golden Age – the population is around 22 million sparks, largely those of the labor and industrial castes.
the Sea of Rust.━ Cybertron’s largest liquid body by surface area, and the effective northern edge of Centralia. The Sea of Rust consists mainly of ferrous hydroxide, from which it got its name. The equatorial latitudes of the Sea are warm and tropical, with large bergs of green rust resulting from liquid evaporation; north a little, the concentration is balanced enough that in most locales it is swimmable by Cybertronians ( with appropriate altmodes ); and in the northern shores, along the Thunder Passage and Burthov, it begins to freeze in the long winters to a soft off-white slush. The Sea of Rust served as a trading route between the Well of All Sparks at Protihex and Centralia during the Dynastic Period, which culminated in the Great Schism and the rule of two rival Primes at each of those seats of power. Its importance waned as Cybertronian trade moved offworld in search of new partners, and the recession which would eventually bring the Golden Age to an end is generally thought to have originated in the loss of the main shipping routes around the Sea.
the Hydrax Plateau.━ Cybertron’s largest island, a tectonic drifter lifted out of the Sea of Rust during the spasms of the Cataclysm. In the aeons since, the Hydrax Plateau has lain still and been colonized by successive groups of Cybertronians. The Plateau is known for surface veins of minerals which ordinarily form deep in Cybertron’s crust, most of which are only of interest to geologists and historians. Some, however, have proven useful to industry, and throughout the Golden Age the local government maintained a dictatorial hold on the rights to these locations, prompting many long, drawn-out legal battles and a saying that those who argue for the sake of argument are possessed of a ‘Hydraxi temperament’.
♕┊ the Main Divide and Western Cybertron
Tarn.━ bearing the title of second-largest city on Cybertron, Tarn covers a land area of close to fifteen thousand square leagues and hosts a population of well over 167 million sparks – how much more is hard to tell. Like Burthov and Polyhex, Tarn possesses a massive underground population, many of whom lack official documentation by circumstance or design. Tarn’s economic strength made it hard for Imperial watchdogs to operate in the region, as any sanctions they imposed for legal breaches hurt Iacon more than Tarn. As such, the city gained an entirely deserved reputation for exploitation. Despite this, immigration into the city far outweighed emigration – the lure of jobs and money proved stronger. As the Dusk Age hit, the economic giant faltered. Despite massive efforts to prop the local industries up, many failed, and the city imploded into abject poverty, bringing revolt and civil war to Tarn
the Iron Ridge.━ a massive series of plateaux and high mountain ranges rich in ores of all sorts, this is the main catchment zone and industrial hinterland fueling the economic powerhouse of Tarn. Like the Tagan Heights, the Iron Ridge is a high-elevation death trap for the unwary, but its hidden bounties have been the source of riches beyond belief for the West’s luckiest inhabitants. It is known to host seven out of the ten highest mountains on Cybertron, and a surprising amount of mecha willing to bear the worst of its weather for the sake of its natural resources.
Tyger Pax.━ the holiest city on Cybertron, the southern sister of Protihex and the Well. Tyger Pax was the historical residence of the Primacy, serving as Cybertron’s capital even before Imperial unification. The center of the city is the Dawn Basilica, the replica of the first Sanctuary to Primus built by the Thirteen. Before the Primacy’s migration to Iacon, it was known as the most beautiful example of Cybertronian culture anywhere. After the Primes left, Tyger Pax stopped putting in the effort. The city’s population of nearly 50 million nevertheless swells each summer with up to five million pilgrims, seeking out the holy places trodden by ancient Primes. It lacks a hive city – the underground population crowd into districts in the north and west. The area covered by permanent city reaches twelve thousand square leagues ; counting shanty towns, the total comes up to twenty thousand.
the Main Divide.━ the narrow chain of mountains separating northern Centralia and the Acid Wastes from the beautiful Occidental Rus. The Main Divide remained unexplored well into the Golden Age, and is still rumoured to host hidden populations of Cybertronians who survived the wars and the Cataclysm among the steep peaks and deep rift valleys that characterize the region.
Simfur.━ a trade city along the southwestern trunk line, founded and settled under the shadows of uplifted mountains that loom like vast predatory birds. Simfur is known as the gateway to the Western Hemisphere, situated in the middle of the lowland pass between the Iron Ridge and the heights of the Main Divide. The railways that opened up the West were largely based out of Simfur during the early Golden Age, expanding the city from a minor regional center to a megalopolis of more than 50 million inhabitants.
Hive City.━ a northwestern industrial city, and the oldest example of hive architecture anywhere on the planet. Hive City was founded as a nameless outpost on the edge of the Tyrest Fracture Zone, and over the course of the early Golden Age quickly outgrew its location. The city planners and engineers solved the problem of lack of usable space by building up and inwards, creating a lump of structures around massive support columns which from a distance is often mistaken for a solid mountain. Hive City’s modern population clocks in at around 18 million sparks, covering a land area of under 1000 square leagues. It is one of the poorest cities in the Northern Hemisphere.
Nyon.━ a remote city on the northwestern trunk road to Ibex. There is a running joke among many northwestern cultures that Nyon does not exist at all. This irritates the local government, but paradoxically provides popular attention that Nyon would otherwise not be getting. Many young Nyonians emigrate to Ibex and Tyger Pax at the first opportunity, another subject of local grouching. The drain on the literati and business castes this has created is resulting in the steady evolution of the city from a trade-focused economy to industry and production. Nyon’s population is somewhere around twelve million and trending downward.
Nova Cronum.━ an industrial city in the west of the Sea of Rust, Nova Cronum rests on the borders of the Acid Wastes. The city is known for its efficient and well-maintained wastewater system and street hygiene corps, and also for being the place where half an hour driving in the rain will strip the paint from your plating and dissolve the plastic in your bad-weather insulation systems. Despite the danger, Nova Cronum has a population of approaching twenty million, most of which are engaged in the industrial and service castes. It was the home of an early philosophical movement known as the Rubellites, which espoused equality between castes and the importance of free will. Its most notable natural feature is the massive tide that create beaches more than two leagues wide along the local shore of the Sea of Rust.
Ibex.━ a city that grinds to a halt every vorn for the running of the Ibex Cup, the culmination of the Cybertronian Empire’s multi-billion dollar street race circuit. Ibex is the largest of the Occidental cities, with a land area of approaching nine thousand square leagues and a population around thirty-eight million. It is known for its night life, tourist opportunities, and a whole lot of sleazy business deals. You can make it big in Ibex, but it makes you ruthless – or so the saying goes. The population includes a significant military sectory ; Ibex is the western hub of the Cybertronian Imperial Army.
Mare Occidentalis.━ Cybertron’s second largest liquid body, the Mare Occidentalis spans from eastern to western hemisphere, the other side of the planet’s answer to the Tagan Heights. Its shores are ringed with many of Cybertron’s youngest and richest cities, the waterfront districts of Ibex and Centurion being the hottest tourist destinations of the late Golden Age. The Mare is deeper and marginally larger in volume than the Sea of Rust, but loses out on surface area. Its depths are not well studied ━ if you’re going to look for cryptids anywhere on Cybertron, you might as well start here.
Centurion.━ Nestled in the rift valley between two lakeside plateaux, Centurion began life as an army outpost which was repurposed as a regional industrial center following the exploration of the upper Occidental Quarter. Its closest large neighbour by land is Protihex, across the Cybertronian date line in the far east ; driving the road to Centurion, you skip a day ahead. Its lakeside location is picturesque but also somewhat inconvenient – trade winds funnel the humid summer air north, where it runs into the mountains and condenses into orographic rain. Flooding is an acknowledged risk of living in the area.
Hyperious.━ located in the southwest arm of the Mare Occidentalis, a young and vibrant city. Like most of the Western Hemisphere, Hyperious has the reputation of being wild and exotic. Also like the rest of the Hemisphere, it exploits the slag out of this reputation. As an equatorial city it retains a relatively warm average temperature year-round, with a dry winter and humid summer. Living costs in Hyperious tend to reflect this – of all the Western cities, it has the cheapest prices on rent and basic utilities. The city covers an area of about 1900 square leagues, and hosts a population of around 3 million. Despite its small size, it was created as an independent state, with its own governor and local Senate.
the Acid Wastes.━ nowhere anyone of any consequence need go. Found just west of Nova Cronum, the Acid Wastes are an atmospheric dead zone which collects much of the pollution originating in the cities of the northern Rust Sea and the Boreal States. There is, unsurprisingly, acid rain here. Conversely, it is also a tourist destination for the religiously-minded; as due to the acidic precipitation washing away impurities, the Wastes are one of the only places on the surface of Cybertron where the original Dynastic landscape has survived.
Proximax.━ a remote southwestern city with a tendency to be forgotten about and left off maps. Proximax was founded late, an outpost of Tarn on the border between the Iron Ridge and the Austral polar regions. It has a population of about five million, and perhaps twice that in the surrounding hinterlands. It is constantly overshadowed by its larger industrial neighbours, the closest of which are Tarn and Kaon. Proximax is considered an independent city state by virtue of its sheer inaccessibility – given that it can be rendered completely cut off from the Cybertronian network during a harsh winter, the city must have its own governor on site. Proximaxi folk have a reputation for being resilient and self-sufficient. The city was one of the last economies to succumb to the global recession of the Dusk Ages
♕┊ the Industrial South
Kaon.━ The home of Megatronus, Cybertron’s most revered and reviled son. Built almost directly on top of the Austral magnetic pole, Kaon is part of the Southern Rust Belt, the Empire’s manufacturing powerhouse. It holds the title of largest city on the planet, covering roughly 11,000 square leagues and hosting more than 300 million inhabitants. The population is almost exclusively low-caste, mainly engaged in primary industry or manufacturing. There is a very large underground population, making censuses impractical, and government oversight of industry is near nonexistent. Kaon has a ( not entirely undeserved ) reputation for being the place where you go when you don’t want to be found; the city has become a colloquialism referring to things which are out of sight and thus out of mind: “It’s in Kaon for all I care.”
the Cataract.━ An urban satellite of Kaon, the Cataract is a city which grew up around an ancient religious site and was incorporated into the greater Kaon conurbation out of sheer laziness on the part of the city planners in Iacon. Like the rest of the Rust Belt, the city is majority industrial. The ancient city centre is listed as a location of cultural significance by the Iaconian Heritage Board.
Slaughter City.━ Located on the northern edge of the Rust Belt, Slaughter City was founded amid the bloodshed of the early Quintesson Wars. It had a different name back then, but the memory stuck. Fittingly, it is now the murder capital of Cybertron. Slaughter City’s population is estimated at around 32 million residents; unlike the rest of the Rust Belt, the total is trending slowly downward.
Breaker City.━ Slaughter City’s largest satellite, and home to the largest dump on Cybertron. Per capita, Breaker City is one of the poorest regions on Cybertron, with an average income per working mech per vorn of 1,833 shanix, or roughly one six hundredth of the Iaconian average. The recycling industry is largely based here, employing around a third of the above-ground population. The air smells constantly of slag and acid; the city has many nicknames, none of which are suitable for polite conversation.
Mebion.━ located just inside the Titanium Highlands, Mebion is one of the Southern States’ richer cities. With the discovery of rich veins of rare Cybertronium variants, it grew from a remote village in the Austral Rus to a global power during the Golden Age. The depletion of these Cybertronium veins was one of the major causes of the first global recession which brought on the Age of Rust. Once hosting more than 50 million inhabitants, Mebion now claims only 38 million. Its remaining industry is manufacturing ; the gross domestic product per capita is 1500 shanix.
Blaster City.━ a mountainous city situated around, on top of, and through an ancient mine; the name derives from the miners who used explosives to break apart the dense rock in which the minerals they sought resided. Like the other cities of the Rust Belt, it is poor and often dangerous. It also hosts a thriving underground art scene, and is known for the steady stream of tourists from other Rust Belt cities that come seeking that art.
Stanix.━ the city where the Decepticon rebellion was incubated; a major military staging point in the Southern States. Stanix is the descendant of the city called Stanix in Dynastic times, which was located farther south; the original was destroyed in the First Quintesson War and the site abandoned for richer terranes closer to the industrial regions of the time.
Austral Tagan Fracture Zone.━ an extensive region of geological fault and crumple zones located south of the Tagan Heights. Tectonic and seismological activity here reveals mineral veins usually hidden deep beneath the planetary surface; the industry of the southern Rust Belt follows the edge of the zone for a thousand leagues north and east.
Triax.━ located along the far eastern edge of the Austral Tagan Fracture Zone, Triax was founded during the early Golden Age as the base of operations of the Mare Triax Prospecting Company. As mining operations proliferated along the southern Tagan Heights, its population swelled quickly into the hundreds of thousands, prompting the central government to grant the city a metrotitan and its own provincial government. By the middle Age of Exploration, Triax was a city-state in its own right. Its population rests at around twenty million, most of whom are Tier Seven laborers. Its hinterlands contain some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere on Cybertron, lending it significant income from the movie industry.
Hexima.━ like Triax, Hexima was established late. It sits among the foothills of the Eastern Tagan Heights, one of Cybertron’s most remote polities. Primary industries include energon production, mining, and adventure tourism ; again like Triax, Hexima is known for its impressive scenery. It is one of Cybertron’s smallest city-states, with a population of around ten million and a land area of less than 700 square leagues. It was designed during the population booms of the Age of Exploration to cater for up to sixteen million individuals, resulting in a city which today boasts low living costs and a high proportion of non-indentured workers.
Gygax.━ nestled in the bowl of an intermontane basin in the Titanium Highlands, Gygax is yet another southern mining city. Founded late, it benefited from the same mineral riches as Mebion, and suffered the same downfall. When Mebion’s Cybertronium deposits ran out, Gygax experienced skyrocketing mineral prices, a bubble economy which eventually burst, worsening the economic depression spreading out of Mebion. Its population is around 25 million, most of whom are Tier Seven laborers, with a significant undocumented underground population.
Triscanion.━ the Jewel of the South, an agricultural and manufacturing city located on the flat plains between the Titanium Highlands and the picturesque shores of Mare Mithril. Triscanion was largely insulated from the economic and political troubles of the late Golden Age, remaining a stable and affluent society until well after the beginning of the Cybertronian Civil War elsewhere. It maintained equal links with the Southern and Central Lowlands states, fostering a reputation for diplomacy. Late in the Dusk Ages, it was the location of a failed ceasefire summit between Autobot and Decepticon leadership cabals. Its population is small, around 15 million individuals, and the city covers just over a thousand square leagues.
Helex.━ one of Cybertron’s manufacturing hotspots, Helex’s location on the main trunk road between Kaon and Tarn is the ultimate evolution of a rest stop along the Simfur Narrows north-south route. Its origins date back to the Dynasty of Primes, with archaeological evidence found from across the Dynastic world. Helex is the fourth largest single city on Cybertron, with a population of approaching 100 million spread across 7,600 square leagues. Its inhabitants are primarily those of the Sixth and Seventh Tiers of caste, with a large and transient population of undocumented individuals. It has a reputation for violence, and is somewhat infamous for the gangland practice of execution via smelting pools.
Twin Cities ( Tesarus & Border City ).━ the Twin Cities conurbation is the third most populous administrative division on Cybertron, hosting over 75 million in Tesarus and close to 60 million in Border City. Both grew up out of villages along the main route to Kaon during the exploration of the First Generation, merging physically long before the city administrators started working together. The Twin Cities grew rich from trade on the opening of the Grand Trunk Road from Kaon to Iacon. They are well known for the complexity of their urban map, which features two separate hive cities and five metrotitans. Travellers visiting the Twin Cities are advised to bring a very good map.
I finally got around to compiling some of the extraneous, in-service-of-the-main-feature maps for the "Runaway to the Stars" Scud-planet commission that I thought were also worth showing, some because they reveal something unique about this planet's qualities, others because they're pretty, and mostly both.
There's a good handful of those and a *lot* of explanatory text, so that's all below the cut.
First we have the maps that bridge the gap between wind data and precipitation. This pair of animated maps demonstrates, first, the Orographic effect that would theoretically result from winds blowing in each of the eight cardinal directions across the planet's whole surface, and, second, the Orographic effects which are actually produced by the local prevailing winds for each season. For both of these, darker values mark where the topography prevents moist air from precipitating (a rain shadow, on the leeward side of a raised terrain feature) and lighter values show where the topography catches most of the airborne moisture before the wind blows over it (a rain-highlight, on the windward side of a raised feature).
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The first static map, looking like a meticulously customized Jawbreaker, roughly represents the inland distance over which air has to travel from various bodies of water (also accounting for vertical distance in the form of mountains and the sizes of the bodies of water providing the moist air), which is another factor in where rain is able to fall.
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Another static map, included entirely for aesthetic reasons, demonstrates (in white) where at least ten times as much rain falls in the wettest month of summer as in the driest month of winter. The cyan end of the gradient represents where only 3 times as much rain falls, in that comparison.
This was a step in figuring out what areas would qualify as Dry Winter (climate type Cw) in the climate zone maps, which ended up being completely nonexistent once all the other requirements of that climate type were measured for. All of the areas marked in white (meeting that 10x ratio requirement for Dry Winter) ended up falling under Arid or Semiarid instead.
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For comparison, *this* map shows (in cyan through magenta) where there is at least three times as much precipitation in the wettest month of winter as in the driest month of summer, one of the requirements for Mediterranean climate (or Dry Summer, climate type Cs). Not all of the marked areas ended up meeting all requirements for the final climate zone map, either, but at least *some* did, falling just outside the Arid/Semiarid areas.
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Another precipitation-related map, this one instrumental in figuring out vegetation density, demonstrates the reliability of significant rainfall. Specifically, this represents how many months in a row a given area receives at least 60 millimeters of precipitation per month, with areas in white receiving this amount for every month of the year, areas in black experiencing no months with that much rainfall, and shades of grey showing where this much rainfall persists for anywhere from one to eleven months in a row. The second map attached here shows that data broken down for the exact number of months.
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Next, here is a map that helped me find where Upwelling would occur seasonally. Since material from deeper waters is brought to the surface by the general movement of water *away from* the coasts, and since water is moved in that direction by winds blowing *perpendicular to* the coasts (counterclockwise for the northern hemisphere on a retrograde-spin planet like this, and clockwise for its southern hemisphere), it was crucial that I first determine what directions the coasts themselves were facing, with red marking coasts that face north, yellow for coasts that face west, cyan for coasts facing south, and blue for those facing east. This particular map was produced by taking a blurred elevation map of the shallows, using it as the displacement texture for a flat Plane in Blender, and pointing different colored lights at it from the eight cardinal directions.
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One of the very last elements that I mapped out for this planet was the discharge of sediments from the rivers into seas and terminal lakes, which required a *lot* of steps. The first of these was to isolate the different major drainage basins that would deliver water to various sections of the coastal shallows, as seen in the first, multicolored map. In the second map, we see the surface areas of each of the drainage basins, in the third map we see the average density of vegetation within each basin, and in the final map I've combined this data to show the overall total amount of vegetation in each basin, which should roughly correlate with how much organic material ends up washing out to sea, since river discharge volume and vegetation density are both (largely) contingent on the same factor: precipitation.
All told this is only a tiny fraction of the maps that were part of the overall pipeline. On Reddit you should be able to see these images in higher resolution, so I'm including a link to the corresponding post here
Hello! I'm Stopwatch! I'm (currently) new around these parts, and I'm an artist that enjoys making designs, and also anything Kirby!
I'm around here mostly to just share art, get to know a few people, and just hang around my corner of the internet. Come along if you're especially interested in waddle dees, Headcanons, and Storytelling!
I also like kirby OCs! And I love to see the little guys people make and bully be incredibly kind to! Fanfic writers are also (usually) cool, and y'alls stuff is usually interesting to read. Not going to lie, I just like anything that's creative, that's why I'm here, really. I'll probably interact with your stuff if I like it!
Speaking of interacting, go ahead and use that askbox! I love to answer questions others have about my stuff, or theories, or discussions, or anything else Kirby related! I'd be happy to yap about that stuff all day long. Along with drawing other people's OCs! They look pretty fun to draw... The only times I won't interact is if you're proship, MAP, or if you just say anything discriminatory.
