Earth-1496

Earth-1496 is one of the Twilit Worlds; it is know there as the Domelands. At first glance it appears very Earthlike, with a range of terrain comparable to that of [Earth-1, and many similar plants and animals, but in fact it is arguably the most eccentric of the Twilit Worlds, and likely should not be described as an "Earth" at all.

The Domelands are so called because the world is under a hemispherical firmament - actually, the firmament is possibly spherical, but scrying has not been able to reveal the nature of the world far beneath ground level. To this rotating firmament the fixed stars are attached, and a number of "unfixed stars" move about the surface in patterns that are not fully predictable. A sun and a moon travel about underneath this firmament, the sun taking an identical course every day, while the moon weaves complex variable course that repeats only once a year. The beginning of the year is marked by one time the sun and moon rising together in the east - a dazzling display.

Beneath the firmament the land rests. The land stretches fully to the firmament - the latter can be touched, though due to the rotational speed of the firmament, not to mention the proximity of stars, this is generally unsafe. Lakes and seas, many large, sit in hollows of the land mass. The sun and moon pass through holes in the Earth at their risings and settings; the sunset hole is close to a sea which boils at its passing.

Because the sun always takes the same course, there are no seasons in the conventional sense of the word, but the sun increases in brightness and warmth for the first half of the years then wanes afterwards, creating an analogy of seasons. Another peculiarity is that the tops of mountains are not particularly cold - in fact, if equatorial they tend to be hot from reaching closer to the sun - not does is the air thinner at higher altitudes. However, the shadow of mountains to the north and south of the equator are cold zones - they seldom if ever receive sunlight.

No less strangely, though perhaps not unexpectedly, given the evidently very different nature of the world, one cannot rely on chemistry working the same way as it does on Earth. In consequence, technology is even more likely to fail in the Domelands than on the other Twilit Worlds, although what will and won't work is difficult to predict. There are no known cases, however, of living things not being able to survive in these strange conditions.

The Domelands are also remarkable for the abundance of magical "natural resources". Plants, animals, minerals, waters and many other things with inherent magical properties are significantly more abundant and more varied here even than in the rest of the Twilit Worlds. This makes it an important centre of magical crafting, and explains why there are more realms of the Dwarves here than on any other world: they depend more than any of the other magical races on thaumatotechnology.

Despite these resources, the Domelands only have about the same amount of free mana, suitable for spellcasting, as the other Twilit Worlds. This anomaly has not yet been explained. Of the Twilit Worlds, time passes here most slowly, at about 1.12 times Earth rate.