- For the full list of Pocket Dimensions, see Category:Pocket Dimensions.
Pocket Dimensions are simultaneously the equivalent of planets and black holes in the Aeldrum setting.
Creation[]
When too much matter becomes condensed into a small enough space, it essentially falls through that space and creates its own mini-universe. All the matter that would have created the black hole becomes the ground of the new world. If a budding pocket dimension is too small in mass, it can fail to create a stable pocket dimenions, entering a state of flux and passing in and out of the main universe until the massive object is rent asunder and returned to the aether. Imperfections in the folding of space into the new dimension are called Aetheric Gates. (It is hypothesized that some sufficiently massive objects could so completely fold space around them that they would have no gates; by definition, this can most likely never be verified).
Destruction[]
By becoming Null Space, a pocket dimension is at the whim of cosmic horrors beyond mortal comprehension. Additionally, the space itself is weaker and the in danger of spontaneously ceasing to exist. This does not happen in normal null space because there is the rest of the universe to keep it in place. Should the entire universe become deprived of etheric energy, it is possible that something similar to these null pocket dimensions would happen on a grand scale.
Detection[]
Since etheric energy can enter these dimensions, they are most often detected when ley lines pass over the Aetheric Gates. Finely tuned instruments can detect the subtle interaction of ley lines with pocket dimensions, thus leading to their discovery.
It seems that there exist other methods of detecting pocket dimensions, as the Naga are capable of navigating the aether without using traditional methods such as following ley lines.
Phenomena[]
Etheric energies and matter can pass in and out of this tiny hole in space. Etheric energies inside these relatively confined spaces create atmospheric/cosmological phenomena in the pocket dimension that simulate the day/night cycle[1]
Statistics and Scales[]
Number of Worlds[]
The total number of known worlds (bodies defined as having independent gravity and a stable etheric fabric which prevents exposure to the open ether over most of the body's surface) by region:
| Region | Number of Worlds |
|---|---|
| Imperial Space | 2,534 (Aeldman archives); 2,310 (Imperial records); 3,000 (Imperial Estimate)
|
| Celestial Space | 2,500 (estimated) |
| Naga Space | Est. 300 accessible, est. additional 300 in exclusion zone |
Composition and Size[]
Though the density of planetary materials will vary, stable worlds are overwhelmingly roughly spherical, with an extreme minority (<1%) taking on disk-like, bowl-shaped or other forms: likewise, 99% or more of spherical worlds have a diameter of at least 500 miles.
Notably, there are reported objects in the Ether with a greater diameter: their lack of an "etheric mantle" may be attributed to differences in material density or, perhaps, to differences in the curvature of the ether itself (it is hypothesized that long-ranging forces may cause the ether to curve more strongly and that greater curvature of the ether may facilitate the formation of etheric mantles).
It has been hypothesized that large worlds, wrapping a greater mantle around themselves, are more likely to have multiple gates and, even therein, more likely to have gates connecting to multiple lanes: the counterpoint to this theory is that the (few) very large worlds above 3000 miles in diameter are all single-gated, suggesting that a sufficiently large world (gravitational influence is a matter not only of mass but of size in the cosmos) will be so tightly bound by its etheric mantle that the likelihood of forming any gate is reduced (this theory also suggests the hypothesis that there are many more worlds, some of them possibly very large, inaccessible to cosmic travelers [the earliest hypothesis to this effect appears to come from early Mage Prince texts speculating on the existence of Thannassid "Hermit Enclaves"). Approximately 95.5% of worlds have only one etheric gate; about 4% are multi-gate but single-lane (or in a small handful of cases, have a secondary gate giving out onto a section of the ether without a lane) and about 0.5% (roughly 50 in Imperial Space) are multi-gate and multi-lane.
| Min. Diameter (mi) | % of Worlds | Mean Number of Gates | Significant Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1% | ||
| 500 | 37% | ||
| 750 | 29% | ||
| 1000 | 17% | ||
| 1500 | 12% | ||
| 2000 | 4% | Aeldrum (2250 mi); Bishant (2445 mi) | |
| 3000 | 1% | Fialt (5500 mi); Eleshab (4110 mi) |
Population Distiributions[]
In Imperial Space, it is estimated that roughly a third of known worlds are uninhabited or have populations of less than 10,000 people (most often, these populations consist of researchers, outlaws or exploratory prospectors). This distribution is skewed toward smaller worlds.
Of the remaining two-thirds, population density varies significantly according to the level of technological and social development and according to local climate conditions. For instance, Aeldrum enjoys a population of around 200 to 250 million (depending on whether one includes its vast transient population of sailors, merchants and others), while Bishant, with around 18% greater surface area, has a permanent population of 400 million, owing to its relatively high proportion of habitable land (roughly 40%, the rest divided into a large number of sizeable freshwater lakes and mountains, compared with 95% of Aeldrum, which is covered almost entirely in uninhabitable desert — Aeldrum itself could most likely only support a population on the order of at most 80 million, even with the best irrigation techniques (this figure is based on estimates of the total quantity of water on-world and assumes that at least a third of it can be captured for agriculture).
Elvish Paradise Worlds, in contrast, are far less densely populated; the largest, Eleshab, has an (estimated, for no records are shared with outsiders) population of 100 million despite having a surface area 2.8 times as large as that of Bishant.
Generally, half of the "populated" worlds in Imperial space have populations operating mostly within 100% of subsistence. Most planets are about 30%-50% habitable using commonly understood agronomy techniques, adapted of course for local conditions (see future notes on the common technological baselines of the cosmos due to divine interventions) and in the "industrially marginal" populated worlds the density of habitable surface area is between 5 and 30 per square mile depending on the level of development (roughly similar to the density of pre-Modern Europe).
The tendency of the largest worlds to form significant etheric mantles may contribute to lower population densities: with fewer gates and less access to the wider cosmos, exposure to immigration is lower and the likelihood of such a world forming the center of a trade network (or empire) is greatly reduced. Moreover, for an equal number of gates, the maximal distance from any point on the planet to the nearest gates is increasing linearly as planets grow in diameter, while the surface area a given distance from a gate increases geometrically (conjecture to be proven later: this means that the mean distance to a gate is also increasing convexly). Hence, the relative productivity of land in cosmic terms decreases and (relative) self-sufficiency prevails, typically producing populations which are smaller and less prosperous.
Interplanetary Travel[]
The scale of interplanetary travel is on the order of a days and weeks between major planetary hubs with relatively little demand for infrastructure (communications will become a different matter; much vaunted but ultimately impractical projects of the High Imperium would have had humans and certain high-value goods transmitted at cosmic distances through teleportation). Thus, even on relatively small but underdeveloped worlds, goods can take as long or longer in transit on-world than between worlds. On Aeldrum, the maximum transit distance from an onworld point to any specific gate (hence also the upper bound on inter-gate transfer for goods jumping ley lines) is about 3,540 miles, and the longest minimum-length rail-route from one rail hub to another is not much different, at around 4,200 miles or around 4.2 days' journey (at 50 mph and 20 hrs travel per day), with many gate-switches effectuated in a rail journey of two days or less. Indeed, given redundancies in production, warehousing etc. around Aeldrum, the effective transit time for most substitutable goods to any given gate is on the order of a day or less.
In contrast, a world the size of Fialt has a maximum point-gate distance of 8,639 miles, and with fewer gates, the time for goods spent in transit is far greater. [note: this result connects strongly with the economic geometry of prosperity in explaining zones of prosperity around 19th century ports]
Notes[]
- ↑ With the obvious lack of a single light source, there is no equivalent of a Sun in pocket dimensions.