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Is it cold in here or is just me?
Winter is Coming HERE
As promised, more info on Taxsicle: the Frozen Edition!
Currently, Adventure Zone looks something like this. Gone are the castles and forests and such. From the bridge, the ground rises through snowed-over fields, then hills, then into the solitary standing peak of the Icy Mountain. It is snowing on the north side of the bridge, not heavily, but definitely snowing.
Meanwhile, in Taxon itself, the weather is still holding at whatever the front-page widget lists (as of this typing, that would be 23 F, mostly cloudy).
Starting March 7th, the snow in Taxon itself will start falling steadily. There'll be a foot of snow in the first day. The Taxonian Extra children no doubt rejoice, as school is cancelled! March 8 will feature children sledding down Taxon hills, Taxon snowplows clearing the streets, et cetera.
But the snow doesn't stop....
By March 10th Taxon stores and businesses will be closed and the snowplows will have given up. There'll be some four feet of snow on the ground. Trams will still run sporadically but even those will suspend service on the 11th.
On the 12th water mains will start bursting (up to individual players if their characters' homes lose water, power, or anything else).
The temperatures will be well below freezing. Getting around town will be a pain in the ass for ordinary humans. To make things worse, the deep layers of snow seem to interfere some with map functions-- if you're looking for a friend trapped in a drift, better have a back-up plan when the map won't show you their location...
Through all of this, a chill wind will be blowing from the direction of the bridge and the icy mountain beyond. If you step out into the snow... if you hold your breath, so as not to freeze the lining of your throat... if you close your eyes and you listen.... you can hear the wind bringing you the sounds of distant laughter and eerie howling.
***
Some picture spam to get you in a bitterly cold sort of mood.
***
“They call it 'the whispering of the stars.' Listen," he said, raising a finger for silence. I could still hear the tinkling and craned my neck to see what it was. Zhensky laughed. "No, here. Look." He formed his mouth into a wide O and exhaled slowly. As he did, I saw the cloud of breath fall in droplets to the ground. That was the sound I heard: our breath falling. "It's a Yakut expression. It means a period of weather so cold that your breath falls frozen to the ground before it can dissipate. The Yakuts say that you should never tell secrets outside during the whispering of the stars, because the words themselves freeze, and in the spring thaw anyone who walks past that spot will be able to hear them.”
-Jon Fasman, The Geographer's Library
"Two weather observers at the Snag airport in the Yukon of Canada experienced -81.4°F on February 3, 1947, and reported:
'We threw a dish of water high into the air, just to see what would happen. Before it hit the ground, it made a hissing noise, froze, and feel as tiny round pellets the size of wheat kernels. Spit also froze before hitting the ground. Ice became so hard the axe rebounded from it. At such temperatures, metal snapped like ice; wood became petrified; and rubber was just like cement. The dogs' leather harness couldn't bend or it would break...It was unique to see a vapor trail several yards long pursuing one as he moved about outside. Becoming lost was of no concern. As an observer walked along the runway each breath remained as a tiny motionless mist behind him at head level. These patches of human breath fog remained in the still air for three or four minutes before fading away. One observer even found such a trail still marking his path when he returned along the same path 15 minutes later'."
-Extreme Weather: A Guide and Record Book
***
Questions or plotting? Ask 'em! Or do your plotting back over in the SOTT. All is good!
As promised, more info on Taxsicle: the Frozen Edition!
Currently, Adventure Zone looks something like this. Gone are the castles and forests and such. From the bridge, the ground rises through snowed-over fields, then hills, then into the solitary standing peak of the Icy Mountain. It is snowing on the north side of the bridge, not heavily, but definitely snowing.
Meanwhile, in Taxon itself, the weather is still holding at whatever the front-page widget lists (as of this typing, that would be 23 F, mostly cloudy).
Starting March 7th, the snow in Taxon itself will start falling steadily. There'll be a foot of snow in the first day. The Taxonian Extra children no doubt rejoice, as school is cancelled! March 8 will feature children sledding down Taxon hills, Taxon snowplows clearing the streets, et cetera.
But the snow doesn't stop....
By March 10th Taxon stores and businesses will be closed and the snowplows will have given up. There'll be some four feet of snow on the ground. Trams will still run sporadically but even those will suspend service on the 11th.
On the 12th water mains will start bursting (up to individual players if their characters' homes lose water, power, or anything else).
The temperatures will be well below freezing. Getting around town will be a pain in the ass for ordinary humans. To make things worse, the deep layers of snow seem to interfere some with map functions-- if you're looking for a friend trapped in a drift, better have a back-up plan when the map won't show you their location...
Through all of this, a chill wind will be blowing from the direction of the bridge and the icy mountain beyond. If you step out into the snow... if you hold your breath, so as not to freeze the lining of your throat... if you close your eyes and you listen.... you can hear the wind bringing you the sounds of distant laughter and eerie howling.
***
Some picture spam to get you in a bitterly cold sort of mood.
***
“They call it 'the whispering of the stars.' Listen," he said, raising a finger for silence. I could still hear the tinkling and craned my neck to see what it was. Zhensky laughed. "No, here. Look." He formed his mouth into a wide O and exhaled slowly. As he did, I saw the cloud of breath fall in droplets to the ground. That was the sound I heard: our breath falling. "It's a Yakut expression. It means a period of weather so cold that your breath falls frozen to the ground before it can dissipate. The Yakuts say that you should never tell secrets outside during the whispering of the stars, because the words themselves freeze, and in the spring thaw anyone who walks past that spot will be able to hear them.”
-Jon Fasman, The Geographer's Library
"Two weather observers at the Snag airport in the Yukon of Canada experienced -81.4°F on February 3, 1947, and reported:
'We threw a dish of water high into the air, just to see what would happen. Before it hit the ground, it made a hissing noise, froze, and feel as tiny round pellets the size of wheat kernels. Spit also froze before hitting the ground. Ice became so hard the axe rebounded from it. At such temperatures, metal snapped like ice; wood became petrified; and rubber was just like cement. The dogs' leather harness couldn't bend or it would break...It was unique to see a vapor trail several yards long pursuing one as he moved about outside. Becoming lost was of no concern. As an observer walked along the runway each breath remained as a tiny motionless mist behind him at head level. These patches of human breath fog remained in the still air for three or four minutes before fading away. One observer even found such a trail still marking his path when he returned along the same path 15 minutes later'."
-Extreme Weather: A Guide and Record Book
***
Questions or plotting? Ask 'em! Or do your plotting back over in the SOTT. All is good!