The Sky Road
Miranda
The Sky Road
A world sewn from patches: plates half a thousand blocks across, each at its own height and tilt, dark seams between them. Three coronae: the rings of Arden, the straight ridges of Elsinore and the dark square of Inverness with its bright chevron; at the point of the chevron lies a court where light must be sewn across a seam. Along the eastern edge of Inverness rises Verona Rupes — the highest cliff anyone knows. Chevronite grows in the seams and in the bright ice: twinned crystals for blocks, tiles and lamps, and the blank of a Ringwright Lens. Cliffhangers cling to the wall: leave them be. Uranus lies on its side in the sky: through the day its rings open into a target and close into a line; at noon the Sun goes behind it.
gravity0.06 gairnone — wear a suitorbit19.19 AU
- Moon of Uranus, 472 km across
- Day: 34 h
- The highest cliff known: Verona Rupes
Views
Creatures
Structures
Inverness Chevron
A court at the point of the bright chevron, cut across by a dark seam. The light must be sewn through it: turn the mirrors so that the beam crosses the seam twice, a stitch there and a stitch back, and the eye of the needle in the south wall opens. Someone mended this moon — and left the needle.
Seam Druse
Where two patches of Miranda meet, the dark ice has grown crystals as tall as a house — twins joined at an angle, every pair a chevron. Their tips glow.
Verona Beacon
A beacon on the brink of Verona Rupes, the highest cliff anyone knows. Beyond the walkway there is a quarter of a kilometer of nothing and a snowdrift at the bottom. In this gravity the fall takes a minute; those who jumped before left a box.
Ores
Weather
- Seam Tremor. The patches of Miranda grind against each other: dust and lilac sparks burst from the dark ice of the seams, the ground creaks, and splinters of chevronite are shaken out onto the surface.
Events
- The Verona Rockfall. Miranda's patches grind, and ice boulders break off the ledges, drifting in slow arcs and bouncing. A rune marks each landing; broken boulders hold chevronite
- The Chevron. Lilac chevron seams light up across the ground. A tightening seam drags you to its tip and ties a knot — jump off before the flash and claim the chevronite