Ireth
Myth Weaver
Not sure if this belongs here or in Research; please move if necessary.
I'm having trouble figuring out a workable design for an execution chamber used by the villainous black-elves in my latest novel. It's called the Sunroom, and it's basically that -- an underground cavern with a ceiling that can be opened to show the sky above, and most importantly the sun. Any unfortunate black-elf who's executed this way is left tied up in the sunbeam, and is very quickly turned to stone.
The problems there are obvious. I can't have the whole room open to direct sunlight, or else the black-elf guards who escort the victim would be petrified as well. Also, the sun moves, so I can't have just one small hole for the sunlight to shine directly through -- that would make the attempt in vain if the sun were at the wrong angle for an execution. It would work for suspense purposes if I showed a black-elf being executed onscreen, since having them wait to die like that would be torturous, but I'm going in the opposite direction for this scene. What's death to my villains is liberation for my hero.
The hero in question, a Fae named Cadell, is a captive of the black-elves. After being tortured by mooks and questioned by their leader, he insists that he must be in the sun for three hours every day or he will die, which the black-elves don't want, in case there's anything he can offer them, like information or servitude. So a pair of mooks bring Cadell to the Sunroom to sunbathe for three hours. Which brings me to the above question: how can I ensure that Cadell would be in direct sunlight the whole time, with the sun's movements accounted for? I don't intend for him to stay in the sunlight the whole time, since he will soon be freed, but the question must be asked anyway, for the sake of the orders given to the mooks.
One idea I'd had was for the ceiling of the cavern to be made of some sort of crystal that would act as a focus for the sunlight, beaming it down on a single point in the room (kinda like a magnifying glass used to burn ants). The crystal would obviously be covered somehow in a way that the covering could be removed and replaced from a distance, probably by the use of levers and such. Another was that a single opening in the roof would direct the sunlight to a mirror or a network of mirrors, which would also focus the light and be movable depending on the angle of the sun. But I'm not sure which idea is better, or how either of them would work. Advice and other ideas are appreciated -- thanks in advance!
I'm having trouble figuring out a workable design for an execution chamber used by the villainous black-elves in my latest novel. It's called the Sunroom, and it's basically that -- an underground cavern with a ceiling that can be opened to show the sky above, and most importantly the sun. Any unfortunate black-elf who's executed this way is left tied up in the sunbeam, and is very quickly turned to stone.
The problems there are obvious. I can't have the whole room open to direct sunlight, or else the black-elf guards who escort the victim would be petrified as well. Also, the sun moves, so I can't have just one small hole for the sunlight to shine directly through -- that would make the attempt in vain if the sun were at the wrong angle for an execution. It would work for suspense purposes if I showed a black-elf being executed onscreen, since having them wait to die like that would be torturous, but I'm going in the opposite direction for this scene. What's death to my villains is liberation for my hero.
The hero in question, a Fae named Cadell, is a captive of the black-elves. After being tortured by mooks and questioned by their leader, he insists that he must be in the sun for three hours every day or he will die, which the black-elves don't want, in case there's anything he can offer them, like information or servitude. So a pair of mooks bring Cadell to the Sunroom to sunbathe for three hours. Which brings me to the above question: how can I ensure that Cadell would be in direct sunlight the whole time, with the sun's movements accounted for? I don't intend for him to stay in the sunlight the whole time, since he will soon be freed, but the question must be asked anyway, for the sake of the orders given to the mooks.
One idea I'd had was for the ceiling of the cavern to be made of some sort of crystal that would act as a focus for the sunlight, beaming it down on a single point in the room (kinda like a magnifying glass used to burn ants). The crystal would obviously be covered somehow in a way that the covering could be removed and replaced from a distance, probably by the use of levers and such. Another was that a single opening in the roof would direct the sunlight to a mirror or a network of mirrors, which would also focus the light and be movable depending on the angle of the sun. But I'm not sure which idea is better, or how either of them would work. Advice and other ideas are appreciated -- thanks in advance!
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