• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

Magic in a tidally locked world

mbartelsm

Troubadour
What kind of magic would you expect to see in a world that is tidally locked to its sun? (this means one side is perpetually facing the sun).

The sun facing side (or subsolar pole) is an impenetrable desert, while the night side (antisolar pole) is a frozen wasteland, The middle zone (terminator) is in perpetual twilight and is comfortable to live in.
The planet has two moons, one moon marks the months (12 periods a year), the other moon marks what would be the week equivalent, this week is divided by 8 to create somewhat akin to real world days.
 

MVV

Scribe
I'd suggest that lot of magic would deal with the weather and temperatures. For example, those living on the subsolar side would want to magically manipulate clouds and rain.
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
Light and warmth spells for the cold side.
Shade and water spells for the hot side.
They are what come to mind first.
 

Gryphos

Auror
An interesting idea would be to make it so magic can only happen in the dark, so mages would be forced to do there spells inside or underground to get away from the sun.
 

Nagash

Sage
What would be the distance separating the sun from the planet ? I sense you got inspired by the status of mercury which, because of it's close position to the sun and slow rotation speed, is constantly divided in half, one side being excessively hot (more of an inferno than a desert) and the other being a frozen nightmare, with very long phases of day and night (roughly 59 earth days). Both sides are unlivable. Yet, this extreme temperature is only caused by the very small distance between the planet and the solar body. Had it been occupying Earth's spot, it would have had a similar temperature - assuming it was the same size as earth and the same shape, which it isn't - while having 1416 hours days and nights (swell). Hence the importance of distance, which you might want to adjust accordingly, depending on wether you want the night and day side being at all livable.

Regarding magic, I would imagine that if magical power was to be linked with proximity to the solar body, he who stands on the pole nearest to the sun would be overwhelmingly powerful but suffering excessive heat, while those standings close to the farthest pole would be powerless. As said previously, this would link magicians with daylight (only in the other way around) and dare them to face the murderous sun.
 
Last edited:

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
This reminds me of an episode of Writing Excuses where they brainstorm an idea with Mary Robinette Kowal. Here world the moons are tidally locked. You might want to check it out to see the ideas they played with. Writing Excuses 7.51: Brainstorming with Mary » Writing Excuses

As for the type of magic, I think it'd be dependant on the culture. If it were me writing the story, I'd first focus on the types of cultures that developed on either side. Is there a culture that hasn't ever seen night or one that's never seen day? Which reminds me of a old Isaac Asimov novel, Nightfall. It's about a culture that's never known knight because their planet is in a system with three suns, and how they deal with all the suns setting and nightfall.

But anyway, the culture and the history of how it formed IMHO will lead you to what type of magic they'll have and how they use it.
 
Top