Author: Timons Esaias
This would be a nice planet, if not for all these places where the seabottom is sticking up out of the worldocean. It is most unseemly and immature.
We are trying to be generous about it, trying to convince ourselves that this planet is too young, that the worldocean will tear down these disgusting protrusions. But the worldocean only seems to nibble, nibble, nibble at the problems. Not very convincing.
Still, this would be a nice planet except for the worldocean’s phase-state issues. It cannot seem to decide whether it should be solid or liquid. Near the spindlepoints it tends to be solid, and it has established solid missions on parts of the extruded seabed — we simply cannot see the point of that, and those missions seem tentative about returning to the main body. In many places they convert to liquid before doing so.
Very confusing.
As I say, though, the planet might be something, except for all these inexplicable squishy things, which are everywhere. They seem to be a foam bubble formation, but they’ve become more permanent, somehow.
I guess one might define them as partly dried sea scum. Clearly they are a result of the extruded seabed areas, most of which are covered with layers of the stuff. Some of it is mobile, rolling across the seabedscape, or blowing through the atmosphere.
The physics of the scum seems to be quite complex, as it almost exhibits “behavior” independent of wind and wave — did I mention that the worldocean is full of bits of it, too? Much of it roiling around beneath the surface, some even adhering to the sea floor?
This scum stuff is quite annoying. It squishes underfoot, some of it adheres to one’s surface, and much of it is corrosive on contact.
Really, someone needs to take this place by the lattice, get it properly organized, and give it a thorough cleaning.
But who has that kind of time?
Finally, it must be admitted, this planet is an excellent example of the problems that arise with planets in the Useless Zone: neither hot enough to melt the surface, nor far enough from the star to be mostly stormcloud and worldsea, with the rocky stuff properly hidden deep in the middle, or decorously expelled into orbits.
For research purposes, it might be nice to leave a Watcher or two in orbit, but no actual beings should waste their time in this location.
One hates to just write off a planet this way, but one can really only look at it with pity.
Location, as they say, is destiny. Location is the great limiter. Location is all.