[Emancipor Reese]

Just how did Moonspawn get as far as Hurly? After leaving Coral I was under the impression it (moonspawn) would drift for a short time then sink into the ocean as it was actually falling apart and tilting dangerously! not travel thousands of miles and turn Southwest at some stage and cross over-land(Elingarth there abouts) to end up in the Rivan sea surely it should have ended up nearer to the 'leg'of Genabackis if even get that far southeast. Was any Andii left onboard to guide or steer,, were strong winds responsible or was it trying to get to Laughters End?

[Aptorian]

The geography is not important, the geography is not important, the geography is not important...

[D'rek]

Anomander accidentally left the cruise control on

[Gorefest]

Guess we'll never know. It was sent eastwards from Coral across the Rust Ocean while lilting and shedding big pieces of rock. Rake says in MoI that he believes that its power is failing and it would 'soon' sink beneath the waves. They estimate that it will take about a month to touch the waves, meaning that it is still floating at a decent height.

Not sure if spoilers are required because the below only contains things up to and including OST, but just in case I've put some tags.

Spoiler

Now, as we all know, the timeline is not important. However, as we don't have much else to work with, we can do some tracking and deduction from the books.

In MoI, Moon's spawn is set drifting eastwards across the sea in 1164. In OST, we learn that Hurly was destroyed by a tidal wave caused by Moon's Spawn final crash in the sea a bit less than two years before the start of that novel. The word 'crash' implies that it was still plummeting from a decent height, to cause such a destructive tidal wave. I cannot recall whether the events of OST were ever properly dated, but we know that it is some time (a few months at least) after the events in TTH. This is because we have Traveller appear in a monastery after he has killed Anomander Rake, which happened in 1166. We also know (assuming that Kiska's story arc in Esslemont's novels follow roughly the same timeline as the other events in those novels) that OSt must be set around the same time or after the events of Stonewielder, which happened in 1167. So unless the defeat of the Pannion Domin happened at the very end of 1164 and OST would be very late 1166 as opposed to 1167-1168, that would imply that Moon's Spawn actually took several months to finally crash into the sea. So it could have covered a much bigger distance than we were led to believe by the words of Rake and others who saw it float off. Bearing in mind that neither Rake or any of the others in attendance actually have any clue about the inner workings of Skykeeps, their guess on the longevity of its levitation ability is just that: a guess.

There are several possibilities as to why it may have been floating for longer and further than people thought and how it strayed so badly off course (either going in a slow arc over water around the 'leg' of Genabackis, possibly passing the Night Ship Islands, or overland across the relatively low and flat area of the Confederacy of Free Cities). It may be that the Tiste leaving and emptying Moon's spawn, as well as large bits of rock breaking off the surface, significantly reduced its weight and allowed it to gain height and momentum. It could also be that a large amount of the internal water that was scooped up when the skykeep was submerged near Coral suddenly found a way out due to a surface breach from the crumbling rock (like a bucket of water springing a leak at the base). Or it could simply be that the magic keeping the skykeep afloat was more powerful and enduring than Rake had estimated. The crumbling rocks and the location of the breaches may have also caused a weight imbalance, sending the skykeep into an arc instead of drifting mostly straight.

In any case, unless someone can more clearly timestamp the events of OST or Erikson/Esslemont give an explanation, I guess it will remain anyone's guess...

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 04 August 2020 - 02:17 PM

[Abyss]

Drift Avalii is apparently a semi-sunken Kchain city like Moons Spawn, and it's been floating around for generations. There aren't really rules about this sort of thing.

[Emancipor Reese]

Abyss, on 05 August 2020 - 02:20 AM, said:

Drift Avalii is apparently a semi-sunken Kchain city like Moons Spawn, and it's been floating around for generations. There aren't really rules about this sort of thing.

Oh yeah Abyss I'd forgotten about what Drift Avalii was,, and Gorefest your logic makes me think 'why did'nt I think of that'!!

[Gorefest]

Well, to be fair, the actual answer is probably that it is a mistake or a retcon by Esslemont...