: Ringworlds, unlike Dyson spheres, are inherantly
: unstable. If they get slightly off center (say due to
: a meteorite impact on the dark side), they tend to get
: even more off-center as the sun is drawn more toward
: the closest point of the ring (though since the sun is
: more massive, the ring ends up moving instead). Given
: some proper correctional mechanisms, the ring wouldn't
: go crashing into the sun, but it would still wobble a
: little, getting slightly closer and farther from the
: sun in regular cycles. Those cycles could even by
: intentionally implemented.
Wait; are you saying it's a "Ringworld"-style ring and not a "Halo"- style ring?
: Hardly half the continent, but you have a point that it
: is a lousy mechanism. Note, however, that the Devoid
: was not intentionally created as a hole into space; it
: was blasted into existance by the Callieach in their
: final stand against the Trow. So the explosive effect
: could simply be some automated mechanism built by the
: Myth gods to keep things from passing through any
: bottomless pits created. Or the head could have just
: hit the force field and been destroyed, releasing tons
: of magic power and making the big boom we all saw.
I'd go for the "Head just blew up" argument. It's been so long since the Devoid was created that, even if it did extend entirely through the Mythworld originally, it's probably filled up partway with dust and debris by now, layered onto the force field.
: Well, well... Alric's head flew out of the Devoid, and
: the castle Jari was looking at wasn't built quite that
: same as the one he infiltrated, the the Five Champions
: movie replaced a Berserk with a Dwarf; so movies can
: be wrong! So there, ha!
It could have been another dead member of the Nine who happened to be nearby; Jari could have drunk one too many bottles of Surly Dwarf Ale to "raise his courage" before beginning his mission; and the Dwarf could have been wearing platform shoes in the movie because he heard that the camera always takes off two to three feet of height! Ha! And again, ha!
--SiliconDream
