Shadows of the Gnomon Chain

1 | Start

2 | 58. World/Story Setting: “The Gnomon Chain” Premise: In a post-electrical civilization, time and governance are measured by shadow—a planetary system of colossal sundial structures called Gnomons, each tied to a city-state. These Gnomons encode civic law through the position and movement of their shadows; every day at solar noon, law is recalibrated by shadow length and angle, resulting in a constantly shifting sociopolitical order. When one Gnomon falls into eclipse from a drifting atmospheric veil, its dependent cities spiral into interpretive chaos. For the GM: • Player Roles: • Shadowcalibrators—engineers who maintain precise gnomonic alignments. • Time-Scribes—legal interpreters who resolve conflicts via sun-angle calculus. • Equinox Envoys—emissaries trained to mediate disputes when two Gnomons conflict. • Mechanics: • Solar Stability Index—tracks atmospheric clarity; changes affect rule precision and governance. • “Shadow Warps” can retroactively alter laws or undo social contracts, depending on interpretive drift. • Players may reinforce Gnomons, sabotage rival dials, or design “false noon” rituals to provoke shifts in power. • Campaign Hooks: 1. Investigate a rogue city using reflective geometry to artificially extend its Gnomon’s influence. 2. Restore a sunken equatorial Gnomon said to encode pre-Collapse equilibrium law. 3. Prevent an eclipse cult from darkening the main Meridian Gnomon, triggering a planetary legislative reset. Opening Phrase: “As the shadow reached its apex across the stone dial, three new edicts appeared in the sun-etched archive—one of which rewrote your birthright.”