I'd like to try an experiment - building a world here, adding a new (hopefully interconnected) piece each week. I don't have a story in mind - that's sort of the point, seeing what emerges just from the creation of the world itself. At some point this is going to need a name, but that feels rather premature for the moment. It is, however, getting to the stage where it's rather silly to link posts individually, so I'm just going to link to the tag lookup result here.

A short one today, because it's now that time of semester when my brain starts melting from answering student questions and resolving staff problems.

Heat

Our ice-world is volcanic, but it's still going to be uncomfortably cold to live on. While our inhabitants can huddle near volcanic vents and lava beds, heat is still going to be scarce - fire is difficult to create on an iceworld, and wood requires venturing up to the surface anyway, so our inhabitants are either going to have to have a technological adaptation to ward off the chill, or be physically adapted to deal with it. I haven't discussed technology yet - I haven't even decided if these are accelerated natives or unfortunate invaders - so I'm hesitant to start waving technology around to fix matters. An adaptation to cold wouldn't be too difficult - perhaps they're furry, blubberous (unlikely as land mammals) or use countercurrent circulation.

They can use more than one - most birds that live in an icy habitat use both downy feathers and countercurrent circulation to prevent loss of body heat. And I like that idea - especially the furry part.

So our inhabitants are furry, with perpetually cold - but not numb* - extremities. Areas of natural heating, like lava pools and vents can remain relatively rare, and therefore highly prized, with deep social (perhaps even spiritual) significance.

* Because of the way countercurrent circulation works - instead of restricting blood flow to the extremity to prevent heat loss, the blood that's going out gives its heat to the blood that's coming back in, so the full amount of blood reaches the cells (no numbness), but it's already been cooled, and so less heat is lost.

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