The Making of a Preacher -Prep

World Building: The Creation of ZoNed4

ZoNed4 is the fourth planet in the Zenith Kneelite System of a dozen planets. The similarities with Earth are closer than a cursory glance can gather. The distance between their respective suns is very close with ZoNed4, being approximately 10% farther away and therefore about 10 % colder globally than Earth.

Like Earth, ZoNed4 has an aging star at the center of its system. Solaris Rossa Marillo sounds like a Latin American festival on Earth, the name highlights the heavy reds & yellows in its surface coloration.

There are three planets between this sun, (known as "S. R. Maria" or "Señora Maria," the two most used nicknames) and ZoNed4, whereas there are only two between the Sun and the Earth. The three inner planets of the Zenith Kneelite System are Flamos, which looks more like a comet than a planet, due to its close proximity to its sun. This makes Flamos appear to have a tail to any astronomers in the System. After Flamos comes Traxler, the terribly arid planet with absolutely no vegetation. Then, Raldon follows in the third position, but the climate is still too hot and dry to support life, though an apparent misty atmosphere hints at the potential of water on the planet.

ZoNed4 is the fourth planet in the System, being the most hospitable to life, it has the honor of being the System's abbreviated namesake.

As one might imagine the other eight planets of the Zenith Kneelite System are all too cold to support life, even if water is extant on the planets. For the sake of introduction, their names are listed here. They are Phosphers, Iridens, Tribleu, Overantis, Sufeslandos, Zorronarlas, Sinsontazul, and Tenebral12.

The description of ZoNed4 is taken from Chapter #9, "Storms of Joy."

What is ZoNed4 really like? It's a slightly larger version of Earth, but it is still inhabitable. The air is thicker and heavier with ionized Nitrogen, but it's still breathable. ZoNed4's primary moon is once again slightly larger than Earth's moon. The trek of this moon around ZoNed4 requires a little more time. This would be 32 days in fact for every month, not just the seven 31-day months of Earth. ZoNed4 is notable for its eight-day weeks. This means that some Earth songs are a reality on ZoNed4 (aka "...eight days a week,") not just hyperbole as intended by the songwriters.

The eight days of the ZoNedian week have consequences that affect the weather and the seasons. The summers near the Equator, especially the desert countries are much hotter and have much longer summer seasons. Winters in the northernmost frigid zones and even in the temperate climes are much colder (on average 15-20 degrees colder in terms of the Fahrenheit scale,) much longer, and much more taxing on the emotions. (The emotional effects are similar to the experiences of people, who live in the northernmost parts of Alaska and Russia on Earth when the sun is not seen for months at a time.) ZoNed4 has a 50/50 land-sea ratio that intensifies the seasonal extremes, making them at least 15% to 20% colder or hotter on average than Earth seasons are.

The towns of ZoNed4 have been named by the humans, but the topography is completely original with the planet.
Breezy Glade is just like it sounds. It is a beautiful valley of grass, that is greener than any grass on Earth.
Fort Childhood is a wonderful little community, whose oldest remaining structure is a childhood fort.
Major Marks is known for the fifteen or so very deep cracks that run from the top to the bottom of Mount Blue Smoke, which is on the opposite side of ZoNed4 from Fort Childhood. The fact that these fissures started on the mountain about the time that Matthew Marks arrived with his little family created an amazing amount of fodder for Mayor Diotrephes Broadway, who loved to quip, "Well, Preacher, you certainly left some Major Marks on this planet, didn't you?"
Library End is, as the reader may have guessed, a town that is almost entirely dedicated to books and reading. It shouldn't surprise anyone that Town Hall is located at the corner of Book & Nook.
Joe-N-Tea is the hometown of many folks, who are thoroughly devoted to their freshly-brewed drinks. Some like coffee. Some like tea. Yet, all of these dear folks like their cups of fluid comfort to be hot. None of them are bashful about asking the barrista, "Do you mind nuking this for a minute for me? If I've still got hairs on my tongue, then it's not hot enough. Oh, and bring me back a scone when you come, too, please."
Primary Rocks is a curiosity. Artists flock to this town due to the configuration of boulders in all three of the primary colors. Others come bringing their preschoolers because they think the town's name refers to the best Kindergarten on the planet.
Stable Home is a town populated by equestrians, who tend to have marriages that last 50 to 60 years or longer, which is an even greater feat on ZoNed4 than the already long tenure on Earth. After all, with approximately 20 extra days per year,60 years on ZoNed4 would be slightly over 63 years on Earth. Most of the residents are pretty proud of their town's motto, "Horsin' around makes you love longer."

One Day on Earth is 24 hours long. On ZoNed4 it is 28 hours long.

One Week on Earth is seven days long. On ZoNed4 it is eight days long.

One Year on Earth is 12 months long. On ZoNed4 it is 14 months long.

The Rotation Adjustment on ZoNed4 occurs once every year for two days in length. This creates a ten-day week, during the annual Rotation Adjustment Celebration. It's the one week out of the year, that has ten days in the week rather than the typical eight, which makes it great for vacations and holidays.

The Rotation Adjustment is a little hard to explain, but it's roughly like a man tightening the payload on his truck with a ratchet. Whereas the seven-day-a-week model of life on Earth remains more or less in a consistent rotational spin, the eight-day-a-week model of ZoNed4 causes rotational "rope" as it were to stretch out of shape throughout the year, until, finally, the once-a-year adjustment tightens the "rope" onto the next tooth of the ratchet.

As a rule, businesses, churches, government offices, and schools take the days off to observe and to experience this unique "hands-on" science lesson. The celebratory atmosphere is due to the way the Rotation Adjustment affects the gravity of the planet. For approximately 48 hours from the end of the eighth day to the end of the tenth day of that unique week, the gravity on ZoNed4 gradually decreases to roughly 10% of normal gravity. The lighter the object or individuals may be the more it or they start to float. Very little actual work could be accomplished on these two days, due to the gravity of the situation.

The good thing about the days on ZoNed4 is that they consistently start at midnight on the clock as do the days of Earth. When the Rotation Adjustment starts people may find themselves waking up on the floor instead of in their beds with the joyful fact that there are no bruises, nor awakings from sleep, that would normally happen when someone falls out of bed.

On the second day of the Rotation Adjustment people often wake up standing on their feet, (even the non-sleepwalkers do this,) though they still feel like they are sleeping horizontally in their beds.

Some folks don't go to bed, until after the Rotation Adjustment is complete on the third night. Going from 10% of gravity to 100% of gravity as the "ratchet-tooth" catches tends to be a bit unsettling. This is so unsettling that a tradition has developed in the past few years of either sitting in one's car with the seatbelt fastened or sitting in one's living room with newly-installed seatbelts keeping the residents firmly ensconced on their couches.

The last hour of the Rotation Adjustment on ZoNed4 is quite similar to the last hour of New Year's Eve on Earth. Whereas Earthlings stand up, raising their hands, and cheering as the Ball drops, ZoNedians secure their seating, toasting with their favorite variety of hot tea, until the very minute when they place their need-to-be-empty cups on the nearest pillow beside each of them, waiting for the rather large THUMP, THUD or BUMP when life can return to "normal" for the next 14 months.

The Sun of ZoNed4 is approximately 20% larger than Earth's sun. This tends to create richer and more vibrant hues of color across the spectrum.

In all reality (or reality-based fiction) ZoNed4 is such a suitable Class-M planet, that we may consider it to be Earth-enhanced.