The second moon rises. We have recently become used to reading stories set on planets with two or more moons. Nights are light on Ivanhoe because of the moons and also because:
"...the stars swarmed and glittered, the seven giant Sisters so brilliant in their nebular hazes that they cast shadows, the lesser members of the cluster and the more distant suns of the galaxy filling the sky with their wintry hordes. A gray twilight overlay the world. Off in the west, the Kasunian mountains seemed phosphorescent." (II, p. 218) (For full reference, see here.)
See also In The Pleiades.
It is because the interstellar medium is thicker than usual that the accident had happened.
On p. 220, the Milky Way (and see here) is mentioned when an Ivanhoan's mane resembles "...a forested mountain..." against it.
2 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, the Pleiades cluster lies about 444 lightyears from Earth, far beyond the boundaries of the Terran Empire. We don't know if Merseia claimed suzerainty over those stars. We don't see Ivanhoe or the Pleiades again in the later Technic stories after "The Season of Forgiveness."
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
Another thought I should have added to my previous comment was that the Ivanhoans, like humans, were deeply interested in philosophical and theological questions. Which contrasts sharply with how some other races thought, such as the Tigeries (said to have little interest in ultimate questions).
Sean
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