Super Conjunction

The Super Conjunction is an event that happens aproximately every one hundred years on Magicians' End, although detailed astronomical calculations are required to determine the exact date of each one.

Manifestation

Magicians' End has three moons, Lumina, Celestria and Triquetra which have an orbital resonance that brings them into alignment every 84 days. This is known as a standard Conjunction and it results in unusually high and low tides. A Super Conjunction, which occurs much less often, happens when a Conjunction is also aligned with the sun and when the planets Vel and Nim lie on the same axis.
Super Conjunctions produce exceptional tides and all shipping needs to be aware of this and take approriate precautions. There is always a solar eclipse at the midpoint of the conjunction and although solar eclipses on Magicians' End are not so rare as they are on Earth Zero for example, nevertheless they are still uncommon enough to provoke wonder. The long traditions of the Way of Trinity Moon have allowed for the accurate prediction of Super Conjunctions for many millennia and these same traditions have also instilled a reverential and mystical attitude to the cosmos. Although it has not been universal at all times and places, it has been common throughout the entire history of the world for Super Conjunctions to be celebrated with a holiday for meditation and prayer.

Localization

A Super Conjunction affects the whole planet, although there are some specifically local effects in different regions which are worthy of note. It is obviously coastal areas which experience the most noticable consequences.
In northern Tinturbean a tidal bore often rushes through the Bean straits at the entrance to Turbean Sea but the one generated by a Super Conjunction is particularly spectacular and draws crowds, lining the high cliffs on either side to witness it. Similar phenomena can be witnessed at the Shield Strait in the far west, at the entrance to the Tin Sea, in the narrows north of Berry Island and all around the Tumble Tides Bay (illustrated in the image at the head of the article) and Kax Bay regions.
Elsewhere, the raising of the seas at high tide around False Land on the eastern edge of the Dark Domains causes some overspill from the Orothonian Ocean during a Super Conjunction. This also makes travel to the Great Escarpment easier for any solitary traveller brave enough to risk it in a small boat and Pannelle has exploited this fact to begin her own dangerous journey into the Dark Domains at the Edge of the Trans-Oceanic Empire.

Type

Natural