“So, what have you got for me, Mindy?” Venkat asked.
Mindy brought up the online Mars map and focused on the location of the Hab. “Acidalia Planitia is fairly smooth, especially once Mark gets out of the fractured region around the Hab. He’ll leave the last of the gullies behind by the third day of travel, assuming a seventy kilometer average daily transit. And once he gets onto Arabia Terra the continental crust is fairly smooth except for craters and ejecta. If he stays clear of craters, he should make good time. And Schiaparelli Crater has a mostly smooth floor of compacted dust. So the two major problems are getting up onto Arabia Terra and getting down into Schiaparelli.”
“Got it. What’s the solution?”
“There are only two feasible ways for the tandem rover to get up Arabia Terra,” Mindy said. “Arabia is divided from the surrounding Martian terrain by a large escarpment. I think it’s too steep for the weight the rovers will be carrying. It’s broken in only two places.” She pointed to a dry river network almost directly southeast from the Hab. “Mawrth Vallis is my choice. The river bed is uneven, broken in a couple of places, and almost certain to be full of rocks carried down its path by ancient water flows. But the overall grade is one the rover can probably manage, and it meets the level of Arabia Terra here, near Trouvelot Crater. From Trouvelot there are large gaps between major craters to allow easy driving.
“The other way isn’t as good. Mark would have to drive due south from the Hab for about fifteen sols. The escarpment is shallowest in that direction, allowing for a gradual rise in elevation. From there Mark would have to turn east-southeast, and a lot of overlapping craters will be directly in his path. Getting him through that route will be difficult. The only advantage to that route is that it’s a slightly easier ascent to altitude than Mawrth Vallis. But it’s the more difficult route, and it’s several sols longer.”
“Got it,” Venkat said. “I'll tell Mark to pack all his cameras. We’ve wanted data from Mawrth Vallis for decades. We just kept finding even more interesting places to go instead.” He reached down to Mindy’s keyboard and switched the focus of the digital map to Schaparelli. “What about getting him down off the plateau again?”
“That’s not so easy,” Mindy said. “Most of Schiaparelli’s crater walls are sheer drops. And the ground surrounding Schiaparelli to the south and east is rugged and broken- almost impossible for the tandem rover to navigate. There’s only two possibilities.”
She pointed to two spots on the map. “There’s a point just west of Edom Crater where what looks like a smaller crater broke the rim and helped form a sort of ramp down from the highlands into the crater, here on the northwest side. That’s the point closest to Mark’s line of travel, but the ramp down is really rough and questionable. In the southwest corner, not far from the Ares IV MAV, there’s a point where Meridiani Planum is almost the same altitude as the basin inside Schiaparelli’s rim, and there are passes between the rim mountains. A rover might be able to get through them, but the passes aren’t large. It’s out of his direct path, and he might end up losing days to an obstacle we haven’t spotted that he can’t get around.”
“Can we get better photographs of these sites?”
“Not much. I can try.”
“Okay, do that. But in the meantime, let’s assume this northwestern entrance is the way to go. Work up a detailed travel plan for Mark and write it up for transmission through Pathfinder. And look at some alternative routes if we run into a problem.”
“Will do,” Mindy said.
“I suspect Mark’s been too busy to think about his route himself,” Venkat continued, almost to himself. “We didn’t include any detailed maps of Arabia Terra in the Ares III data files. He’ll only have an old planetary map and a detailed map of Acidalia and Chryse Planitias. Getting this will let him focus on more urgent things.”
AMICITAS FLIGHT THREE – MISSION DAY 406
ARES III SOL 399
“Look, all I’m saying,” Dragonfly said, waving her forehooves in the multiversal calm-down motion, “is that Granny Weatherwax is the perfect Slytherin. I never said she was evil.”
“Granny is Gryffindor!” Spitfire insisted, slamming the worktable as she said it.
“I thought Granny was Hufflepuff,” Cherry Berry said.
Heads turned. “Hufflepuff?” Mark asked.
“Yeah. Think tough love.”
“But wouldn’t Nanny Ogg be a better Hufflepuff?”
“Think about it,” Cherry urged. “Granny and Nanny are close friends, right? Wouldn’t they be housemates?”
“Or maybe Granny developed Nanny as a friend because she wanted the support and power,” Dragonfly pressed. “Because she’s Slytherin.”
“Look, can we at least agree that Magrat Garlick is a Ravenclaw?” Starlight Glimmer asked.
Fireball snorted. “Well, duh,” he said.
“Too obvious,” Spitfire said.
“Come to think of it,” Cherry Berry added, “what house would Ridcully be? He doesn’t seem to be afraid of anything, so I guess Gryffindor.”
“He seems too stupid to be afraid,” Dragonfly said. “Which means definitely Gryffindor.”
“Gryffindor is not lawful stupid house!” Spitfire shouted. “Ridcully smart in his own way.”
“You know, all of this is nice,” Mark said to the world at large, “but at some point we’re going to have to do something about the three trolls guarding the back door to the opera house.”
None of the other players, nor Starlight the GM, paid the least bit of attention. “I think Hogwarts would need a fifth house for Rincewind,” the unicorn said. “With a cheetah mascot. Or something else that runs really, really fast.”
“Rincewind probably went to Durmstrang,” Fireball theorized. “Perfect place for a wizard to learn to survive really bad things.”
The debate continued. The game session, not so much.
10k Plus words maybe or 30kplus words would be nice
Yeeeeah Esme is definitely slytherin.
Death, though... he'd be hufflepuff.
There's also the four houses at the Ilvermony School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Horned Serpent, Wampus, Thunderbird, and Pukwudgie. I'm a Pukwudgie myself, if Pottermore is to believed.
...
Which isn't very flattering in the MLP world, considering the season 8 premiere.
Would Rincewind have been considered a Squib? I mean, he shouldn't actually have been wizard-born, but it's similar...
9088165 Rincewind goes past squib and out the other side.
Arguing about how fictional characters would fit into other fictional worlds? Yes.... Let the nerd flow through you....
irregularwebcomic.net/comics/irreg0042.jpg
The danger of being distracted during a role playing session. Irregular Webcomic.
I actually looked up Mawrth Vallis to confirm that's how it's spelled; I've only ever heard it from the audiobook, so the silent w surprised me
Getting closer and closer to Oregon Trail: Mars Edition.
At least Little Cherry can't die from a rattlesnake bite. Or Malaria. It's always the rattlesnakes and malaria.
At what point does Mark think "Reading Harry Potter to them was a mistake"?
NExt they will debate which house the Princesses and Chirssy would be placed in
I concur with Dragonfly.
9088256
Don't forget dysentery.
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These are daily updates, and the fic is a writing challenge to do so if I remember correctly. We're still getting a story, and an author's satisfaction with their work is rightfully their primary concern anyway.
Kindly clam up or leave.
9088300
Dysentery is where it's at. I don't really remember rattlesnake bites being a problem, but I had so many axles, wheels, and wagon tongues break that I declared carpenter the obvious OP starter class.
Hooray for writing ahead!
9088256
This time, it's all about food management and not starving.
If things don't go sideways on me, I'll be at the Ama Con tomorrow. Gonna be my first!
Assuming something doesn't blow up and need me to weld it back together.
Where will you be?
Anyone arguing about which house Granny belongs to is going to be wrong. Granny is a house all of her own.
9088300
Doctor or Caprenter works... though as Banker you can just buy a ton of spare parts for the wagon, eleventy million bullets, meds, and go hunting on day 1. With enough ammo to depopulate the midwest of wildlife, you can do the ol' Stormtrooper strat of spinning around while fanning the spacebar. Guaranteed to have enough food for a while that way.
Hahahaha! I can so relate to derailed RP sessions by heated arguments.
9088285
I'd be surprised if Chrysalis had any debate around her. Who would suggest anything other than Slytherin?
9088165
Squib, but he could have got into Hogwarts on an athletic scholarship if they have track events.
And yeah, Granny would be Slytherin. Magrat, though... Magrat might well have ended up Gryffindor. I mean, she fits with Ravenclaw as well... but so does Hermione, and I'd argue that Magrat is closer to Gryffindor than Hermione is.
Nanny Ogg is pure Hufflepuff, and if she had ever ended up in Hogwarts than nobody else would have dared underestimate Hufflepuff House for years after she graduated.
As the wise great wizard once said: Where your running isnt as important as from what.
Or for our counterweight continent readers: Rather complicated pictograph of a water Buffalo, tree with three open blossoms facing north, two standing violins, dog passing water.
9088467
i dont see Luna or Celestia as Griffondore's. I actually think Celly would be joining Chrissy with the snakes. as to Luna I dunno lol
So Mars being Mars, they all have to take the worst possible pair of route choices to get there due to unforeseen circumstances?
9088362
Well at least they don’t have to deal with river crossings. Now you know other than tipping over
9088161
i took that test a few days ago and got the serpent.
It's a real shame Rowling only wrote Slytherin as the evil club instead of following it's supposed ethos. It makes it difficult to discuss if someone would fit into it without just calling them evil.
I'm gonna have to put Granny Weatherwax in Ravenclaw. She was all about headology, after all.
granny weatherwax by her own admission would have been a bad witch if she didn't feel obligated to be the good one because of her sister.
slytherin end of discussion.
besides Merlin was a slytherin.
Rincewind would be Griffindor, because he had to have GUTS in order to want to learn magic at Hogwarts when he doesn't have any magic at all. And later, he would be the teacher of Defense against the Dark Arts. 'Nuff said.
Ah, the wonders of derailment.
9088650
Rincewind doesn't have GUTS. He has resigned acceptance.
I'd put him in Hufflepuff, which is the house for the loyal friends but also for anyone that doesn't fit the other 3 houses.
Aloha! Gonna have to forgive me for the cardinal sin of skipping Comicon Honolulu despite being on vacation but an island away... short notice island hopping fares are far more expensive than they should be
Granny Weatherwax walks in the front door of Hogwarts, Dumbledoor congratulates her on the post of Headmistress and heads out for a long holiday with his custom Luggage by Q floating along behind him.
Lord Vetinary as Severus Snape.
Rincewind as The Golden Snitch.
What about the door guarding Trolls? Lets ask them. Uh, Ar, ARG, Thud Thud, Thud. Well, no help there. Oh look, theres an unguarded door here we can go in.
ACK.. Route finding.. Does Google cover Mars yet? I thought they said something about wanting to get the orbiters data in the same way as Google Earth satelite view, but depends on the resolution of the DEM files?
9088758
I love Snape as a character, he is one of the most interesting, complex and bitter people in modern fiction. He is one of the best examples of doing the right thing for entirely the wrong reason, and his sheer loathing is beatiful.
But I wouldn't compare him to Lord Vetinary except in contrast.
Snape is driven heavily by his emotions.
Lord Vetinary is driven by pure logic. despite how chilling it may be (How to reduce crime....legalize it and let the guilds enforce the laws)
Snape did the right thing due to an undying, obsessive love.
Lord Vetinary is possibly incapable of love.
Lord Vetinary has a long term vision and plots that span the disk.
Snape, at least by the time of the Harry Potter books, only cares about earning his twisted form of redemption for being responsible for Lilly's death, and revenge against Voldemort.
The only thing they have in common is the can sneer like no other, and the same sense of fashion.
9088779
That and and the Spook-like raised eyebrow.
9088586
Such Headology is using social manipulation to convince people something and thus as their perspective changes, so does their reality. It is not about knowing 'knowledge,' but knowing people. In fact book knowledge is entirely a different way of doing magic then Headology.
Depending on how its used, its either Hufflepuff (I want to make everyone get along and feel nice) or Slytherin (I want to manipulate people and make them believe and act a certain way for my own benefits).
9088583
Its sad, because she mentions in side notes that, "The only house never to produce a Dark Wizard is Hufflepuff," or "Merlin was in Slytherin" and of course, "There have been Half Bloods and Muggleborn in Slytherin" so we know the house has far more depth then shown....
But she didn't put them in her books. The two Slytherins she introduced in first year who could have been distant friends from the heros (Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini) are underused, and left to rot in the dust.
ADMITTEDLY it isn't entirely unfair that Slytherin has a current lack of students who don't support Voldemort. Its important to remember that Voldemort basically HAS to be covered quietly by whichever teacher meets Muggleborn students so they don't offend anyone. That means all students go to Hogwarts knowing Voldemort claimed to be the Heir of Slytherin.
I imagine a very large amount of students sitting under that hat are repeating the line Harry did. "Not Slytherin, Not Slytherin, anywhere but Slytherin."
Given time, a generation or two for his deeds to fade, and Slytherin will rebalance and be less evil.
9088555
Luna wants to have fun and make friends, and its important to remember who we WANT to be is just as important as who we are to the Sorting Hat. Luna wants people to love her, to have friends, and to have fun. She also wants redepemption, and fears falling to her desires again.
So her desires make her a Hufflepuff or Slytherin and her fear of becoming evil again due to ambition will push her into Hufflepuff.
9088470
Remember, the Hat goes off who you are AND what you want to be. (Thus Hermione and Neville in Gryffindor)
Hermione wants to be brave, she wants to do the right thing, she favours justice over knowledge. We see this in the first book with her claim that Harry is the better Wizard then she is, and her actions with the House Elves, despite everything she reads and everything she hears telling her they don't want freedom.
I agree with your assessment of Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, but Magrat, if given the choice of books or bravery would choose books. She continually is told by Granny and Nanny that their is more to a witch then books, and Headology is more important then Herbology, but she continually favors book lore.
So while she could be both, I would say her choice would be Ravenclaw.
Also I love Fireball's theory about Rincewind. The best thing about it is he wouldn't want to be there, he would constantly be trying to leave and no matter what he did, he would be stuck their till his education ended.
Cause thats how Rincewind works.
Ridcully....hmmmm. He chooses to hunt, and isn't a fan of book knowledge....so I am leaning Gryffindor. But he is cunning, we have seen this in his actions and deeds, and he knows the rules of the universe and how to manipulate them for his benefit ("1 in a million chances happen 9 times out of 10") and he clearly wants some level of power, otherwise he would not have come back to the Unseen University to become Archchancellor when asked.
So I could hear a case for Slytherin. I think his who he wants to be pushes him into Gryffindor, but he clearly has some Slytherin in him.
9088337
I believe he is expressing his hopes about the Sol 551 launch which kris mentioned in the end notes would be "ENORMOUS" not complaining about the current chapter.
Also if kris wanted him to stop posting he would say so or just have the post deleted, telling someone to stop reading another authors story when the author himself expressed no issue with the post/er comes across rather arrogant of you. Lets try not to be "that guy" and keep the community friendly okay?
9088373 My booth is in the back left hand corner of the north hall.
Well, at least they're not debating alignment...
Also, Rincewind would probably end up getting sorted into being the DADA teacher. And breaking the curse by surviving until the end of the year.
9088905
This is clearly the most correct answer, with one thing missing.
No one will know how he did it. Dumbledore himself will be shocked as Rincewind manages to stumble into his plans at the most dangerous times and still comes out alive.
He will somehow always be chosen to take that kids into the Forbidden Forest for Detention despite his continual wish not to be AND the fact he isn't the Grounds keeper.
He will never bring a single dark creature to DADA class yet somehow he will face every XXXXX rated Monster in Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them in class that year.
And at least once a week he will somehow end up being locked in the most dangerous Greenhouse on Hogwarts Campus.
9088256
I often lost parties trying to caulk the wagon and ford the river. I doubt that will be a problem here, either.
9088905
I doubt he'd break the curse. Not because he'd die, but because he'd leave at the first opportunity. (And after being "rescued" by students, the second, third, fourth and fifth.) By exams or just after, he'd finally manage to get himself gone and into something worse.
9088998
I specifically avoided mentioning that. Because knowing Mars. This will be when it warms up enough for them to get liquid water, and they'll drive right into the rare Martian low water crossing.
9089066
If it's anything like TN, give it five minutes and it'll dry up while raining behind them in an "isolated rain" storm.
This story is AMAZING.
Good to see them busying themselves with the important stuff.
Granny Weatherwax would totally be Slytherin, just, y'know, a good-aligned Slytherin.
More likely though, she'd have never attended any sort of standardised schooling, thus never have been Sorted. I seem to recall in Witches Abroad, she was rather distrustful of book learning.
In the scenarios I'm imagining, she'd claim to be of whichever house suits the situation and whomever she's talking to.
9506914
I love this.
Granny would be in whatever house she damn well feels like being in.
Rincewind would never get sorted, because to do so he'd have to take off his WIZZARD hat long enough to put on the sorting hat. (Also because he'd probably be the next best thing to a squib)