Not that it’s desired for the setting, but I’m looking at a pseudo-scientific reason for the lack of sunlight on the planet of the shattered isles. I’m looking to place it within a sci-fi or space opera universe that allows for nobles, guilds, the loss of technology, a shattered empire, demons, magic, ghosts, spirits, and the like, and also has the phenomenon of problems with light.
The sci-fi system in question is Fading Suns, and I figure this world could be a Lost World isolated from the jumpgates, perhaps lost during the diaspora era. The “magic” that provides different atmospheres could be from area terraformers.
The area of the shattered isles appears to be fairly small, and I’d prefer for the world to be low population. If it’s moon-sized, the continent of Australia would dominate half of the moon (let’s say that Australia equivalent is Tycheros). That means the various Shattered Isles could be roughly the landmass size of a U.S. state. Relatively small world-wise, but plenty large for a for a victorian empire, and still a ton of vast space.
Given those requirements, this is what I’ve come up with so far:
The moon of the Shattered Isles is relatively far away from the sun, and heated largely from the neptune-blue middle-orbit gas giant that it orbits. Radiant heat from the gas giant warms the moon (perhaps the gas giant is near enough the sun to support atmospheric combustion and provide heat similar to a brown dwarf?). Rings of rock on the same orbital plane obscure the sun and prevent significant light from getting through. Another moon, purple in hue, not on the orbital plane of the rock ring, weakly reflects the light of the sun. An asteroid belt on the same orbital plane but an inner orbit further obscures the sun. Part of the cataclysm could be the explosion of a larger moon, or the collision of two moons that formed the ring of debris that blocks the sunlight.
Does anyone else have any ideas?