Earth (SLD)

The identity of Earth is a topic of great discussion in academic circles. Arguments revolve around four principle worlds, now called "Oblivion," "Sheoll," "Atkonartok," and "Vitreous." Topics in the arguments include other worlds about the sun, land forms, constructions, air, life, and legends, and run as follows.

Oblivion
Oblivion orbits a yellow-orange sun. Its four continents and two large islands are heavily cratered and glazed. Radiation levels are high over most of the landmass. Even without the radiation, the tropical band is too hot for human tolerance, and there are no ice caps.

Principal Favorable Arguments
Oblivion has the four gas giant companions credited to Earth in some tales, although only two rocky companions rather than four. It is also lacking the large moon, and has instead a thin dust ring that is visible from the surface. However, Oblivion is in an unstable orbit around its sun. Within a few thousand years it will enter into a precipitous fall toward the sun and either be destroyed or flung out of the system. The Mishije people speak of an effort to move "the red world" out of its orbit and use it to completely destroy Earth. According to the legend, the red world misses its target, and a "red world" is now a metaphor for an enormous waste of effort. If, however, the red world did approach closely, it would explain the unstable orbit, the missing moon, the dust ring, and one of the missing worlds. The absence of a ninth world is unexplained, however.

Principle Arguments Against
Oblivion has fewer than the seven continents attributed to Earth. If it is assumed that Earth was originally cooler, and had permanent polar ice caps, the two islands could be considered continents. This would make six. Some have argued that mountain ranges that divide the largest continent could be considered to separate it into smaller continents. Even if such an unlikely idea were held to by Earthlings, it would define eight continents, not seven. Another argument cites a legend of a sinking island (which is told in both Haalling and Edenic worlds), and asserts that the seventh continent was sunk during the Cataclysm. The legends, however, speak of an island, not a continent, and there is no geologic evidence of a destroyed continent.

There is little life on Oblivion, only a few insects, plants, and marine invertebrates, with the usual protozoans. Of these, very few have any similarity with anything on other worlds. Some have argued that the radiation on Oblivion has caused such rapid mutation that the life is not recognizable. This "extreme bombing" theory is also used to explain the relative absence of construction. However, radiation levels are not significantly higher than Atkonartok or Vitreous, and crater counts are not persuasive compared to the devastation of Vitreous.