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{{shardworld
|map=EnteringTheCrimson.jpg
|shards=None
|magic=[[Aether]]s
|books=[[Tress of the Emerald Sea]]
}}
{{quote
|I don't think I gave proper attention to just how beautiful Tress’s world was. To me, it was a backwater planet drowning in the dross of the aethers, which are more useful in other incarnations—and far easier to harvest on the moons themselves anyway. And yet, nowhere else in my travels have I witnessed anything like those spores.
}}
'''Lumar''' is a [[Cosmere#Planets|planet]] in the [[cosmere]]
== Geography and Ecology ==
{{image|
=== Moons and Spore Oceans ===
Lumar is located in an unknown star system considered a backwater of the cosmere.{{book ref|tress|18}} The planet is surrounded by a set of twelve moons, each hanging in equidistant, geostationary orbits
Each moon is home to one of the twelve [[aether]]s; those aethers produce spores, which rain down on Lumar's surface in great, perpetual falls known as [[lunagree]]s. As a result, the entire planet is covered by oceans of aether spores.{{book ref|tress|28}}{{book ref|tress|1}} The seas and moons figure heavily in the local language, with many people swearing by the moons or using phrases like "how on the seas".{{book ref|tress|41}}
Owing to the moons being of equal distance to one another, each sea is of the same size, and roughly the same pentagonal shape.{{book ref|tress|42}} The surface is uneven -- each sea is effectively a pile of sand, highest at the lunagree and lower on the border, where spores of the neighboring seas intermingle. However, the sheer size of the seas makes the incline imperceptible unless one is extremely close to the peak.{{book ref|tress|46}} Far below the surface, the seafloor is full of thermal vents that pump out great amounts of air bubbles. This leads to the spores [[wikipedia:Fluidization|fluidizing]], which makes the oceans behave akin to liquid. The locals call this process '''the seethe'''. The seethe usually lasts for days at a time; however, it will commonly pause for varying periods of time, leaving all ships sailing across it '''sporelocked''' until it picks up again.{{book ref|tress|8}} During those periods of calm, the ocean is solid enough to walk on, though one must exercise great care when doing so.{{book ref|tress|12}}▼
▲Owing to the moons being of equal distance to one another, each sea is of the same size, and roughly the same pentagonal shape.{{book ref|tress|42}} This functions geometrically as twelve pentagons that tesselate the sphere, and due to the shape of the seas and the planet, each sea would border five others, with three around each vertex. The surface is uneven -- each sea is effectively a pile of sand, highest at the lunagree and lower on the border, where spores of the neighboring seas intermingle. However, the sheer size of the seas makes the incline imperceptible unless one is extremely close to the peak.{{book ref|tress|46}} Far below the surface, the seafloor is full of thermal vents that pump out great amounts of air bubbles, along with the decomposition process of the spores{{wob ref|16131}}. This leads to the spores [[wikipedia:Fluidization|fluidizing]], which makes the oceans behave akin to liquid. The locals call this process '''the seethe'''. The seethe usually lasts
Ships on the seas tend to have reinforced bows in order to protect the ship from the thick spores.{{url ref|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOeZAjTR-VY |text= The Science of Magic: Tress of the Emerald Sea |site=Brandon Sanderson on YouTube|name=The Science of Magic}}
The seas are not especially deep, measuring only a few hundred yards at their deepest.{{book ref|tress|51}} There is an entire complex ecosystem of its own at the bottom; however, nothing is known about it.{{book ref|tress|51}} It is a matter of research by [[Xisisrefliel]] and his servants.
The maps of Lumar keep the pentagonal shape of the seas, but it is not known what sort of projection these use in order to retain the shape despite regular pentagons being unable to tile the plane.{{book ref|tress|42}}
==== Known oceans ====
* [[Crimson Sea]] (made of crimson aether){{book ref|tress|5}}
* [[Midnight Sea]] (made of midnight aether){{book ref|tress|5}}
* [[Sapphire Sea]] (made of zephyr aether; also known as Zephyr Sea){{book ref|tress|15}}{{book ref|tress|30}}
* [[Rose Sea]] (made of [[roseite]] aether){{book ref|tress|10}}
Of those five, only Emerald, Sapphire and Rose Seas are commonly known to be inhabited. People can be found on the other oceans, however -- [[Xisis]] and his servants live at the bottom of the Crimson Sea, while the Midnight Sea is home to the [[Riina|Sorceress]] and her [[Midnight Essence]] creatures.{{book ref|tress|51}}{{book ref|tress|46}} It can be further assumed that a Sunlight Sea exists, due to the existence of Sunlight Aether.{{book ref|tress|40}} While no such sea is explicitly named, there is an unnamed ocean on the planet that has gold-colored spores.{{book ref|tress|2}}
=== Aethers and Spore Eaters ===
|[[Ulaam]]{{book ref|tress|28}}
}}
{{for|Aether|more about the magic|post=For more about the people, see [[Spore eater]]. Also see [[Aether spores]]}}
The Lumaran strain of aether is aggressively hungry for water; the slightest contact with it, or any liquid containing it (such as sweat or blood) will cause the aether spores to burst into their element. This presents immense danger to all living creatures on the planet, as inhaling even a single spore can cause an explosion of growing vines, massive spikes or simply bursts of air in a person's body -- an event that is almost always deadly. Silver and salt both kill the spores, however, which the people of Lumar exploit to stay safe.{{book ref|tress|1}}
The main aethers on the moons themselves seem to exhibit some level of sentience, although they are irrational and rabid.
In exchange, the aether protects the spore eater from harm. As such, spore eaters are incredibly difficult to kill -- so long as they can keep their aether fed. Over time, the aether demands more and more water, and lacking it, begins to consume its host. As such, the affliction is both incredibly painful and always fatal, with most spore eaters lasting no more than a few years before their parasite consumes them.{{book ref|tress|28}} It is generally incurable; only the [[dragon (cosmere)|dragon]] [[Xisis]] can heal the infection, and he claims that the cure must be continuously reapplied, or else the parasite will return within a year or two.{{book ref|tress|52}}
While twelve varieties of aether can be found on Lumar, there is also a local legend of a thirteenth type of spore called "bone spores", whose color is debated to be white, black, or both. It is unknown where the story might have come from.{{book ref|tress|23}} This description is similar to [[Sand (Taldain)|sand on Taldain]], whose organisms react to Investiture by turning from black to white.
=== Rainfall ===
}}
Though Lumar
The only exceptions to this is the [[Crimson Sea]], infamous for its unpredictable squall patterns. Rainfall there comes unexpectedly and follows random paths, which can be particularly dangerous to sporelocked ships. As such, this ocean remains uninhabited, with few vessels surviving the journey there.{{book ref|tress|35}}
The water cycle on Lumar is very strange and not fully understood, having some relation to the decomposition of spores on the seafloor.{{wob ref|16136}}{{wob ref|16142}}{{wob ref|16131}} It is a point of curiosity and research by [[Xisis]].{{wob ref|16142}}
=== Land and Fauna ===
{{image|The Emerald Sea by Marie Seeberger.jpg|side=right|width=400px|The [[Emerald Sea]] and its moon as seen from the island of [[Diggen's Point]]}}
Although most of the planet is covered in spore oceans, Lumar does have numerous islands inhabited by humans. Some islands have enough soil to grow ordinary crops; others are barren rocks. Little is known about planetary flora, save that flowers and trees of unspecified species can both be found.{{book ref|tress|36}}{{book ref|tress|1}}
=== Verdant Sea ===
The Verdant Sea is ruled by a feudal system, with dukes, reigning over individual islands, answering to a king.{{book ref|tress|57}}{{book ref|tress|1}} The king controls all ships that sail between the islands, and can press them into service as needed for his own purposes.{{book ref|tress|9}} He has several groups that can enforce his will; those include both the standing army and the marshalls who keep the peace, as well as the tax collectors and inspectors who control the coming and going of ships and cargo.{{book ref|tress|2}}{{book ref|tress|6}} Additionally, the king is rumoured to have a team of assassins and special agents known as the [[King's Mask]]s. However, it is unclear whether they are real or made up as propaganda.{{book ref|tress|30}}
Pirates act as an important part to the economy, taking it from the wealthy who hoard money that they gather from the people, and inject it back into the system. Due to this, they exist in a sort of quasi-legal state.{{book ref|tress|17}}
The Verdant Sea feuds with the Midnight Sea; as all trade to the other side of the planet must go through Midnight, the Sorceress has imposed high tariffs. The king eventually refused to pay them and began to prepare for war until [[Tress]] and her crew banished the sorceress.{{book ref|tress|23}}
The Verdant Sea borders the [[Crimson Sea]],{{book ref|tress|39}} the [[Rose Sea]],{{book ref|tress|10}} and the [[Sapphire Sea]].{{book ref|tress|15}}
==== Known settlements ====
* [[Filistrate City]]{{book ref|tress|53}}
===
The Sapphire Sea borders the Verdant Sea.{{book ref|tress|15}}
==== Islands of Lobu ====
{{quote
|It is a mark of pride among my people, and my family in particular, to execute an excellent hunt.
}}
The other known society on Lumar are the people of Islands of Lobu, who have dark skin and black, curly hair.{{book ref|tress|15}}{{book ref|tress|12}}{{file ref|TressAtTheWheel.jpg|text=''Tress At The Wheel''}} The people of Lobu are a society of hunters who take pride in the prey they catch. Tales of the greatest hunts are written down with great embellishments and a lot of bragging; such letters are then hung on the walls of their family halls.{{book ref|tress|40}}
Over the generations, what constitutes a hunt has been stretched to include many seemingly-unrelated professions, such as trade or shoemaking, to allow the society to develop without losing their culture. However, no matter the shape the hunt takes, the pride remains. A person chooses their hunt as they come of age, and then pursues it to the best of their ability; for example, a person who chose trade may become an excellent haggler.{{book ref|tress|40}}
=== Rose Sea ===
The Rose Sea is known to be inhabited, though nothing is known of its government or culture.{{book ref|tress|10}}
=== Iriali ===
At one point, there was an island on Lumar inhabited by the [[Iriali]]. However, roughly three hundred years before [[Tress]] and [[Charlie]] were born, the entire population vanished seemingly overnight. While it's possible that they simply departed the planet, their fate is unknown to the locals, with some claiming that they were "taken" by the gods. Today, only some of the Iriali's possessions, as well as cultural memory of their golden hair, remain on the planet.{{book ref|tress|2}} Notably, the Iriali's departure occurred at roughly the same time that [[Xisis]] become a known presence on Lumar. There is, however, no evidence that those two events are at all related.{{book ref|tress|31}}
It's
== Culture and Society ==
The human
Salted masks are sometimes used as means of personal protection from the spores, although it is possible to travel semi-safely without them.{{book ref|tress|8}} As salt is a secondary way of dealing with spores, salt mining is an important industry on the planet.{{book ref|tress|1}} The people of Lumar have found ways to live on many of the islands; where farming is impossible, they grow food in compost vats, and even ferry soil from other lands.{{book ref|tress|1}} Lumarans have even attempted to fly to the moons, though it's unknown if they succeeded.{{wob ref|15462}}
}}
The primary religion on Lumar appears to be lunar worship, which is disseminated by groups of priests gathered into various moonschools. The priesthood appears to be comprised of
Little is known about the details of moon worship.
=== Sailing and Piracy ===
}}
Ships are plentiful on Lumar; typically, they have a crew of around thirty or more, with sixty being considered particularly large.{{book ref|tress|13}}{{book ref|tress|14}} A typical ship will have roughly the same proportion of male and female crew members; as very few people are willing to risk sailing the spores, a culture of gender equality has developed among the sailors.{{book ref|tress|13}} However, not all who sail the seas are there willingly -- on Verdant Sea, and possibly others, people who fall into debt can be
Piracy is a common and accepted part of sea travel on Lumar. Pirate ships chase down the merchant vessels and shoot only to disable, using water-filled cannonballs to activate the spores and trap the ships in them. A captured merchant ship then surrenders an agreed-upon sum of goods and money -- called a '''ransom price''' -- whereupon both ships part ways somewhat amicably. The king's marshals keep records of what ships prey on others and what was robbed and stolen; in the event that a pirate crew is captured, this avoiding of unnecessary killing ensures that they are imprisoned rather than executed.{{book ref|tress|17}} Pirates are an important part of the economy, taking wealth from the rich, who simply hoard large amounts of wealth gathered from the people through the capitalistic systems in place on Lumar, therefore removing it from the system and keeping it from the people. They then inject it back into the system as a stimulus to help lower class merchants and other peoples.{{book ref|tress|17}}
There is, however, a second type of pirates, called
=== Spore Use ===
While Lumar is pre-industrial in its technology, its people have figured out multiple ways to use spores of the twelve seas in their daily life, particularly as it pertains to sailing. Those who work with spores and create machinery utilizing them are known as [[sprouter]]s.{{book ref|tress|10}}
One of the more common applications of spores is in firearms. Lumar does not appear to have discovered gunpowder; instead, zephyr spores are used. Individual spores, or small sacks of them, are packed into the bottom of the gun barrel and the fuse is wetted rather than set
Outside of weapons, spores do have peaceable applications. Roseite is grown as a form of temporary bandage for ships, the crystal creating patches that temporarily fill in any gaps in the hull.{{book ref|tress|10}} Sunlight spores are used as fuel in cooking ovens, and verdant vines can be eaten as emergency food.{{book ref|tress|40}}{{book ref|tress|22}} A more advanced use of the spores can be found in the emergency flare guns. Much like cannonballs, flare guns utilize a combination of roseite, verdant and zephyr to create an explosive charge; additionally, sunlight spores serve as the source of the flare's light.{{book ref|tress|41}} [[Riina]] claims that more types of advanced spore guns can be found elsewhere on the planet.{{book ref|tress|60}}
=== External Influences ===
{{image|BattleOfWits.jpg|side=right|width=300px|[[Worldhopper]]s on Lumar will freely use their powers in front of the locals.}}
{{quote
|She'd heard stories of visitors from the stars, but had thought them fancies. Even if there did seem to be more and more of them these days, talked of among sailors.
}}
Few [[worldhopper]]s visit Lumar, although enough that stories of "visitors from the stars" have began to spread across the planet.{{book ref|tress|22}} As most Lumarans are not wholly cosmere-aware, a variety of folk beliefs about the visitors arose. Those outsiders are often referred to as wizards or sorcerers,
Notable outsiders to make their home on Lumar include the [[Sorceress]], an [[Elantrian]] who took control of the Midnight Sea, and [[Xisis]], a [[dragon (cosmere)|dragon]] who studies the aethers at the bottom of the Crimson Sea and trades wishes for local servants. Those two have integrated into the planet's culture well enough that they are not recognized as extraterrestrials.{{book ref|tress|31}}{{book ref|tress|64}}
Unlike [[First of the Sun]], there does not appear to be any major interstellar nation vying for control over Lumar; it's unknown if this is due to the deadly ecosystem, or the planet's relative unimportance on the galactic scene.
== Notable
{{columns|
* [[Tress]]
* [[Ann]]
* [[Laggart]]
* [[Xisisrefliel]]
* [[The Sorceress]]
}}
== Trivia ==
* The word "Lumar" was coined by [[Isaac Stewart]], who came up with multiple names for the planet and presented them to Brandon. It was meant to evoke both fairy tales and the inspiration for ''[[Tress of the Emerald Sea]]'', ''[[wikipedia:The Princess Bride|The Princess Bride]]''.{{wob ref|15439}} It is most likely a portmanteau of the
* Lumar is not the origin world of the [[aether]]s, nor is it the planet that ''[[Aether of Night]]'' takes place on.{{wob ref|15428}}
* The spore oceans came about due to Brandon's fascination with the process of fluidization, as well as his desire to properly introduce aethers into the published Cosmere.{{wob ref|15423}}
* By the time ''Tress of the Emerald Sea'' was written, Lumar's location in the cosmere, and the layout of its star system,
* The [[Cognitive Realm]] of Lumar is "a little weirder than normal" and its appearance likely was not finalized before ''Tress of the Emerald Sea'' was published.{{wob ref|16133}}
* After he began envisioning Lumar's fluidized oceans, Brandon watched YouTuber Mark Rober's video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My4RA5I0FKs Liquid Sand Hot Tub- Fluidized air bed] to confirm that the scientific concept was feasible.{{ref|name=The Science of Magic}}
== Notes ==
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