THE SUM OF ALL SPHERES - ENDGAME

Amazing last minute rescues take place before the sphere locks down. Stragglers, caught up in the lag, are picked up by passing engineers working on the shield protection. They are couso, illik annd sc803 who are dropped off on the 3rd moon. illik decides to show off and nearly jumps into outer space. sc803 wears the Mentor badge and she will be used to negotiate with the glitch-some alien. bellagoth was found stowing away in an ice-block and im4noles2 eventually got her name back.

Back on Earth, the dedicated author decides he has a distaste for asymmetry and adds a fourth moon called Sickly Sweet. He decides that the great fauna deity Garnish should be represented and places him upon this moon. (Garnish meaning to decorate and adorn.. the passion of caretakers.. and represented by a huge tusker).
Finally, as a finishing touch, the author adds a title and heads off for a well-deserved nervous breakdown.

Thanks to all the caretakers who took part in this. They are, in no particular order:-

gill288, cdr256, GOHEMI, Arcenciels, gypsy_woman, nightwatchman, shadow_fire, ScillyGirl5, jesaminesoo, LestatTheVamp, Wildjasmin, BluefireFox, number69, possoms, Pharlap5987, remerc12, Pinkey93, SunMist, RainCat, Teriluu, tlight, distantstar, mermaid17, angel52294, mbolduc, kaileybear, rascalmom, Nunnutaja, Martin2011, Emerald123, rascalmom, Bexa, iarih,  TPeers, Smart_Cookie, Christoanna, AlmostSilver, faunafavorite, AzaleaMist, suzyq54, warmmama, cheriemac, Gracefire, bribling, maclin, deranged_one, phreak, chicomomma71, hadethebest, Isabellebfff1234, CoffeeSnob, Piecemaker13, Pattieskisses, PhoenixBladeIMVU, __VALENTINE__, Kaisube, carney1959, Arielesybil, mzmunchken, im4noles2, couso, illik, sc803, bellagoth and Snygyst.


If I've missed you out please let me know.

The Sum of All Spheres

The FSS Popbloom has now set forth for distant galaxies in search of desperate refugees.
New colonists on the Dasher's Dale moon include Kaisube, carney1959, Arielesybil, __VALENTINE__ and mzmunchken. A further settler im4noles2 became nameless on Dasher's Dale and was hurriedly transported to the 3rd moon (thus becoming the first colonist on the alien-infested moon) only to find they were still nameless (I'm working on it!).
The fauna on the sphere and moons prepare to lock down their environment. Huge shields will soon be erected to reflect neutrino radiation from the Big-Bang Fish Games explosion, effectively sealing off the sphere and moons.
The Elders try to console the worried populace by muttering such platitudes as "Sphere today, gone tomorrow".

Orbiting a sun some 40 billion light-years away is a planet called Earth on which sits a human called David. He is desperately scratching his head for more puns. He is also preparing to video the explosion and produce a film "Farewell to Faunasphere: Endgame." No sequels are anticipated.

What happens next is down to the inherently peaceful characteristics of the fauna. They are not, by nature, a war-loving race. The FSS Popbloom performs a slow, low fly-past of the new moon with it's alien life-form and the crew wave at the creature. The creature waves back. New alliances are forged. The sphere yet again comes off its war footing, the sphere's leaders blaming a glitch in some image-editing software for the mistake.
In the meantime, the second moon has been populated by settlers. The settlers were phreak, chicmomma71, hadethebest, Isabellebff1234, CoffeeSnob, Pattieskisses, Piecemaker13 and PhoenixBladeIMVU.
They name the moon Dasher's Dale as native fauna dashers were seen there. The third moon becomes known as Drooling Dragons because it seems to be popular with bobblers. The first moon, similar in climate to the host sphere, is named "The Land of Ice and Snow". Being the home of the pilgrims of the first exploratory mission this moon will be immortalized by future bards, notably in the Immigrant Song by one of the sphere's most famous rock bands, Led Zapperlin.
The FSS Popbloom returns home to pick up another cluster of fauna.

As the FSS Popbloom prepares to land on the second moon, the first wave of pilgrims wake up with terrible hangovers from their previous nights celebrations. The celebration will become known as "The night before the morning after".
The main sphere fauna also wake up to a startling surprise. The third moon, merely a 'tiny speck' in the sky yesterday, now hangs ominously low in the sky. A new rocket may need to be built but faunakind are complaining at the cost of the space project and the cuts in pollution control made to pay for it. The astrophysicists keenly observe the new moon.
OH NO!! The third moon is inhabited by an ALIEN SPECIES!!  Will it be friendly?
A curious machine is set up on an airfield hidden in a crater. The machine starts emitting sounds like a strangled pouncer and flashes lights in some strange but coordinated sequence. Some fauna, driven by a strange primeval urge, slowly make their way to the airfield despite attempts by officials to stop them. Yet again, the main sphere goes to DEFCON 1. What will happen next?*




*No use asking me

While the first pilgrims settle down with the natives of the first moon and trade gifts of amber for den items, a further expeditionary force sets forth on the FSS Popbloom to investigate the second moon. A third* moon can be seen approaching. 

The now celebrated "Popbloom Pilgrims", as they became known, have had their MMR and BFG vaccinations, and are celebrating with pumpkin pie washed down with a glass of Bux Fizz.

History will record that the first settlers were suzyq54, warmmama, cheriemac, Gracefire, bribling, deranged_one, cheriemac (again?), Maclin and shadow_fire.

The natives of the moon were AlmostSilver, Snygyst (gets everywhere), faunafavorite, AzaleaMist and nightwatchman.

*There isn't a fourth moon, didn't buy it.

Teams of international scientists and astrophysicists determine that the asteroids are not a threat but are indeed hitherto undiscovered satellites, so the military steps down from their war footing. They have also determined that the atmosphere supports fauna life. This is welcome news as the main sphere cannot sustain an increase in the population. Another effect of the arrival of the moons is to make the trees grow to their full height.
The United Sphere Association and the Unpolluted Kingdoms combine their technological expertise to start a space programme and the first pilgrims are preparing to board the Popbloom space rocket, some preparing speeches about small steps and giant leaps.
However the astrophysicists, using the Bobble telescope have realised that the nearest moon is already inhabited!

(Meanwhile independent observers have noted that this blog is rapidly degenerating into a load of rubbish.)

As crowds of fauna gaze skywards with a mixture of fear and incredulity in their eyes, the world's military forces go to DEFCON 1. Famous actors posing as world premiers and defence leaders strut around importantly muttering about the Spheran Missile Crisis and the Bay of Oinkers invasion. While warheads are armed, oscars are polished... but the fauna are left in a state of apprehension.

The Mega-Sphere is nearly full. What will become of those who seek refuge in the sky. But... in the distance, a suggestion of hope.. seems to be getting closer!

Work progresses. I've tidied up most of the edges and more caretakers are on board. We now have a sky background which may have some smaller spheres in it. I am worried that as I continue to edit the main sphere there may be some degradation of the overall quality BUT... I did a scaled test print and the whole sphere, as it stands, will print out well at 30" x 20". My print was gloss and I think a matt finish may be better. At this size you can easily read all the names of the caretakers, which, by the way, at the moment are:-
Snygyst, gill288, cdr256, GOHEMI, Arcenciels, gypsy_woman, nightwatchman, shadow_fire, ScillyGirl5, jesaminesoo, LestatTheVamp, Wildjasmin, BluefireFox, number69, possoms, Pharlap5987, remerc12, Pinkey93,SunMist, RainCat, Teriluu, tlight, distantstar, mermaid17, angel52294, mbolduc, kaileybear, rascalmom, Nunnutaja, Martin2011, Emerald123, Bexa, iarih and TPeers.

I googled Mega-Sphere and it seems to crop up in dozens of games. Not sure if this matters, but I could rename it. Any suggestions? "The Sum of All Spheres" springs to mind. It's a bit inaccurate but you could make a film out of it. :) 

The general idea is to produce a game-size sphere image you can scroll round and see fellow fauna.
There are problems at the moment in that I can't get the scaling correct for a blog. I need to get a closer-up view but I think google is limiting my file size.
In the end I hope to add various caretakers either on the sphere or on the surrounding background, or maybe on my extra spheres. In the meantime I still have the actual image to complete. The original image should print clearly as a 30" x 20" poster.                Work continues.

An updated image  replaces the previous one. Let's call it version 06Mar2011.

Apart from numerous incarnations of Snygyst, there are also cameo appearances by gill288, cdr256, GOHEMI, Arcenciels, gypsy_woman, nightwatchman, shadow_fire, ScillyGirl5, jesaminesoo, LestatTheVamp, Wildjasmin, BluefireFox, number69, possoms, Pharlap5987, remerc12, Pinkey93,SunMist, RainCat, Teriluu, tlight, distantstar, mermaid17, angel52294, mbolduc, kaileybear, rascalmom, Nunnutaja, Martin2011, Emerald123.  Can't see them clearly here... yet! Adding more soon.

Close-up 1

Click to enlarge.

Close-up 2

Click to enlarge.