fire
Fire is the first reliable energy source controlled by humans--and conspicuously missing from modern daily life in the Cluster Islands. With volcanic heat so easily accessible, there is no reason to risk using open flame unless no alternative serves the purpose.
A Gradual Decline
One significant difficulty with keeping a fire on a ship is the requirement of carrying fuel. Space is at a premium, and storing fuel to keep the ship's fire going meant reduced crew or cargo. Another is the risk of the fire escaping its confines and igniting the ship. A rotating shift of fire guards made such incidents rare, but sometimes a field of charred flotsam was the only clue to the disappearance of a mother ship. Residents of the coral islands faced similar problems. Importing fuel was expensive, and an out-of-control fire could sweep across a small island in a matter of minutes.
Beginning around the 6th Oceanic milennium, two inventions reduced oceandwellers' need to maintain fires: the solar oven and the flame pump. Solar ovens concentrate heat from the sun into a small area, making it possible to cook and apply heat-treating without wasting fuel, and do not endanger flammable materials. The flame pump creates a small ember quickly and on demand, so that it was no longer necessary to tend hot coals.
By 7500 Oce, the use of fire on ships and atolls was so rare that most people did not know how to light or maintain a flame. The discovery of the volcanic Cluster Islands in 9650 Oce led to the use of geothermal power, eliminating the need for fire even on cloudy days when solar ovens could not be used.
Access & Availability
- Mostly, the use of fire in the Cluster Islands is limited to a few industrial and research applications. Fire handlers must undergo rigorous training and observe strict safety protocols.
- The only place where fire is used regularly is the village of Miridaswi on Tierq, whose residents hold beliefs that forbid them the use of any safer or more efficient source of energy.
Complexity
Starting a flame is a simple matter of generating sufficient heat in a dry combustible material. This was done originally through friction, tediously. Today, fire handlers use a flame pump to ignite a small amount of fuel in a sealed cylinder.
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
I really like how you've really kept everything about fire consistent and wrapped around how fire is a part of your coastal people's life - or not a part. You've done a really nice job of clearly describing the process of how fire became obsolete as well. I'm curious about more of your setting, and look forward to its future developments. I also find myself curious about how other parts of your setting view, use, or don't use, fire as well.
Thank you! I'd had the idea from the beginning of this being a culture without fire, but until now hadn't worked out exactly how that would happen. I think of the Cluster Islands attitude toward fire as being like our attitude toward radioactivity: it has its useful applications, but it's way too dangerous to entrust to the general public. They're the only ones to have abandoned fire, though--everywhere else, if they don't use fire, it's because they don't have anything they can burn. Makes for some interesting culture clash as the islanders get around.