MAJOR SPOILER WARNING! The plots of Ringworld Engineers, The Ringworld Throne
and Ringworld's Children are revealed here in detail. If you have not read all of those, please
read no farther!
This is an attempt to construct a detailed history of the Ringworld. Unfortunately, the dates given and time intervals
indicated in Ringworld Engineers are entirely incompatible with those in The Ringworld Throne and
Ringworld's Children. Therefore, we present two timelines, one for the first two books and a second timeline
for the latter two. This is contrary to our overall approach to creating The Incompleat Known Space Concordance, which
is to present a consistent picture of Known Space. Therefore this article has not been integrated into the main portion
of the Concordance.
Similarly, three books have presented three different accounts of what happened to Teela Brown following the events of
Ringworld. These accounts are contradictory, and are summarized separately in "The Three
Tales of Teela Brown", below. For convenience, on the timelines we have designated the three "Teelas"
as Teela-A (for The Ringworld Engineers version), Teela-B (for The Ringworld Throne version), and
Teela-C (for the Ringworld's Children version).
KEY:
RC = Ringworld's Children
RE = The Ringworld Engineers
RT = The Ringworld Throne
Timeline for Ringworld and The Ringworld Engineers
c. 250,000 B.C.
According to Teela-A, the Ringworld protectors died off about a quarter million years ago, when a disease killed off all outside the Repair Center [RE 305].
c. 14,000 B.C.?
The City Builder culture rises to prominence, ruling much of the Ringworld. [Ringworld Roleplaying Game— Gamemaster Book p. 17]
1733
Superconductor plague spreads; fall of the City Builder cities [RE 161]
2850
First Ringworld Expedition begins. Nessus recruits Louis Wu, Speaker-To-Animals and Teela Brown to survey the Ringworld. After visiting the Fleet of Worlds, they crash on the Ringworld and begin exploring.
2851
End of the First Ringworld Expedition. After the explorers travel across the Ringworld for a few months Ringworld first says that it was three months between when the Liar crashed on the Ringworld and when the explorers later returned to the ship (p. 334), but later says two months (pp. 341-2). After that, they spent at least several days, probably a few weeks, dragging the Liar to the top of Fist-of-God (p. 337). But in RE, Louis' internal monologue says the explorers "traveled across the Ringworld for almost a year" (p. 32). Chmeee apparently agrees, saying "We spent a Kzin year on the structure" (ibid). In this case, we give preference to the earlier statement. Both Louis and Chmeee may be relying on faulty collective memory of events more than two decades before.
, the Lying Bastard escapes from the Ringworld. Teela remains behind, and the beheaded Nessus is returned to the Fleet of Worlds. Speaker returns home, as does Louis accompanied by Halrloprillalar Hotrufan (aka Prill). Prill is taken into custody by the UN in Berlin, Earth, and never seen again by Louis [RE 18-9].
2852
Nessus recovers; he is shocked into sanity by the trauma of his beheading [RE 16]. Hindmost mates with him once per their contract, as reward for leading the First Ringworld Expedition, then again for love; they have two children [RE 16, 39]. Hindmost is deposed; the Conservative faction takes over the Fleet of Worlds [RE 28, 38-40].
2853
Prill dies, unbeknownst to Louis [RE 28-9]. Louis is invited to the planet Kzin. He visits the House of the Patriarch's Past and a hunting park [RE 20, 284].
2854
Louis flees to Canyon to live under an assumed name [RE 9].
c. 2854
Teela-A and Seeker begin a 16 year epic journey across the Great Ocean. During the trip they visit the Map of Down, where they are captured and then released by Grogs; they also encounter and kill an island-beast. Reaching the Map of Earth, they capture the enormous Kzinti ship Hidden Patriarch; they sail this ship to the Map of Mars [RE 306, 312].
2869
During a great solar flare, the shadow square system closes for three days. The Ringworld begins drifting off-center [RE 33, 103, 120].
c. 2870
Teela-A reaches the Map of Mars and becomes a protector. She creates three other protectors; they begin a project to remount attitude jets [RE 306, 309].
2871
Second Ringworld Expedition begins. Hindmost kidnaps Louis Wu and Chmeee (nee Speaker-To-Animals).
Remounted attitude jets on Ringworld begin firing [RE 155].
2873
Hot Needle of Inquiry reaches the Ringworld. Louis and Chmeee boil a sea to kill an enormous Slaver Sunflower patch.
2874
The Second Ringworld Expedition finds and enters the Repair Center. They find Teela, who has become a protector. She forces them to kill her. Ringworld stability restored by Hindmost using the Ringworld's superthermal laser (the so-called "meteor defense laser") controls to create a plasma jet to feed the few remounted attitude jets.
Timeline for The Ringworld Throne and Ringworld's Children
c. 1.1 million B.C.
10,000 Pak protectors begin a project to colonize a distant world. Distant because nearby worlds had been terraformed but then blasted back to barren waste by rivals. They find records of a voyage into the galactic arms. The colony, on Earth, had failed, but the route was tested. They build an O'Neill colony type carrier ship and some ramscoop fighter scouts. 80 years later, 600 are left to ride them. The colony ship is stocked with breeders, forbidden contact by the protectors segregated in the flight control complex. In the first 1000 years of flight, half the protectors die; some stop eating, others are killed for violating the ban [RC 198-9].
c. 1 million B.C.
After 350,000 falans (90,000 years) of travel, the Pak colony fleet reaches the vicinity of Earth, but veers away, fearing they'd find protectors there. "We found worlds we might take, but our ambition was greater than that." They find a star system with a single super-Jovian world, massing almost 20 Jupiters, close to the sun. With the rest of the system empty, it is difficult building close to the sun, but they use the sun's magnetic field to confine the masses they work with, particularly hydrogen for the fusion motors used to spin up the ring. The interstellar region surrounding the Ringworld is explored; worlds with potentially dangerous species are identified. [RC 199-200, 203]
c. 800,000 B.C.
Construction of the Ringworld foundation is completed. Full-scale "Maps" of those worlds with potentially dangerous species are built. Samples of life from those worlds are collected and used to stock the Maps. Except Earth; Proserpina claimed (improbably) that the Map of Earth was used as a test-bed for building the Ringworld habitat, home to their breeders. It takes 50,000 falans (13,000 years) to build an ecology into the Ringworld's inner surface [RC 200, 203].
?
Proserpina and ten other protectors attempt to take the Repair Center. The coup fails, and she is confined on a Map of Pakhome with neutered tree-of-life and only 100 breeders of her line. [RC 201, 203].
c. 700,000 B.C.
Proserpina filters live tree-of-life virus from the air and creates a few protector servants. But they revolt and she has to kill them [RC 202-3].
c. 500,000 B.C.
Protectors vanish from most of the Ringworld. Presumably this is because a disease kills off tree-of-life outside the Repair Center, although this remains unclear. Proserpina's neutered tree-of-life strain survives [RT 332, RC 203]. The culling of mutations ends; mutations and species differentiation begin to grow [RC 201-3]. However, the Repair Center remains active [RC 234-5].
c. 500,000 B.C. to present
Over hundreds of thousands of years, the Ringworld habitat becomes a chaos of mutations, with extreme species differentiation. Pak breeder population expands to a trillion. [RC 201-3].
c.18,700 B.C.
Chronus, a proto-Ghoul, becomes a protector [RT 267]. Over tens of thousands of years, he guides the evolution of the Ghouls and spreads the species across the Ringworld [RT 407].
c. 14,000 B.C.?
The City Builder culture rises to prominence, ruling much of the Ringworld. [Ringworld Roleplaying Game— Gamemaster Book p. 17]
c. 1040
Famine causes exodus from Wedge City, Chronus' dwelling place. Vampires living beneath the city attack the refugees. Two Vampires, Bram and Anne, become protectors after drinking the blood of a subordinate protector [RT 264]. Chronus escapes, and not long after takes control of the Repair Center [RT 267].
c. 1200
A Luna-sized meteoroid is on an impact course with the Ringworld. Chronus enters Meteor Defense to stop it, but is ambushed and killed by Bram and Anne. Bram assumes control of the Repair Center [RT 322], but is unable to stop the impact, which creates Fist-of-God mountain [RT 80, 402]. Shortly thereafter, Anne leaves to fix the attitude jets [RT 325]. According to Louis' speculation, Anne begins intercepting returning City Builder ships to seize their toroids and remount attitude jets [RT 330].
?
Bram builds a huge mass driver in the Repair Center, under Mons Olympus. [RC 103]
c. 1500
Anne's tree-of-life garden fails. She returns briefly to the Repair Center for a new supply, then goes back to the rim wall [RT 332].
1733
Superconductor plague is spread by a Puppeteer probe; fall of the City Builder cities [RT 3]
2661
Carlos Wu's autodoc is purchased on Fafnir by Nessus. It is later modified by Hindmost's research team to accommodate Puppeteer and Kzinti physiology [RC 43].
2850
First Ringworld Expedition begins. Nessus recruits Louis Wu, Speaker-To-Animals, and Teela Brown to survey the Ringworld. En route, they visit the Fleet of Worlds.
2851
The Lying Bastard crashes on the Ringworld [RT 3]. Not long afterward, Teela departs with Seeker. Two months later, Teela-C and Seeker visit the Mechanics while apparently traveling via flying building [RC 57] RC 58 says 150 falans ago, or c. 2854.5. However, RC 57 says this was only two months after Teela left Louis and Speaker, shortly after the Liar crashed on the Ringworld, which occurred very early in 2851. We presume "two months" is a more reliable estimate than 150 falans.
. Late in the year, Teela-C gives birth to Wembleth [RC 252].
Nearly a year after the Liar crashes, it escapes to hyperspace. Nessus is returned to the Fleet of Worlds. Louis and Speaker return to Known Space, accompanied by Halrloprillalar Hotrufan. Teela remains on the Ringworld.
2872
Teela-C finds the tree-of-life patch in the Penultimate's Citadel, and becomes a protector [RC 231, 253-4].
2874
Teela enters the repair center and eats tree-of-life. Teela-B becomes a protector, Seeker-B dies [RC 58]. Teela-C is already a protector when she enters the Repair Center with a different man (not Seeker-C, who survives to raise Wembleth). [RC 254-5].
2875
An extrasolar object hits the Ringworld sun, causing a solar flare which pushes the Ringworld off-center. Teela-monster plays around with the superthermal laser controls, then notices the Ringworld's wobble and leaves hastily for the rim [RT 326]. Later, Teela-C enters a tunnel through the rim wall above a Spill Mountain, to access a Ringworld spaceport [RT 347] The text says Teela came back 40 falans before 2892, and her initial passage was 70 falans before that. This would put her initial passage in 2864, which does not fit the timeline at all. But if we assume this was a blunder, and Teela's original passage was 70 falans before 2892, then this is a close fit to the timeline.
.
2878
Hot Needle of Inquiry leaves Canyon [RT 3].
2880
Needle reaches the Ringworld [RT 3]. Teela-C returns through Spill Mountain tunnel [RT 347].
2881
Needle enters the Repair Center. Teela is killed. Ringworld stability restored [RT 3].
Hidden Patriarch sets sail for Map of Earth, carrying Louis and Chmeee [RT 5, 77].
Hidden Patriarch reaches shore of the Great Ocean. Louis Wu disembarks [RT 77].
2890
Hindmost observes newly manufactured attitude jets being mounted [RT 229].
2892
Valavirgillin of the Machine People forms a coalition, the Fearless Vampire Slayers, to destroy the largest vampire nest on the Ringworld, aided secretly by Anne (aka Whisper) [RT chapters 1-4, 6-8, 10, 12, 14-17].
Meanwhile, a rapidly aging Louis stays in Weaver Town, teaching the locals. [RT chapters 5, 9, 11, 13, 18]. Hindmost observes some Kzinti ships being shot down by the superthermal laser over the Ringworld's surface [RT 86].
Louis, Acolyte (Chmeee's son) and Bram flick to Needle via stepping disk. Bram seizes control [RT 243-52]. Bram and Hindmost use the superthermal laser to destroy some invading ships from Known Space [RT 252-69]. Louis is healed and rejuvenated by Carlos Wu's autodoc [RT 272, 287, 409].
Bram and Anne duel some Spill Mountain People protectors who are manufacturing and mounting new attitude jets. Anne and several SMP protectors are killed [RT 382-90, 396-99]. Louis lures Tunesmith, a Ghoul, to the Repair Center to become a protector. Tunesmith-monster, Louis and Acolyte kill Bram [RT 399-409].
2893
While Louis spends several weeks in Carlos Wu's autodoc [RC 27], Tunesmith makes and trains four Hanging People protectors, builds a nanotech factory for large meteor plugs, monitors the Fringe War, designs several probe ships, builds a stepping disk factory, and rebuilds the Needle [RC 104].
The Fringe War begins to heat up. 20 antimatter-equipped ARM ships are detected. Ships are also present from the Kzinti, Puppeteers, Trinocs, Outsiders, and perhaps Sheathclaws [RC 59-61]. Tunesmith, Acolyte and Louis hijack the Long Shot [RC 77-81].
An antimatter explosion creates a huge hole in the Ringworld floor. Tunesmith uses an enormous lifesaver-shaped balloon to prevent the atmosphere from escaping [RC 99-111]. Louis, Hanuman and Wembleth are captured, first by ARM troops incl. Roxanny Gauthier [RC 125-61], then by the protector Proserpina. She takes everyone in her mag ship to her home near the Penultimate's Citadel in the Other Ocean [RC 167-205].
A stepping disk is found in the Penultimate's Citadel. Roxanny and Wembleth enter the stepping disk system. Proserpina and Hanuman follow. An injured Louis is left behind. He finds tree-of-life and eats it. [RC 218-32]. Hanuman takes Prosperpina to the Repair Center. By now, thousands of ships in the Fringe War have been spotted. Tunesmith and Prosperpina begin a project to spread nanotech machines throughout the Ringworld scrith foundation [RC 235-9].
Four months later, an antimatter missile destroys an attitude jet. Spill mountains melt in the tremendous explosion [RC 245].
Five months after eating tree-of-life, Louis awakens as a crippled protector. He takes the stepping disk to Needle and plots with Hindmost to escape the Ringworld [RC 240-7]. He distracts Tunesmith with a stepping disk chase while Hindmost prepares the Long Shot for escape [RC 258-68]. Acolyte is sent to Chmeee, on the Map of Earth, with a warning of the coming disaster [RC 274-5].
Louis and Hindmost escape in the Long Shot [RC 273-4, 276-8]. Tunesmith and Proserpina fly the Ringworld about 3000 light years through hyperspace, to another star [RC 268, 279-82]. Chmeee, Acolyte, Wembleth and Roxanny are carried along [RC 280-1]. Louis uses Carlos Wu's autodoc to heal, restoring him to breeder stage (non-protector). He and Hindmost head for Home [RC 278-9, 283-4].
The Ringworld Engineers states in at least three places that the beginning of the Second Ringworld
Expedition, at the time Hindmost kidnapped Louis Wu and Chmeee, occurred 23 years after their last visit to the
Ringworld (RE xi [hardcover edition only], 14, 20). Contrariwise, it repeatedly states that the main portion of
the Second Ringworld Expedition, which commenced after reaching the Ringworld, occurred 23 years after they had
first or last seen the Ringworld (RE 32, 41, 48, 75, 307, 335, and others). Clearly it is not reasonable for
Louis to believe both intervals are correct, since he also believes he and Chmeee spent two years in stasis
while the Hot Needle of Inquiry flew to the Ringworld. However, RE elsewhere states that Prill died
a year and five months after reaching Earth, and that this was 18 years prior to the beginning of RE (pp. 28-9).
Also, Prill "...had returned with Louis to human space. She had gone with him into the UN offices in Berlin,
and had never come out" (p. 19).
So it seems reasonable to believe this occurred not long after the end of the First Ringworld Expedition. This
appears consistent with the following dates:
2850: First Ringworld Expedition begins
2851: First Ringworld Expedition ends, Prill is taken to Earth
2853: Prill dies
2871: Second Ringworld Expedition begins
2873: Second Ringworld Expedition reaches the Ringworld
2874: Ringworld stability restored
These dates are consistent with a 23 year interval between the end of the First Ringworld Expedition and the end of
Ringworld Engineers, so we have chosen to use those dates.
Ye Editor wishes to thank Jon Aaron for his assistance with these timelines.
