Oops, I might of uh, made a small mistake.

[a-d]

How bad would it be if someone created two continuously connected portals, sent one into deep space, and dropped the other into the ocean?

How difficult would it be to do?
Do most of the realm worlds even have deep space?

 

[Dandu]

1. Well, you'd drain water...
2. Assuming you had some augmented Ring Gates, not too hard.
3. It seems so.

 

[JohnRL]

This requires a couple of rulings from your DM - Is your campaign's outer space similar to the real universe? And do fluid environments flow through portals, or do portals only work on specific creatures?
Assuming the seawater does flow through, you will get a gradual draining of your world's oceans.
Sea life will also get sucked through, so on the other side spelljammers may find the remains of sahuagin, mermen and locathahs that have undergone catastrophic decompression. It is unlikely that your DM will give your character any XP for contributing to these deaths, but it is worth asking about.
A large object or creature (such as a giant shark or kraken) may well get stuck and block the portal, or intelligent sea creatures may intentionally block the portal with a boulder.
On a rough assumption that water is passing through the portal at 10 cubic metres per second, and there is approximately 1300 million cubic kilometers of salt water on your world, this will take a long time for any significant drop in sea level. At a loss rate of 0.315 cubic kilometers per year, You have time to either reverse your mistake or cover your tracks and go hide somewhere where angry sailors and fishermen won't find you in a thousand years time when they notice.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Assuming space is cold and empty ...

The ring that you drop into the bottom of the ocean will settle, eventually, to the bottom. Assuming it lands appropriately (e.g., with "This side up" up), it'll start draining water into the other ring and keep doing so almost forever. It if doesn't land right-side up, everything below will still happen, it'll just end relatively quickly.

The other ring will have a jet of water shooting from it that nigh-immediately crystallizes into ice. Unless it runs into something, it'll just keep moving forward forever, leaving a trail of ice behind it (think Iceman traveling).

Not much will happen to the original world; in the deep places of the ocean is where you find natural portals to the Elemental Plane of Water, which will continually replenish any lost sea water.

If the submerged ring itself lands in a portal, then you'll have a portal from the elemental plane of water into deep space, with roughly the same effects (assuming your portal rings are capable of crossing planar barriers; please consult your magician).

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

At a loss rate of 0.315 cubic kilometers per year, You have time to either reverse your mistake or cover your tracks and go hide somewhere where angry sailors and fishermen won't find you in a thousand years time when they notice.

You could use a few decanters of endless water to offset the drainage. Or, even better, use a few decanters of endless rum and ever-so-slowly "transmute" the world's oceans into unsobering beverage. You'll be the stuff of legends among sailors and pirates!

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Wouldn't the water freeze there by semi-clogging the portal?

 

[slwoyach]

It would be worse than actually draining the ocean it would also siphon off the atmosphere, destroying all life. The only thing worse would be if a sphere of annihilation actually existed.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

And in space, an ever-lengthening rod of ice-water with a ring at its base.

That does NOT sound Grandma-friendly.

 

[Scott DeWar]

And in space, an ever-lengthening rod of ice-water with a ring at its base.

That does NOT sound Grandma-friendly .

then why did you post it? I would have to agree with the above mentions of the possible :
boulder being sucked into it or placed by intelligent life forms
or
the deep space side would freeze the other side and eventually clog it
or
a whale or something get it stuck on it and therefore clogging the portal
or
the elemental plane of water would fill it through t\its portals and keep the ocean replenished, but with fresh water, thereby diluting the salt content.
I wonder what those implications might be?

 

[frankthedm]

How bad would it be if someone created two continuously connected portals, sent one into deep space, and dropped the other into the ocean?

Are there gods in the setting? If there are, the god who's domain is the sea WILL take notice eventually and takes steps to correct the problem & send some smiting to the the offender. Damage will be bad depending on how (omni)potent the deity is & the nature of the portal.