Portals and Gates

The long range of mountains which forms the backbone of the continent has several notable features, not the least of which are the Gates and Portals. While the Gates may appear almost anywhere on the planet including in the skies and under water, the Portals only form between ranges. The Portals are quite literally that: openings between Dragondeep and other planets. Gates only function one direction, bringing other creatures to this world; ones which lead away are called Outer Gates. Portals however function both directions. So with the Portals existing here as well as other locations around the galaxy or even beyond this universe, Dragondeep has become inhabited by a wide variety of unusual people and creatures.

Most Portals and Gates operate to and/or from a single world. However, some have been known to ‘switch’ worlds. Most of those known are historical accounts only, though there is at least one functional Portal that can be tuned to a variety of worlds using magic, technology and a bit of random chance, resting in the Lumin territory.

Physically, Portals and Gates can appear as merely a wobbly looking heat-haze like mass. Few of them are left to their own devices, however – only those which are found in truly remote locations, or have for whatever reason not brought anything intelligent through them, are left without being ‘framed’ by some culture.

The frames might be wood, twisted or assembled magically by growing tree limbs or vines; may consist of stone equally shaped by magic; some are built of metals and adorned by artistically constructed devices to keep track of what or who gets near. Only after the Portal or Gate has been magically or psionically attended to, will it ‘stop moving’ – some Gates drift, or more than likely, the continents and landscape drift around them. The strain on a physical frame as a Portal is confined is tremendous, but very, very slow.

The Copper Portal is the biggest of its kind, and at one point had brought in the largest number of inhabitants. On its far side resides a heavily populated world which, while highly technologically advanced, also prides itself in its psionic and ‘magic’ use. However the Portal travel has waned in density, and is heavily guarded on both sides to prevent any overcrowding. The Portal’s appearance is framed with its namesake, highly detailed and filigreed with attention paid to honoring the world which it is attached to. Long ago, massive marble and metal doors were constructed to be able to close this Portal, but they have remained open as long as anyone – including most Dragons – have been alive. The Copper Portal is over 40 feet wide, and nearly 50 feet high.

Bitter Portal is small, overlapping a world which was once populated by clever craftsmen, but was overtaken by their sentient machines long ago. The tang of its stale air and chemical explosions often drifts past this world and into the air. It is possible that the chemicals and radiation there has tainted the local area and the High Wastes may be the result. This Portal’s frame is made of a collection of what at first might look like ‘junkyard garbage’ but it is essentially a graveyard of sorts for Clockwork parts. Gears, wires, tubes, twisted metals, cubes and spheres, colanders and even monitors and television frames are embedded in this weird place. If more junk collected, the Portal would be difficult to see through it. This Portal is 15 feet across and just under 20 feet tall.

Snake’s Gate is just on the coast (and perhaps submerged in the ocean nearby) of one of the Maze of Runes isles. It is possible that this Gate used to be much bigger, but because of shifting geology over time it was closed to two-way passage, and may have been where the Dragons originated. This would have been millions of years before now. There is no frame around this Gate, if there had been one, it’s long gone now. The Gate is tall but narrow, more than 20 feet tall but only around 8 feet wide.

SandShire used to be a Portal, but the long progress of the continent upwards buried it only a few thousand years past. Before that time, it is known to be the origin of the Furred folk to the west, who now dominate the central areas of the Land. The frame around this Portal was made of coral and stone, and has mostly worn away though evidence that it had been repaired dozens of times is apparent by scholars who have tried digging it out. Nothing is visible on the other side of it, even when on the rare occasion this 30-foot wide construct is uncovered. It’s likely that on the other side, it’s also buried.

MossGate is a lively, interesting but smallish gate leading from what appears to be a magical realm. It frequently overgrows with its namesake, everything in this area simply grows out of control until someone or some event stops it. It’s very likely that MossGate was the origin of the Summoners, though so few people actually see anyone come through it it’s hard to tell for sure. This is one of the Gates which no one bothers to try and make a frame for: it makes its own, after all. The Gate is only around 15 by 15, but its actual aperture may be much larger, and is often so obscured that a Humanoid sized creature cannot pass through it. This Gate had been a Portal in eras past, producing not only Humanoid populations from its entry, but Demons, Darklings, and Fey. Every few thousand years, however, it seems to realign to a slightly different angle – at least on the ‘receiving’ end. Thus whatever is coming through it now is quite different from any population in the past.

Briar Portal is a wide, tall Portal which seems to have once been in the sky, but is now situated delicately over the ground. Visible through its distance are huge trees and sky-born creatures, and it is conjectured that the world it leads to and from is actually made entirely of trees and magic. The natives claim its name is Arboreosphere. It is unframed, but its edges are actually clearly visible with a glimmering sort of shine almost as though blown glass has been applied to it. Briar Portal is probably the second largest of its sort, at least 40 by 40 but not necessarily ‘square’ in dimension.

Other Portals and Gates have come and gone over time, some recorded, and others simply never known by outsiders. Small pockets of odd civilizations often form around these Gates, but have almost always died out. Virtually any species that doesn’t seem to ‘fit’ into a niche on this world, or which has its own language or culture, is guaranteed to have come from a Portal or Gate. Some cultures have sought a way to return to their home world, but for the most part if a Gate closes, or a Portal is switched to another world, there is no way to do that.