The Fourth World Astral Page
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[edit] Introduction
The existence of worlds beyond this one is not new knowledge. Sorcerers and priests have scryed and even visited them for centuries, but the level of torism has always been rather low amongst the surface dewelers. The Merfolk know these otherworlds rather better, but have not shared much of their experiences. The following section describes what the other races know.
[edit] Base Line Reality
Base Line Reality (BLR for short.) is the modern name for astral matrix that spans the gap between different worlds. It surounds and contains all the reality bubbles (See below.), including the Fourth World itself. It has several older names that are still used in certain circles, including the Shifting Sea and the Transdimensionl Desert.
The BLR is rather inhospitable to living creatures, as it contains neither air nor susteance, and is leathaly cold. The undead fair a little better, but even they can become frozen solid if incautious.
[edit] Debris
The BLR isn't entirely empty, as it does contain a small amount of matter. Some of this can be attributed to exploration from the Forth World. That sort of debris mostly consists of old probes and tools. Oddly, there are few signs of the Merfolk here, which suggests that they have found a way to bypass the BLR altogether. There are even signs of exploration from the time of Second and Third worlds.
There are other items floating through the BLR. These are mostly rocks or occationally metalic formations and other chemical deposits.
It is in fact possible to create astral stations within the BLR, and several nations have done so.
[edit] Reality Bubbles
Reality bubbles contain the various worlds to be found within the BLR. While the astral debris looks very much like what it is to someone within the BLR, reality bubbles appear as a shimmering, irridecent sphere. The colouration and patterns seen across the surface of sphere vary from one to another. An experienced eye can use this as a method of identifying them.
Oddly, the size of a reality sphere as seen from the BLR does not correspond directly to the size of the world it contains. Several factors contribute towards the apparent size, including the presence of life within the bubbles and large amounts of magical activity. This first observation has been confirmed by experiment. When a previously barren bubbles is being explored, observers on the outside can actually see an expansion take place - at least in some of the smaller bubbles.
Some of the better known bubbles are listed below.
[edit] Cyclotron Gates
The Merfolk use coral gates to access other realities, but this secret is unknown to the surface nztions. Instead, they have to rely on a rather more cumbersome piece of technomagic know as a cyclotron gate.
Each of these gates is immensly expensive, requiring a large vacuum chamber, kilometers of liquid nitrogen chilled super conducting acceleration loops and a nuclear reactor to power the whole thing.
The Gates are an adaption of cyclontron particle accelerater technology. Instead of smahing electrons together, it fires them down a series of tunnels formed into the shapes of the runes of opening, which themselves form another ring. Once the current reaches a certain critical level the central will form a gateway into the BLR.
The evacuated chamber in which the ring sits will also contain a launch pad from which astral ships can enter the BLR. Larger rings require more energy to open, so this puts a limit on the size of craft that can used.
