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Author: Aderyn
Date Added: 7/22/09
Last Modified: 7/22/09
CharacteristicsThe fives Gates spread across the many leagues of Aedolyn share basic traits in common. They are all stone arches, taller than any other structure that has been known to have been created on Aedolyn. Their precise height and shape varies, and the type of stone the Gates are made out of is unique to each one.
The lengths of the Gates are covered in engravings of an arcane pictographic script. Many of the pictures are recognizable, others are ambiguous symbols like wavy lines and arrows, and then others are clearly pictures of something but nothing ever seen before in this realm. Stories often have these engravings as the source of the Nine’s power and mastery of magic, although there is some evidence to suggest they struggled to understand them as much as anyone. Calill the Wise once remarked she knew even less than the person asking her about them.
Inside the Gates is a silvery substance that is best described as fog. It is thick, semi opaque, and slightly reflective. The fog billows about inside the arch, while the surface of the image from inside the arch as a whole bends and undulates with the fog. Walking through the Gate to time travel, one feels a sensation akin to ice sliding over every crevice of a person’s body, and then it quickly transitions from cold to warm, becoming almost unbearably hot right before the time traveler exits out the other side.
Only time travelers wielding gate keys can see the fog in previous ages, as it did not exist before the Sixth Age; people in the past only see through an empty arch.
Flashes of light are occasionally seen inside the fog, and if one stares long enough, they may catch snatches of images of the age that it presently is transporting to, or visions of other things that wildly differ from account to account. Everyone from scholars to cultists have stood in front of the Gates studying their engravings and more recently the fog, trying to catch some glimmer of truth or revelation.
Surrounding AreasDue to the power of the forgotten gods called magic that the Gates, together unlocked, released, the areas surrounding each of the Gates have become highly magical from their proximity to them. The environment each is located in is amplified, with living things like trees, plants and animals up to two to three times bigger than they are found elsewhere. There are species of plants and animals indigenous to these special areas that can be found nowhere else in the world. They are, in effect, otherworldly.
There are also the children of the Gates themselves, the Faeries, magical beings of unparalleled abilities in the use of magic and guardians of the Gates. There is a Faery Legion found at each Gate. They have no visible settlements, and, to the untrained eye, appear to just freely roam around. The Faeries’ cursed predecessors, the Draconi, have an elite group called the Draconian Knights who are the steel to the Faeries’ magic and guard the Gates alongside them. Where there is no shelter to be found, the Draconian Knights create a small network of huts within the vicinity of a Gate, and trade with the surrounding people as well as do their own hunting.
The Faery Legions' and Draconian Knights' main threat are the Goblins, who since the beginning of the Sixth Age have actively sought to destroy the Gates to bring upon the fabled Seventh Age. The Maelar Trade Union was the only region to have gone unscathed in the Fifth Age, and the Goblins would be a formidable force were they more organized. Fortunately for the Faeries and Draconi, they have not been, and the Goblins' attacks, while fierce, have been few and far in between. The Goblin Horde, as the movement is called among Goblins, has so far not figured out how to coordinate its splintered forces. When that day comes, those who wish to preserve the Gates will have much to fear.
Other than Goblins, the Faeries and Draconi will stop no one from entering the Gates to time travel. Their only purpose, their sacred duty, is to protect them from harm.
The Five Gates of Aedolyn(in the order they were unlocked in the Third Age)
Sharrum GateNamed after the forgotten god Sharrum; unlocked by the demi-god Malkur, the Chaotic; located in the Turúva Roughs of the Bavkür Alliance.
As Aedolyn descended into ruin at the end of the Fifth Age, Sephria hunted Malkur for the tragedy he had set in motion two ages prior by unlocking the first of the five Gates, Sharrum. She eventually found him at the very Gate where it all began. In what would be his last laugh, Malkur refused to answer Sephria's simple question why he had started the calamity that had befallen the world. Sephria, enraged, exploded in a fury only a god could muster, assaulting Malkur with spectacular magic; killing him and critically damaging the Gate in the process.
Sharrum Gate is now surrounded by crumbled mountains and terrain that has been barren and devoid of life for leagues around ever since. The former Sharrum faery legion has even dispersed and assimilated into the other legions. This Gate differs in appearance from the other four as well. While it remains whole and made of black onyx, the onyx is now rough and pitted. The characteristic engravings found on the rest of the Gates are all but gone. The space inside the arch is empty, and one simply sees through to other side.
Opinions differ on the effects of Sephria’s magic. Popular consensus in the wake of the Sixth Age was that the Sharrum Gate was next to destroyed. However, a belief that the Gate is still a source of magic has gained traction over the years, argued by a small number of magic users who claim they have traveled to and seen the Gate, and felt its energy. Their theory is, as disfigured as the Sharrum Gate may be, it is still a medium in the circuit of magic permeated by the other four, and will continue to be unless, the gods forbid it, the other four are destroyed also. Whatever the case, time travel was unleashed as a result, and Aedolyn has never been same since.Tolariar GateNamed after the forgotten god Tolariar; unlocked by the demi-god Sephria, the Daring; located in what is left of the southern Nívak Desert of the Nívak Federation.
Treacherous to get to with the Angard Mountains to the south and the Aratar waste to the north, with a sliver of what is left of the Nívak Desert in-between, the Tolariar Gate looms over Aratar, unthreatened by it, and is surrounded by massive dunes with periodic oases spread among it. The Tolariar Gate is made of red sandstone; in combination with the surrounding sand, it is very primitive looking. The circumference of the Gate’s arch is square.
The Tolariar Gate is practically worshipped by the warrior-like Nívak people, as it is the only remaining part of the Nívak Desert other than Zal’Garish itself. They wholeheartedly embrace the Faeries of the Tolariar Legion as well as their Draconian Knights counterparts as brothers and sisters. The oases found around the Gate are critical to supporting the Nívak, Faeries and Draconi that live there. They are picturesque sand-locked lakes and waterfalls, teeming with life, and surrounded by very large palm trees and desert plants. A lack of oxygen in the water precludes many animals from living in it except for water scorpions and turtles. Sandstone houses and other buildings that are dwarfed in comparison to their surroundings can be found dotting the shores of the lakes.Iminye GateNamed after the forgotten god Iminye; unlocked by the demi-god Avandor, the Great; located in the middle of Nâvirfëll Woodland in the Kingdom of Nâvirfëll.
Of all the Gates, the Iminye Gate is the hardest to find. It is located deep within the heart of the Nâvirfëll Woodlands. When one does finally find it, it appears suddenly, towering above trees even though the trees surrounding it are twice as tall as the rest of the woodland. Ground-hugging brush often comes up to one’s chest. The Iminye Gate is made of white marble, with the circumference of the arch of the Gate being circular. The Iminye Faery Legion is found freely roaming about it, along with giant birds and other formidable woodland creatures. The Draconian Knights are there also; coolly composed but very out of place in the tall forest that is so unlike their cavernous homeland.
The elves of Nâvirfëll, already secretive about a great number of subjects, are tight-lipped about the Iminye Gate, and the subject is taboo in High Elven society, especially to discuss with outsiders. Low Elves do not have such reservations, but seem only willing to point in the general direction that the Iminye Gate is in. Some theorize that the elves regard the Iminye Legion and Draconian Knights as a foreign occupier, and do not like competing in aloofness with the Faeries. Others say that they have a secret alliance with the Faery Legions who share the High Elves’ affinity with magic. And even others suggest that it has to do with the long history of conflict between the different subraces of elves, with the Gate just being another point squabbled over in the inner circles of elven society.Ravmin GateNamed after the forgotten god Ravmin; unlocked by the demi-god Durin, the Hegemon; located in the Dvorian River Valley of the Kingdom of Bäros.
Found in the otherwise flat and treeless grassland of the Dvorian River Valley, the Ravmin Gate sits upon the only hill for leagues around. The blood-soaked and no longer arable Sylinian Plains are just out of sight to the west. It is the Gate easiest to find and easiest to reach, but not necessarily the easiest to access. The Ravmin Gate is made of grey granite, and its circumference is triangular. The hundreds of Faeries and Draconi in the vicinity are very noticeable from afar, and the Ravmin Gate’s hill is covered in an ever swirling commotion of activity. The Draconian Knights’ huts are found at the base of the hill. There is a great amount of wind in the area, with gusts known to blow people off their feet.
The Bärans have come to regard the Ravmin Faery Legion and the Gate itself with a great degree of hate and superstition since the time of Durin. It was in the shadow of the Ravmin Gate where Durin and Avandor dueled to their deaths, and many Bärans blame the onlooking Faeries at the time for their god’s death, either for assisting Avandor or somehow killing them both. Ever since then it has become custom among Bärans to blame all of their ailments on the Faeries, from accusing Faeries of stealing their property to manipulating in the powers that be to abducting and murdering their kinsmen. There have even been skirmishes between the Draconi and bands of men within the periphery of the Ravmin area; the latter of whom were promptly crushed. The Seventh Age Theory is very popular within what is left of the kingdom of Bäros.
Because of this, no self-respecting person has any business being near the Ravmin Gate, much less time traveling, to Bärans. They associate anyone who’s been to the one of the Gates as conspirators with the Faeries trying to subvert the already beleaguered and fragmented Bäros society, and thus meet such people with hostility and violence. Foreigners from other nations are run out of town should their destination be discovered to be the Gate, and Bärans who are discovered to have been to the Gate are shunned by their friends and family. In reality, Bärans actually time travel in large numbers, but with a great deal of covertness, usually arriving and leaving in the dead of night.Elspeth GateNamed after the forgotten god Elspeth; unlocked by the demi-god Calill, the Wise; located in the Gaalvar Mountains of the former Republic of Telgin.
The Elspeth Gate is the most isolated Gate from the rest of Aedolyn, on the northwestern continent of Arador of the former Telgin Republic. It is located on a small island in the aptly named Elspeth Lake in the middle of the Gaalvar Mountains. There is a natural land bridge leading from the island to the shore of the lake. The Gate is made of a crystalline quartz, and its circumference consists of two spiraling edges that go from one end of the arch to the other. About it is the Elspeth Faery Legion, and the Draconian Knights are at home in and among the surrounding mountains. The Gate is unique for being the only Gate that provides a habitat for fresh water aquatic creatures, with large and exotic fish living in the lake. Birds and other larger than life animals live off the lake as well.
To get to the Elspeth Gate, one must trek many leagues up the Gaalvar Mountains, a journey that can take up to a couple of days. Most people take the well-worn Elspeth Road, although brigands are known to ambush unsuspecting travelers. In the winter, snow obscures the road and blocks off passages the road takes. Blood Elves from northern Sauvale are willing to escort travelers through shortcuts only they know, but for a steep price. There used to be a goblin freight balloon that took passengers directly to and from the Gate in the Fifth Age, but the service has long since ceased to exist. There is an old but well-known crash site of a goblin balloon off to the side of the Elspeth Road that is used as a midway point on the trek to the Gate. The existence of the relic stands in stark contrast to the current state of affairs between Goblins and the Faeries and Draconi, and just another reminder of an age long lost.
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