The Pathways

The Pathways, built by the ancients and revived by the Sages, utilize volatile antimatter that is difficult to produce and transport. Accidents frequently leave behind exotic particles which can cause mutations and violate otherwise immutable laws of physics. This has led to the birth of psions, individuals with supernatural or even mystical powers. While modern technology cannot replicate the FTL properties of the Pathways, ships are still used for sub-light travel and force projection. The best of these are equipped with artificial gravity, shields, energy weapons, AI, and nanotechnology.

They work like circuits or railroads, clicking into place when the stars align between them to open a passage. For a few moments or a few days, travel is possible before the stars slip out of alignment again and the universe goes spinning on. The same gate might have a few different gates that it aligns with over the course of a galactic standard year; some only open once, to a single partner location. The Star Sages can predict these alignments down to seconds, and those individuals with the ability to predict the behaviors of certain gates outside of their halls are highly desirable for that information.

Pathways appear in different places in different worlds, some hidden away in caves and others set at the center of whole civilizations that formed around them over millennia. Most can be found among the stars. There are rumors of a place from which any Pathway might be reached, a planet-sized maze, the center of which is a hollow core filled with doors and big enough even for modern day starliners. This conjunction of Pathways is called The Nexus, and is regarded by some as a holy grail and others as pure fairytale.

Active Pathways emit a radiation that can be detected by the proper equipment or by psionic individuals. Chasing fame and fortune, Path Hunters from all walks of life explore the worlds of Constellara in hopes of finding a new Pathway, claiming a new world, or even discovering the Nexus itself.