The third and final relic that was handed down to the player base by the Gnosis Solem (alongside the Archive and the Akashic Spire) is the Arynian Gate, sometimes called the Gate of Aryn. It is a stone archway just outside the tower that can be used to open a portal leading to other places across Solem.
Primarily, this can be done in one of two ways: creating a portal to a named Mark Stone, or creating a portal to a Mark Stone at a location. The Mark Stones are magically-created and uniquely-named stone obelisks found across the world - apparently built to act as destinations for the Gate. If you know the name of a Mark Stone - or can guess it - then you can open a portal to it wherever it is on Solem. However, if you know (or think you know) where a Mark Stone can be found on a map, you can use the map to try and open a portal to it.
The Mark Stones have thus far been found in significant places, such as towns, major landmarks, or next to important items like the observatory. Using old maps, players have successfully opened portals to previously-unknown Mark Stones using educated guesswork. Finding more maps, or creating new ones yourselves, is likely to be useful for travelling to new locations via the Arynian Gate. At the same time, keeping your eyes and ears open for the names of Mark Stones, or being able to piece together enough information to intuit a name, will also let you go to new places and find new treasures. If there’s a Mark Stone there, it’s a solid bet that there’s something worth seeing, as well.
Opening a portal requires some amount of time for the Gate to align and stabilise (and OOC, for the crew to prep whatever encounters may be happening on the other end). The Arynian Gate can be closed at will, but otherwise its portals will last indefinitely. If closed you will need to activate it again (and spend more ribbons) to re-open it. While it’s open, the portal can be travelled through freely and indefinitely from either side.
There will be a notice board up by the Arynian Gate detailing where it is currently aligned to, where it will be aligning to next, when that will open and when players will next be able to choose where to align the gate with. Choosing where the Gate aligns to will now be decided in sets at the Library at set times that we will be referring to as Alignment Phases. Players will be expected to make the decisions where they are heading to but any individual player will only be able to arrange one alignment in a given phase and the Ribbons for the Alignment must be spent at the same time. Once these alignments are decided by players gathered for that Alignment Phase they will be set and the Game Team will put up the timings shortly afterwards.
Additionally, the Gate is now able to align to a specific place for the course of an event always permitting access to that location. This is our Live Site and bar a few hours at the beginning of an event and first thing in the morning you can always go through the Arynian Gate to get to the Live Site.
If somehow you do end up stranded on the other end of a closed portal, all is not lost. The Mark Stones themselves have an ability on them (Written below) to transport someone to the Arynian Gate, as long as they know where it is. Since the Mark Stones have ribbons of their own on them, it’s unlikely (but not completely impossible) that your character will end up unplayable because they got stranded on the other side of the world.
To open a portal to an Arynian Gate, speak its name and trace a doorway in the air. This costs 1 White Ribbon or 1 Black Ribbon.
3 White Ribbons 3 Yellow Ribbons.
CANNOT BE MOVED
The name of this gate is The Akashic Spire.
The ribbons on this item may only be used for the powers of the Arynian Gate.
This gate can be aligned to open at a distant place where a Mark Stone exists. To align this Gate to a location it requires the consensus of the tower and it can be done a limited number of times per gathering. To arrange this the Pages of the Library will administer where the Gate opens and when and accept the decision of the tower in whatever form that takes.
It often takes some time for the alignment to be completed. To align the gate to a known Mark Stone or Arynian Gate you must speak the name of the Mark Stone or place a map before the gate and indicate where the portal will open to if there is a Mark Stone or Arynian Gate present. Finally, a key must be placed within the threshold and turned.
If you have travelled through an Arynian Gate you may always return back to the Gate by returning to the Mark Stone you travelled to even when the Gate is no longer aligned to that location.
You may spend 1 White Ribbon to name a Mark Stone or Arynian Gate and the Arynian Gate will confirm whether or not it is a viable mark stone to travel to. You may spend 1 Yellow Ribbon to indicate a place on a map and the Arynian Gate will confirm whether or not it is viable to travel to a markstone or Arynian Gate there, though it will not give you the name.
You may spend a Gate Token to name a Mark Stone and go through to that location for a short time without needing the Gate to fully align there. Additional people may each also spend a Gate Token to travel to the same location with you. If you come under threat you will be immediately recalled by the Gate.
Glance: You feel cool stone under your hand and hear the clinking of keys in locks to the sound of trumpets. Above you a blinding light shines down.
Gaze: A vision of many Mark Stones, each with their own name, flashes across your mind. You see how thousands of miles might be traversed in a moment.
Each player will start with one Gate Token in their pack. These may be traded into the Library (Ops) on Friday or Saturday to go on a short journey through the Gate to a named Mark Stone.
Multiple people may go on the same journey, but must each spend a Gate Token. We may be able to accommodate you using this on Sunday but cannot guarantee this with the way our events run. This journey will most likely take the form of a short 5 -10 minute conversation with a Page relaying what you see and standing in for the NPCs. This is so we can quickly and effectively deliver these mini missions without taxing our crew and Game Team. Whilst on the journey, if a character comes under even light threat (such as a hostile monster beginning to approach them) then the Arynian Gate will automatically protect them, pulling them back through the gate, whether they wish it or not.
Gate Tokens do not carry over between events.
Gate Tokens can be willingly given or traded but may not be stolen or coerced. The intention for Gate Tokens isn’t to make them another valuable resource within the game, it’s to give all players a chance at a personal mission if they want to.
Some valid examples we see of the use of these items:
Popping to a known town to quickly check in and ensure all is well
Going to the Eternal Observatory to look through the telescope
Going to the Fork in the Road to connect to the travel spirits there
Going somewhere to cast Rites like “How the Wolf Chooses” before a major linear
Meeting for a brief and secret conversation