The Origin Of The Ryft Gates By Tony Kenealy Since before the Drought Wars, the three great races have called upon Wizards to open Ryft Gates, so that trade could flow quickly and easily. The Ryft Gates were named after the first Wizard to open a gate, his name was Arcturis Ryft and he dabbled in all manner of magic, dark or otherwise. Arcturis was experimenting with spells that would transport objects, including people, from one place to another, at first with little success. One day, while casting the latest spell designed to move his servant, a weasel-like boy called Crippan, from one corner to another in his laboratory, a huge circular gateway, surrounded by lightning and a swirling mist appeared in front of the startled Wizard. Before he could do anything Jozak, his black familiar, a strange cat-like creature who originated in the caves of the Glass Mountains, jumped through the gateway, only to reappear, cowering and smouldering in a corner. Arcturis could not believe what he had seen and spent the ensuing months trying to recreate and, once successful, perfect, the art of opening the gateway. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and gradually Arcturis learnt to control the gateways. He could open and close them at will and gradually became able to direct where their exit would be. When a Ryft Gate, as they eventually became known, is opened a tunnel is formed between the source gateway and the destination. This tunnel allows for instant travel between the two points, but what Arcturis did not understand, was the fact that this tunnel had to go through somewhere and this place was the Warp. Even if the distance between the gates is minimal, the tunnels still have to carve their way through the Warp. The Warp cannot be seen, its existence hitherto unknown, it is present on a different plane, in a different dimension. The Ryft Gates connect a tunnel through the Warp, a tunnel that protects all who traverse it from the chaotic effects exposure to the Warp can create. The Wizard discovered through his experiments that the Warp is pure Chaos, nothing that is touched by the energies that swirl and mutate within can survive without the taint of Chaos being laid upon them. Very rarely is the taint of Chaos felt and as wizards learnt to control the Ryft Gates with more accuracy and strength, the occurrences lessened. Crippan was the first human known to experience the taint of Chaos and he did not live long after his suffering. On this particular day, Arcturis had opened a Ryft Gate for Crippan to fetch food from the local village. Arcturis, at the time, was preoccupied with his latest spells and was not giving the Ryft Gate spell the concentration and magical energy it required. The gate was not stable. Crippan entered the gate only to be spat out as the Ryft gate collapsed. The energies of the Warp had seeped through the tunnel which was not strong enough to hold it together. Arcturis was knocked off his feet. Recovering, he recoiled with disgust at the mass of oozing flesh that was cringing on the floor, something that was unrecognisable as Crippan apart from the tattered clothes that surrounded it. Crippan let out a final agonizing cry that reverberated around the laboratory as Arcturis put an end to his torment and suffering with a well-placed fireball. As the true potential for the Ryft gates was realized, more and more Wizards turned to Arcturis Ryft for teaching and guidance. All across Genayria, Wizards began to open Ryft Gates, most were successful, some were not. Merchants from all the races began requesting the services of Wizards to open Ryft gates for trade caravans to move through and so it became that Wizards were some of the wealthiest and most powerful beings in the land. As the use of the Ryft Gates increased some side effects from their use began to be seen, not solely from misguided or poorly directed gates, but also from mutations that emerged after the Warp had seeped into the tunnel. Not all Wizards could perfect the placing of the exit of the Gates or indeed the traversing of the Warp that was required and on the rare occasion that the Wizard was not strong enough, something seen more in the early days of the Ryft Gates, unforeseen occurrences happened. Strange lands were touched by wayward Ryft Gates, links were made to worlds never seen before. Creatures the like of which Genayria had never seen were wrenched from these worlds as the uncontrolled Ryft Gates tore through the Event Horizon. When the Drought Wars began, the races of Genayria sought better ways to move armies and Wizard who could open the Ryft Gates became highly prized. A Ryft Gate was now a weapon that could transport great armies vast distances. Wizards developed Ryft Sentinels at the request of Kings and Lords of the cities. The Ryft Sentinels act as a barrier that prevents the opening of a Ryft Gate within its influence and Ryft Sentinels were set-up throughout the great cities to stop invading armies from exiting a gate deep within. The Ryft Sentinels became prized possessions, closely guarded by the Ryft Warden and his chosen warriors. So as the wars continue to rage long after the rains had come, the once peaceful Ryft Gates that held the trade routes open for all, now became passages of death and destruction, crossing the lands of Genayria and beyond. The six Aspects of Magic