Astral Sea
Best known and most used of the Great Paths, the so-called Astral Plane surrounds the Wyrld. Anyone with knowledge can open a portal (known as color pools) from a planar realm to the Astral Plane, and from there to another realm.
No deity has dominion over the Astral Plane, and its infinite expanse
has allowed individuals, organizations, and even entire races to settle
there. It is the most commonly used of
the Great Paths because of its lack of divine affiliation, and accessing it is
slightly easier for arcane casters than reaching the other four Paths.
City of Brass
Sometimes called the City of Doors, reaching planar realms from the
City of Brass is a matter only as complicated as opening a door. With keys, codes and tokens, nearly any door,
arch, or gate in the City can be made to reach a desired destination.
The City of Brass is in the hands of the efreeti, the fiery
geniekind. Travel from realm to realm is
faster here than on any of the other Great Paths, but travellers are also the
favored prey of the efreeti slave-traders, and many planar adventurers never
manage to exit the City. The efreeti are
currently embroiled in a civil war between factions loyal to Umoth and those
loyal to no divine power, but normally only druids and clerics of a fiery or
metropolitan power use the City of Brass as one of the Great Paths.
Gray Road
Also known as the Path of the Dead, the Gray Road leads from the center
of the Wyrld to the palace of the Lord of Souls in the Outer Realms, with
smaller tracks leading to anywhere a creature has died in the entirety of
time. It takes the appearance of a
time-worn, cobblestone road atop a grassy bank.
Because of the unusual nature of the road, anyone walking directly away
from it soon (within a hundred paces) finds themselves approaching it from the
other side, as though they had just walked around the outside of a
cylinder. Smaller paths and trails lead
off of the Gray Road at intervals; much like color pools in the Astral Plane,
these allow travellers access to and from other planar realms.
The Gray Road is travelled by the souls of the dead, (escorted by
minions of the Lord of Souls), druids, and clerics whose god possesses an
affinity for earth, roads, or travel by walking or riding. Arcane spellcasters can access the Gray Road,
as they can access any of the Great Paths, but most prefer the unaligned Astral
Plane. Portions of the Gray Road are
regularly patrolled by guardian spirits, but others are lawless and unsafe for
the ordinary traveller.
The One Tree
The One Tree is rooted in the Well between Worlds, and the highest of
its branches reachs the outermost of the Outer Realms. Travelling the One Tree is more taxing than
walking the Gray Road or sailing the Wyrldflow, but most destinations can be
reached in a day or two, instead of the week or longer common to the less
trying Paths.
The One Tree is most frequently used by druids and clerics aligned with
air, plants, or nature. Some sections
are the domain of a self-appointed guardian, and the safety of those branches
is entirely dependant on the guardian’s good wishes.
The Wyrldflow
The Wyrldflow is a great river, flowing from a thousand thousand headwaters in the Outer
Realms together into a vast torrent that plunges into the Well Between
Worlds. Sailing the Wyrldflow is the
calmest and most sedate way of travelling the Great Paths; many creatures have
taken up lives as ferrymen and offer comfortable passage to anyone able to meet
their price.
The Wyrldflow is used by druids, and clerics aligned with water or
sailing. The Wyrldflow supports a vast
ecology, and many races spend their existence sailing its waters. Most of these are friendly, but a few are
tyrannical pirates more interested in plunder than trade.
