World of Kralis

Gates of Bahlaru

The Gates of Bahlaru (BAA-LAH-ROO) or World Gates are ancient magical portals that allow for near instantaneous travel between two locations anywhere in the known Omniverse. They were originally created by the Lhatijo (LAT-ee-yo) through a device known as the Bahlaru Talisman. This was one of many great creations that the Lhatijo crafted. The Talisman was designed and crafted by a Lhatijo called Bhaj Laruh (bayzh lah-ruh) that had been working on theories of traveling between locations without the need to shift to other planes or by means of rudimentary teleportion spells or powers. It was through the use of the Bahlaru Talisman that the Lhatijo in 515,265,968 B.F.A. built great gates of transportation through out the Omniverse establishing the network of gates called the Sha'laju (Flowing Road).

During the millennium and half years since the the first Gate was activated, the Lhatijo spread through out the Omniverse opening gates on hundreds of thousands of worlds. Despite the species death in 514,075,368 B.F.A. when the Great Connection was corrupted by chaos and rage, the network of these gates are still viable, though their exact connections and locations have been lost to the mists of time.

Travel through these gates is bi-lateral creating a "planar conduit" allowing for instant travel back and forth for as long as the gate remains open on the originating side. This conduit is created between any two gates when a being inscribes the symbols of another gate upon the activating gates Castra Stone. Each conduit is unpredictable and many a hero has found themselves lost to the Astrea or Celestial Omniverse as one collapsed or was attacked by creatures whose very extra-planar homes these pass through.

Originally when the Lhatijo placed gates through out the Omniverse they setup actual gates made from a hardened iron-steel in a triangle shape that stood up right. In front of this triangle stood the Castra Stone.

The Castra Stone is generally a large, heavy stone that is circular in fashion that has four flat surfaces that a user can inscribe the location of the other gate and activate the world gates. The are hundreds of different symbols used in different combinations that locate another gate and then uses a final symbol that is inscribed onto the center plate. This symbol is unique to each gate, as its point of origin.

When the Castra Stone is inscribed with the four symbols (original creator symbol, other gate symbol, current gate symbol, and symbol of current activator) in a specific order it activates the gate between the source and the destination to which that combination of symbols correlates. The total number of possible locations that each gate can connect to is immeasurable. Some sages believe that the total number of actual gates that were originally created numbered in the millions.

Travel is two way. A being can go through the gate, leave it open, and then step back through it. The gate does not have to be deactivated at the destination end and then restarted in order to travel back to the other end.

Original Creators

Many have speculated that the gods themselves had a hand in the creation of these gates as they are truly more powerful than any known teleportation or astral gate spells. Others believe that large, powerful groups of spellcasters or jinhuur are responsible for the creation of these gates as portals of transportation between holy sites or covens of casters. With the potential of there being several thousand of these gates scattered around the world and the Omniverse itself there are those that feel that these gate locations were in existence or created long before the gods themselves came into being, perhaps a result of the creation of the known universe by the One, or even perhaps the results of the great wars against chaos and thus leaving so many unknown gates leading to absolutely no where or to places long ago abandoned.

How the Gates work

It is widely known that to operate a gate you must know: original creator symbol, other gate symbol, current gate symbol, symbol of current activator. Of these symbols the original creator symbol is the most difficult symbol to locate as it is the symbol of ancient casters, the gods, and the like that allow the two gates to link together. Currently,only a hand full of gate symbols are known and the gates that these link to are guarded by powerful magics to avoid the cities and areas that they link to from being overrun by monsters and invaders that also know these symbols.

Those that activate a gate will always have been drained as the activator supplies the energy to actually open the portals between the linked gates. This may come in the form of fatigue or blood sacrifice and must be given up before the gate actually opens up.

Each symbol must be traced on the Castra Stone in order of original creator symbol, destination gate symbol, current gate symbol, and symbol of current activator. A process that takes roughly 30 or so seconds as the symbols are traced on the four sections of the stone.

Once activated the two gates will link and the portal opening will be filled with a myriad of colors allowing for passage between the two gates. A number of gates will be locked by magical shielding and must be unlocked by the user speaking the appropriate command word to drop the magical shielding, those that fail to utter these words may find themselves in serious trouble as many of these have powerful magical defenses that could possible kill the user or send those that pass through the gate to another location altogether.

The Symbols

Original Creator Symbol: Currently there are 17 known symbols (Symbol of the One, Elal, Azhaka, Gishra, Mala, Odiryn, Daemah, Magnara, Hadak, Anthia, Nyraxia, Akiri, Aernus, Llir, Albiorix, Atura, Chaos). These symbols must be placed on the first section of the stone at the top. There are rumored to be many others.

Destination Gate Symbol: Like all gate symbols, not all gate symbols are known, and much time is spent by gate scholars in testing various symbols located in ancient tomes, found engraved on tombs and such. There are currently 100 different destination symbols known. One of the most common is the symbol for Dardura Sheva. This symbol, if known, is placed on the second stone that sits on the right side of the stone. Like current gate symbols, these gate's symbols are often located nearby on some ancient pillar or on a tomb.

Current Gate Symbol: Destination and Current gate symbols are obviously one in the same. Once you known the current gate symbol and you know the destination gate symbol you can link two gates together. Many times, if a user does not know the gate symbol it may be located nearby depending on the area in which the gate is located. This symbol is placed on the third section of the stone on the left hand side opposite of the destination gate symbol.

Symbol of Current Activator: This symbol is highly secretive as it represents the life force of the current activator. It is a magical symbol that represents the user and must be obtained through ritual rites in which it is bestowed. It is through this symbol that the gate truly becomes activated and usable, when the user scribes the symbol the fourth section of the stone, located at the bottom of the stone opposite of the original creator symbol, the magic of the Castra Stone draws out the energy from the user to power the gate. If a blood sacrifice is required it is at this time that the user makes such a sacrifice. The use of this symbol by someone other than who it represents will cause the one that is using it extreme pain and even death.

World of Kralis

There are hundreds, if not thousands of these gates located through out Kralis. Only recently have scholars in the City of Dardura Sheva have begun to rediscover some of the symbols and what locations that they open to. It is well known that the opening and operation of the gates are both physically and mentally tasking, as the energy to open the gate comes directly from the being that is attempting to open the gate. Lesser willed or weak individuals have never been able to open the gates without some sort of assistance from an item of power.

Known Gates on Kralis

• Myron - Dardura Sheva
• Bakrath - Ancient gate to Nharak
• Syrith - Gate to Lathia
• Aznoia - First gate built, presumed lost

Game Information

In order to activate a gate a character must have a Willpower of at least 85, and must succeed with a TS of 4 if all four symbols are known. For each symbol that is not known up to 3 such symbols the TS increases by +1. Those with Lore (World Gates) can use this skill score instead of rolling against their Willpower, however, they must still have a Willpower of 85.

A character can attempt to guess at specific symbols, but this has its obvious consequences of opening a gate to a place that may be much worse than what the character is moving from. The gates will remain open for 1 turn per success that the character gets. Often, some gates require a blood-sacrifice to open, this can be anywhere from 2 HP to 30 HP depending on the distance and laws that surround the gates use.

As a general rule of thumb gates that are created by demons, evil gods and evil beings will have this requirement built into the gate. Most of the time it will require the user to actively give the blood freely, that is cut their own body to release the blood, others my require that a sacrifice of greater proportion by given. Other times the gate itself will forcefully take the blood-sacrifice from the user or users. Generally, it will be 1-10 health points to open the gate, 1 point per turn it is maintained open, and 1 point per every 100 miles that separate the gates.

All gates require the spending of Fatigue to open. Generally this ranges from 1-10 points of fatigue to open the gate and 5 points per 1000 miles between gates.

Creating a Current Activator Symbol

The Activator Symbol is gained through the purchase of the ability Gate Symbol.

• Gate Symbol (Knowledge)
• Requirements
• Ability Prerequisites: Lore (World Gates) 75
• Controlling Attribute: Will 80
• Fatigue Point Cost: 10 Permanent
• Merit Point Cost: 1500

Through the use of this ability you are able to activate the world gates of Kralis. Obtaining this ability takes a full 24 hours of meditation and ritual rites. During this time you make a personal symbol of your true name. You may decide what your true name is at this time as well. A true name is not the name that you were given at birth, it is a hidden name that only you know and that you discover through this process. As a side effect of this you must be careful to never reveal your true name to anyone, in doing so you may grant them power over you. At the end of the ritual you must sacrifice 10 permanent Fatigue Points.