Overview[]
The Warp exists beyond the boundaries of reality. It is best described as a dimension of anti-reality, comprised of a rolling mass of glowing crimson cloud, licked by flashes of lightning. The Warp is fickle and unpredictable, home to random maelstroms and punishing storms.
The Warp has no geography, and concepts such as time and space are completely irrelevant there; in the Warp, time and space simply do not exist. Though there are rumours of strange, spectral things actually 'living' and hunting within the Warp, no such beings have ever been observed, and few would see fit to investigate such rumours.
Effects on Reality[]
The energy that comprises the Warp is the antithesis of reality. As a result, any 'real' matter touching the Warp is completely annihilated in short order.
Even non-physical things, such as souls or energy, will also be destroyed if exposed to the Warp. However, they seem to be able to hold out much longer.
It should also be noted that even looking at the Warp could potentially lead to insanity, as most minds are not prepared to process it. However, individuals with strong enough willpower, or who have prepared themselves beforehand, or have had experience with Warp Travel in the past, are typically able to look upon the Warp without going mad.
Warp Gates[]
Every given Plane is composed of a fabric of reality, which permeates everything within that Plane, and which holds the Warp at bay. While some like to imagine this reality as a sort of barrier or shield around the Plane, this is not entirely accurate - this fabric is everywhere in the Plane, not just at its 'borders' (if the Plane even has such a limitation).
However, the fabric of reality in a Plane can be weakened, and can potentially tear open completely. This can sometimes happen naturally, while at other times, it is induced artificially (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not), either through magic or technology. The fabric of reality of a Plane abhors such abberations however, and reality will seek to quickly reassert itself if a Warp Gate is opened.
Natural Warp Gates[]
A 'natural' Warp Gate (if there really is such a thing) occurs without anyone's intervention - it is just a freak, random fluctuation in the fabric of reality. Such Warp Gates are very rare and tend to be very small - often much too small for a person to pass through.
Since there is nothing to hold such a gate open, they tend to close quickly.
Nonetheless, such Gates may occasionally be enough to let someone or something slip out of, or into, a Plane.
Artificial Warp Gates[]
Artificial Warp Gates are usually created either by magic or technology. Regardless of the device used, they usually require considerable expenditures of energy to open initially.
Keeping a Warp Gate open however is even more difficult, as reality itself will attempt to close the Gate. The larger the Gate, the exponentially more difficult it becomes to keep it open.
Opening (and maintaining) a Warp Gate may be easier in some geographical locations than others. Areas that have experienced strong energy fields (such as a battleground between powerful wizards, or the site of a massive weapon explosion) may have areas where reality is already weakened from the vast energy expenditures. At other times, certain individuals may construct large Warp Gateways whose sole purpose is to constantly radiate energy that weakens reality in order to facilitiate the creation of Warp Gates.
While a Warp Gate is open, there is also a danger of Warp storms blowing Warp Energy out from it and damaging/destroying the area around the Gate. The chance of this increases the larger the Gate becomes.
Some of the ways that Warp Gates have been opened have included:
- Dark Sorcery (the Summon Lesser Daemon, Summon Greater Daemon, and Warpstorm spells specifically)
- Open Warp Gate spell
- Blooddrinker (as a magic sword) 'cutting' reality open
- Warp Drives aboard the spacecraft Starblade/Starblade Mk II.
- Experimental Singularity Engine aboard the spacecraft U.M.S.F. Manticore
Warp Travel[]
Travelling through the Warp requires someone (or something) to open a Warp Gate, step through it into the Warp itself, and then open a second Warp Gate to the location they would like to go to. Individuals who can do this are typically referred to as Warp Travellers.
Warp Shields[]
Surviving the Warp requires the traveller to somehow protect themselves from its reality-destroying effects. Most Warp Travellers will employ Warp Shields to do this. These can be generated either through magic, technology, or through an innate ability. A Warp Shield is a small bubble of reality that keeps the Warp at bay, much like the fabric of reality that surrounds a Plane. However, these Warp Shields are far more fragile. The stresses of Warp Travel will wear down Warp Shields, and a Warp Traveller will need need to allow some time for them to recover and recharge before they take to the Warp again. Freak Warp storms or energy surges may buffet the Shields with additional ferocity. It is not recommended that a Warp Traveller enter the Warp too often or for too long, since if their Warp Shields fail, they are doomed.
[]
Because distance has no meaning within the Warp, every point in the Warp leads both anywhere and nowhere. However, this also makes navigation by any conventional means extremely difficult, and the random vagaries of the Warp and vicious Warp Storms may throw a traveller off-target at a moment's notice. Once within the Warp, knowing 'where' to open a Warp Gate in order to reach one's intended destination is more an art than a science.
Experienced Warp Travellers tend to develop a sort of sixth sense that allows them to get to where they are trying to go. Trying to reach a known destination is usually much easier than finding a new one, and following other people through the Warp also allows for more precision. Some highly advanced and specialized navigation equipment may help guide individuals to their destination (to a greater or lesser degree of accurracy), and creatures with psychic powers may be able to employ them to assist their travels.
Even at the best of times, however, Warp Travel is not very accurate. The majority of Wrap Tavellers know how to avoid opening a Warp Gate into an inhospitable place (such as into a mountain, or under an ocean, or into the airless depths of space) but they usually still arrive only within the approximate area they wanted to reach. Just how close they get depends to some degree on experience and a larger degree on luck.
Planar Seals[]
Sometimes powerful individuals, typically Warp Travellers themselves, want to keep other Warp Travellers away... or prevent them from escaping. In these cases, they may erect a Planar Seal around an area. Planar Seals strengthen reality in such a way as to prevent the creation of Warp Gates. Warp Travellers will thus not be able to use Warp Travel to get in or out of such an area. Of course, nothing prevents them from creating a Warp Gate to reach an area outside the perimiter of the Planar Seal, and then simply walking inside.
The size and strength of a Planar Seal is very much dependent on how exactly it is created and maintained. For the most part, strengthening reality is much easier than weakening it, so with the right enchatments or technologies, Planar Seals can potentially be quite large in area and may be maintained indefinitely.