The Nature of Space - Part 2

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The Nature of Space - Part 2
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Stellar Limits and Star Systems - The Stellar Limit,
or edge of a star system, is also called the stellar
sphere. In most systems this is an invisible point,
but though it cannot be seen it is always clearly
defined, as will be explained later. Every star system
is made up of several celestial bodies, be they earth
bodies, fire bodies (stars), air bodies, water bodies,
etc. (See Elemental Pocket Theory for Worlds for
more.) Wherever more than one of these bodies exists
in close proximity to each other these bodies arrange
themselves into a pattern of co-orbiting objects. This
arrangement of co-orbiting bodies is called a stellar
system or a star system. The space a stellar system
exists within has special properties that make it
different from the space outside and between stellar
systems. This 'special' space always takes on a
spherical shape. The boundary where this special space
ends and a different type of space begins is called
the Stellar Limit, or the stellar sphere.



Normal Space (Stellar Space) - This is space as you
and I know it. It is called Normal Space (note the
capitalization), wild space or stellar space. Normal
Space is the space inside the limits of a stellar
sphere. Outside the stellar sphere is the void AKA the
interstellar void, interstellar space or Void Space.
These two types of space, Normal Space and Void Space,
are completely indistinguishable from each other to
all but those who know about the properties that make
them different. When one passes the invisible barrier
where the stellar sphere ends and the void begins one
can make the jump into a different level of existence
called Aether Space, but one needs special technology
or magic to detect the point where this jump can be
made. It is generally at the point twice as far from
the exact center of a star system as the farthest
orbiting body in the star system, but this is not
always the case. It is impossible to cross the void
bewteen stars if one does not jump into Aether Space,
because the distances are too great. Unless one is
immortal, it is impossible to travel the vast
distances of interstellar space before one dies of old
age.

Aside from the ability to jump into Aether Space when
one is in Void Space, there are no practical
differences between Void Space and Normal Space.

It is interesting to note that there exist certain
galaxies and regions of our universe, such as Arcane
Space, where the edge of a stellar sphere is
physically manifested as a huge, seemingly crystaline
wall, and is not just an invisible point. These
solid-seeming stellar spheres are called crystal
spheres. They seem solid because the laws of physics
vary slightly from one region of the galaxy to
another. In these portions of the universe Void Space
can never be entered, because all spells and
technology that allow one to penetrate these
crystaline barriers force one to enter Aether Space,
or the pholgiston as it is known in these regions. In
the Dragon Galaxy and the Milky Way Galaxy one can
enter Void Space, there are no solid crystal walls
preventing one from doing so, but the void is rarely
entered for it is a vast, endless reach of nothing
that takes many normal lifetimes to traverse. Few have
any reason to go there.



Aether Space - AKA Subspace, Rift Space, the rift, the
aether, the Etherium. This a universe of sorts, or
maybe another plane of existence, that parallels Void
Space and that can only be entered when one is in Void
Space. It cannot be entered from Normal Space, inside
the stellar limit of a star system. Time and space
work differently here, so one can travel the vast
spaces between stellar spheres in what seems like an
instant to those in Normal Space. When one is in the
aether it seems like one travels for months or even
years, but when one drops back out of the aether, no
matter where they drop out, it is as if they
instantaneoulsy jumped to their new location from the
spot where they first entered Aether Space. In this
way, a trip the distance between two stars that are a
hundred light years apart would seem to take place
instanteneously to some mythical being that could see
into both star systems at once, but depending on the
speed of the ship and the flows taken in the aether
the trip would seem to have taken months or even a few
years to a traveler in the ship.

When one is in Aether Space they see a vast void
filled with either emptiness or a flowing,
psychedelically colored medium called the aether. Some
compare this medium to a gas or plasma, but it is
really just a visible form of energy that only can be
interacted with when one is in Aether Space. Sages
believe it is a "lattice" form of energy, that
spiritual and elemental energies use as a foundation
to build upon. In Aether Space this foundation is so
stripped of extraneous energies that it is now only
pure momentum. It varies in thickess, from nothing at
all to aether so thick one cannot see past one's own
hand when it is held in front of one's face. Most of
it is thin, motionless and almost transparent in
appearance, but there are currents within it where the
aether appears thick and moves like a river. Any
object that enters these currents is swept away by
them, and the faster the currents flow the faster one
moves from point A to point B. These currents are
called aether flows.



>From Aether Space stellar spheres seem to be either
incredibly large, solid spheres, or huge transparent
bubbles. As mentioned above, in some regions of space
and time the solid spheres exist both in Normal Space
and in the aether, but in the region of the Dragon
Galaxy or the Milky Way Galaxy they are solid-seeming
only from inside Aether Space. They have no gravity,
but one can land one's ship on the side of a stellar
sphere and leave the ship to move about on the sphere.
The color of the spheres varies anywhere from a solid
color, with black seeming to be the most common, to
completely transparent like glass. The spheres always
seem to be as smooth as glass, too, and appear to be
made of some kind of indestructible matter. This is
really an illusion, for they are not made of matter at
all, but for all practical pruposes they can be
treated as solid.

In the region of the Dragon Galaxy almost all of the
spheres look like huge glass bubbles, invisible until
one gets close unless there is aether flowing around
them, outlining their shape. One can look into the
spheres from the aether and see the planets and stars
inside of them. Unless one is close this requires
extremely sensitive equipment that can magnify small
objects, but when it is done it looks like all the
planets are motionless and unmoving, frozen in place.
This is because time works differently in the aether,
and some say it doesn't work there at all. There are
some spheres in the Dragon Galaxy that are not
transparent from Aether Space, but they are rare.
Illithid Space (around the star Illthantrax) is one.
It is a pitch black color. Neogi Space (around the
star Blorg) is another. This sphere is a blood red
color. No one knows what makes the spheres appear the
color they do, it is a subject of much debate, but
there are legends of some spheres changing colors
right before wonderous observer's very eyes! In every
legend this happened when a momentous event occured
within the star system that changed its entire
character, like the death of a mighty civilization or
the transformation of the system's central star.

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