Paths

The Paths, also known as rivers or ways, are the brilliant winds of light that net throughout the Sky, making celestial travel possible. Almost all paths are connected in some way to all others, forming an interconnected web throughout the sky. They are composed of all kinds of matter, commonly water and stable gases. In addition, they course with pure Asaeic energy and even some condensed, liquid Asa. The abundance of Asa leads to a warping of space and time near the path. The core of a path exerts a gravitational pull on the surrounding material. The Asa also seems to shrink distances along the paths. Even drifting in one, ships can travel faster on a river than outside it with propulsion based cruising speeds. Like a river, a path always flows in one direction. Unlike rivers however they can split into multiple paths, circle back and rejoin their own trajectory upstream, and do not always end in an ocean.

Appearance

Paths close to a planet can be seen at night as a streak of light across the sky, brighter than the surrounding nebula, yet dimmer than any close stars. Upon closer inspection one can make out individual ribbons of light, merging and diverging in a turbulent yet directional flow. Their luminosity is owed to both inherently emissive material Asa, and the excitation of gases by asaeic energy. The color of any path is dependent upon its makeup. For instance a path rich in Argon tend to have a purple to blue spectrum, whereas those with a high proportion of Neon are distinctly orange-red. Further impurities determine the exact look of paths.
Paths greatly vary in size and luminosity. Generally, the closer to a Fount Nascent or the larger a path is, the more luminous it will be. The size of a path is generally determined by how many sources feed into it and how large those sources are. Over the course of its run, path material dissipates slowly, leading to paths generally fading far from any founts.

Origin

The material of the paths, commonly called "waters" by Aethereonauts, is released into the sky by Fount Nascents. Different Founts emit different material compositions, which greatly impact the regional makeup and thus appearance of the path waters.

Localized Phenomena

The Paths are not uniform across the sky. Their composition may change greatly from one region to the next, depending on

Alternative Name(s)

Ways, Rivers, etc.

Type

Stream

Location under

Sky