Drift
The Drift is a transitive plane exposed in 3 AG by Triune, which exists conterminously with the Material Plane and allows for faster-than-light travel across the galaxy. In the last three centuries it has become critical to modern life and as a tool for exploration, and defines the very concept of Near Space and the Vast.
Geography
The Drift is described as a cosmic storm in appearance, with gases in bright pinks and purple shadows that regularly erupt with white-yellow lightning. Interspersed between the emptiness are pockets of other planes, which are thought to be pulled into the Drift each time a ship uses a Drift Beacon, and are often inhabited by Drift natives or creatures unlucky enough to get caught up in the mix (although this is incredibly rare).
Read this next bit... Isn't it strange? Sounds a lot like the Rambling Road. Val got real twitchy the one time I brought it up — there has to be a connection.
While most commonly rocks and asteroids from the Material Plane, the Drift has been known to pull pieces from other planes as well, including Outer Sphere locations like Heaven and Hell. These pieces often react unexpectedly in the Drift, and thus pilots have long-since been trained to move around them with care, and to never treat past encounters as a reference — even at locations pilots have come upon in the past.
Notable locations in the Drift include the alien scrapyard known simply as the Heap, the ruins of an extinct species called the Adamant Fragments, an Archon-inhabited oasis known as the Bulwark, the infamous Failed Gate, the dreadful Flotilla of the Devourer, the Hell-fueled Iron Steeple, the warbling Tesseract, and the horrifying darkness of the Umbra. However, all pale in the face of the ever-shifting city of Alluvion, home to the All-Code itself, and the many factions represented by its high priests.
Localized Phenomena
The Drift will often create localized storms of energy called "doldrums", within which all technology ceases to function. While seasoned pilots can steer out of a doldrum with their existing momentum, more than a few starships have been found floating aimlessly in the Drift, their crews asphyxiated and frozen.
Fauna & Flora
The Spectra are the well-known natives of the Drift, which began appearing semi-rarely on other planes after 3 AG, and although manifold in their form, share some common traits that allow them to be identified. Other less-encountered species include the terrifying Time Eaters and the Drift Architects — the ever-present agents of the All-Code.
Along with other Outsiders pulled into the Drift, the Dreadworm is an infamous Demon known to swallow entire starships, forever searching for a rift large enough to send it home. Denizens of the Material Plane that die in the Drift often become a member of the Driftdead, a type of neutrally-aligned Undead that missed their chance to enter the Boneyard.
History
Three years after the beginning of the Gap, Triune sent out a Signal across the galaxy, translated into thousands of forms so that it could be understand by every intelligent race. The information within described the Drift, a plane that could only be traversed by technology, and contained schematics to create engines that could enter the plane to achieve faster-than-light travel.
Over the years, Triune's faithful were gifted the ability to create Drift Beacons via specialized workshops, the largest of which already existed in Alluvion, and was open to any who could prove themselves worthy of god's favor. For centuries, this new avenue of travel led to both prosperity and conflict, defining the boundaries of Near Space and the Vast, and continues to be the prominent method of galactic travel.
However, after the Battle of Great Shadar and the resulting aftermath, the Drift has become far more dangerous and difficult to traverse. The distance required to reach certain locations has doubled, and many prefer to avoid the Drift all together for same-system journeys. While the clergy of Triune have been careful not to raise the alarm, rumor states that something terrible has befallen Alluvion, but none have been brave enough to investigate in the midst of the apocalypse.
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