Byways

These otherworldly passages link far off places on Urth together. These are not gateways, but paths. The entrances are subtle, usually overlooked by all creatures, both beasts and humanoids. These paths are commonly known to druids. Druids may mark them with druidic or track where they lead to and only share them personally with those they trust.
Most byways connect two places in nature to one another. Older ones actually have splits in the path that must be chosen from. Walking on the path may only take 5 minutes to an hour, but the distances travelled could be hundreds of miles. There seems to be a general relationship that the longer on the path the further distance traveled.
Those who walk onto the path, step from the Urth to somewhere else, someplace obscured. The paths look natural ten feet to either side. But after that the vegetation may look crowded, flattened, a shadowy mist or fog may float blotting out anything further than 15 feet away from the path. The path is a reflection of the entry. Forest entrances look like forests. Coves are underground paths, crevices look like canyons. Off the paths, there may appear a lake, house, or castle off the path. These may exist, or they are enticements to leave the byway. Usually, there is no sound whatsoever, no bugs, no wind. Sounds or voices may come from the edges. All distractions must be ignored. Parties need to stay close together.
It is very dangerous to stray from the path or to delay on the path. There are beings waiting in the areas off the path. The feeling of being watched can be very pervasive. The creatures who live here are aberrations. The byways have attracted the notice of creatures that don't belong in our world. They normally can't get to the path, but they are there, at the edge. So they try to entice people off the path. Foolish people who stop along the path often seeing the dimming of the path. It darkens and the blurred edges appear to shrink, bringing the edges in like a collapsing tunnel. Truly foolish travellers have camped in the byways thinking themselves safe from the outer world, only to find something much worse when the edges collapsed in on them.

Type

Metaphysical, Elemental

by Royal Frazier