Types of Conduits (GAP)

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Conduit types are distinguished by their age. A conduit's "life span" is about 1,000 years. Conduits are born, and they die - both events have been witnessed by planewalkers. A blood named Ythron was among the first to observe that much of the debris that floats on the Astral originates from the birth of a conduit. He reported the following:
: "... The plane around me continued to roil as I had never experienced. Suddenly, a vortex of swirling... astral space (for lack of a better term) opened up and spewed forth matter like an infant tired of his food. Trees, rocks, dirt, and air burst forth and onto the Astral, and the vortex — as well as the swirling plane around me - coalesced into what 1 knew to be the strand of a conduit winding its way through the void. All was still, other than the occasional movement of the conduit, that veinlike pulsing and throbbing that all astral travelers are acquainted with...."
It's become clear that when a conduit opens itself in another plane, it initially pulls in a good deal of matter from the surrounding area. Sometimes even living creatures are sucked onto the Astral in this way. This phenomena is responsible for most of the astral islands, and many other astral locations
The death of a conduit is usually less dramatic. When this time comes, it slowly dwindles and fades. Dying conduits are said to "flutter": They exist one moment, not the next, and then return. This in-andout state can continue for days. For a planar traveler, this can be a risky time to use a conduit. No one knows the dark of what happens if something's within a conduit when it dies. Conduit deaths, as well as births, are fairly common events when one figures on the virtually limitless number of them crisscrossing through the Astral Plane.
The whole matter of the birth, aging, and death of conduits often sparks the idea in some basher's brain-box that conduits are alive. Well, that's never been proven. It might be true, but if it is, it's life like no one has ever known before. It would be life without flesh, but rather a body composed of some sort of ectoplasmic energy and various unidentifiable substances.
Actually, seeing as how efficiently the conduit system works, it'd make more sense to suspect that the whole conduit network is actually a single living creature with differing parts. If this is true, the creature (or perhaps creatures) is some vast entity, existing only to serve the multiverse — unless there's more going on than anyone sees. A body might suggest that such a creature would exist within the "big picture" - perhaps too big for a prime or planar to even see.
Another chant a body might hear in regard to conduits is that somewhere near the "center" of the Astral all conduits meet at some huge confluence. (Though less frequently bandied about than the "living conduit" idea, the two are not mutually exclusive — in fact, if one could be proven, the other might very well be too.) Though this is possible, of course, most graybeards think that if such a nexus of conduits existed, some planewalker would've found it by now.
==Young==
After a conduit has been born, it stays in the "young" stage for about 200–300 years. Young conduits are one-way, either leading to or from the Prime (but never both). These new conduits have a tendency to move about, changing their origin and destination occasionally or even frequently. These changes usually take place slowly and subtly, and certainly do not affect a body in transit. However, should someone use a young conduit, it is foolish to assume that it will be in the same place years later.
==Mature==
Only when a conduit matures does it become a two-way passage. These are the most common, for these conduits remain in this stage for 500–600 years. Mature specimens are more stable than others, maintaining their relative position for most of the time spent in this stage.
==Old==
After a conduit has been in existence for 600–900 years, it begins to act in a manner which could only be called erratic. It begins to move about like a young conduit, but with sudden, unpredictable jumps. A conduit leading from a prime world to Tir na Og on the Outlands might suddenly take some hapless sods to Gehenna instead. Or it might move its prime connection to deep underwater or high in the air, where it is far harder to use. Worse, it might shift from being two-way to one-way and back again, seemingly at random. Some planewalkers call these conduits "ornery."
Conduits remain in this old stage typically for 100–400 years, although conduits which've lasted much longer than this supposedly exist.
==Other Types Of Planer Conduits==
There are conduits which do not lead through the Astral Plane at all, at least as far as we understand planar geography now. These planar conduits connect Outer Planes to other Outer Planes and can connect to any layer. Since these do not seem to extend through the Astral, there's little need to discuss them here. It is interesting to note that there's a theory bandied about which claims that these connections are actually old astral conduits gone seriously awry.
==Silver Cords==
Silver cords are tiny, artificial conduits that link an astral traveler and his physical body. The magic which creates and sustains them was developed by a spellcaster long ago who studied the form and function of conduits. The similarity between conduits and silver cords lends credence to the chant that githyanki silver swords can cut conduits as easily as they cut silver cords.