The Great Crossroads

==The Great Crossroads==
The Great Crossroads is a plane which runs adjacent to the Trave. Its vast, open wasteland is notable only for the four roads of travel that begin there. By walking these roads a traveler can find themselves lead to almost any place in the universe.
===Planar Traits===
*Normal Gravity
*Normal Time
*Infinite Size
*Alterable Morphic
*Mildly Neutral-Aligned
*Limited Magic (Psychoportation, Teleportation Effects)
==Description ==
A little-known hub of exploration and travel, the Great Crossroads is a demiplane parallel to the Trave. Its four roads cut through endless miles of barren and windswept wasteland to distant destinations. At the heart of the plane is where its four roads meet, where one can find the only directions and the place all newcomers arrive before embarking on other travels.
===Arrival===
Making one's way to the Great Crossroads is an unorthodox process; traving there is impossible. Travelers must seek out an iris or work the Rite of the Open Road to create one.
Irises appear as forks in the road. A mountain path might have a turnoff that hadn't been there the day before, or a small alleyway might appear off of a major street in a Waster metropolis. The iris invents terrain around it similar to the environment it's found in. Wherever they appear, irises remains open for 1d8 days or until used, whereupon it and its path vanish.
At the end of each iris' path is a shimmering patch of air. This portal takes the traveler to the center of a dusty crossroads in the middle of a vast wasteland. A signpost lies there, a marker of their achieved destination and journey renewed.
*Note A person, having passed through an iris once, can train themselves to seek out that resonance in the future. They may qualify for the Iris Sensitive feat.
====The Signpost====
A thin wooden pole juts up out of the ground, like a threadbare flagpole, in the middle of a circle of well-trodden dust. New travelers appear from ephemeral dirt paths surrounding the signpost. One wooden arrow points to each of the roads, and at the base of the signpost lies a plaque. Thoroughly tested by many travelers, its words can be understood by any creature that understands a written language.
"The Road, once lost, is not easily found." 
At the signpost travelers on the Great Crossroads may meet and rest. The extraplanar geometries of the plane encourage solitary travel, but the Signpost has become the unofficial birthplace of many strange journeys.
===Departure===
To leave the Great Crossroads there are no fees to be paid, no obstacles to overcome, or guardians to heed. A traveler must pick a road and walk until they reach their destination. The road a traveler chooses, and the companions they travel with, may influence their destination. A traveler in a hurry will arrive at their destination much less quickly than one content to enjoy the journey. The shift from road to destination is made when the character loses focus of the road and lets their mind wander, before snapping back into focus with the realization that they are suddenly somewhere else. 
===The Great Roads===
====The Home Road====
"I was takin' Rupert and Pod back to the barn for supper when I noticed it. Some fool had gone and dug a path around the barn, but with the rain not comin' for another few months, we'd have corpseweed stinking up the place in no time. I walked 'round a corner right into a gods-damned portal. Lucky enough my Paw taught me my letters; I saw directions for a road going home and set off. A few hours later, I found myself comin' round the corner of my neighbor's barn. Damndest thing."
: — Isiah Xilos Tomas, Farmer
The Home Road is a short, straightforward journey of 1d4 hours and will take its traveler somewhere familiar, safe, and not far from wherever they consider home. Travelers in a group that embark this way will become separated from their companions unless they are likely to arrive at the same place, suddenly noticing their companions have vanished from around them. 
====The Away Road====
"I'd been working under the guidance of Arcanum for forty years by that point, do you understand? When I found the iris, I didn't hesitate or consider what dangers the road going Away might lead me into. I was brash and reckless. When I reached the end of the road I was blinded by burning sun and scorching sands. I'm no fool. I thought I was ready for anything, but if I hadn't prepared a teleportation spell earlier that day, my unlucky bones would still be out there, lost in the Dunes. "
: — Galladia Numen, Arcanum Field-Researcher
The Away Road is a winding journey of 2d4 hours and will take its traveler somewhere unfamiliar, exotic, and foreign. It is the most likely of the Roads to lead its traveler to a plane they are not native to. It can be traveled independently or in a group.
====The Somewhere Road====
"Which one? Oh, the scar over my eye! Good story, that. I took the road going Somewhere and popped up in the gateworks beneath the arena at Athaers. Unlucky me, I found m'self on the prisoner's side, and the wardens weren't keen on listenin' to me tell them I didn't belong. To make a long story short, I ended up needin' to wrestle a Trenchteeth off'a me. It took me eye, I took its throat. After the match and settin' the guard straight, I buggered off. No sense in stayin' somewhere with fightin' Trenchteeth."
: — Torvin Corvus M'raun, Dwarf warrior
The Somewhere Road will lead you on a path over 2d4 hours to an event in progress — always interesting, occasionally complicated, and sometimes dangerous. This Road can be traveled independently or in a group. Unique to this Road is the chance to unexpectedly encounter another party traveling down it, merging both groups into one and leading them to the same destination.
====The Nowhere Road====
"It's the feeling you get driving down a wasteland road at night. It's eerie, you're going somewhere you can't know, and you feel like anything can jump out at you at any time. But nothing does. There's nothing for miles. It's just you and the road." 
: — Dr. Thomas Branson, Waster Inventor
The Nowhere Road is a journey in itself, taking 4d6 hours to reach its destination, which is always a lonely road in empty wilderness. These paths are distant from settlements, little-traveled, and frequently overrun or in disrepair. The traveler will always arrive at their destination alone, or with their group if they traveled with one. This Road is particularly loved by wanderers and wayfarers, those that choose to return time and time again to the Great Crossroads and her many destinations. 
===Losing the Road===
When a traveler ignores the signpost's warning and steps off the road into the vast emptiness of the Great Crossroads they risk becoming lost. As long as the individual (or an individual, if an entire group is foolhardy enough to wander off the Road at once) can maintain focus on the Road they departed, all is safe, and a return to the Road is not difficult. If focus is lost they may become isolated forever in the desolation of the Great Crossroads.
At the end of every minute a character spends off of the Road they must make a DC (5 + 1 for each previous check) Will save to maintain focus on it. If the character cannot physically see the Road this DC increases by 10; if the character is distracted this DC increases by 5. Success allows the character to remain focused on the Road, which they may navigate back to at their discretion. If the character fails this save they lose focus on the Road, becoming lost as it vanishes from the ground before their eyes.
Becoming lost in the Great Crossroads' desolation is a death sentence for travelers who cannot survive off of dirt and stone. Starvation and thirst are real dangers. No water can be found, nor any living life in these barren lands. A character can attempt to navigate back to the Road by making a DC (10 + Character's Hit Dice + 5 for each previous check) Autohypnosis or Survival skill check once every hour. A character who succeeds this check regains focus on the Road and can navigate to it as it appears in their perception.
Being lost in the wastes of the Great Crossroads is a dangerous thing; unless a traveler can survive off of dirt and stone, starvation and thirst are serious dangers. No water runs in the riverbeds of this desolation, and no living life dwells in its barren lands.
Category:Planes
Category:Locations