Gate Spell

A Gate spell is a magical way of connecting two locations without going through the intervening spaces. In its simplest form, a gate is any contiguously-bounded plane, such as a picture frame, hula hoop, window, doorway, or even the eye of a needle.  Once cast, the connection allows for two-way travel, in most cases identical to any normal mode of travel.  Most forms of energy pass freely through a gate, as do most forms of matter.  With a gate spell, a wizard can step through a doorway between rooms, no matter how widely separated those rooms might be.

In appearance, the physical portion of a gate can be almost anything.  A doorway, a picture frame, a mirror frame, a piece of jewelry, a sink drain—anything that can accommodate a two-dimensional “opening.”  When activated, the open space appears to extend away from the activation point, growing deeper and stretching into infinity, usually whirling.  This is due to spatial distortions in the forming wormhole and often compared to “being flushed.” (Note: the effects, if any, on anything in the forming wormhole remain untested.)  When the gate completes its lock-on cycle—usually taking a couple of seconds—the distant connection point seems to rush toward the viewer and “snap close,” rippling for an instant as the connection stabilizes.  The gate is then ready to take passengers or freight simply stepping through the opening.  Unless one is sensitive to magical forces, it’s possible a person might not even realize the door leading to the bathroom is leading to a bathroom in a far-distant location.

Gate spells are expensive in terms of magical energy.  The basic cost of a gate depends on the surface area of of the opening. The more square inches of opening, the greater the cost.  The least expensive gate connections are spells cast on two identical gateway boundaries—matching sets of doorways, for example, or identical diagrams drawn on different walls.  A gate spell can be cast between two similar but not identical openings by adding more power, “forcing” it to establish a link.  Considerably more expensive and difficult is a “brute force” casting of a gate. This is when a gate spell is cast on a single opening and given a specific location to manifest.  The framework of the gate then appears at the destination end, effectively making it appear in two places at once.  Even more difficult is to establish a gate perimeter by casting a spell to define the gate’s borders and contain them, preventing it from expanding beyond its intended size and from dissipating.  As far as we know, only one wizard has ever cast such a spell successfully, due to the massive power requirements being channeled through the caster.

Gates are not limited to physical distances.  A gate from one room of a house to another room is not noticeably less expensive than a gate from Earth to a planet around some distant star.  However, a gate may also cross interuniversal boundaries.  A gate may be opened between Earth and the realm of Faerie, for example, or between Faerie and Rethven, and so on.  Such gates have a much higher base cost than a simple, point-to-point gate within a single universe, and the multipliers for the method—tuned end points, similar end points, no destination frame, and so on—all still apply.

One poorly-understood function of a gate spell is its ability to locate objects.  In theory, a gate spell can be told to find a suitable portal to lock on to, but the definition of “suitable” can be manipulated.  When cast, a gate spell’s wormhole lashes about through the infinite void, seeking the visualized destination point.  If used properly, it finds the doorway the wizard wanted and he can step through.  But if the wizard hacks the guidance portion of the spell by concentrating on something else, the wormhole-tendril will eventually find some instance of whatever the wizard is seeking—provided it exists, and that he can imagine it precisely enough.  A medieval wizard, having seen a car once, is just as likely to find a model of a car as he is to find a vehicle.

As a cautionary note, observe that objects occupying the plane of a gate when it stops functioning are not severed cleanly.  Whichever “end” of the gate initiates the deactivation effectively “lets go” of the wormhole.  It disengages and collapses toward the other end, attempting to take with it anything in the two-dimensional interface.  This does not “cut” the object, but “pulls” it.  Typically, this ejects the object at the far end, somewhat the worse for wear, but a firmly-mounted object, such as a chain attached to a strong mounting point, will be pulled apart.

See also:

Time Ticker

Shift Box