Mandalas

Mandalas are the only means of supraluminal travel in the Empire, with the only known exceptions being the the Excalibur II and Teleportation.

Mandalas are massive crystalline structures found in every system, usually in vicinity of the main habitable planet. While pretty, they are relatively unassuming in their dormant state and rarely larger than a mile. But when excited with the right pattern of electromagnetic frequencies, the structure will charge up for a few minutes, then split apart and bloom into a multi-dimensional matrix of shards spanning several miles that contains a wormhole tunnel to another Mandala.

Looking at a blooming mandala is mind-boggling, but it is also considered an experience of almost painful beauty and even spirituality. There is quite an industry for people to watch and meditate in the vicinity of frequently used mandalas.

All mandalas are similar in structure, either of tri- or hexalateral symmetry, but differ in many details to the point that each of them is considered unique. Even a partial image of a blooming mandala is sufficient to identify any of them.

While floating freely in space, mandalas cannot be forced off their trajectory, nor do they appear damageable in any way. All excess energy seems to siphon off to somewhere not measurable in our dimensions, leading to the theory that all mandalas are merely 'footprints' of a single construct of higher dimensionality.

## The Mandala Web

The network created by the Mandalas is called the Mandala Web. It extends well beyond the Virasana Empire, but data about those planets is anecdotal at best.

While most routes are commonly known, some are held secret by individuals or groups, usually by Noble Houses. Those routes, often highly useful tactical or trade routes, are called 'Jewel Trails'.

On average, each Mandala has roughly four known connections, but maps only show the sytems with any relevance, that is, either with habitable or inhabited planets, noteworthy natural resources or shortcut connections to other systems.

## Travel Times

Due to the fact that the mandalas revolve around the same star as the respective habitable planet, but on a different orbit, travel times to and from a mandala can differ significantly. While most mandalas retain a distance of roughly 2AU from their respective stars, they do not run a synchronized orbit with the systems main planet.

Assuming an maximum acceleration of 31km/s², the trip from a planet to its mandala can take from three days (when the Mandala is at perigee, with an average travel speed of approximately 2 million kilometers per hour (app. 580 km/s or 0,193% c) to nine days (when its at apogee).

For other travel times, see Space Travel in the Virasana Empire

## Mandala Etiquette

Mandalas have to be excited with the right EM frequencies to open to a specific destination. This process is commonly called 'opening' a Mandala or 'dialing a destination'. The time between the initial hail and the actual opening of a stable wormhole can take anything between a few minutes and a few hours, though usually wait times are rather short. The actual 'blooming' of a Mandala only takes about thirty seconds.

Generally, one can only travel through a Mandala from the destination where is has been opened to the target destination, not the other way around. While a dialing process towards a local Mandala is in process, it cannot be opened from this side.

Sometimes, Mandalas refuse any reaction to a dialing process for no apparent reason.

All together, this can lead to significant wait times at any given Mandala, and over the centuries, the following etiquette has evolved concerning their use.

* Ships queue up in order of arrival. First in queue sets target destination and will usually initiate the dialing process.
* Ships can jump queue to form batches with the same target destination.
* Anyone may ask to jump queue in an emergency, but mostly it's only granted to Church or Guild ships.
* Noble ships will be allowed to jump queue at any time without reason just to have them out of the way.

While jumping queue without permission is considered extremely rude, it will mostly be tolerated with little more than a lot of insults. Interfering with an already started dialing process of another ship is considered a grave criminal offense and is likely to cause all other ships present to attack the interloper.