The Great Wind
The Great Wind is a supernatural pathway between worlds in the Clarkwoods Literary Universe.
First discovered and named by a species of winged humanoids called qhirats, techniques for entering and navigating the Great Wind were eventually passed on to other species living nearby.
The dwarves, for instance—living one planet away from the qhirats on Thün Büldar—became perhaps the universe’s most adept masters of The Great Wind. By developing the sophisticated Wind Drive for instance, they were able to travel efficiently between every corner of the cosmos, an achievement which led to them becoming the dominant species in the universe—both technologically and, later, economically.
Manifestation
The Great Wind manifests as a strong air current in the upper atmosphere of most planets. It is distinguishable from lesser, mundane winds by its distinctive aroma—distinctive, at least, when you consider you probably shouldn’t be smelling anything like it that high up into the sky.
Described by the qhirats to the dwarves as the “smell of possibility,” Earthlings have said it smells like the sea breeze wafting across a warm tropical beach. The dwarves, not satisfied with such poetic and imprecise signs to look for, designed their Wind Drives by scanning the air around the phenomenon and analyzing the particular combination of chemicals to be on the lookout for.
Once swept up in the current of The Great Wind, the traveler is able to use an interstellar map compiled by the dwarves to navigate from one place to another. The speed of travel, while not instantaneous, is similar to that of the hyperspace technology commonly depicted in the pages of science fiction.
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