The Great Chain

The Great Chain is a naturally occuring linkage system between most worlds. It is named this way because of its similarity to a chain, where each world is usually connected to two other worlds that can be warped to relative positions on through the use of certain high level magic. Because of this, many people come to the incorrect assumption that the Great Chain links completely different planes and realities but observation of the night sky and certain spacial explorations by adventerous mages have revealed that the worlds exist within the same universe, not linked based off of proximity but still linked despite being within the same plane.

Navigation and Modification

Traversing the Chain

One of the main interactions with the Great Chain is using it to teleport to another world, which is an incredibly risky and difficult endeavour. To traverse the Great Chain, at minimum, someone would need an incredibly experienced Teleportation Mage with a large supply of Mana Crystalsto provide the skill and Magic-Based Energy needed to travel. The ritual magic that the mage would need to perform is an incredibly draining, albeit short-lived, task that determines the stability of the teleportation.
The stability of the teleportation is incredibly important, as it determines whether someone succesfully teleports to a neighbouring world in the correct direction, and if it's done too porrly they may not even fully travel, appearing either in a midway point in Space or becoming lost in the teleportation currents and dematerialised into Aether Energy. There are multiple different ways to improve the stability of the teleportation, including the use of Mana Crystals to create anAnchorage Crystal, providing an anchor point for the teleportation to latch onto.

Manipulating the Chain

Although the Great Chainn is very hard to control, there are a few methods of modifying it, the most notable method of which is by creating new links between worlds. The other methods of controlling or manipulating the Great Chain are severing links and tightening already existing links.
To create new links, there needs to be a vast supply of capable mages and either aPortal Gateway or an extremely High-Magic Enviroment. As expected, most people choose to use a Portal Gateway because of the very present health complications from spending time in a High-Magic Environment. To esrtablish the link, the mages spend a large amount of time accumulating and harnessing magic, which is then directed akin to a cannon blast through multiple dimensions of reality. The success of this method is incredibly variable, as it can fail even if performed perfectly, or succeed if botched, but whatever the result it will either establish a temporary Chain Link, which needs to be established later on, or simply disperse the magic into the local environment. As for forming a Link in a High-Magic Environment, it requires the group of mages to hharness and direct magic into the environment, attempting to form a gateway to an Aether World, which through various rituals can be diverted to form an established Chain Link, which then becomes temporary if either side of the Chain Link is not in an area with high enough magic levels.
In contrast to the complexity of creating a link, the severing of a Chain Link is incredibly simple and can be performed by a single mage given enough access to magic and dedication. One of the main prerequisites of severing a Chain Link is to disperse large amounts of magic into the Chain Link, attempting to overcharge it and cause a magical discharge, which usually destabilises the Chain Link, which promptly collapses and leaves remnants behind that makes it easier to relink later on. The more refined method of severing Chain Links involves both sides of the Chain Link, where two mages attempt to establish a direct magic transfer, where they can feed eachother magic over a longer distance, through the Chain Link, which is a very draining process that can only be maintained for a short time. When this transfer is formed, the mages then need to try draining Aether Magic from within the Chain Link into the transfer in what is usually a suicide mission. If they drain enough magic before dying from the Aether intake, the Chain Link very suddenly cuts, releasing any remaining Aether Energy to where the mages were, often destroying the areas and wiping out anyone nearby.
The most destructive action that can be taken with a Chain Link is tightening it, which involves shrinking the distance of the Chain Link by moving both planetary objects closer together through space or by pulling one or both planets into the Chain Link. To move both planets closer together is an incredibly complicated process that involves the manipulation of various factors on both planets and with the Chain Link itself to amplify their gravitational forces on eachother without impacting the other relative gravities, causing the orbits of both planets to begin warping with increasing strength and, even if it takes centuries to move across the galaxy(ies), they eventully come into collission orbits and, unless action is taken to restore the orbits, collide with eachother. The other method of tightening the Chain Link, pulling the planets into it, involves an equally complex process of manipulating both planets and the Chain Link that eventually results in the planets being pulled inside the Chain Link, but because of the Aether Magic within the Chain Link, there are only a few survivors of this process to witness the planets travelling on the fringe of reality until they either collide, fully destroying eachother as they dematerialise into Aether Magic and their Chain Link collapses, or manual interference succesfully prevents them from getting too close or manages to have them move parallell and change sides. After this, the Chain Link will naturally stabilise and shrink until both planets are released back into space, but there is a risk of appearing inside other celestial bodies or being damaged in the process.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane