Death Gates were given a single, simple rotation direction. This configuration from the original magic produced a flattened disk that, as rotation increased, developed a depression on both sides. It was the development of this symmetrical event horizon that gave the Death Gates a stable axis of direction and, eventually, would allow passage from one realm to the next. Due to this symmetry, the Death Gates are stable in both directions of passage. This made the Death Gates ideal for Sartan and mensch to travel between the realms once the Death Gates were open at the Jran-kri.[68] Conduits, however, are created when a singularity is given, or develops on its own, a complex motion relative to the probability boundary between realms. When more than one axis of rotation is involved, the complex event horizon in fast-rotating singularities creates a field allowing one-way passage between realms but offers no way of returning through the same singularity. Conduits were to be utilized to transport raw materials, power, light, and water between the realms at the Jran-kri. It found other uses as well, apparently, for I suspect that one such conduit was used to send our people to the Labyrinth—as well as those Sartan who disagreed with the council under Samah.
In addition to their form, each harmonic path also has a state. This state is determined by the speed of its rotation. The higher the speed of the rotation, the more flattened the event horizon of the singularity. The thinner the event horizon at the point of passage, the more defined the direction of travel and the easier the trip.
There are three states mentioned in the Jrandin Rheus, though only the first two are explained.
Barred
The first state is called barred. This state is created when a singularity rotates “slowly.” This rotation rate is quite high compared to the turning of a mill wheel, for example, but is slow compared to the open state. As a Barred Gate, the rotation of the singularity forms a disk with a depression on each side. Through this depression—the thinnest part of the disk—a traveler can pass from one realm to the next. Such passage, however, comes at tremendous personal cost. I, of course, have transited the Death Gate while it was barred. It was not an experience I would care to repeat, for it brings one uncomfortably close to knowledge that one would just as soon forget. Conduits rotating in the barred state can allow the passage of some people and materials in one direction, as I have stated, but are subject to the same difficulties as the Death Gates. Until these conduits were brought to a full and open state, it would be impossible for the realms to function together.
Open
At the Jran-kri, the gates and conduits were “open.” This means that the relative rotation of the gates and conduits was vastly increased. This resulted in the event horizon of the harmonic paths forming a torus shape with the event horizon surrounding a clear hole of reality bridging the realms (Figure 4). In the region of this bridging reality, all the realms could be linked and traveled. The thoughts of the individual at the time of transition are critical to the transition to the desired destination being property made. Concentration is vital for a successful passage.
With the conduits open, the interaction of the worlds is set in motion. The conduits widen and allow vastly greater amounts of all kinds of power and materials to move into the next realm. The circuitous design of the realms, as originally planned by the Sartan, allows for the smooth flow of goods and materials. Within a few months, the realms should be productive and functioning well. It is ironic that the Sartan abandoned their experiment before they could taste its fruits.
Stopped
There is a third state mentioned in the text, a state where the singularities stop rotating altogether. Such a state would, of course, prevent any passage from realm to realm of either personnel or goods.
Appendix III
The Kicksey-winsey Demystificated
This was taken from a monograph based on a speech given by Limbeck Bolttightner, a dwarf of my acquaintance in the Realm of Air. Both intelligent and curious, Limbeck became more and more interested as time went on in the true workings and nature of the Kicksey-winsey. This compilation is almost certainly a mixture of the Kenkari book’s observations coupled with the intimate knowledge of the great machine that the dwarves possess.
In the beginning of all time and creation, there was the Kicksey-winsey. There were also a lot of things before that, but they didn’t really matter. It wasn’t until the Kicksey-winsey came into being that there was any point or purpose to life. The Mangers, great and terrible beings of the sky, created this most wonderful place and brought we dwarves down to it. Then they left us alone. When they left us alone, they really messed up.
From that time until now, we have continued to struggle, work, and serve the Kicksey-winsey with our lives and our blood. We didn’t know why. No one told us what the lever twisting did when we twisted or why bolt tightening was of any consequence. My old friend Balin Purgeflusher—a fine and dedicated dwarf until his untimely accident—had no concept of what he was flushing when he purged.
You, my fellow dwarves, have been born in an age of enlightenment—when we are no longer slaves to the elves nor to the humans nor even to the Mangers who dumped us here like so much garbage. We no longer grovel. We no longer live off the scraps tossed to us by others. Today, we have lifted up our heads and stand tall—as tall as we can in such circumstances—with our elven and human neighbors.
One of the great benefits of this age of enlightenment is that we now have a better understanding of the Kicksey-winsey and its overall purpose. Dwarves from every scrift often ask me, “What is the Kicksey-winsey?” and “Where did it come from?” and “What do all the parts do?” and “When do we eat?” They should be asking, “Why do we have a Kicksey-winsey?” but since I just asked that question, I’ll answer all of them—even the one you didn’t think to ask. WHAT IS THE KICKSEY-WINSEY?
The Kicksey-winsey is a masheen. A masheen is a collection of wheels and turn-knobbies and lever-bangers and tube-zoomers that, when all put together, DO SOMETHING! That is a masheen. When you turn your turny-wheelie, you are helping the masheen to do something.
Just what you are doing is highly dependent upon what part of the Kicksey-winsey you are serving. The diagrammatic map of the Kicksey-winsey—drawn by myself and reproduced here for the first time—should serve to demystificate the mystifying masheen. If you will pay attention and follow along on my map, you will recognize parts of the Kicksey-winsey that you and your family have served for generations.
At its very simplest, a masheen takes stuff called matrels and turns it into poduct-goodys. Matrels are, by themselves, pretty useless stuff. An example of matrels would be the ore brought up by the dig claws from below. To date, the dig claws have been the primary source of matrels for the Kicksey-winsey. However, in a startling revelation, we now know that this ore was only intended to be used for the building of the Kicksey-winsey itself—not for the actual creation of poduct-goodys! The primary source of matrels was to be a location that we know as Wombe. Wombe has traditionally been the home of the Scrift Heads and the High Froman. Perhaps many of you, too, have told jokes about the Froman and how they never really worked and served the Kicksey-winsey. This is because his tasks—the collection of matrels from the Lexax[69] through mystical processes understood only vaguely by the Froman through tradition—was not possible to perform until the Alignment of the World. With the lands of all creation[70] now brought into harmony, the intended work of the Froman has begun, and at last, all the people of our government are honestly employed.
69
The dwarves’ spiritual concepts are limited to the realm of Arianus. They have little conception of an “outside” reality or of other spheres of existence beyond a vague and often self-contradictory mythology of a place called Lexax—a possible derivation from the word Nexus. In trying to convey the notion of importing raw materials from the other realms of existence, this was the only framework in which the dwarves could understand the concept.