Space travel
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Traversing the vast reaches of the Material Plane past the gravitational bonds of a planet is no small task, but inhabitants of a few worlds—including Golarion—have achieved space travel, whether by spell, spaceship, a combination of the two, or other mysterious means.
On Golarion
Golarion's peoples have not developed the technological capacity to leave Golarion, but some have deployed powerful—if unstable—magical transports.
- The Lirgen's Glory used a bound vrock to power its flight from Oagon, Lirgen, into space.1
- An arcane engine in Fangwood Keep once powered a highly specific tree step spell designed for interplanetary travel.2
- A number of portals on Golarion can teleport people to other planets.3
Golarion also occasionally receives visitors from space, including the tremendous crash of the Divinity in the Rain of Stars over Numeria.4
Challenges of space travel from Golarion
Most teleportation spells are incapable of transporting creatures from Golarion to any other planetary body, including its own moon.5 Very specific and powerful spells, such as interplanetary teleport,6 remain the most accessible methods for those with the means to cast or commission them.
Portals to other worlds are often keyed, limiting access to those who know their location and understand their purpose.3
Physically traversing space itself presents numerous additional challenges. Space is a hostile environment; the void's frigid vacuum can suffocate or freeze unadapted and unprotected travelers within seconds, gravitational forces (or the lack thereof) can make controlling one's movement difficult or outright rip creatures apart, and the vast distances between worlds require extraordinary speed to reach even the nearest destinations in anything less than a matter of years.7
Prospective space travelers could tame wild space-native shantaks visiting Golarion, taking advantage of their speed and ability to protect their riders from the hazards of space. Certain magical items, such as a necklace of adaptation, can also protect space travelers.7 Androffan technology recovered from Numeria can also provide such protective effects, though the Technic League controls much of the Divinity wreckage's functional items, and millennia-old salvage might be unreliable and difficult or impossible to repair.8
Space travel via coterminous planes
As both the Shadow Plane and the First World are coterminous with the Material Plane (i.e., each point on the Shadow Plane corresponds to one on the Material Plane), it is theoretically possible to travel through them to other planets within Golarion's solar system. This would be accomplished by entering one of these planes from Golarion, traveling through it, and then exiting at a point that corresponded with another planet. The benefit of this would be that the traveler could avoid moving through the void between the planets, but the downsides are also considerable. Traveling through the Shadow Plane is not without its risks, and would still involve bridging the vast distances between the planets. Travel through the First World is highly unpredictable, as the plane's geography is constantly shifting, and could deposit a traveler exiting the plane in the void of space or within a star just as easily.9
Elsewhere in the Material Plane
- The planet Apostae might also be a spaceship of unknown origin.10
- Elements of the Dominion of the Black are capable of space travel, such as the organic spaceships piloted by shipminds.111
- Several worlds, including Androffa, Brethedan, Eox, and Verces, have or once had spaceships capable of space travel.12
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mike Welham. (2013). Doom Comes to Dustpawn, p. 3–4. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-504-4
- ↑ Alex Greenshields. (2013). Fangwood Keep, p. 3. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-476-4
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 James Jacobs et al. (2011). The Inner Sea World Guide, p. 95. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-269-2
- ↑ Neil Spicer. (2014). Fires of Creation. Fires of Creation, p. 7. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-673-7
- ↑ Richard Pett. (2012). The Moonscar, p. 4. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-426-9
- ↑ James Jacobs et al. (2011). The Inner Sea World Guide, p. 295. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-269-2
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Richard Pett. (2012). The Moonscar, p. 5. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-426-9
- ↑ James Jacobs and Russ Taylor. (2014). Technology Guide, Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-672-0
- ↑ James L. Sutter. (2012). Distant Worlds, Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-403-0
- ↑ James L. Sutter. (2012). Distant Worlds, p. 44. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-403-0
- ↑ Mike Shel. (2014). Bestiary. Valley of the Brain Collectors, p. 87. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-704-8
- ↑ James L. Sutter. (2012). Distant Worlds, Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-403-0