Rifts
Rifts are a feature caused by Termanistan's continual growth. They are basically tears in the fabric of reality, and are more common closer to the Fringes.
Nature
Termanistan continues to grow, thousands of years after its creation. This happens both by the Fringes stretching their tendrils further into the Unborn Void, and through the more-or-less sudden addition of new landmass in already existing areas. When the latter happens, there is a period when too much matter has heaped up in one area, and not enough in another.
When this happens, reality itself figures out a way to deal with the problem, and the effects appear curious and weird to a regular observer.
Kinds
Rifts behave in different ways. Most fall into one of a group of common behaviors, but a few are unique, or at least rare enough not to have a kind named after them.
Tears
Tears are probably the most straight-forward of Rifts, and are also the most common. They gradually open, and appear as simple holes in the ground, as if an earthquake had torn the two sides apart.
Tears take the longest to heal, and though it seems no new matter is added, they slowly fill up and close over a period of between six weeks and two years.
Tears are also the largest type of Rifts, commonly 1-2 meters wide and 5-10 meters long.
Puckers
A Pucker is similar to a Tear in that it is a circumference with not enough area to fill it. Instead of doing the logical thing and creating a hole, reality has in this case pulled the circumference tighter. This causes a harder-to-detect Rift with the intriguing property that crossing through it is shorter than passing by it. That is, a straight line through the Rift reaches further than an equally long line that does not.
Puckers tend to be circular, 2-3 meters in diameter. They usually heal in 1-5 weeks.
Crumples
A Crumple is basically the opposite of a Pucker. Instead of there being too much circumference and not enough area, there is too much area and not enough circumference to hold it. This causes movement through a Crumple to be longer than the equivalent distance outside.
Crumples are similar in size and longevity to Puckers.
Columns
A Column is somewhat harder to describe than the previous kinds. Where the previous kinds all involve regular space, the Column is like a Tear filled with the Unborn Void. The edges of a Column are clearly demarcated, and it is sometimes possible to see through one. The human brain is however ill-equipped to understand the very absence of absolutely everything that exists inside its circumference.
Most Columns appear as jagged columns of indescribable (or indeed, non-existent) color, jutting from the ground and infinitely far into the air. Most can be safely touched, and seem to have no texture, without appearing smooth. They are neither hot nor cold to the touch.
Columns generally shrink and disappear over a period of 1-3 months.
Not all Columns are safe to touch, and any matter forced into the Unborn Void can be very hard to bring back.
!!!WARNING!!!
Dangers
- While most Rifts are harmless, some Columns do not stop matter from disappearing into the Unborn Void. Fingers, arms and small children have been lost this way, and for a period this was used as an execution method in Zil-Shahaar. It is said that some mages keep Columns like that open so as to use them as garbage cans.
- Near the Fringes, the appearance of new Rifts can sometimes be a sudden and violent event, with new mass added in a manner that most resembles an explosion. Rifts also form much more quickly near the Fringes, and explorers do not always have the time to react before a Tear removes the ground under their feet. And let's not think about what could happen if one straddled a Tear as it burst open.
