Created by the ancient Aelfs, these passages and pockets of experience were made of the stuff of dreams. Some say they are the remnants of the ripple through time and space as the dreams of the first dragons swam throughout the stars and between worlds. They allowed the Aelfs to side step and move over great distances. They generally reflected the state of the dreamers, when amplified with Augmentum. On each world, if the ancient Aelf peoples once populated it, they would find the primary Laey – a vein of energy – that they would tie the anchor points of the Aelfpath to. The paths are a strange crossroad of the Dreamlands and other worlds of wild magics, shadow, and light. The Aelfpath thrives on thoughts and life, if the paths are not walked by sentient creatures, they grow weak, the roads wash out, and mist encloses it, preventing and obscuring any features off the path. The older an Aelfpath is, the greater the terrain around it will solidify from the thought and dreams of the walkers. In the Aelpaths, time has no meaning as to what happens on them – the echoes and memories of those who have traveled them can be accessed by those who know how to.
Healthy, soft, warm and placid – these are the safe waypaths of the Aelfpaths. Each Loam Road has a name, and there is usually but one for each world.
These are the manifestations of thoughts along the Loam Road. They hold the thoughts of past travelers to help light the way for travelers who know how to see them and communicate with them. As an aelfpath fades and grows weak, so to do these “collectors of memory”.
Many Aelfpaths Feature This – a place of anxiety, fear, shadows, and the smell of decaying foliage. The broken road appears when some corruption of the Loam Road takes place, or an anchor point along the Laey is twisted or broken. The Broken Road seems to be so called because it’s generally broken up by encroaching foliage every so often, and roots that trip. Its rolling, and meanders back and forth – no straight lengths more than 100 feet. The road itself allows for normal travel pace, its just every so often, a fallen tree, rock slide, overgrowth or brambles covers all or a majority of the road. It is easy to find away around in each case, but dangerous and time-consuming. Where debris clutters the road, shadows twist and turn and light plays tricks with the vision on the traveler.
After a mile, the PC’s should each make a check or fall, twist an ankle, sprain a wrist in breaking a fall, or in general get bumped, broken and scraped. Wind howls in their ears momentarily, and standing up seems to be resisted.