Tarnase Arches

In the first years of civilization, the Haendorians explored and settled much of the Northern world, yet in their thirst for new and undiscovered land, they spread themselves too thin. Even the distance between comparatively "close" cities would be over a week's journey on horseback. Thus, the greatest architects constructed an arch in front of every city, and on them was depicted intricate mosaics of the gods wrought in ivory, gold, silver, and gems. The merchants prayed to the gods to connect the arches so that they might travel instantly between them. Their prayers were heard, and so all Haendor cities were connected. Though their beautiful faces were scarred by The Fires of Extinction  and later desecrated by invaders, their bones still stand. To all appearances it seems they have lost their magic, yet there are some who know otherwise.

In fact, once the ancient Men of Earth constructed it, Stonehenge forged a weak connection with one of the Tarnase Arches. With powerful enough magic to activate it, one can cross thousands of light-years of distance in a single step through the arch.

In the latter days of the Autumn of Eainor, the soil accumulated such that the Arches threatened to be buried beneath it. Those who still walked the land dug down to uncover the roots of the Arches and created the new Tarnase Way; all the recovered portals as well as new ones added to connect not only the North but the entire world, as well as a few others. The Way is more reminiscent of tunnels than arches, and several portal junctions open up to the sky, yet it is all overgrown and disused, especially in the barren days between the Autumn and Winter of Eainor (third and fourth ages).