-Mistgate

History

It was just after the first brave pioneers ventured over the seas to discover the continent Tymera. The newly established civilization began exploring along a frontier into this unknown land, eventually coming across a very curious structure.   At first, no one knew what to make of it. The structure was very elaborately designed, with thaumatic spells inscribed on its framework that were so advanced as to be far beyond any Amuran's skill level. The structure resembled a gate, with beautifully crafted equine sculptures adorning either side. Arcane runes and sigils were carved directly into the hardwood framework, perplexing even the most renown Amuran scholars that were brought to examine it. Who could have created this, and what purpose did it serve? The only clue was a prominent symbol that seemed to be formed out of the very wood grain itself at the center of the gate's frame. The symbol was known simply to say "Equinox".   As it happened, the wild horses that roamed Tymera were friendly and eager to form bonds with the race of Men that had discovered their land. The bond was named "cavalia" and one's bonded horse referred to as their cavalian. This bond created an almost telepathic connection between Man and horse. It was a Polkan who had first, and quite by accident, sent his cavalian into the Mist. At the time, no one knew what that meant, and it appeared that the horse was lost. Later, this Polkan had traveled to the mistgate, and upon seeing the symbology built into the gate, he desperately wished to see his cavalian again. He put his hand upon the structure. The gate opened, and his cavalian walked out to everyone's shock.   Experiments followed, with various Men sending their horses to the Mist, only to find they too were able to retrieve them at the mistgate. This is when some clever Amurans got the idea of replicating the structure. After careful study and experimentation, they found that a much less extravagant version could be constructed, with the talents of all three tribes of Men, reverse engineering the advanced thaumaturgy present on the original. The project was a success, and a new mistgate was built in the town square of the nearest village. Men soon discovered that no matter where their cavalians were sent into the Mist, they could be retrieved from any mistgate, and further, time itself seemed to not pass in any way for the cavalians that had vanished into the Mist.   From this point forward, mistgate production had spread wide, through significant effort and skill, to create convenient ways of retrieving one's cavalian even if far away from home, thus no longer requiring the actual riding of the cavalian for the distance, should they become separated through circumstance.   Even in the current age, no one knows exactly why the original mistgate was built, or why Mankind was given this gift that has shaped their very culture since time immemorial.