THE PORTAL
A circle of chalk
A ring of stone
And a House of Arches
To call the far gods home
Attrib - Bernard Cornwall 'Stonehenge'
The Portal is a strange construction in the centre of what is now the Wasteland. Scholars speculate that this may be how the gods first came to Erythia, although it is far more likely that this is an inter-planar gate that other creatures, such as the faeries, have used to enter Erythia.
The Portal was the centre of the War of the Gods, as they Younger Gods apparently tried to use it to further their own causes. This caused a huge magical explosion which devastated a huge part of the continent, now known as the Wasteland. The actual cause of the explosion is unknown, but possibly they succeeded in opening a gate to another world, but in doing so damaged this one, this being the most credible of the many theories.
While the possible entry of the original gods through the Portal is a possibility, the exile and subsequent return of the Elemental Lords through the Portal is a certainty (see the legend of the Return of the Elemental Lords for more details). Those few that have entered through the Portal have told of many, many worlds, although no-one knows how to control passage through to arrive upon a habitable world. Many have tried, but none have returned so none know of any success in this venture.
The Portal can be described as a triple ring of stone arches, surrounded by a moat crossed by a long causeway. There is a single stone in the centre which is far bigger than the others, which may have been placed there as an obelisk or a sundial or something, the exact reason being unknown - for we know very little of those who built the Portal, or what each part was supposed to do. When scholars realised the possibility of it being a transdimensional portal and this theory was eventually proved, some claimed that it was through this Portal that Ordo brought the Younger Gods to Erythia.
