Hello everyone! I'm having a bit of trouble creating a portal in a way that makes sense with my magic system. I'd love to know whether or not, after reading this, it makes sense enough for you to not question it. I'd also love if you could point out any flaws in logic or things that don't make sense, etc. Also, any examples of how portals work in other fantasy / universes would be really helpful! Thanks a bunch! Preface 1: A portal is created by opening two doors, one at point a) and one at point b), and then collapsing the space in-between to make travel instant (at least that makes sense to my brain). Preface 2: Gods can only use magic to create. Demons can only use magic to destroy. When a God or Demon is killed, their soul returns to Heaven/Hell respectively to form a new body. So, we have a God and a Demon. The God wants to open a portal to Hell in order to go in and kick some demon ass. But the God doesn't know where Hell is. So he creates the first door at point a), right in front of him: the first part of the portal. Then he uses magic to tether the demon's soul to point a) portal. Afterwards, he murder-hobos the demon. The murderized Demon's soul shoots back to Hell, and with the tether attached, the God has a trail to follow. When the Demon Soul allegedly reaches Hell, the God uses magic to open a point b) portal there. With the two doors created, he then wrenches the demon's soul back through that space towards the first portal. The Demon's Soul goes berserk, unconsciously doing what it does best--destroying shit. As it is dragged back towards the first portal, the space between the two collapses. As the space between door a) and door b) is destroyed by the Demon Soul being dragged through it, the doors eventually touch. Ta-duh, portal to hell get. Thoughts? Does it even matter? Am I over thinking this?
I dont think it matters too much. In fact, if you use more than a few sentences to describe why it works you might make the reader think too much about it instead of the important stuff.
I kind of equate all that shit to space travel in sci-fi. There is nothing that interests me less than how the ship got from point A to B. I've read enough books to accept that the ship can fly through space or the magician can make something magical happen. Don't care about the technology or the magic system... way more interested in the narrative surrounding it. It's just my opinion, but that's like a contemporary novel explaining how a car works. If your POV is for real there's no reason to explain things that would be mundane in your characters' world. Just like cars, dishwashers, and food processors need no explanation in ours.
That makes a lot of sense. Narrative is naturally number one! I think I'm mostly concerned over it at the moment because I have to know how they plan to make the portal work if I want to write in the tools for the hero to be able to make is stop working. Maybe a magical self destruct button...
Are you writing Hard-Fantasy (Like Hard Sci-fi but with technical Magick) ? From what limited knowledge I have of these fantasy portals, one usually needs some kind of enchanted key to close such a thing. Typically this key is stashed in the only place where nobody but the fabled one can survive getting it. Alternatively you need find wizard/witch/enchantress with a spell that can close it. Or a ritual that needs to be performed almost exactly to the letter. Opens portal to Hell. Colleague gets lost on the other side. Hires private Contractor to go and find them, or at least bring back their bodies from Hell.
Its one of those situations where the audience doesn't give half a heck about your reasoning, but for some reason you the author really really really need to have a concept of how it works to move forward writing it, hah. Also I love your pictures.
Scientist Barbie, and DOOM Guy (AKA Doom Slayer) from DOOM 2016. While DOOM is set in a Sci-fi/Fantasy universe, the final goal to shut the portal from Hell to Mars, means defeating the Cyber-Demon. So you could technically have it opened due to an accident, and then play around with spells/rituals/keys to close it. Though if you are writing full Fantasy, then it would be hard to use some science mumbo jumbo of : We found an efficient energy source. On a base level portals work on the rules that they are rips or tears in the fabric of reality and space/time, allowing you to travel instantly between two points. A little more complex than Wormhole travel theory. But in simple terms they pass through another dimension external to the one they exist and come out again in their world. It works a bit like warping or bending space/time to meet at two specific points, but on a planetary scale and not interstellar. Instead you travel through two points butted to each other through the 'multiverse' so you can pass instantly from one location to another, without destroying the very fabric of space and time, by subverting it through traversing the planets every possible position that can be in an infinite variable. This will allow them to pass between to points based upon the fact that in multiverse theory on a planetary basis, all positions on the orbital plain can and do exist in tandem with the current position of the traveler. Though if you were to be able to move your position from point A to point B under this theory, you would either come out in your future by 24hrs, or in the past 24hrs, given you move exactly to a fixed point opposite your origin. Not sure if this is helpful or not, but I hope it helps in at least a smidgen.
