The structure/shape/... of the Way

[Telephalsion]

sure about that? for all we know there might be "cave stretches"! in the pits, maybe further down.

[Winnipeg]

Considering that he was moving along The Way by travelling through the pits, I'd imagine it has stretches of some sort. Besides, isn't that generally why wanderers say? That it follows along the entire length of The Way?

[Forerunner]

I've been contemplating the upper way without too much success.

I assume that for something to be a 'stretch' you have to be able to progress along the Way while there.
i.e. You actually have to be able to travel to places and stuff.

And I agree with there being stretches in the Pits, because you can travel through the pits, you just have to be either skilled or suicidal. And because the pits are part of the lower way, and they have stretches. Then it makes sense that the Upper Way must have stretches.

But how would you travel in the Upper Way? Is there hidden pathways in the clouds... or is there a mysterious way to travel between the tops of high towers and mountains without having to go down to the regular level of the Way?

Many possiblities.

[Sage Of The Wise]

Dream Estrana could be the upperway... i dont know how that would work though.

And there are only stretches on the way because people (supposedly the forrunners) decided that there were. It really has no effect on the way at all, so I doubt whether the upper and lower way is split into stretches makes a differerence.

[Eckolin]

It is also possible that the way doesn't have any of the basic shapes that have been proposed, but rather a more exotic one.

Edit: as Phile correctly pointed out.

[Sage Of The Wise]

While I guess it is possible it could be in some really weird shape, I think anything you could think of still follows the principles of one of those structures.

[Eckolin]

In terms of boundry, yes.

[Belthazar]

but if there really is and end to The Way would you be unable to travel past that point if your on the upper or lower way?

[Telephalsion]

it's obvious the way is pretzel shaped, and the end of the way is the intersection, the middle way is one circle, with the pits under it, and then the upper way is a completely different circle that connects to the end of the way.

[/end stupid]

[Winnipeg]

Keep in mind that the end of the Way is constantly shifting. So it does make sense that its still a cyclical shape of some sort.

[Telephalsion]

the way is a wheel, a badly pumped bicycle wheel, the flat part facing down is the middle way, and the edges are the rolling mists, the pits are the ground and the upper way isthe center of the wheel. SO COOL!

[Oipo]

I'd have to add to this, that the forerunners might also be the people making changes. Like inventing new technology and such. As opposed to the people running in the front, to make wayposts for new stretches.
This combines in well with the cycle mentioned before, and still applies progress.

[AznChipmunk]

I don't know much about the Upper Way, because I don't think Rhue has been there yet, unless its Dream Estrana?...

And yeah, I wasn't sure about that.

[Phile]

I prefer Tele's first idea to his last ones ^^
So here is a sketch of the globe theory. I admit it's less clear than the first one.



It shows on the one hand, the two different models of the planet theory:
on the upper right a rough sketch of the possibility that the stretches are consecutively in series, just as in the strip model, which fits in Forerunner's idea.

The sketch below the globe/strip-mix picture on the right side shows the contrarious idea, hence the stretches are not in line but would come side by side, just as it is the case on usual planets. I guess we all agree that this is unlikely because the wanderers and settlers on the way would note the fact that their beleif in the way was wrong in this obvious case.

The big messy sketch shows a cross possibility. yeah, it looks like I wanted to draw a sphere ignoring the fact that a globe has got a back side. I rather would have to draw it in this orange peel thingy way which you can see in atlases... but I guess you know what it is all about. I gave my fancy full scope, so I know this is for sure not the Way as Lun imagines it to look like. It should just be a model that combines different aspects of the "extreme example" and the strip/ring/... ideas.
Rhue wanders the Way on a line but sometimes there are branchings and short cuts. For instance this lake/sea thing between Estrana/Laodicea and the Forest Maze/Rebel Camp/End of the Way: we remember that Strata & Lyrra were travelling on a ship whereas Rhue, Dirk, Scatha and Kloe were cutting there own path through Laodicea, Asyra, the Sky Peaks and the following forest. Both groups meet again (incompletely) at the rebel camp where Rhue kills Lyrra. The strip/ring/etc. models face problems explaining how both parties can take different routes but arrive at the same destination. Not to mention the many occasions when Gaius or Traziun part ways with Rhue, particulary with regard to the scene when Rhue fights in the Blana Sera temple while Traziun faces up to his father (I could cry of joy, thinkin of that experience) in the Dark (Lyn?) Fortress. Rhue never catches sight of the fortress, so it is located beyond the route Rhue is wandering on and maybe this disproves all strip/ring/... theories.

[Belthazar]

Nice drawing its sorta answering some of my questions but making me ask some more. Like i just noticed that uptil now we haven't seen any big body of water like an ocean and ur drawing doesn't show one also. I always kinda saw humans as useless without water guess im kinda wrong.