There are few who walk the Pathways willingly. Those who cross the borders most often do so when they have lost their own way; vagabonds and runaway and inexperienced travelers. Stories told by drunks late to home may well bare fantastical truths. Some find themselves drawn to paths that seem to open as if for they alone; doorways and alleyways that suddenly stray from an old familiar lane. Few in our history have boasted the knowledge of not only finding but opening a Path at will.

The classical model of our Gaia places the Realms adjacent to her with the Paths as bridges between. Rather, it could be said that each of the Realms instead overlaps with Gaia's own presence with countless intersections forming both persistent and temporary Pathways between. Persistent Paths open most often when places of elemental prominence coincide with leylines. Over time the qualities of the associated Realm may bleed through onto Gaia, tainting the ambient mana such as in the infamous Iron Forest. In such places it may be impossible to tell when a crossing has taken place due to the blurring of the borders though anecdotal reports claim the return trip to be more difficult.

It has long been believed that the Fae know the methods of crossing though inquiries would suggest it is some instinct that affords their abilities; indeed, my own venture into the matter yielded only barely coherent ramblings of a few scatterbrained fairies. Similarly the research notes of the last known Wayfarer, the late Arcmagus Threehills, has largely gone undeciphered save for repeated use of the vernacular "going Sideways." The Arcmagus was more interested in exploring the Paths than instructing others in finding the way.