Finistelle Well

The Well of Finistelle is the first element of the Pale Path discovered by human explorers. This paracausal megastructure was found five lightyears away from Finistelle Station, seven thousand lightyears above the galactic plane. It was presumably built by the same civilisation that assembled the Pale Path.

The Well is a megastructure that assumes the shape of a perfectly immobile, hollow needle, three hundred thousand kilometres long and five hundred meters wide. It is made of a single compound that has yet to be identified, but seems to straddle the line between organic material and metal, a common property of transbiological technology. Originally white, this compound turns to grey, then black as it degrades with time and, presumably, exposure to cosmic radiation. The core structure of the Well is assumed to be about five to fifteen billion years old. Only one third of the megastructure exists in our own three-dimensional universe, while the rest seems to be physically present in different, self-contained dimensions. This makes the Well the largest example of trans-dimensional architecture known in the galaxy. Though we can only speculate about its purpose, it is assumed that the Finistelle Well serves two main functions: anchoring the first dimensional bubbles of the Pale Path and connecting them with our own universe.

As is the case with most technological remnants of the Pale Path's builders, the Finistelle Well is in an advanced state of disrepair. It is unknown why the structure of the Well is weakened to such a dramatic extent, but the latest Starmoth Initiative research suggests that the entire structure had structural faults to begin with, owing to a miscalculation in assessing the actual strain a trans-dimensional pin is submitted to. While surprising for such a technologically advanced civilisation, this error can be understood if one takes into account the fact that the Pale Path was probably an experimental concept, perhaps even a hobby project, that may not have received all the care it should have. While the Well isn't expected to fall apart before another billion years, the slow dereliction of its structure results in a thick cloud of dust accumulating at the Pale Path-facing entrance of the pin under dimensional forces. This greatly complicates operations in and around the Finistelle Well.

Humankind is far from the first species to discover the Well, and the Milky Way-facing part of the megastructure is littered with shipwrecks, ancient research stations and space debris. Most of them haven't fared much better than the Well itself and are but empty, featureless hulks littered with micrometeorites impacts. Almost a hundred thousand Sequence wrecks have been identified inside and around the Well, the result of a massive battle that happened roughly ten million years ago, when the interstellar empire tried to breach the Pale Path in order to conduct a crusade against its creators. It is unknown whether this is how the Sequence gained entry to the Path, or if they found another gate, but they appeared to have used concentrated UREB strikes against the outer armour of the Well. While it eradicated whatever defence systems the megastructure might have possessed, it also greatly compromised its structural elements, shortening its life by a good billion years.

Navigating inside the Well is rather difficult due to the sheer density of debris, dust and wrecks alongside the spine of the pin. Geometry drive usage is strictly forbidden inside the Well, where dimensional interference greatly reduces accuracy and makes translations inflict grievous damage on the weakened megastructure. While Azur Effect drives are not affected in the same way, their effects on the Well are even more critical -- it is expected that repeated Azur translations near the base of the megastructure could outright shatter it. In order to travel up and down the Finistelle Well, the Starmoth Initiative has deployed two space elevator-like cables running from one end of the Well to the other. Alongside these cables have been installed two repurposed Mansa Mussa cargo ships, Occident Express and Trans-Europe Express. Stripped of their engines, these vessels are used as trains, running along the cables on their own nuclear power to ferry passengers and cargo from Finistelle Station, at the Milky Way-facing end of the Well and Finistelle Terminus, near the Pale Path's entrance.

At the very bottom of the Well, the second waystation enables access to a smaller tunnel that itself gives way to a section of liminal space, the buffer area between the dimensional bubbles of the Pale Path. From there, and with a bit of luck and madness, most of the contained dimensions are accessible.

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