The Londinium Rift is a natural interplanetary rift that connects the city of Evenhold on Eamon to the city of London on Earth, and is the most traversed and historically significant rift in the kingdom.
History
Ancient accounts suggest the rift first opened in the early twelfth century BA, over 2,300 years ago. Its connection point on Earth formed on the north bank of the Thames River, an area sparsely inhabited by Brittonic Celts. The Celts discovered the rift and made regular use of it to trade with the Eamonites of the Malphigian Basin over the next three centuries, spreading their language and culture to the new world. Some Addarans likewise migrated to Earth, settling in the nearby oppidum of Woolwich and beyond.
Around 734 BA (47 CE) the site became part of the newly established Roman city of Londinium. Roman authorities were aware of the rift but feared its magic and were suspicious of its use by the "barbarian" Brittons, and so sealed it inside a thick stone wall. It remained inaccessible until around 460 BA (322 CE) when Restitutus, the local Christian bishop, ordered it uncovered. While some travel through the rift resumed, the Roman withdrawal from Britain less than a century later left it mostly abandoned, though explorers from Aevinn still traversed it and traded with the nearby Anglo-Saxon peoples.
Viking raids on Londinium became a growing threat in the first century YA (early 800s CE), prompting King Anharos to order that the rift's opening on Eamon be enclosed in heavy steel gates. Stone walls and a nearby watchtower were also erected. The rift remained securely locked during the sackings of London, but reopened in 104 (886 CE) after the city's liberation by Alfred the Great. Evenhold's King Andrid paid a brief state visit to Alfred in 114.
When the Norman-era White Tower was erected next to the rift in 296 (1078 CE), a new stone and timber structure was also built around the rift and heavy gates installed. Though the gates on one or both sides have occasionally been locked during times of war or crisis, they've remained open for most of the last 900 years.
Present
At present (1984 CE) the rift's terrestrial terminus is concealed below Bowring Tower, a commercial building just west of the Tower of London, with a short stairway leading up to a discrete entrance/exit hidden at the back of a souvenir shop. Its Eamon terminus has changed little over the last millennium and is still surrounded by its original Anharic-era cage and gate within a stone blockhouse just west of Evenhold.
Members of the Guild of Free Adventurers are allowed unrestricted use of the rift, while most others must secure the permission of either the shire lord or the king. On Earth, public knowledge of the rift is limited, and access is controlled by the ancient Fraternitas Albiclaviana on behalf of the British crown.
