Intergalactic travel relies on an intricate system of gates that interconnect all inhabitable planets, these gates were built in a distant past by an extinct race called the Krell and their construction is long since forgotten.
Web gates will only open when the pathways are clear. That is to say when there is no planetary body, star or other obstruction blocking a path. This can leave some systems isolated for years at a time making the gate opening a huge celebration and event.
Gates may be opened by anyone with an affinity for the web but are only truly opened safely by those trained as Web Guides; Guides are people who are attuned to the flow of the warp and can see when and where the gate leads and opens, as well as mentally process the mathematical equation of how long a path can be maintained and the time it will take to travel from one gate to another, this is called Astrogation.
Most web guides are of the Meurlain but Web Guides of the Fringer, and non human Tribes are rare but not unknown. The Empire on the other hand is seemingly unable to attune to the Web Way; this means that they are totally reliant on the Meurlain to move them from planet to planet.
When a Guide opens a web way he touches the gate itself and then enters a meditative state and sees the path lain out before him, if a path exists and the way is clear the guide may then see the multiple Gates or Far points that the gate may lead to, some gates lead only to places called Way points, the way points are hubs that lead to other locations and are a static “safe place” within the warp. When a gate is opened a guide may hold the gate open as long as he maintains physical contact and concentration, he may then allow others or objects to pass through, He may then may either close the gate behind them or step through after them.
Moving into or out of The Web is called “Transitioning” and it is highly dangerous. The danger lies in an effect that is called the Ephris; the Ephris is when a person becomes lost between the dimensions usually never to be seen again. When moving between there is a brief moment of semi consciousness and delirium as one is literally thrust between dimensions, this effect rapidly passes, and after many Transitions becomes easier to handle. Many first timers find themselves physically ill and some never truly get used to the effect on their body, this is a common malady amongst the Imperials who refer to the effect as Warp Sickness. If the Transition is successful the object or person usually appears in a vast long hallway that stretches on invisibly into a swirling miasma of strange light and color, its walls, ceilings and floor are invisible and the scene can be completely disorienting. The Web Paths however can change without notice and there are reports of the pathway being completely shrouded in darkness or filled with blinding white light, rarely and conversely there have been reports of the path being built of stone or metal, its ceiling shrouded in darkness and windows looking out into inky blackness at regular intervals along the path. In any case the Far Point or destination can be seen in the distance, it appears as an opening or doorway filled with light. Those who are fully trained as web guides have the ability to see what is on the other side of the opening and masters are reputed to be able to see all possible locations and openings within the web at once.
It is important to have a trained web guide once you are inside the web. Much like a spider web there are multiple intersections and branches leading off the path in a myriad number of directions and it would be very easy to become lost quite rapidly as Way Points change and shift between possible paths between different locations. The Way points are made of a strange shifting metallic substance that continually opens and closes openings to paths as they become available; they are large round domed areas roughly One Thousand foot in circumference and are the only truly stable thing within the warp.
When traveling between worlds a person must physically travel the pathway, the time a pathway will be open can vary greatly depending on the position of stellar bodies and a properly trained Guide can run the mathematical equation in his head and estimate the time to within seconds of actual travel time, this is important because if a pathway is closed or becomes blocked by a stellar body all who are upon it will vanish, lost to the Epherium forever. Usually travel time is mere minutes but some long hauls can take several hours. The use of vehicles to transport People and goods inside the web is common but actually does not alter the time traveled in any way; it is a property of the warp that the travel time is a constant no matter how the pathway is traversed. So to travel from Akeir to Jord always takes two hours, on foot or on land train it still takes two hours. All a vehicle does is allow a large amount of goods to be moved easily, this is limited by the gate size of the planet that the vehicle is traveling to and large vehicles only travel between Mk1 gates with specialized and military vehicles being designed that can exit both Mk 1 and 2 gates, Mk3 gates are so small it Is rare to see any vehicles that can pass through other than small transports and powered wheel barrels and trailers for goods.
To open a gate without a pathway is to open a doorway into the nothingness of the space between worlds. It is said that in that place many dark things crawl and live, it is a place of oblivion and legend affords it an almost evil intelligence. When a person or thing is taken by the Ephris effect they are lost in the Epherium.
The types of transportation planet side is legion, ranging from gas filled airships to high-tech fighters , riding animals to land trains , the tech level between worlds varies so greatly that there is no real standard. Some planets even maintain inter system shuttle craft for visiting near by inhabitable moons or sister planets. Vehicles on Eclipse Itself however are another story, any attempt to use standard combustion or reactor based engines has failed , there is an as of yet an undiscovered element that seems to infest and corrode the Transmission systems of large equipment rendering them useless in a matter of hours. This is a mystery that is causing lots of headaches with the recent exploration and construction of base camps.
There are three known classes of web gate:
The MK.I or Planetary Gate is large and will allow large amounts of people and equipment to move through it at once. The draw back is it takes at least five Web Guides to open such a gate. Most of the core human worlds have this class of gate and huge cities have grown up around them. It is typical of a planetary government to build a portcullis of sorts on the gate to bar any unwanted entry. It is common for land trains to transport goods and passengers between worlds with Mk.I gates, Web guides act as pilots driving these trains and most are either operated under the banner of the Imperial Wane wrights Guild or are military vessel. The most famous of theses is an Imperial train called the Forlorn Hope; it is a huge armored monstrosity bristling with Sclera Discharge Cannons and Rocket tubes and is always the first through a gate during a planetary siege. The Forlorn Hope has been patched up and rebuilt for over One Thousand years some say even longer. To be included in the roster of its Breach Marines is considered a great Honor.
MK.II or Domain Gate is roughly half the size of the MKI and is often found on more rural worlds. Planets with unusual climates or dangerous flora and fauna are common for this gate type. This type is typical of the Tribe Planets and a few of the Fringer worlds. It takes at least three web guides to open this type of gate. The largest vehicle built that can safely pass through the Mk.II gates are Fighters called Wasps the Imperium and tribes frequently used Wasps during the war, and many movies, books and television shows about Wasp fighter Aces are popular among both Human and Tribes
MK.III or Gloom Gates almost always lead to near uninhabitable worlds; these gates are small allowing maybe three men abreast to move through at a time. Most of the worlds inhabited by Fringers are this class of Gate Way. It is extremely rare but not unknown for some lush and beautiful worlds to have this type of gate structure, thus leading to the belief that whoever built the Web Way had Hideaway worlds for luxury and private estates, these luxury worlds are very, very rare and only 4 or so have ever been discovered throughout the galaxy, the gateway to Eclipse is a MKIII gate.