Transcontinental Portal Network
The Transcontinental Portal Network will support key supply chains and infrastructure, especially during the instability of wartime. It will also open up greater opportunities for travel, accessibility, cheaper transportation and shipping costs, and over time, a significantly reduced environmental impact.The Transcontinental Portal Network is an interconnected system of teleportation portals that was opened in the Lapin Protectorate in 2026. Building on the technology of Transcontinental Portals, the network connects key locations, particularly major urban and strategic centers, for near-instantaneous travel access.
Discovery
Oh, don't give me too much credit. It wasn't ingenuity that led to this idea. The truth is, I had no choice.While the public is quick to credit the Bunny Queen with cleverness and a desire to improve quality of life for her people, it was, in fact, more political and logistical necessity that led to the development of the portal network. Since the annexation of California and Arizona by the Lapin Protectorate in 2022, the Protectorate has struggled with a lack of contiguous borders. While Washington and Oregon States were originally part of Lapin's territory after the fallout of 2020, they were ceded to The Missing House at their request in 2021. Since then, Lapin's population has been divided into two halves that are completely separated from each other geographically. The ceded territory was claimed by House Ailurus in 2023, and has since changed hands to become part of the Meles Protectorate. A compromise was made by the Woodland Family Alliance in the establishment of the Woodland Transportation Corridor through the Rocky Mountains, which was territory that was to be jointly administered, and featured the construction of The Wolverine Line, the world's first long-distance maglev train, connecting the three Protectorates. House Mollusca, Lapin's Pacific neighbour, also attempted to assist with the creation of the Lapin Embassy on Rabbit Island in Hawaii, which opened up a seafaring shipping corridor between the two halves of the Lapin Protectorate. This helped to relieve the strain on supply and military access for Lapin, but remained unreliable in wartime. The Wolverine Line, which is administered by House Meles, was closed to all but evacuees during The Sixth Word War, significantly impacting Lapin's supply chains and national defense.
Meles made the right decision there, never mind our issues at the time. People are still our greatest resource, and lives are our greatest asset.But this set Queen Sable's mind on seeking a more permanent, and more effective, solution. The essential technology for the portal network already existed in the form of a few limited Transcontinental Portals, but up until recently, access to them was tightly controlled, and mostly existed as a backup option for emergency evacuations.
The problem is, you see, that every time you make a route out, you're also making a route in.Prior to her disappearance, Panda Polemarch Senna Nightshade spoke to her mother about an idea she had of establishing "public teleporters." Initially, Queen Sable viewed this as an unacceptable threat to security. But after spending several days struggling with rerouting shipping during 6WW, the Mother of Bunnies pondered how to get around this issue in the future, and upon awakening, she remembered this conversation. While Queen Sable and Cheetya Ironfist are given joint credit for the network's invention, in this case, unlike with the Inspiration Engine, it was actually the Bunny Queen who took the lead on the engineering.
Here was the problem: how to make a network of portals accessible enough to be useful to the general public, but not a security threat in a war? The answer is in the nature of the magic that connects them, and in the formula for the Warding. And no, I'm not gonna share the details with you.
Utility
The primary use of Lapin's transcontinental portal network is to get essential supplies to and from parts of the Protectorate without having to travel through someone else's land, waters, or airspace. In that capacity, most portal nodes are designed to be accessed by vehicular traffic, particularly large vehicles. Line-ups at portal nodes look something like line-ups at border crossings, with weigh scales and inspection stations designed for commercial vehicles to pull into before they are permitted to cross. Personal vehicular traffic also passes through the nodes, however, and it is perfectly legal for someone to simply walk across as well.
Some nodes, however, especially in Stage 3, are designed for the movement of military personnel, especially in response to threats. These nodes open into sealed underground locations with all the security features one might expect of a military bunker, allowing access to be restricted even if the portal wards fail, and permitting a potentially lethal response to invasion.
THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REDACTED BY THE LAPIN PROTECTORATE FOR SECURITY REASONS BY ORDER OF THE OWSLA. Sekrits!
It seems likely that there are numerous other defenses built into the portal nodes, even those widely accessible to the general public, but that information also remains classified.
They're sealed behind blast doors and we can pump all the air out to create a vacuum in a matter of seconds. And that's just the beginning. I'm taking no filking chances.It is understood that Queen Sable has equipped all of the portal nodes with her famous "pulse wards,", which do not permit travel through them by beings who do not have a pulse. However, the earlier issues with dead animals and meat not being able to pass through the portals as a result have been corrected. No one is quite sure how.
The "pulse ward" can be activated and deactivated at will from a centralized, classified location. In peacetime, the default is "off," permitting the shipment of animal products and meat. Starting from the 27th of October, the default switches to "on," meaning that the innate protection against passage by Undead is automatic unless someone specifically deactivates it. The default can also be set to "on" should an emergency arise.
evil chuckle If you don't think it's warded six ways to Sunday, you don't know my sister.
Social Impact
As anticipated when the first transcontinental portals were made known to the public, there have been some dramatic social and economic shifts as a result, and there are likely to be more to come.
The overall price of shipping in the Lapin Protectorate has started to decline, since attempts by shipping companies to maintain their surcharges for delivering between the Northern and Southern portions of the Protectorate was challenged, and overturned, in the Lapin courts. With fuel costs significantly reduced by the shorter distances that commercial vehicles have to drive, this has also had dramatic effects on food prices, which have been in a steady state of inflation since The First Word War. In addition, air pollution has been declining in urban centers throughout the Protectorate.
It is expected that these impacts will be even more dramatic in the remote communities on the Stage 2 development schedule, since both travel access and shipping availability will be considerably improved. This is being met with a mixed reception in those communities, who welcome the improvement to their quality of life, but worry about how the changes will affect them. A government board has been appointed to mediate between companies hoping to establish businesses, and the residents and stakeholders of the affected communities, to assure that the wishes and needs of those communities are respected. The Lapin Ministry of Immigration and Demographics is also working with said communities to establish an annual immigration cap.
Yes, "meaningful consultation" has to actually be meaningful. This isn't a rubber stamp.
WIP
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Retired
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A businessman stepping into the walk-through portal node in Vancouver by Canva (SA)
Navigation
Parent Technologies
Access & Availability
For the most part, portal nodes are designed for use by the general public, although some nodes are used for military purposes and remain accessible only by the Lapin Armed Forces. Portal travel is rapidly becoming more commonplace in the Lapin Protectorate.
Other Protectorates have been invited to connect their transcontinental portals to Lapin's network if they choose to do so. Discussions are underway as to which portal nodes might be used as "border crossings," or if an entirely separate portal network will be built for this purpose.
Complexity
The portal network is essentially a series of transcontinental portals that have been specifically keyed to one another, accessible through coding on a "dialing" system that would remind science fiction fans of the TV show Stargate SG-1. These portals will not key to any other portals, including the ones that already bind some of the strongholds of The Great Houses, and if a location is "misdialed," a portal node will simply fail to function.
The ability to produce multiple portals like this, which require significant amounts of Literomantic Power to maintain operations, is largely dependent on the invention of Literomantic Batteries and the Inspiration Engine to keep them running.
Further, national security requires that each node operate according to a complex system of failsafes and limitations. This system is classified as a Lapin military secret.
Energy signature of a transcontinental portal activating by Canva (SA)
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