Lunar Rift

Lunar Rifts are mysterious sites across New Britannia that allow people to teleport.

Lore

 * Each lunar rift is a pocket of long-range teleportational energy in the center of a circle of standing stones. As the moon phases advance, the teleport destination changes. The locations of lunar rifts and their destinations are Blood River, Solace Bridge, Highvale, Brookside, Owl's Head, Westend, Brittany Graveyard, and Etceter. (During the Cataclysm) The lunar rifts, linked to the lunar phases, were disrupted and went dormant. The moons remain devastated, but the lunar rifts are once again functional.

Overview
Long ago the Lunar Rifts were used to effortlessly travel through the world. As their names might imply, the Lunar Rifts were controlled by the two moons. They were considered to be almost holy ground and small villages and ornate temples frequently sprung up around them. Due to the powerful magic nature of these ancient rifts, the earth and stone around them for a hundred feet or more was more stable and protected through the eons. The result was that many of these Rifts are actually on plateaus left behind as the earth around them was eroded away.(Citation Needed)

At some point on the very edge of recorded history, something terrible happened and the Lunar Rifts changed. Instead of being an efficient and reliable travel method, many of them became erratic. Sometimes they worked fine, other times they were inert, and worse yet, other times they became portals that allowed the darkest of creatures to enter into the world. These creatures quickly destroyed the villages and temples that had sprung up around the rifts.(Citation Needed)

Usage
Lunar Rifts are located in Solace Bridge, Highvale, Blood River, and Isle of Storms (the former starting area for new characters). Depending on the current moon phase (shown under the compass at the top of the screen), one of these will be the active destination. When entering any of them during that phase, you will be taken to the active destination. If you're already at the active destination and you enter the Lunar Rift you will be taken to Isle of Storms and can enter there and be taken back to the active destination.

This information was posted on the SotA forums by Aartemis and verified in R32.

The Lunar Rifts are only active during certain moon phases. The moon phase changes every 8m45s Earth time, for a total of 70 minutes. The list of phases, in the order they occur, along with the active destination (for phases where the Lunar Rifts are active) is below.

''Tip: the seconds and last digit of minutes will always be the same for each phase. For instance, the Earth time for Full Moon always ends in x5:00. (As long as you are in a full-hour offset time zone.)''

The Lunar Rifts have columns immediately surrounding the center. These columns have pictures on them which correspond with the moon phases in which the Rifts are active. You can lookup earth moon phases to see which picture corresponds with which phase if you're curious.

Ultima Reference
The Lunar Rifts are a reference/recreation of the Moongates from the Ultima Series, which Shroud of the Avatar is a spiritual successor to. Both are a series of gateways that function via the moons' power. Late in the Ultima series, the Moongates stopped functioning, making the Lunar Rifts their effective replacement.