Lunar Rift

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

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.

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.

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.