Trackway Tours

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Given the length and breadth of the known worlds, quite a few odd and extremely niche things are bound to exist. Perhaps the best-known and most bizarre is the the Trackway Tours company. It was founded on a very simple principle: what if you wanted to go on a boating holiday, but were afraid of sinking? The company offers select clientele the chance to go on a lengthy trip in a very large motor vehicle, past stunning vistas and feats of great artistry and architecture. All in a private, safe space. Much of the consumer-facing side of the company is automated, and fully-private parties are an option. Trackway operates out of a remote finite dimension accessible only by GATE. The exact coordinates are a secret, but the address for the main terminal is jezza-XO. Amateur's speculators have inferred this is a special coordinate, as it contains no numbers.

Mode of Operation

A typical trackways couch is over sixty feet long and can have up to three levels. They ride on purpose-built chassis driven by electric motors, with as many as thirty-two individually powered wheels. The suspension systems are extremely elaborate, cussioning the ride until it feels very smooth and comfortable. Traveling no more than 32mph, they are controlled entirely autonomously. The passengers have some very slight steering and the ability to control the top speed(reducing from 32 down to about 28mph). Any actual slow-downs or stops must be preplanned.

The coaches are very well-appointed, with small yet luxurious rooms, entertainment facilities, and many viewing galleries for admiring the scenery. First-class cooking accommodations come as standard, with the option to hire or bring a chef, maid, and butler. The interiors are styled after a luxury yacht. Space is close-knitt to that effect, but the primary goal is to create the sensations of a yachting trip without having to be on the water.

Routes

The land yachts cover about 768 miles per day, traveling around a network of purpose-built roads. The shortest excursions, lasting seven days, cover over 5,000 miles. Most of the routes take the yacht along valleys(which may or may not have been shaped by human intervention). The way is lined by either impressive natural vistas, or articificial structures(and often intermingled). All designed to be pleasing to the eye and inflaming to the imagination. The legend says many of the ruins are Marconian in origin, having been pilfered from around the empire at the end of the Dynastic Period and transported for your viewing pleasure. The work of magic is clearly afoot in several of the displays, which raises even more questions about the nature and origin of the secretive local.

Notable Sites

  • The Great Crystal Shards - two enormous mountains each 18,000 feet high, which appear to be gigantic flawless diamonds. Though never examined scientifically, observers point out the way the loft peeks curve and nearly meet each other, and the rather convenient reflecting lake beneath them, points to some high level of modification. The crystals themselves make about the top two-thirds of the mountain, but many smaller crystals lay round them. The site is said to be especially pretty in summer but still breathtaking in winter.
  • The Auras - most nights are lit by fantastic auras in a myriad of colors.
  • The Desert of the Geoglyphs - here the land yacht plies a route through a dry valley with enormous hills on either side, which have been covered in titanic geoglyphs. The travelers are invited to watch a story of their own design unfold as they

Clientele and Access

Given the nature of the business, most of the clientele are both wealthy and eccentric. The actual vacation itself is not overly expensive, costing 30,000 credits or 32,000 Wingbeats for a base package - about the same as renting a large yacht. This is not affected by the number of passengers. Travel is also a factor, another clue to the remoteness of the location as GATE access will set you back another 3-5,000 GATE credits per person. More elaborate packages with bigger land yachts of course cost more.

The primary draw is of course the novelty-factor. Trackway Tours also runs trains through the routes for a considerably lower rate(though GATE access is still necessary).

Ownership

It has long been speculated that Trackway is a subsidiary of the Gudersnipe Foundation, a fact which has been resolutely denied. Generally the Foundation does not go out of its why to deny things unless it really is untrue, so it stands to reason Trackway is in fact a private company that only operates in league with the Foundation. Since the tour site(which covers thousands of square miles) is devoid of any human habitation, it does raise considerable questions.