Getting from planet to planet in the Ashen Eye galaxy is essential, yet costly in the Godfare Universe. Humanity alone knows of millions of worlds and just as many stars. Going faster than light requires breaching into metaspace, a dimensional tier right above the normal, physical realm. But even the greatest technology cannot surpass this hurdle alone. Breaching into metaspace requires the use of a rare lyshan crystal. Lyshan crystals are the physical manifestation of the Aether, the highest dimensional tier and the home of the Prime Gods. These crystals are highly unstable and must be properly contained, less they mutate everything, and everyone around them. However, once stuck into a metaspace engine, FTL travel is achieved. The first successful use of a metaspace engine marked the beginning of new age. From that point human history was marked Before Expansion Generation, B.E.G., or After Expansion Generation, A.E.G.
However, this travel is not instantaneous. It can take days, even weeks to reach another planet, and that is assuming constant travel in a straight line. Often, this is not the case. Vast swathes of a substance called the purple mist cover the galaxy. Every space traveler knows to be wary of this stellar obstacle. Wherever it is, it also extends into metaspace. If a vessel were to try and jump through it, the ship would become paste against the obstacle. As while the purple mist assumes the form of a gas normally, once an object strikes it with enough speed, it becomes harder than mythril.
Often, travelers must venture into the natural tunnels of the mist at sublight speeds, navigating through the twists and turns until a break is found. Such an act comes rife with peril. Pirates, and the vile Carmine often make homes within these violet clouds and raid anyone they can.
The rarity of lyshan crystals and the perils of space travel have drastically changed the landscape of interstellar voyages. The ships have scaled up considerably. Very few freelancers, or even small companies can afford to outfit every single one of their ships with a lyshan crystal. Many trade and transport vessels have grown gigantic, stretching to possibly over twenty kilometers in length, with the sole purpose of acting as carriers. They hold in the bellies dozens, if not hundreds of ships. These hive ships travel on closed circuits, dropping off ships, and picking up new ones, all for a fee, of course.
This has resulted in severe monopolization of the industry, where only a few corporations, like the Eclipse Transporting Company, actually have the resources to conduct trade.