Sub-Etha Navigational Compass
A liquid-filled pocket compass calibrated not to ordinary planetary magnetic poles, but to the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Core or the nearest Sub-Etha relay.
Item Specification: Sub-Etha Navigational Compass
"For some reason, if a strag discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map..."
— The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Chapter 3
The Sub-Etha Navigational Compass is an essential handheld orientation instrument for anyone who refuses to trust the automated nav-computers of passing cargo haulers. Housed in a knurled brass-alloy casing with a sapphire glass lens, its dampened needle swings freely within a bath of non-freezing fluorocarbon fluid.
Orientation in a 3D Universe
Ordinary terrestrial compasses rely on iron cores inside individual planets, rendering them completely useless the moment your starship leaves low orbit:
- Core Gravitational Alignment: The Sub-Etha Compass needle is tipped with a microscopic grain of stabilized Strange Quark matter that responds to the frame-dragging gravitational vortex of the supermassive black hole sitting at the center of the Milky Way.
- Dial Calibrations: The bezel is etched with standard Galactic Core degrees, Quadrant indicators (1 through 4), and a secondary luminescent arrow pointing toward the strongest Sub-Etha relay broadcast in the sector.
- Field Pairing: Works in tandem with the Folded Hyperspace Sector Map to plot safe jump vectors away from Vogon demolition fleets or uncharted asteroid belts.
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