Ley Lines

For this section:

By the Most Knowledgable Sage, Humble Defender of the Art,

Student of the Occult, Protector of the Noble Empire of the

Hartland, Hero of Blood Lake, Slayer of Giants, Ally of the

Kathnyri Throne, Bane of the Dark Elves,

Guest to the Peacewood Elves, Dwarf-friend and Master Mage,

Findley The Great

Magical Theory

Magic on Avamor theoretically works as a result of interaction between the Positive and Negative Material Planes. This interaction between matter and anti-matter (or energy and anti-energy, or positive and negative matter, depending on which collegia you attended) produces huge amounts of energy (or matter). Since matter and energy are interchangeable forms (ref. Kavielen's General Theory of Relative Matter/Energy), you end up with a Prime Material Plane existing between the Positive and Negative Planes.

Now, magic has a total of five main sources (there are others, but that's a different book): Life energy, Positive Planar Energy, Negative Planar Energy, Elemental Energy, and Gods. Priests draw primarily from their Gods, though they occasionally draw from the other sources as well. Mages primarily draw from Life or Positive Planar energy and can likewise draw from the other sources, except for Gods. Undead and creatures from the lower planes draw almost all of their power from the Negative Material Plane. Elementals obviously draw from their respective elemental plane.

Life energy is described in more detail below under Ley Lines and Nodes. Please note that creatures and items which can drain life energy must do so from a living being. They cannot feed from a pool, ley line, or node: It would be akin to breathing in a pure oxygen environment. (If you don't know what oxygen is, go back to your alchemy classes.) It would be poisonous to them, if it were possible.

How Spellcasting Works

For both priests and mages, the body acts as a storehouse of magical energy. The spell formula, or ritual prayer, acts as a trigger to channel the energy into certain desired effects where each bit of magical energy becomes associated to and defined by the words, gestures, and materials used. Magical items also act as storehouses of energy. Some, such as most wands, require that a spellcaster place new energy in them to replenish their stores. Others that have effects useable only periodically (like a sword that can Heal once a week) will automatically reabsorb the necessary energy. Magical items that automatically replenish themselves can draw from any of the sources (though this is determined, directly or indirectly, at their creation). Sometimes they can draw from several at once.

In any case, mages and priests must replenish their stored energy by either prayer (for priests, because their God/Goddess is the source of their magic) or study (for mages, because they must use certain meditation techniques to allow their bodies to absorb what they've spent). The more pure and devout the priest, the more power his God will invest in him. The more skilled the mage, the more Life/Positive Planar energy he can contain in his body.

There are some set restrictions on spellcasters. Only those who draw from God/Goddess sources can magically heal without harmful side effects. This means that only priestly magics can cure wounds or regenerate lost body parts without cost. The best a Mage can hope for is to transfer some Life energy from one being to another, or create a magical construction and instill a soul into it (ref. Clone, Simulacrum spells, Ardeval DeShay's Treatise on Magical Constructs, vol IV). Even so, only a very highly skilled mage has the expertise necessary to do this, and the transfer will never be perfect (only a percentage of the "kidnapped" life force will be transferred, or the total amount is severely limited).

Ley Lines

Every living thing generates some excess of life energy. This excess collects, occasionally in pools, but more often in streams. These streams have a direction of flow, currents, etc. Using magic on or near these springs runs the risk of drawing more energy than the caster/item user intends. The excess drawing is called a "surge." This can have wildly unpredictable results, ranging from a permanent increase in magical abilities to disintegration. Ley line energy will react in this way whenever any source of magic is tapped near it.

Ley lines can be locked, so that only one mage, or a group of mages can access the energy in them. This also makes it safe for other spellcasters to use magic near a locked line. A locked line will not surge under normal circumstances.

With appropriate spells and preparations, a spellcaster can tap the energy contained in a ley line and use it to power her own magics. Methods for doing this vary. Any power drawn from a ley line will cause a commensurate reduction in the total power available further "downstream." As soon as the drawing ceases, the ley line will resume its normal flow. Furthermore, ley lines (and as a result, nodes) will move in response to severe geological alterations, lifeform density changes, or interference by spellcasters.

It is also possible to effectively make a spell or enchantment permanent by linking it to a ley line. This technique is overall safer than using the Permanency spell, but not completely. Some of the dangers involved are: What happens if the ley line energy is lowered (as from another spellcaster tapping it), or even used up? Unless the mage takes this into account, the spell will probably be broken. What if another mage causes a surge in the ley line? Typically, whatever spell was linked to it will react to the surge. Usually disastrously.

Any spell that detects magic will show the presence of a ley line, node or pool. A further warning is important here! If a spellcaster is too close when he or she performs the detection, the detection magic itself may trigger a surge! It does you no good to detect a ley line and instantly be transformed into a burnt cinder.

Nodes

Wherever two ley lines cross, the currents cause the energy to collect in a pool. The more lines that cross at a given node, the more magic will pool there. There is a considerable amount of energy available at these places, which also increases the dangers from a surge. Spells can be linked to a node as they can to a ley line, with less chance of the magic being drained dry and ending the spell; but with a greater danger from a surge.

Nodes are effectively more powerful versions of a ley line. They occur only where ley lines cross.

Pools

Pools are to ley lines what standing water is to a stream. A pool is a place where magic has collected, but for some reason has nowhere to go. Spellcasters can create such pools with certain spells. Usually, pools will slowly fade over time as they are reabsorbed by other living things in the area.

Long-standing pools of magic can be very dangerous. Like water, a pool of magical energy can stagnate, become polluted. Should an unwary mage accidentally stumble into one, the effects can range from driving a spellcaster insane, poisoning part or all of her stored magical energy, to even kill him.

Low Magic Zones

In areas where the ley lines have been forcibly moved, a mage will have a difficult time replenishing his energies. The Life energy now flows away from the mage. The time it will take is dependent on the density of life forms in the geographic area. Only cataclysmic events, or deliberate planning, can move the ley lines back through a low magic zone.

Priests are not as severely affected as mages in low magic zones. Therefore, a priest will have a significant long-term advantage in such areas.

Magic Dead Zones

As there are places where there is a veritable fountain of magic, there are also areas where there is none. These are magic dead zones. Some can be artifically created (such as with an Anti-Magic Shell, or Mordenkainen's Disjunction - Ref. Ardeval DeShay's Collected Biography of My Master, Mordenkai), occasionally natural dead zones appear. In any case, magic will not normally function in these places. Very powerful enchantments might maintain themselves, probably at a reduced effectiveness.

Dead zones are much sought-after, especially by those who are fleeing the wrath of a spellcaster. Only the indirect effects of magic can enter a magic dead zone: A fire started by a Fireball, or an arrow with a Seeking spell (though it will be unable to Seek its target until after it leaves the zone - ref. Some Notes on the Elven Art of Magic by Dallod Loguire) will perform as their natural components dictate. These areas are generally kept secret.

Other Effects of Ley Lines, Pools and Nodes

It is speculated that the legendary Silverwood tree, so greatly sought after by practitioners of every stripe, grows only along the strongest ley lines or near nodes. Having explored the major lines, pools, and nodes of Hybrana rather thoroughly, I have found this legend to be false.

However, the Dwaenar are very aware of ley lines, nodes, and pools in their homelands. They guard these areas carefully and allow few, if any, spellcasters near them. They also mine these areas, apparently finding ores, metals, or other material with which they create their famous magically-resistant armors and weapons. They behave similarly around magic-dead zones, only they put the dankest, dirtiest, scummiest, and darkest prison cells here as well. Once a mage finds himself in these chambers, escape by magic is nigh impossible.

Speaking of the Dwaenar, most accomplished mages are aware that two Dwaenar-produced alloys, Adamantite and Mithril, take to magical enchantments easily - almost as easily as Silverwood. By the same token, the metal Chakkur ignores magic completely, even blocking out the radiation of energy. At some point in the near future, I hope to experiment to see if, by creating poles of pure Adamantite and pure Chakkur, it is possible to actually bend the flow of a ley line between two locations.

But that is a subject for a later time.

As a final word, be very careful when traveling through uncivilized lands. Stumbling across a previously unknown ley line, node or pool can have disastrous results for yourself as well as your more mundane companions. There are several magics which can safely determine such presences from a distance. For those of you who have not yet achieved the status of Master, I would suggest more ardent study until you have the necessary skills, or maintain a magical source of light continuously and watch to see if it flickers or flares.