The Center Cannot Hold: Bursting Ley Lines

From Leylines of Crux, by Katnya Batscream, Priestess of the Wolf-Mother.

"The world of Orphos has a series of powerful ley lines that crisscross it. The Archdruid Srady landed his people near a confluence of those lines at the start of the invasion. That confluence, wherein thirteen ley lines converged, is the City of Crux.

Each line follows natural flows of energy. Like rivers, they move energy. What Srady noticed, was how all thirteen leylines flow their energy to a singular point. What is strange about that confluence?
It lies in the ocean just outside of Crux. It seems to build up there, even if there is nothing out there. If anything, it lacks anything of note.  Other than being fiercely protected by Cecaelia Witches and the Prince.

As long no one is trying to abuse the power of these energies, then there is nothing to worry. But as any druid knows, being about to tap into one leyline is an incredible thing. Not only do they grant powerful prophetic visions, but our own Druids once used leylines to strike down armies and to create miracles during the Invasion.  

Archdruid, I recommend we find a way to either redirect these leylines.  Or to cover up their existence at least.  We need to prevent someone from abusing them, or worse, creating an catastrophe."

Leylines and Druidic Power

Leylines have a significant effect in terms of certain magics.  Their energies can be used for prophecy.  They also can be used to power significant enchantments.  But Druidic magic understands how best to use them.

Arcane magick has rarely experimented with leylines.  It tends to focus on individual scales of magic make ley lines appear less useful.  Their scale of size and flow of energies seem too slow for wizards.

Ursyklon Archdruids during their Invasion, used leyline energies at key battles.  At each instance, they seemed to create miracles through them.   Many think the secrets of such archdruidic ley line magic are lost and forgotten.

Archaeology and Leylines.

The new Archaeologist class can use the same basic principles of druidry that apply to ley lines.  Their psychometry capacity can used on places, but few Archaeologists have tried that.  They tend to think in terms of relics when using their psychometry.  Archaeologists combine the magic of druids, the luck of rogues and the curiosity of wizards.  It is still a new class, but a few archaeologists haves started to study leylines.

Their psychometry can become a sort of vision into the past when they use leylines.  Archaeologist see this as a sort useful tool.  But they don't see uses for ley lines beyond just divination.  Afterall, the main focus of Archaeologists is knowledge.

Inward or Outward.

Most think of using leylines for divination.  The spellcaster can tap into the flow of energies, extending their senses through them.  Different classes can extend their visions in different ways.  Almost all Ursyklons can tap into ley lines as well.  For them, this often grants visions.

This is the inward application of leylines.  Each one is different.  A individual ley lines flow, history and location flavor it.  Ley lines connect to multiple dimensions and planes.  Although a light connection, most ley lines connect to the skein and even to the aether to a certain extent.  They seem to be concentrations of raw nature, raw reality in a lot of ways.

One can apply leylines in outward applications.

Each leyline has its own flavors.  Most see ley lines as sources of energy.  That is, they are rivers from which one can drink its power.

But like a river, you can pour more into them.  Rampant storms can cause rivers to burst their banks.  Ley lines are the same way.  Druids and others know you can pour energy into a leyline, bursting it to overflow.  Each leyline has its own flavor, a way it flows, which makes each outburst different.  A leyline running underground that overflows triggers earthquakes.  One running through a river causes the river to change direction.  One running through a city can cause streets to erupt into riots.

Bursting a leyline like that is dangerous, akin to triggering a disaster.  You can't control how or what'll it do.

But it isn't the only way.  One can also dam a leyline.  Druids can choose to block it's flow, pooling the energy at a single place or point.  Given time, this dam can burst too.  Or the druid can burst it. They use runes and enchantments to direct the dammed up energy whichever way they want.  Some believe this is how Ursyklons must've powered their living ships.

The Unexplored Reaches

Then, there are those unexplored parts of leylines.  Druids have never experimented too much with leyline magic.  Wizards have ignored them for the most part.  This can't last.  Not in the age of industry.  Not in an age that sees steam engines and magic working together.

Others have yet to explore what can or can't be done with their flows of energy.  The use of Archaeologist's Psychometry with ley lines suggest that other kinds of tricks.  Some wonder if one could power extradimensional spaces with the flow of leylines.  More than one arcane magic theorist have suggested applying the damming technique.  The best use would be for the sake of large-scale conjuration.   Perhaps like creating an eidolon, more gigantic than that has ever been seen before.

Industrialists have started some investigation into machines powered by leylines.  None of these have borne fruit yet.  Soon someone will invent the machinery that can drain leylines of their energy.  Then apply that energy for industrial uses.  Whether the Church of the Wolf-Mother will allow or stand for that sort of action remains to be seen.