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Finding Ley Lines

Source Occult Adventures pg. 232
A ley line’s natural state is as an imperceptible current of energy. Finding a ley line requires the use of a skill or spell that can detect the magical energy a ley line radiates. Detect magic can locate the presence of an accessible portion of a ley line within its area of effect and uses the ley line’s effective caster level to determine its aura’s strength as if the ley line were a magic item. True seeing reveals all accessible ley lines within its area of effect— they appear as ghostly bundles of tightly packed streams of energy. The color of a ley line is representative of its overall power level. Ley lines with a caster level of 1 are a dark violet color, while ley lines with a caster level of 20 are deep red. Ley lines with caster levels between 1 and 20 range across the color spectrum as appropriate (starting with violet and continuing to blue, green, yellow, orange, and finally red). Divination magic such as contact other plane, divination, and commune can help narrow down the location of a ley line. Additionally, legend lore can help reveal information about a known ley line. Occult skill unlocks such as dowsing can also help detect the presence of ley lines over long distances, which can be quite useful in locating an accessible portion of a ley line.

Because of ley lines’ ability to pick up ambient energy, some local effects can cause portions of a ley line to become visible. For example, in areas of wild magic, an extant ley line may manifest as a shimmering river of rainbow-hued light constantly shifting through the color spectrum, while locations with a powerful presence of negative energy might cause a ley line to appear as a tendril of darkness that bleeds an ephemeral black smoke tinged with red light.

Ley lines do not generally move from location to location. While the exact paths they take may drift over the course of millennia or eons, these changes are largely unnoticed by all but the longest-lived races. As such, the discovery of a ley line can impact a region for millennia and draw attention from those seeking to exploit the ley line’s power. Civilizations that discover ley lines sometimes mark the locations in which their power is most easily accessible by erecting monuments such as menhir circles or obelisks. These sites are typically used to perform rituals or other functions that tap into the latent power of a ley line to enhance spellcasting. A powerful wizard might build his tower atop a particularly strong ley line, a druidic sect might construct a menhir circle nearest to where a ley line touches the ground, or an ancient dragon might build its mountaintop lair as close to a ley line in the sky as possible. Accurate maps and charts depicting the paths and intersections of ley lines are reliable for centuries or more and can reveal nodes of power across worlds and planes.

Archives of Nethys

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Finding Ley Lines