Mana
Flowing throughout Aserra is an invisible energy known as mana. The life-force of a planet, mana was absorbed from the universal supply within the world during its formation. Mana fuels the living things of the world, nurturing flora and fauna. Souls of all living things are comprised of mana. The energy is delivered through leypoints and leylines, which act like a circulatory system for the entire planet.
Leylines and Leypoints
Leypoints are mana springs; points at which the energy pours up from within the planet, then trickles out through leylines that spider across the globe. Aserra has ten leypoints and approximately 120 leylines.
The age and size of a world impacts the amount of lines and points. New worlds have an abundance, but over time they “dry up”, though generally leylines only number in the low hundreds and below.
Leypoints are crucial to the life of a planet, and they can be blocked which can cause the planet to whither over time. Blocked leypoints can be restored, but restoration requires extreme measures, even as extreme as destroying an entire continent which, as Aserra is familiar with, carries drastic consequences for those living on the planet.
Aserra has ten leypoints scattered across the world, corresponding with the elements of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. Leylines are assigned the elements of Life, Light, and Darkness, and each kind conjuncture only at certain leypoints.
- Air leypoints can be the point of conjuncture for Life, Light, and Darkness leylines.
- Water leypoints are the conjuncture for only Life and Light leylines.
- Earth leypoints are the conjuncture for only Life and Darkness leylines.
- Fire leypoints are the conjuncture for only Light and Darkness leylines.
There are two Air, three Water, two Earth, and three Fire leypoints on Aserra. One Air leypoint is on the continent of Thiskel, in the northern region of the Ideil Mountain Range. The other is on the continent of Kalesten, in the Gayntos Mountain Range near the southern borders of the nation of Emkal.
The Water leypoints are mostly in bodies of water. The first Water leypoint is in an undersea mountain range in the southwestern tropics of the Tonult Ocean. The second is in the inland Green Sea of Kalesten. The third is near the antarctic circle where the Riath Sea meets the Sea of Kaltur.
The first Earth leypoint is in the Ouremian Mountain Range in northwestern Thiskel. The second Earth leypoint is in the Ormiss Mountain Range of the Forsaken Land.
The first of the Fire leypoints was located in the heart of Ageond, but became a wellspring after the sinking of the continent. The second Fire leypoint is in the volcanic Ohoni island chain in the Tonult Ocean, nearer to Kalesten than the remnants of Ageond. The third is located in the Great Desert of Thiskel.
Leylines and leypoints encourage life and attract civilization. Many cities, villages, and temples are built on leylines, as living in such a location leaves one feeling invigorated. Sorcerers also flock to leylines and leypoints, as these locations offer them the greatest supply of the source of the magic; mana. Sorcerers of Emkal have learned to refine mana from their leypoint into crystals called manastones, which allow sorcerers to burn mana without stealing it from the life around them. Aside from the draw to humans and other races, leylines are often home to flourishing plant and animal life.
Wellspring
The destruction of the continent of Ageond not only blocked a Fire leypoint, it also created a wellspring; a chaotic tangle of energy that forms a quadrangle in the ocean between the north of the Forsaken Land and the archipelagos that are the remnants of Ageond’s mountain ranges. The effects of the quadrangle are unpredictable, and sailors, Mariel, and Marfod avoid it at all costs as many individuals have disappeared without a trace when entering the quadrangle.
