Ley Lines

The elven philosopher Avariel coined the term Ley Lines to describe the numerous tendrils of the Plane of Magic that seem to contact the Material Plane and power the magical abilities of arcane spellcasters, hypothesized to be the remnants of the Riving, threads of the Plane of Magic left behind when the planes were separated, a patchwork lattice of connection through which arcane magic leaks into the world, for those with skill to channel it. In the Standard Multiversal Model, ley lines are described as a type of Extraplanar Weak Point, where the Plane of Magic bleeds into the Material Plane, although many arcane practiioners perfer the metaphor of rivers of energy popularized by the followers of Planar Dualism.

Ley lines are generally though to be relatively uniformly distributed across the Material Plane. However, Gaius Devarro, in his early study An Exploration of Magical Connections Between the Planes, cataloged a number of rumors and legends about ley lines, including the hypothesis that, in some places in the world where ley lines are disrupted or absence, arcane magic behaves strangely, or not at all.

To those who can see them, they appear as a lattice of shimmering ropes stretching across the landscape.