Guild Wars 2

Could the ley lines be subterranean lava flows? I know there’s at least one skill point commune challenge that is dealing with lava in Mount Maelstrom so it seems it has magical conductivity. I also seem to recall a skill point in Bloodtide Coast(the one in the really deep underwater cavern) that said something about feeling power this close to the planets core. Could the core of Tyria be a dense ball of magma and magic, and then the magic flows through the lava currents? The only thing I can think of is since I haven’t seen a map of the ley lines, if they’re a grid pattern that wouldn’t fit so well with lava currents. I also thought about the intersection of ley lines but I think that could work if it’s a point where the lava flows originate from and flow outward rather than multiple streams converging and criss crossing. Any thoughts on this?

I doubt it, personally, but we have way too little to really go off of it. Keep in mind that water is also highly conductive of magic, and there’s far more communing skill challenges related to waterfalls and springs – let alone the Artesian Waters.

All we have on ley lines are the following:

(conversation between Braham and Taimi during Edge of the Mists release)
Braham Eirsson: What do you think those probes of Scarlet’s are looking for?
Taimi: Best guess? Um… The transcendent magic channels that span the globe. Old-fashioned Synergetics texts call them ley lines.
Taimi: Normally you can’t see them or touch them, but they’re real. Magic finds its own path, like rivers running to the sea.
Taimi: The probes are trying to identify the biggest and strongest of these ley lines, but I’m not sure why. Not yet.

Braham Eirsson: What’d you learn about those…um…things you were studying before your golem broke?
Taimi: As if you’d understand. All right, I’ve got nothing but time, so let’s give it a go.
Taimi: They appear to be survey probes for the purpose of identifying high-energy thaumic channels and matrices.
Braham Eirsson: So it’s like magical energy is a swirling storm and these things are mapping it.
Taimi: A trifle simplistic, but yes, that’s exactly the case.

(Talking to Taimi during Edge of the Mists release)
→ What did you learn about the probes?
Not as much as I wanted to. I think they’re designed to identify ley lines—the channels that magical energy follows as it crisscrosses the globe.
→ Can you explain ley lines?
I’ll try. They’re analogous to ocean currents or atmospheric weather patterns, but with magic instead of water or air. Magic flows and cycles, and ley lines are the paths it chooses to follow.

(Interview with Angel McCoy a while back)
Magic is the lifeblood of Tyria. The entire world is infused with it, and it flows through everything via ley lines that criss-cross the planet.

The natural role of the dragons is to keep this magic balanced. From time to time, in the long history of the world, the dragons have awoken and begun to draw the world’s magic into themselves, reducing the level of magic flowing through the ley lines.

Then we know that Thaumanova and Lion’s Arch are over an intersection of ley lines (with LA having more intersections), and that experimenting with draconic energies (or both draconic energies and chaos magic) over ley lines resulted in the Thaumanova meltdown.

All indications point to ley lines being just for magic and magic alone. Just a path of least resistance for magic to move through.

All right, so it seems that magic can flow all on it’s own and doesn’t need a medium? thanks for the info Konig

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Taimi: They appear to be survey probes for the purpose of identifying high-energy thaumic channels and matrices.

Thaumic channels…. Thaumanova. What does Thauma mean exactly?

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Taimi: They appear to be survey probes for the purpose of identifying high-energy thaumic channels and matrices.

Thaumic channels…. Thaumanova. What does Thauma mean exactly?

Thauma is a Greek word meaning “miracle” or “marvel”, so basically just another word for magic.

Ley lines are a real concept too, originally referring to supposed ancient road networks in Europe. They’ve come to take on a mystical dimension similar to Feng Shui by the New Age movement.

So yeah, just a generic magic terminology grab-bag.

So Thaumic is basically magibabble then. :P

I’m just wondering what it means in the context of the world.