Read Between the Leylines
Starter for @wishpsynergy
Any mage knew leylines ran all over the world- back on earth, anyway. An initial observation check of any location required finding the currents of magical energy. They could provide power and be used to one’s advantage or disadvantage. They were like magic circuits of the earth itself, a power grid. Typically, it took some patient testing and observation to find them in a foreign area, continents themselves all different in format and direction.
What baffled Svin was seeing bright gold ones shining in plain sight.
The Cotes ward was directly across from Archimedes. He felt more drawn to the natural sector of Spirale, eager for the nostalgia of the British countryside, some greenery without feeling like he was suffocating. He was still poor as a pauper and struck out on foot, admiring the horses and carriages in Opalarian Market but electing to take a stroll into the woods and get pleasantly lost. Not really lost, though. His nose was better than his eyes. He could trust that for the physical path out of the forest and for reading the intentions of others. He was mostly attuned to Flat, someone whose positivity never made it from brain to mouth (perhaps along with his logical thoughts) but it could help discern what reeked of trouble beforehand too.
But these golden lines, they were wondrous, odd. They shone through the leaves of the forest floor like late afternoon sunshine coming up from the ground itself. neither good nor evil, simply existing, there.
Svin glanced around, only seeing trees in any direction. He shrugged. There was a path, why not follow? He tread on the golden light as birdsong echoed around him, a piece of nature so perfect it was hard to believe it had been crafted, not born. The lines seemed to glow with bolstered intensity the further he walked until they came to a dovetail, converging in front of a building the size of a castle, straight from a fairytale.
The Great Library, though he didn’t know it yet.
He jumped, suddenly aware he wasn’t alone while he gawked. A girl his age was near him, a girl or a fae? He could sense some energy within her, something under the blue hair and fair face. His first instinct was to be tongue tied and then avert his eyes with a soft smile, eyes snapping back to the grand building in front of them.
“Sorry to intrude, miss. Do you know where we are?”