Some Awakened say that the Lie is an imperfect mirror reflecting Supernal symbols, but those imperfections include the entirety of our experience.
Ripples on the surface inspire emotions and generate Resonance. Cracks in the mirror transmit it. They’re the web of ley lines, and where they join, Nodes form. Then again, ley lines may represent the creative powers of the Fallen World, whose passions harness magical energies.
Each ley line possesses a specific Resonance. Nodes are places where multiple ley lines converge, providing access to multiple forms of Resonance. Many Nodes exist alongside powerful Hallows, giving credence to the idea that ley lines are cracks in the Lie. Ley line Resonance subtly affects the areas around it. For instance, the murder rate goes up around a line of Fury. Finally, Resonance generates Essence that spirits at the roots of The Shadow’s ecology devour.
Symptoms
Spells cast at a ley line may harvest its Resonance, and when a ley line intersects a Hallow, any tass collected from it possesses that Resonance. Resonance can typically be described by a keyword that describes an image, emotion, or theme, such as “Subterranean,” “Wrathful,” or “Ichthyoid.” When a sorcerer spends Mana from this tass on a spell where the effect or manifestation matches the stored Resonance (“Ichthyoid” for growing gills, for instance), it suffuses her Nimbus, allowing a Persona Yantra worth one die.
Prime spells manipulate ley lines by moving them, creating them, or altering their Resonance. Certain Spirit spells manipulate Resonance as well. See the descriptions of those Arcana for details.
In addition, as a place where Supernal and Fallen energies join, a Node is “charged” with power related to one gross Arcanum connected to its Resonance traits. Each point of tass from a Hallow with a Node carries just one of the Node’s Resonance types, but such a Hallow can generate a different type of tass for each of them. These types may not look significantly different to the naked eye, but reveal their differences to Prime and Spirit Unveiling magic.
A Node also provides the following benefits within an area of roughly 100 yards per contributing ley line to anyone who casts the Prime spell “Sacred Geometry” or an Unveiling spell to examine the energies linked to that Arcanum.
- Forces: By precisely aligning a stationary piece of technology that requires heat or electricity to function, the mage may use the Node to power it.
- Life: The mage may harness the Node to bring any plant put there to any point it its life cycle, as long as that point would take a year or less. These changes require a day to complete and a successful Intelligence + Crafts or Intelligence + Survival roll.
- Matter: Unless totally destroyed, stationary, inanimate objects built in alignment with local Resonance heal one point of Structure per day. Their permanent Structure may slowly wear down due to environmental conditions, but at half the usual rate. This process is undetectable by Sleepers.
- Space: Mages who examine the area magically acquire a +2 bonus to tasks that require significant movement through space, including driving, running, and certain athletic feats.
- Time: Mages who study the area with magic benefit from a +2 bonus to Initiative