Ley Lines of Marak

Crossing the continents of Marak are ley lines, naturally occuring lines of magical energy. Like rivers of subtle magic, they run across the landscape. The inhabitants of Marak have discovered several ways they can capitalize on these lines.

The Pale Folk of the Unity Covenant have determined a method of taking advantage of these lines. More specifically, they have specially treated iron 'spikes' - inscribed with special arcane runes and glyphs. These are driven into the ground in the middle of a ley line, which prepares the line for these following functions. These spikes have brought wagon trains and semaphore houses into Derange and Santana.

Wagon Trains

The Leywood is a tree that grows on the sides of ley lines, unique to the Sphere of Marak. Its wood has a special property - it floats above a ley line, levitating perhaps half a man's height above the ground. The wood from these trees are fashioned into the beds of wagons. These special wagons sometimes still have wheels, so they can be maneuvered when off a ley line.

These special wagons are fitted with leystones, balls fashioned of solid gold, inscribed with the same runes and glyphs as the spikes. With the assistance of a "loco" (short for "locomotive"), a specially trained individual who has learned to activate the enchantments of the leystone, a leystone can easily be directed along a ley line, working with the "spikes" - bringing to bear enough strength and speed to beat a team of horses. The spikes are driven into the ground to allow the leystones to pull their loads to newer destinations.

Often these wagons are hitched to each other, leading to chains of wagons heading across the countryside.

Vail Henges

During the Covenant War, a scholar named Vail discovered he could send information along ley lines. Vail had studied mathematics and code, and was a practitioner of semaphore during the war. Using his research, he deduced a method to send information along ley lines, treated or no. Unfortunately, the only information that can be relayed are pulses, small bursts of data. Vail quickly realized that these pulses could be used to convey information - one small burst at a time. These bursts can be more detailed when sent along spiked lines. Vail developed a special shorthand, inspired by semaphore - called a 'Vail code' - that can be used.

Vail's research required the construction of huge circles of standing stones, called "henges." These henges are built almost everywhere the Pale Folk have colonized, everywhere the Unity Covenant has reached. Every Vail henge can be uniquely identified through the semaphore rituals - the structure and composition of the circles give it a 'True Name.' Vail men (what they call these henge operators) have to keep these identities in mind, but as a result they can send messages to any circle they know. They use Vail crystals - valuable quartz crystals filled with these identities - to remember many of these, as there are more henges in the continent than one man can track.

The Guns of Marak

Created by a fusion of the mojo of the Red Men and Navigator magics, along with the forges of the blacksmith, guns in Marak aren't like guns in our world. Sure, they have certain similarities - triggers, hammers and barrels, all fashioned of iron or steel. But they have differences - such as a lack of bullets and powder. Instead of bullets filled with powder, the guns of Marak shoot pure bubbles of force; semi-transparent spheres of blue energy. The insides of the barrels are inscribed with arcane symbols - longer barrels lead to stronger attacks, more energized chains of destruction.

Making an empty gun shoot again requires a small ritual, learned by almost any gunslinger, done over a piece of brass. It also requires a blood sacrifice - either their own or from a victim. Hunters "load" their guns with the life of their kills, assuming they don't kill them immediately; gunslingers with revolvers usually take advantage of their own life force, a small bloodletting, not even a pint, gives them several shots.

Guns come in three kinds:

• Revolver - This is a smaller, hand-sized gun that has several 'chambers' made of bronze that can be separately charged. Usually it holds six shots, no more, and each chamber requires very little sacrifice. It has a shorter range than the Sparrowhawk (below).
• Sparrowhawk - This is the longer-barreled two-handed gun that won the Revolution, although these days it is mostly used for hunting. It holds many shots in its bronze 'stock'. Unlike the revolver, which simply fires off one blast per chamber, the 'stock' of the Sparrowhawk is more slowly bled dry. Its final few bursts are usually very weak, though they still pack enough punch to be felt.
• Maxim - This is a larger model gun that can emit several shots in a very short period of time.