The Wild Ways

The Wild Ways are pathways that lead through the Mortal Realm. These pathways follow the leylines, which are 'rivers' of highly concentrated magical energy. It is important to understand that the leylines power the Wild Ways, but the Wild Ways do not necessarily follow the path of the leylines. Magic users, specifically those with the Wild affinity, can open these pathways and use them as 'shortcuts' between two locations. The Wild Ways can be difficult to navigate as some pathways can lead to inhospitable locations (such as the bottom of the ocean). Other times The Wild Ways end up collapsing if the magical energy of the leyline is disturbed or dissipated.

How to Access a Wild Way

A Wild affinity magic-user is required to open the Wild Way. There are several Wild Ways that are routinely traveled and now have a Wild magic-user stationed at them. These Wild Ways also have Haryk Crystals stationed with them to aid the Wild magic-user. When the group is ready to travel through the Wild Way, the magic-user opens the portal and the tunnel connects to the exit location.

The well-traveled and stable Wild Ways can traverse groups of up to six people. This includes any luggage or gear that the group is taking with them. Many groups use carts to help move luggage through the portal. While there are Wild Ways that allow for intercontinental travel, most of those lines are only strong enough for no more than a few people at a time.

Entering the Wild Way is no different than walking through a door. Though alarming, the light and magical energy will not hurt a person. Once inside, the Wild Way is similar to a corridor. Most Wild Ways are short when walking through, no more than a five to ten minute walk. The longest Wild Way known, The Trans-Pacific Wild Way, is a thirty minute walk.

Locations of Wild Ways are kept hidden from the non-magic user world for safety reasons. All Wild Ways that are of importance are mapped and control by groups tied to the magic-user community. No one group controls all Wild Ways due to the large worldwide connection. All attempts at regulating and creating an agreement for use of the Wild Ways has failed. There are too many groups and factions that control the Wild Ways.

Dangers of Wild Ways

The greatest danger of traveling the Wild Ways is the Wild Way collapsing or dissipating while a group is within one. Sadly, there are several reported cases where this very incident occurred. If a Wild Way should collapse while a group is using it, then the group is lost forever. No one really knows what happens to them, but they are never seen again. In one case, a medium was able to connect with a lost Wild Way traveler from the Spirit Realm. Researchers are still trying to understand why a Wild Way spontaneously collapses. The best explanation at the moment is that the magic energy was drained from the area leaving no means of powering the Wild Way.

The other danger is when Wild Ways open to unexpected locations. Through centuries of use and mapping, the Wild Ways are regularly tested and explored to ensure that the Way is still passable and leads to the correct destination. Over time, the leylines sometimes shift. That shift takes the Wild Way with it. Most shifts are gradual and the Wild Way's entrance/exit point moves only a few meters in one direction. A severe shift creates an entrance/exit point a kilometer or more. The smaller shifts are easily managed to continue operating the Wild Way for travel. However, the severe shifts have left some Wild Ways unusable due to the new entrance/exit point being in the bottom of an ocean or high on a cliff face. Catastrophic shifts have also occurred that caused the Wild Way to dissipate.

Discovering and Maintaining Wild Ways Wild Ways are explored and discovered by Wild-affinity magic-users. These magic-users often pair with a Psy to use in reconnaissance and mapping. While uncommon, it is not unheard of for new leylines to spring up and create new Wild Ways. Once a new Wild Way is found and determined to be a reliable source of transportation, then the group responsible for it sets up the station to maintain it. These stations bring in revenue for the group as most charge a fee to use the Wild Way.
The magic-users maintain the Wild Ways by ensuring the leyline that powers it is still stable. If the leyline is determined to be unstable, then the Wild Way is closed either permanently or until the leyline becomes stable again.

Spontaneous Wild Way

There are several species of magical creatures that have the ability to create temporary Wild Ways or Spontaneous Wild Ways. These Wild Ways are usually unstable and allow for the magical creature to traverse the Wild Way. These Wild Ways will follow the whims of the conjurer and it is best to stay far away from any creature that can manipulate a Wild Way.
There are also some Wild Magic spells that create Spontaneous Wild Ways, but those spells are considered advanced and difficult to conjure. There are no guarantees on where the magic-user will come out or if they will even come out.

Communication Tools & Systems

Once in a Wild Way, there is no way to communicate with the outside. All communication needs to be done beforehand. Planned usage of heavily traveled Wild Ways follows a strict time table similar to a train station. Each Wild Way entrance/exit point is equipped with a Magic Mirror to allow communication between stations.

Image of a Wild Way being held open by a Haryk Crystal