Aetheric floe is a phenomenon in which chucks of aetherium, the material comprising the boundary between the Prime Material and Outer Planes, break loose and fall to the surface of the Prime Material. These chunks of raw aetherium cause sudden spikes in the relative arcane energies of a region, causing unpredictable surges of wild magic. Though rare, aetheric floe has been known to cause massive amounts of damage if they occur near cities or other large gatherings of people.
Causes
The aetherium boundary that separates the Prime Material and the Outer Planes is porous, which is what allows the energies of the Outer Planes to reach the Prime, granting the world its magic. Occasionally, the flow of Outer Planar energies will be too great for the boundary to handle, which will cause chunks of the aetherium, called aetheric floe, to break off and be carried down to the Prime Material. When this happens, the aetheric floe is supercharged by the surrounding energies, creating condensed pockets of high energy. When magic is used around these supercharged shards of aetherium, the magic is released in devastating fashion, causing the magic cast to change in unpredictable ways.
Aetheric floe is most common along the ley lines, large cracks that are the result of repeated attempts throughout history of mages trying to penetrate the aetherium boundary. The largest ley lines were caused in the years preceding The Ascendancy, as the mages of the Talvarran Empire repeatedly attempted to break through to reach the planes of the Divines. Rather than being the result of too much energy trying to flow through the boundary at one point, aetheric floe around ley lines is caused by the near-constant stream of energy rushing past jagged and frayed edges. Aetheric floe from ley lines tend to be less severe, though can still prove dangerous to any unprepared mages operating nearby.
