Magestream

The **Magestream** is the name given to the flows of raw magical energy which permeated the universe and acted as the source for magical powers. It is unclear whether the disappearance of magic means that the Magestream itself has disappeared, or whether it is simply inaccessible for whatever reason - though debate is largely fruitless given that either theory is impossible to prove. Regardless of whether the Magestream continues to exist, it no longer has an effect on this universe, so it is referred to in the past tense.

A flow of the Magestream could be present in one of two forms; it could either be part of the Universal Circuit that permeated the world, or it could be part of a specific, highly localised circuit. Individual circuits were typically contained within objects or creatures, whereas the Universal Circuit was simply too powerful to be contained in any meaningful sense. Some magical scholars believed that the Universal Circuit was a collection of circuits that could interact with one another but were nonetheless separate, whereas others believed it was a singular unified circuit.

The strength of the Magestream in an area - that is, the amount of energy in the flow as well as the speed of the flow - had an immediate impact on how powerful any use of magic in the locality would be. Where the Magestream flowed strongly, mages found it easy to unleash a great deal of power, but if the flow was weak and slow, a mage would have to exert considerably more effort to attain the same degree of magical power. It is widely theorised that the flow of the Magestream was significantly stronger before the Annihilation than after it, and also that the Dreadlands was/is permeated with much stronger Magestream flows than anything that could be found in this universe.

For a reason that has yet to be explained, the Magestream tended to flow strongest and fastest at high altitudes, conglomerating into powerful flows which, on clear and dark nights, were brightly visible. These Magestream flows somewhat resembled fast-moving sparkling auroras, typically exhibiting a blue, white or purple colour. In some specific areas, the strength of the Magestream flow was strong enough to fully tint the hue of the sky even during daytime; the Violet Mountains are the most prominent example of this.

## Disruptions

The flow of the Magestream could be disrupted for a wide variety of reasons. On rare occasions, it could simply happen on its own without any outside interference, as the somewhat random nature of the flow had a tendency to cause turbulence which could exponentially increase in scale. The flow could also be disrupted by the heavy use of magic in a concentrated area, for example as a result of a battle between mages.

The Magestream could also be disrupted by the mere presence of magical Dreadfolk, though this only appeared to happen in this universe and not in the Dreadlands itself - likely due to the Magestream reacting against the presence of creatures that should not be there. The Festerkin in particular tended to bring disruption with them wherever they went, and the Hellhive that was their home was a known hotspot of disruptions. However, some scholars speculate that it was not merely their presence that did this, but rather their use of plague and mutating magic, which was believed to be greatly harmful to the Magestream.

Whatever the cause of a Magestream disruption might be, the effects were largely consistent, though they of course differed in severity and scale depending on the nature of the cause. Magestream disruptions were extremely dangerous affairs; the presence of them alone made it significantly easier for dimensional rifts between this world and the Dreadlands to open, but the disruption itself could also open a rift if the Magestream flow was constricted - the resulting pressure would be violently released, causing an explosion with substantial physical force which could potentially tear open the wall between the dimensions. Highly skilled mages were capable of detecting the presence of a build-up of magical energy, but there was no way to smoothly release the pressure to avoid an explosion; the most that could be done was triggering the explosion early to avoid it becoming any larger, which was done simply by blasting the pressurised site with magic.

Extreme disruptions in the powerful and fast flows at high altitude were capable of developing into Dreadstorms, the most dangerous, fearsome and obscenely terrifying of all Magestream disruptions.