1523695
Awww.

1523705
Not to mention the Gryphons don't sell them. They award them. To possess an item made of soulsteel is a great honor, and is indicative of a fierce friendship with the avians.

1523715
Why do Gryphons get all the cool stuff?

1523720
Likely because they are the oldest and most established race.

The fifth convergence recognized as a major confluence of ley lines is located in the Dawn Court, and is a gathering of emotive lines and empathic lines has manifested in the form of a spring, known as the Dawnspring. Drinking the water of this spring has proven to have extremely powerful properties, and the baths fed by this water have manifested unusual powers as well. Water from the spring has purportedly given the ability to gaze upon the souls of others until the next sunrise, and as such is popular with lovers, who are given the water freely by the Avatar of Dawn freely. Bathing in this water supposedly allows for the subject’s inner beauty to be reflected outward as well, for better or ill.

1523728
An army of real Terracotta statues, soul-swords, beaks, a dwindling population. I kinda wanna be a Gryphon...

1523742
Their fortunes have been good, of late. The Oligarchy is a fascinating place.

1523728
Now by established you mean having a government and society right?

1523751
Too bad disagreements with Gryphons tend to end on bad notes if one is not fully in tune with Gryphon customs.

1523755
1523769
Yes. By all accounts the Gryphons had inhabited this land when the first Equestrians arrived.

And Ta'Rof is an intricate system, but in informal settings, the Gryphons are a wonderful people.

1523785
Arrived? From where? Weren't they just natives who simply got around to establishing agriculture, permanent housing, alcohol, and then religion (the four base parts of any civilization) after the Gryphons?

1523804
No. The current frozen lands above the mountains in the north of Equestria was originally the home of our race. When the Windigos arrived, they fled south, to this land.

1523815
Now I seem to recall that we've had this history lesson before. Please, don't let me interrupt you further.

The sixth is located in the grasslands to the East of the Celestial Empire, and is unusual in that it tends to shift depending on the seasons. This may have something to do with the nomadic lifestyle of the zebra tribes in that area, as they tend to follow their own sacred paths through the open plains there. The convergence also shifts in which lines it uses, though the majority of the time it involves life lines. The closest convergence is known as the Magharibi convergence, involves life lines and solar lines, and is used by the local tribes to grow sacred plants and herbs.

1523843
Sacred as in? Since these are Zebras I shouldn't be off base to assume they particular alchemical properties?

1523861
As well as psychedelic, yes.

1523843
Have the Zebras been shown to have an effect on the convergence near them given its behavior?

1523866
Is this why Zebra Seers and Spirit Walkers are a bit, how shall we say, among the stars?

1523881
No, they seem to simply follow it wherever it leads. It does run in a pattern, but it is a complex pattern. The zebras learn of this progression through oral history and sacred dances, if you can believe it.

1523883
That and their surprising abilities in the realm of spiritual projection.

1523897
That's six major convergences. How many exist on the Earth? And how many Minor are there?

1523931
The seventh and final convergence is located in the far north, and is completely inaccessible without a prepared party trained in surviving under extremely cold conditions. Even so, only three mortal parties have made it to this convergence, and none did so without casualties. The actual center of the convergence is a powerful mix of many ley lines, the most powerful in the world, and is completely inaccessible from the ground. The mountain it is located on, known as the Horn of the World, is so high that even the most accomplished fliers cannot reach its summit. The Horn is unusual in that it is not a simple meeting of lines. The lines radiate from the mountain, like the flow of a natural spring, and from there disperse across the world. This has led to some speculation about whether or not the horn can rightly be called a convergence.

1523933
Wouldn't something like that be more of a site where the Aether and the Planar Realm were sewn together? Could the lay lines actually just be another form of Aether magic that has leaked into the Planar realm?

1523950
Again, I am unsure. I was never tasked with exploring ley lines. But that is one of several standing theories regarding ley lines, and one of the most likely in my opinion.

1523933
So you're saying that the horn acts more like a transmitter and that the other convergences are like like receivers or speakers for the actual convergence of ley lines?

1523962
That's a way of looking at it. From the Horn, magic flows. It pools in certain areas, and the biggest of these are what we have discussed.

1523967
So, what we do know is that lay lines are naturally occurring rivers of magic. They occasionally form lakes, called convergences. Civilizations have been able to feel their influence and use that magic to their benefit.

1523994
Yes, that's it exactly. They are used in different ways by different societies. The only ones able to actively manipulate magic in those lines are unicorns and the Quilin.

1524003
If only two races can actively manipulate the magic in the ley lines, could that mean that the magic has a mind of its own in regards to things like soulsteel?

1524003
Has any group of magic users ever been able to redirect the flow of the lay lines? If magic works like other fluids, it follows a path of least resistance to reach a system that is at equilibrium and at it's lowest energy.

1524020
Possibly. That'd be one for a different type of scholar. I personally look at it as a symbiotic relationship. Magic changes users as users use magic.

1524024
Yes. the most recent disruption of the ley was undertaken by Princess Cadance, at the close of the Evening Rebellion. She used the energy from the lines to open up a series of portals.

1524036
Did the ley line resume its old path?

1524041
Yes. However, that disruption resulted in massive storms, three volcanic eruptions in the Quilinese Islands, two earthquakes, and both the hottest summer and coldest winter in a century.

1524058
Hmmm. Scientific exploration requires the repetition of experiments and methods used. I think we should keep mussing about with ley lines and see what happens.

1524058
So when a ley line is diverted, the other ley lines pick up the slack or is that from the imbalance of the one ley line being diverted?

1524074
You know, it is possible to observe and take notes without dooming us all.

1524078
No, she diverted many ley lines. Hundreds. Ley lines are flexible, like elastic bands. They shift all the time. It's when many are moved that it becomes an issue.

1524093
I'll do things your way for now. Even if it involves boring science. And besides, all those disasters could have been coincidence. We can't know until we attempt to replicate results.

1524093
Now is that many just the ones feeding a major convergence or could such a reaction also be fueled by tweaking the smaller convergences?

1524106
How dare you call my career field boring!

Whoa, a class.

Hi guys!

1524111
Active manipulation of ley lines effects the surrounding area. By manipulating many ley lines over a wide area, we cause massive effects over a massive area. Manipulating one or two lines won't cause much, but the more disturbance is caused, the more widespread the effects.

1524125

So can we manipulate them for positive effects?

Say a leyline moves across an uninhabited strip of land and we divert it's contents to a ley line in a fertile area?

1524125
So a ley line is a ley line is a ley line no matter what it's feeding into.

1524130
No. Again, they are like elastic. They flow a certain way, and can be diverted, but will return to their original positions if not actively worked upon.

1524131
Yes. They channel different types of magic, but they are same in that they are massive currents of energy.

1524140

Is that a no to constant manipulation or a no to the positive effect of temporary manipulation?

1524140
What is so special about the locations that ley lines flow and converge upon? What makes them so conductive to this magic?

1524143
It takes a significant amount of energy to even shift a ley line temporarily, let alone turn it onto an area long enough to do any good. And the energy may or may not stay in an area once the lines shifts away.

1524144
Unknown. There is no reliable way to tell whether or not an area could host a ley line other than noting that the area hosts a ley line.

No homework for tonight, take a rest. Next class on Friday at midnight. Any questions?