Place of Power

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
There is a place in the galaxy where the Dark Side of the Force runs strong. It is something of the Sith, but it was fueled by war. It corrupts all that walks on its surface, drowns them in the power of the Dark Side -- it corrupts all life. And it feeds on death. Revan knew the power of such places... and the power in making them. They can be used to break the will of others... of Jedi, promising them power, and turning them to the Dark Side.
—Kreia, Knights of the Old Republic II

Places around the world where magic is said to naturally gather in large amounts. These areas are often geologically significant, such as the top of a hill, or the intersection between two or more rivers. Natural rock formations are also common sites, as are many others. Some are given significance by events that occurred at that location. Battlefields, for example, are often said, in fiction and real life, to contain "vibes" left by those who fought and died there. Another common place are so-called Ley Nodes, which occur where two or more Ley Lines intersect. Or you may just find one At the Crossroads.

These places may be used by priests and mages for various rituals, such as worship, sacrifices, summoning, or all of the above. For some, spells with a high requirement may be possible to cast there, with the ambient magic of the area making up for the mage's own deficiencies. Some can gather even more power during certain times of the day (sunrise/set, noon, and midnight), year (solstices and equinoxes, for example), or other times (such as solar and lunar eclipses, planetary alignments, and the like).

A Magnetic Plot Device is sometimes explained this way. Often acts as a Field Power Effect.

If it exists in Real Life, it's a Landmark of Lore. Such places fall under studies such as Psychogeography, arts like Feng Shui, and other teachings. Much of it, of course, is dismissed as pseudoscience, but in fiction, is far more likely to be true.

Examples of Place of Power include:


Anime and Manga

  • In Bleach, Ichigo's hometown is one of these, explaining why all sorts of weirdness goes on there.
  • Tokyo's "Crystal Points" in 'Sailor Moon.
  • Yu Yu Hakusho had these also in The Movie.
  • Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha has two spots outside of the planet Mid-childa where something like the Saint's Cradle could position itself to absorb the magic from Mid-childa's two moons.
  • Pokémon has the Spear Pillar, ancient ruins on top of a mountain where Cyrus uses the Red Chain to summon Dialga and Palkia (the gods of time and space).
  • Psyren as a whole is a place of power, since the atmosphere amplifies psychic power and grants it to those who breathe in the air there.


Comics


Card Games

  • Lands in Magic the Gathering, especially the five basic lands (Plains, Islands, Swamps, Mountains and Forests), as they can be tapped for mana to cast spells.
    • Basic lands in Magic the Gathering are the inverse of this trope; they're just, well, basic. Many nonbasic lands fulfill this trope, though, from "dual lands" which count as any two of the types of basic lands to lands that can produce more than one mana, which basically means that they naturally generate or have more magical energy than most lands, to lands that do completely different things like animate and fight like creatures.


Literature

  • In Diana Wynne Jones' Deep Secret, Hotel Babylon is hotel built right on top of a power node, giving it hallways that turn ninety degree angles and keep going on past the point of a perfect square, a clear path to the next dimension over, and a hotel full of people unconsciously attracted to the fan convention it's hosting. (Admittedly, the protagonist's fiddling around with fate may have something to do with the last one).
  • The eponymous city in The Chronicles of Amber. Or, more precisely, in the Pattern within it.
  • These are everywhere in the Discworld: from Lancre to Djelibeybi to the Wyrmberg.
  • Both played straight and Inverted in The Wheel of Time. There are arguably three Places of Power: the Eye of the World, the city of Rhuidean and Shadar Logoth. However, they are all man-made; the ones useful to protagonists were even made for those specific purposes. The magical power of those places can be destroyed or used up, and when it happens there's nothing special left of them. However, the world of the Wheel of Time also has many places where certain locations prevent magic from working.
  • H.P. Lovecraft's work sometimes features places like this. The best example would be The Dunwich Horror, where there are several large hills topped with ancient monoliths around the town of Dunwich. Strange noises and smells are often reported around these hills, and some are completely devoid of all plant life. A passage from Necronomicon in the same book links such site to the Great Old Ones.

"They walk the lonely places of the world, where Words have been spoken and Rites have been committed. The wind howls with Their voice and the ground rumbles with Their thoughts."

  • Termed Nodes in the Heralds of Valdemar series, these are formed by the intersection of two or more Ley Lines and are much sought out by mages and other creatures that feed on or utilize magical power. Only the most powerful of mages (Adept-class) can handle the energy of a node without being burned out or destroyed.
  • In The Dresden Files, there's an island that is said to be a major convergence of ley lines. Harry forges a connection to it, giving him awareness of whatever happens on the island, as well as gaining the spirit of the place as a dubious ally.
  • The High Heart from A Song of Ice and Fire is a place in the Riverlands where apparently the old gods still have power, despite the weirwoods being cut down. The red priest Thoros doesn't see any visions in the fire here.


Live Action TV


Tabletop Games

  • Feng Shui's Secret War revolves around capturing Feng Shui sites that generate powerful Chi. Capture enough of them in the right places, and history can be changed in your own image.
    • The CCG Shadowfist which is set in the same world as Feng Shui uses this as a win condition. You don't win by destroying your opponent but rather by controlling enough Feng Shui sites. Of course, you'll have to fight to defend them, and that's where the cyborg monkeys come into play.
  • Old World of Darkness:
    • Werewolf: The Apocalypse has caerns, some of the few remaining "wild places" in the world, where werewolves can commune with Gaia and gain spiritual power.
    • Mage: The Ascension has Nodes, places in the Tapestry where the separate strands knot up and generate Quintessence.
    • And all nodes can be turned into caerns, and all caerns can be used as nodes. Oh, and the undead kuei-jin also want to use them. Naturally, this leads to conflict...
    • Changeling: The Dreaming has Freeholds, untamed places that still bear a connection to the Dreaming that provided a font of Glamour for changelings.
  • New World of Darkness:
    • Mage: The Awakening does something similar to Ascension with Hallows, where Supernal energy either makes it through the Abyss or is trapped and recycled, generating Mana (nodes are where Ley Lines intersect, and can be harnessed by mages for free energy).
    • Werewolf: The Forsaken has loci, places bound up in spiritual importance where the border between Earth and the spirit world is a little bit thinner and Essence can be gathered.
    • Geist: The Sin Eaters features Haunts, the "low places" of the world touched by death and despair. Yes, they often contain ghosts, but they also contain a great store of Plasm.
    • The Ordo Dracul from Vampire: The Requiem seek out "Wyrm's Nest," areas where the weird reigns high and power is trapped. More often that not, these Nests are also Loci, Hallows, or Haunts. Which means they're often in competition with other supernaturals for them...
  • Exalted has demesnes, manses, and freeholds, all of which are places where Essence pools and/or wells up, often but not always as a result of dragon lines intersecting. The chief difference between them is whether they have been left largely undisturbed (demesnes), harnessed for occult purposes (manses), or transformed by The Fair Folk into miniature Wyld zones (freeholds).
  • Dungeons & Dragons has a bunch of different variants, some negate magic, some makes it "wild", creating unpredictable effects, and there are numerous other variants.
  • GURPS: Magic and GURPS: Thaumatology both spend some time discussing both natural places of power and ones that the caster must create himself (such as sanctifying a room).
  • In BESM, "Place of Power" is an actual character advantage; it represents a place where he or she can recharge his Mana.


Video Games, Visual Novels

  • The four temples in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks act as power nodes, connected to the Tower of Spirits by the Spirit Tracks.
  • In Fuyuki City of Fate Stay Night, there are two nodes where spiritual energy concentrate: the Tohsaka family of sorcerers built their house on top of one, while the other is located in a temple on top of a hill (an important plot point).
  • Malachor V in Knights of the Old Republic II.
    • In fact, Star Wars has numerous sites where the Force is stronger than usual, such as the Valley of the Jedi in the Jedi Knight series or the Dark Side cave on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back.
  • Crystals in Final Fantasy I (GBA Remake) (Each kept an element in harmony)
  • The "Your Sanctuary" locations in EarthBound, which Ness had to dominate in order to make the power of the Earth his own.
    • And in the sequel, Mother 3, you have the Seven Needles that keep the Dark Dragon asleep. Once pulled, a "great power resonates."
  • Master of Magic has nodes of power that can be tapped for Mana.
    • So does its spiritual successor Age of Wonders and, for that matter, many magic-based strategy games. You find this more in strategy than in RPG games, since the nodes function nicely as resources like gold mines or whatever, whereas in RPGs it would sort of suck for the player character (albeit make for a possibly interesting gameplay mechanic) to restrict where they could cast spells.
    • Daggerfall (from the Elder Scrolls) sort of had that - characters could be better or worse at casting magic when in sunlight, or when in darkness. In practice though, there was never any reason to use magic except in dark dungeons, so people would just use the "Cannot use magic in daylight" thing as a free way to get some more character-building points.
  • Used straight and inverted in Heroes of Might and Magic III. There are Magic Plains, where every spell cast (including ones cast by spellcasting troops, like Genies) is at Expert proficiency. On the other hand, there is Cursed Ground, where spellcasting doesn't work at all (or, if you've installed add-ons, where only first-level spells are possible).
  • The Witcher has, well Places of Power.
  • The Forest of Magic in Touhou Project is the favorite hotspot for magic users specifically for this reason.
  • The Elemental Lighthouses in Golden Sun and its sequel boosts the power any Adept of the corresponding element. The beacon of Mercury Lighthouse, which represents Water, has already been lit when the heroes enter. Its power constantly restores Mia's Psynergy points, therefore allowing her to heal and throw ice attacks around without having to worry about running dry. Saturos, being a Mars (Fire) adept, is greatly weakened by the power instead. Later it is revealed that Venus (Earth) and Mars shares a symbiotic relationship, as do Mercury and Jupiter (Air). Even when Saturos and his partner Menardi are defeated again on top of Venus Lighthouse, they struggle to light the beacon, which ends up fully restoring their power. Curiously enough, Garet, the party's own Mars adept, is unaffected by Mercury Lighthouse's beacon.


Web Original

  • Not only does the Whateley Universe have Ley Lines all over the place, but Whateley Academy is set just a few miles from Dunwich. Yeah. That Dunwich. There are Places of Power all around Whateley, and all of them are really, really dangerous.


Western Animation

  • In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, there were three Ley Line nodes tapped by the Foot Mystics that had to be liberated to prevent a demon from spreading his reality-warping, undead-summoning power across the planet. Of course, one of these was next to the Statue of Liberty; another was in the United Nations building. The third? At a butcher shop called "Manny's Meats".
  • In Gargoyles, Avalon is one of these, and its Hollow Hill especially so.


Multiple media

  • Most incarnations of The World Tree.
    • In Mahou Sensei Negima, the World Tree at the school's campus glows due to excess power every 22 years, right around the time of the School Festival. during that time, six points around the tree also radiate power, enough to turn a simple Love Confession into a magical compulsion.
      • It also power's Negi's time machine, as well as supplying magical energy for the forced recognition spell that the Big Bad want to use to end The Masquerade.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Place_of_Power?oldid=1493713"