Look, we know what Mathilde did was magic and we're pretty sure it was Elf stuff, I'm saying we don't know if that mountain Waystone only exists because of Elf-Dwarf cooperation or not.
For instance, one big reason to alter mountain-Waystones to be able to respond to Wizard stuff? Is because you're intertwining the Karaz Ankor's energy flows, and Ulthuan's energy flows. Which may mean that you want to be able to work on this stuff together. Meaning that some of this stuff may have been altered or changed up after the fact for all we know.
My original post was speculating that it was the Waystones that dotted the Old World, that were made by Elf-Dwarf cooperation. That this was done to supplement the energy needs of the Dwarfs. And that the Karak-Runes, and Karak-Waystones, were made by the Dwarfs.
Yes and No. IIRC, the Ancestors were still around when the dwarves and elves first met. Boney has also stated that the Dwarven Waystone Network was the dwarves' solution for powering the works of the Ancestor Gods after said Gods left without leaving instruction manuals on how to actually power them.
It might have been the case that the Karak-Waystones were made by the Ancestor Gods; and that the Golden Age Dwarfs made the
normal Waystones together with the Elves to
supplement their energy needs.
After all, it was mentioned that the Elf system was disconnected from the Dwarf system. Meaning it could be the case that the Dwarfs had enough energy from the Karak-Waystones for critical things like the Rune of Valaya... but maybe not
all the Great Works, all at once.
Maybe that was why the Elves' leyline system was intertwined with the Dwarfs system; because the Dwarfs were also getting energy from the Waystones, which both they and the Elves made together.
This is getting repetitive and feels more like arguing over minutiae and definitions though.
One thing I'm not sure of though, and which I
am happy for this discussion making me think of, is why the New Holds ((presumably, Holds built during the Golden Age, or at any time after the time of the Ancestors)) aren't providing energy like the Old Holds are.
Why do you think that is?
Do you think the Newer Holds don't have mountain waystones on them?
I don't think the newer holds would lack energy-gathering capabilities; if you can make mountain-Waystones but not Karak-Runes ((and the mountain rune Mathilde interacted with looked pretty fancy... and like Dwarf work, rather than elf work)), then you can still fill a New Hold with a bunch of normal-Waystones (or even just Dwarf runic energy-collectors) and connect
those Waystones to the mountain-Waystones.
Do you think that the links between the New Holds and Karaz-A-Karak were broken or interrupted at some point -- after all, the Dum-Vlag link was intercepted, which means that some Karaks send their energy on to another Karak in the line rather than having their own line of mountains directly to Karaz-A-Karak.
That could imply that reclaiming several Holds or Dwarf outposts in between the New and Old Holds, might lead to the possibility of re-adding in even more Karak-collection-systems. If, that is, their equivalent of the Azrilbezaz or other crucial artifact, or person in charge, are not missing or damaged... Or maybe several New Holds lack Azrilbezaz equivalents (or are of a different level; K8P's one might be a Time-of-the-Ancestors era creation, rather than a Golden Age era creation); maybe those only exist for Old Holds, because they were made in the time of the Ancestors, because they were intended to interact with the Underearth. The Dwarfs don't want anybody else ever getting into the Underearth, the best way to keep something secure is to allow no vulnerabilities or risks, so they don't make direct connections to that even in the Golden Age. Everybody else afterward has to make do with more kludge-y methods, unless the Ancestor Gods are convinced of a problem or challenge on the level of the Coming of Chaos again.
Alternatively, maybe learning how to connect Waystones or create new leylines, might mean we figure out a way to reconnect New Holds
anyway.
Though if so, it might be worth exploring whether there are old leyline passages (like dried riverbeds) that exist but are not currently being used. Because if there are extant old leyline passages, it might be better to try to reactive those, rather than to build a new connection. Because new connections would be less skillfully made, and would have less weight to their existence; whereas older ones might have more weight. And because of the possibility of new connections wearing away old connections. So, better to try to reactive old connections because they are sturdier if they can be reconnected.
