Mana

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Lines or streams of mana flow through everything in and on Elanthia, even through the planet itself. Spells manipulate these lines of mana away from their natural state to form spell patterns. The body of every animate being naturally resists the manipulation of the mana lines passing through it, causing Magic Resistance.

The information contained in this article comes largely from GM Armifer, from discussions in the DragonRealms forums.

Using Mana & Spellcasting

Mana is never created or destroyed, only temporarily manipulated and diverted away from its natural state. It cannot be destroyed, dispelled, or exhausted; it is effectively eternal. When a spell pattern is woven and utilized, the energy (referred to as spell energy) that is produced when mana is manipulated away from its natural state is what is used to maintain a spell pattern and produce magical effects.

When a spell is prepared, the mage manipulates mana into a spell pattern meant to produce the desired effect. Once the spell is cast, the streams of mana return to normal, leaving behind the spell energy produced by its manipulation. This spell energy remains in the pattern woven for it which will endure so long as the pattern remains coherent.

Magic Resistance only occurs to the actual manipulation of mana, not spell energy. As such, Magic Resistance may weaken the power of a spell or even stop it from being cast entirely, but once the pattern has been created and cast the spell energy is not affected and cannot be resisted, though it can still be manipulated or dispelled with the proper tools.

The Spectrum

Mana is a spectrum of energies with different frequencies, which is "a metaphor to describe that higher mana resonates with increasingly ephemeral ('small and quick') forces while lower mana resonates with increasingly physical ('big and slow') forces"[1]. From highest to lowest:

Divinity and Gravity are considered the "basic building blocks of reality" and cannot be manipulated by mortals. Attempts to do so usually end with disastrous results.

Mana is invisible and cannot normally be detected; different kinds of magic users are trained to "see" it differently depending on their respective disciplines. Once trained in the perception of one type of mana, a mage is blind to all other frequencies (though manipulation, albeit blindly, is still possible; see the section on sorcery below). Spell energy as a product of other types of mana can still be detected, however.

Holy Mana

Holy mana results from the past, present and future presence of the Immortals. Because of its short wavelength, Holy mana requires something extra from the caster. The purity of a Cleric's devotion or a Paladin's soul state allows them to tap into the latent Holy mana.

Holy mana appears ephemeral and is described as golden in color. Clerics perceive it as becoming more substantial or "real" as their Devotion increases. Paladins perceive it as substantial all the time, but its appearance reflects their soul; the more corrupt and sinful the Paladin, the more they see diseased blotches appear within the streams of mana. Even those with a pristine soul continue to notice them.

Holy mana ebbs and flows with the holy days. It steadily increases as a holiday approaches, peaks, and then slowly drains away -- a gradual slope rather than a sudden spike. It cycles much more quickly than Life mana.

Life Mana

Life mana is the result of continuing struggle between order and chaos, the antithesis of entropy.

Life mana's appearance differs greatly between Empaths and Rangers. Empaths generally see it as something very light and airy, with bright colors that are pleasing to see. Rangers perceive it in dark, earthy tones. Both guilds perceive it as having a regular ebb and flow like a heartbeat when in its natural state.

Life mana rises and falls with the seasons, generally around the solstices, and has the longest cycle of any mana type.

Elemental Mana

Elemental mana derives from the actions and reactions of the elements of Elanthia, as well as trickling in raw form from the Elemental Planes. Elemental mana best resonates with the physical reality rather than the abstract.

Unique to Bards, they perceive Elemental mana aurally rather than visually, with the tempo and complexity of the music increasing with mana levels. Warrior Mages perceive Elemental mana as an amalgam of elemental traits, at once fiery and slow to move away from its natural state as well as liable to jerk out of a magician's mental hold. In both cases it is described as a wild, mindless, and primal force that is difficult to manipulate.

Elemental mana is empowered during inclement weather, such as rainstorms and hurricanes. Warrior Mages who enjoy Fire spells are encouraged to indulge in pyromania indoors.

Lunar Mana

Lunar mana derives from large kinetic forces at work; interactions between heavenly bodies -- moons, planets, stars. Its long wavelength allows spells like Moongate to border on Gravity.

Lunar mages perceive their mana as cold and white, like starlight. The opposite of Holy mana in many ways, Lunar mana always seems very "real" and has a sense of weight and gravity to it. It moves in great tides across the entire planet, causing individual streams to appear almost static. Occasionally, it is observed to form runes, symbols, and other expressions of meaning within the nominally random flux of its tide.

Lunar mana is more easily perceived on clear days and at night, and as such has the shortest bonus cycle of any mana type.

Arcane Mana

Fuels certain necromantic and/or sorcerous magics. Not much is known about it, except that Necromancers will use it.

Arcane mana appears 'stained' and wholly unnatural, like veins of coagulated fat and grease that hang in the air like limp ropes. It is never observed moving naturally, but if left unattended the streams may be in a radically different configuration when later observed. The volume and intensity does not change with these shifts, only its appearance.

Sorcery & Necromancy

Sorceries and Necromancies are spell patterns that utilize two different types of mana in their creation. Sorcery is the mixing of any two non-Life types, while Necromancy utilizes Life mana in the pattern. Natural laws prevent Holy and Life mana from being mixed together, causing violent backlashes when it is attempted. Different sorceries utilize mana in different ratios to produce their effects.

Because no mage can perceive more than one type of mana, sorcerous spell patterns require the mage to manipulate at least one type of mana blindly. In addition, sorcerous spell patterns tend toward being inherently unstable and destructive to begin with. What this means for aspiring sorcerers is that their craft is always inherently dangerous and potentially fatal; a bit of misplaced energy within their spell pattern can easily result in backfires which lead to an incredibly violent backlash of energy. These typically manifest as black and blue flames which destroy the hands and arms, or worse. The risk of this happening can go down with skill, but never fully goes away, even for the most talented magicians.

Attempting to mix Life and Holy results in a unique effect typically referred to as a necromantic backlash, and can also happen when attempting to use Life mana in a spell pattern meant for Holy mana, and vice versa. It results in damage to the body and a magical disease similar to flesh rot manifesting in the user, similar to other necromantically-engineered diseases. The inability to mix Holy and Life has the noticeable side-effect of not allowing a "holy necromancy" to exist, but whether this is due to the Immortals manipulating natural law to make it so, proof that there is such an innate evilness to necromancy that the emanations of the gods repel it, or is simply a convenient coincidence is unknown.

Currently existing books of sorcerous and necromantic magic are:

The Necromancer Guild will also have several new necromancy spellbooks.

Notes

  • Mana cannot be carried with you.
  • Cambrinth stores spell energy, not the mana itself.
  • All mana streams fluctuate with time. In all cases, this is pure bonus: the mana flux will never bring the mana any lower than what your skills would allow you to access.
  • See the Harness Ability article for information on the utilization of mana.
  • Mana Levels
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