Peek: Mana Dynamics

One of the first questions any aspiring Dungeoneer asks is: How do dungeons form?  It's not like a mommy dungeon and a daddy dungeon loving each other very much, right?  Of course not.  To understand how they form, though, one must understand at least the basics of mana dynamics.

Generally, mana dynamics is something focused caster classes are concerned with, but Dungeoneers are also interested in them, at least in the macro sense.  So, let us start with how mana behaves in the wild, so to speak.

Mana is as ubiquitous as air, and even early theories said it was air.  Those that held that view were often at odds with the ones that noticed mana tends to flow much like water, so there were of course conflicts and wars and all sorts of trouble.

It took a surprisingly long time before people started to wonder how elements like earth and fire could exist with magic if the fuel for magic itself opposed those elements.  Now those various adherents mostly argue their chosen element is simply superior, but that's not the point.

No, the point is in how mana works with the kind of scale nature works at.  A water mage could flood a house, but that amount of water would go unnoticed by a lake or even a moderate river.  Scale makes things behave oddly.

Mana at that kind of scale tends to flow like water, but it doesn't simply flow downhill.  The large flows of mana are called ley lines, and while most will follow the contours of the land, there are many examples of them weaving through the air or through the earth.  Potent casters can tap these lines to replenish their energy, or even charge their magic directly, but it's often not really an option for them.

Not many people have a river at arm's length, and the same is true for ley lines.  Even if one is handy to tap, it may not be a nice calm river.  Messy flow makes it difficult to tap, and dangerous to boot.  Even worse, we disturb mana flow.

By the simple act of thinking, intelligent races disturb the flow of mana, and we disturb it even more when we actively use our magic, or even passively use it!  We're not the only source of this disturbance, but we are the simplest to observe.  Why go out into untamed wilds to study turbulent mana flows, when one can simply look around a city?

A turbulent flow, by itself, isn't a bad thing.  Similarly, a stagnant flow isn't automatically bad, either.  There are a lot of aspects that are much easier to work with in some kinds of mana than in others.  The interesting things happen when turbulent mana meets with stagnant mana.  The exact mechanics are still unknown, but something about mana in these two states will make things happen.

Especially turbulent and especially stagnant mana can both form monsters, with higher concentrations tending to produce stronger monsters, while the size of the specific flow will tend to determine how many will form.

More is known about turbulent than stagnant mana, simply because it's easier for us to observe turbulent mana without effecting it much.  There are interesting developments with telepresence knowledge magics, but that's far beyond the scope of this book.  The main thing to take away is that the two states of mana will make monsters, and that they abhor each other.

Opposing monsters will fight to the death, but they also have a common enemy: the dungeon.  Dungeons straddle the gap between the extremes of mana flows, and some think they create a third variety of flow.  Some call it balanced flow, but I prefer to call it neutral flow.  Dungeons take in turbulent and stagnant mana, and give off neutral.  And, much like areas of turbulent or stagnant mana will produce monsters, the neutral area of dungeons will do the same.

But how does all of this relate to the question of how a dungeon forms?  They form in areas where the natural clashing of turbulent and stagnant manas are stable.  In most areas, these borders of conflict will change like the winds, ranging far and wide.  In areas where dungeons are likely to form, they are more like the tides, with the dungeons being the beach.  Of course, not all meeting of ocean and land will make a beach, and so not all stable confluences of these mana states will make a dungeon.

-Excerpt from Dungeon Basics, written by Ryndal Windstrider

Thank you NetWitch for the question about how dungeons form!  The short answer is that they form from two states of mana trying to balance themselves.  I'm still trying to hammer down exactly how to explain it without having to invent my own branch of particle physics, heh.  Thank you again to everyone!  I'll be posting a new Nudge soon to help keep the discussion fresh and see if anyone has any new questions, too.

Khenal