Alter Aeon The Great Library

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Note - as with any topic, researchers should question the reliability
and veracity of these texts.  The library's aim is to preserve
documents, not verify accuracy.

AABN:  37390
Title: a book called "Areas of Great Magic"

Mana permeates the known world. It flows in currents over the land,
through the sea and even deep underground. Mana tends to follow the path
of least resistance. Though it can pass through most solid objects, mana
tends to flow downhill, over open ground.

Many ancient civilizations built their settlements at places where rivers
and mana flows met, providing them with abundant water and mana. Stone
monuments dot the mainland near regions where deposits of certain minerals
resist the passage of mana, causing it to pool. Even where mana pools, it
does not stay forever, either seeping into the ground or spilling over
obstacles to drain gradually back into the earth.

Why, then, has not all the magic flowed down to the center of the world?
The answer is simple -- all around are upwellings of magic, spewing outward
like lava from a volcano. Indeed, volcanoes seem to be areas where mana
upwells frequently.

The mechanism is theorized to be much the same as volcanoes as well: mana
flows in towards the core the world, where it concentrates, becoming more
volatile as it accumulates. When the concentrations are high, it wells up
through well-worn passages to flow out over the surface again.

Some strongly magical regions occur where there is no obvious vulcanism.
The so-called "land of magic" northwest of Ralnoth is such place. Other
known non-volcanic mana upwellings include the Caer Bre'en, the Celestial
Circle, the Swamps of Sorrow and Dikeman's Atoll.

Mana also can flow across planar boundaries in places where magical portals
stand. The area known as Chaos, southwest of Ralnoth, is one such region
where magic is stronger as a result of a long-standing planar rift. Similar
concentrations of magic have been found in the Ash Desert in the vicinity
of Mount Sartus.