The Nature of Magic

Mana is a by-product of the interaction of Order and Chaos vieing for dominance. The more Order and Chaos present, the more Mana there is in the world, as long as it is in fairly equal quantities. Order and Chaos are also necessary for the formation of life, and thus it often mistakenly believed by some intelligent beings of the universe, that life creates mana. This is incorrect, life and mana are simply by-products of the same system.

During the evolution of a planet, the levels of mana grow as life begins to form. At some unidentified criticle point, these two phenominons achieve a symbiosis. In some evolutionary paths, this symbiosis has an effect on on the organism such that it becomes dependant on the existance of mana for survival. In other cases minor changes are made, and in many cases this symbiosis has no apparent affect.

As life evolves more and more towards intelligence, so too does the mana sphere evolve. By the time civilizations are forming, the mana sphere has developed into a sort of organism of its own. In some cultures, there is a belief in a planetary spirit or a nature spirit. This belief is not too far off the mark. While a mana sphere that evolves to this level becomes somewhat self-sustaining, it also becomes vulnerable to damage.

There are two important examples of where the mana sphere became damaged to the extent that it could no longer sustain itself. Earth and Khanvar. In both cases, the balance necessary for the proper generation of the mana was disrupted. In the case of Earth it was the impact of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. On Khanvar, the great war between the Khrenesch and the Frenalians was the cause. In both cases the mana wasn't completely eliminated, but was so significantly depleated that it unlikely those worlds will ever have a significant amount of mana again.

Mana is a form of potential energy that permeates the planet. Any living being can learn to absorb and channel this energy. When a spell or spell-like ability are used, the mana is converted from potential energy into functional energy. In a way the process of casting a spell is converting chaotic energy into a structured form that could then turn back into chaotic energy (Offmagic) or perhaps used to remove chaos from a system (Healing). The words of the spell assist in forming the correct structure and the mana is channeled into that structure and then released.