The Nature and Application of Mana Stones
A Guest Lecture Series at the Founders Academy
Presented by Master Nixus (Alchemist), Master Brunhilda (Artificer), and Master Ragnor (Combat Instructor) Transcribed by Apprentice Scribe Marcus Thornweave, 2985 PC3
Preface: On the Speakers
This lecture series represents an unusual collaboration between three of The Cabal's most distinctive personalities. Master Nixus, whose enthusiasm for experimental demonstrations occasionally requires evacuation protocols, brings deep knowledge of biological processes and alchemical extraction. Master Brunhilda, whose mechanical arms are themselves a testament to magical artifice, provides insight into the practical applications of mana stones in enchantment. Master Ragnor, the Deathless General, offers the battlefield perspective on why adventurers risk their lives harvesting these valuable organs.
What follows is a faithful transcription of their three-part lecture series, including the frequent interruptions, demonstrations (some more explosive than others), and the particular teaching styles that make each master memorable in their own right.
-- Apprentice Scribe Marcus Thornweave
Part One: What IS a Mana Stone?
Presented by Master Nixus
[The lecture hall fills with the acrid smell of various chemical preservatives as Master Nixus wheels in a cart laden with specimen jars, each containing what appears to be crystalline structures of varying sizes and colors. His green features are already twisted into an expression of barely contained excitement. Several protective barriers shimmer into existence around the demonstration table, erected by nervous Academy staff who have witnessed previous Nixus lectures.]
Master Nixus: "Right then! Everyone still has all their fingers? Excellent! Keep 'em that way—I've got some beauties to show you today, and I'd rather not spend the evening reattaching digits. Not because I can't, mind you, but because the paperwork is absolutely dreadful."
[He lifts a jar containing what appears to be a reddish-orange crystal the size of a child's fist, holding it up to the light. The crystal catches the illumination with an inner fire that seems to pulse with residual energy.]
"THIS magnificent specimen came from a fire drake—young adult, about sixty years old, harvested three days ago by a particularly brave—or foolish, take your pick—Adventurer's Guild team. Cost me a month's worth of successful potion sales to acquire it for demonstration purposes, and it's already beginning to decay. See that slight cloudiness forming around the edges? That's the biological sheath breaking down. Give it another week, and this beauty will be worth about as much as ordinary quartz."
[He sets it down with surprising gentleness and picks up another jar, this one containing a murky green-brown crystal that appears cracked and pitted.]
"Now THIS sorry excuse for a stone came from the same fire drake. Or rather, it came from the drake's cousin, who died in the same battle but wasn't harvested until two weeks later. See the difference? It's like comparing a fresh apple to one that's been sitting in the sun for a fortnight. Both technically still food, but only one you'd actually want to eat. Don't eat mana stones, by the way. I mention this because some of you look like you might need that clarification."
[A nervous laugh ripples through the audience. Nixus grins widely, showing pointed goblin teeth.]
"So! What exactly IS a mana stone? The boring academic answer, which you'll find in all those dusty texts that Master Eldamar loves so much, is that it's a 'specialized biological organ with crystalline structure that enables ambient mana absorption and storage.' True enough, but that definition has all the flavor of unseasoned porridge."
"Here's the FUN way to think about it: Imagine you're a cave troll. Big fellow, likes to eat rocks and occasionally hapless miners. Now, you're living in a world absolutely SOAKED with mana—it's everywhere, like water is to fish or air is to us. Evolution, in its infinite wisdom—or more likely, blind stumbling around until something works—decides that having a way to store some of that mana for emergency use would be rather handy."
[He begins pulling out more specimens, arranging them by size and color on the demonstration table with the care of someone organizing precious gems.]
"So over thousands of generations, certain creatures develop these marvelous little organs. They start as specialized cells during embryonic development—boring biological stuff that I'll skip unless someone REALLY wants the details—and those cells begin depositing minerals in very specific patterns. Hexagonal structures, mostly, though you get some trigonal formations in certain species. The minerals crystallize following genetic templates that are different for each type of creature."
[He taps a large brown-green crystal with one ring-adorned finger.]
"Cave troll. Lives underground, eats minerals, regenerates like you wouldn't believe. What aspect do you think its stone developed? Anyone? Yes, you in the back with the unfortunate haircut—earth-aspected, exactly right! The troll's biology, its diet, its environment, even the mana-rich caves it calls home—all of these factors influence how its mana stone develops. The crystal structure literally 'tunes' itself to earth-aspected mana during the creature's growth."
[He holds up a beautiful blue-white crystal that seems to shimmer with inner frost.]
"Frost wyrm stone. Gorgeous, isn't it? Notice how it's not just blue—look at those internal structures, those fracture patterns. They're not random. That's the crystalline lattice organizing itself to be most efficient at storing water and ice-aspected mana. The creature's body basically grows its own custom-made battery, perfectly optimized for its survival needs."
"Now here's where it gets REALLY interesting—"
[He produces a set of delicate tools and, with surprising dexterity for someone with such long fingers, begins carefully scraping at one of the degraded stones.]
"—these aren't just crystals. Oh no, that would be too simple! They're LIVING organs. They have blood supply—well, had, before the creature so rudely died. They have nervous tissue for conscious or instinctive activation. They're integrated with the creature's entire body through specialized channels. Think of them as... as..."
[He pauses, searching for the right comparison.]
"Ah! Think of them like your heart, but instead of pumping blood, they pump mana. Your heart is muscle and tissue and valves and blood vessels all working together. A mana stone is crystalline structure and biological sheath and mana-conducting pathways and regulatory cells all working together. Remove it from the body, and just like a heart, it starts to die."
[He sets down his tools and picks up the fire drake stone again.]
"That's why timing is EVERYTHING in harvesting. The moment this drake died, a countdown started. The biological components that keep this crystal functioning—the vascular tissue that maintains it, the regulatory cells that prevent it from overcharging—they all stopped working. The mana trapped inside is stable for now, but the structure holding it is degrading."
"The first six hours after death? Golden window. Ninety to ninety-five percent mana retention, crystal structure pristine, biological sheath still providing support. That's when you want to extract these beauties if you're planning to use them for high-quality enchanting work. After that?"
[He gestures at the degraded stones.]
"Value drops like a rock. Or rather, drops like a dying magical organ, which is rather more poetic if you think about it. By one week, you're looking at maybe thirty to fifty percent of the original mana content and a crystal structure that's fracturing and contaminating itself. By two weeks, it's basically only good for grinding into powder—which, incidentally, we'll discuss in part two when Brunhilda explains why even 'dead' stones are valuable."
[He starts replacing specimens back into their jars with careful movements that belie his manic energy.]
"But here's the crucial bit—the bit that separates these from sapient beings' mana wells, and this is IMPORTANT, so pay attention: mana stones are PHYSICAL organs that accumulate AMBIENT mana. They're like... like sponges soaking up water from the environment. Slow process, takes days to fully recharge, but it works. They store it in the crystalline matrix using principles that would take me three hours and several small explosions to fully explain—"
[Several students visibly relax at his decision not to provide that explanation.]
"—and then release it when needed. Instinctively, mind you. The creature doesn't think 'I shall now activate my mana stone to enhance my physical capabilities.' It just happens, like your heart beating faster when you run."
[He holds up one finger in a professorial gesture, though the manic gleam in his eyes somewhat undermines the gravitas.]
"Sapient beings—humans, elves, dwarves, us clever goblins—we don't have mana stones. We have wells. Completely different mechanism! Wells are metaphysical organs in the Etheric and Astral body—not physical, can't be cut out and harvested, thank all the gods—that act as dimensional bridges to higher-plane mana sources. Infinite source, limited flow rate, completely unaffected by ambient mana density."
"But creatures? They get stones. Physical, harvestable, limited capacity but practical stones. Nature's solution to the problem of 'how do I store enough magical energy to breathe fire at that annoying predator trying to eat me.'"
[He grins widely.]
"Questions? And please, make them interesting ones. If someone asks 'what's the difference between a stone and a well' after I just explained it, I'm going to assume you're volunteering to test my new experimental sleep potion that may or may not wear off in three to five business days."
[A brave student near the front raises her hand.]
Student: "Master Nixus, you mentioned that stones accumulate from multiple sources—breathing, eating, skin absorption. How exactly does that work at the cellular level?"
Master Nixus: [His expression brightens considerably.] "NOW that's a proper question! Right, so imagine..."
[The lecture continues for another hour, with Nixus diving deep into the biological mechanisms of mana absorption, occasionally producing small demonstrations that result in puffs of colored smoke or brief flashes of light. The protective barriers around his demonstration table prove their worth at least twice. By the end, students have pages of detailed notes on absorption pathways, accumulation rates, and the factors affecting stone capacity—along with several scorch marks on their parchment from proximity to his more enthusiastic demonstrations.]
Part Two: Applications and Economics of Mana Stones
Presented by Master Brunhilda
[The following evening, the same lecture hall has been transformed. Master Brunhilda has brought in an array of enchanted items, several large diagrams showing runic arrays, and what appears to be a partially disassembled enchanted war hammer. Her mechanical arms catch the light as she arranges her materials with practiced efficiency, each movement precise and purposeful. Unlike Nixus's chaotic demonstration setup, everything here is organized with almost military precision.]
Master Brunhilda: "Right then, let's get one thing straight from the start: I don't do dramatic explosions unless they're carefully calculated and serve a specific instructional purpose. If you were hoping for the kind of show Nixus puts on, you're in the wrong lecture. What I DO offer is practical knowledge about how these biological stones become the foundation of enchanting as we know it."
[She taps one of her mechanical arms with a finger from the other, producing a clear metallic ring.]
"Some of you may know that these arms of mine contain no mana stones whatsoever. They're powered by more sophisticated means—life magic integration and direct mana channeling. But before Uncle Halfar developed the techniques that made these possible, know what the standard for magical prosthetics was? Crude, inefficient devices that used degraded mana stones that would fail after a few months. That's what I would have had, if not for better innovation."
"That experience—nearly settling for inferior solutions—taught me to respect the materials we work with and to always push for better applications. So let's talk about what we CAN do with these remarkable organs, and more importantly, WHY they're so valuable to our craft."
[She picks up a pristine fire-aspected stone in one mechanical hand, holding it up for the class to see.]
"This beauty cost me three hundred gold crowns. That's more than a skilled laborer makes in a year. Why? Because embedded in this crystal is the life's work of a fire drake—decades of accumulated mana, perfectly aspected for fire applications, stored in a matrix that our current technology cannot fully replicate."
"Nixus explained what these are biologically. I'm going to explain what they BECOME through proper artifice. Watch closely."
[With her other hand, she gestures, and several prepared components float over from her demonstration table: a ruby crystal, a gold setting with intricate runes, and what appears to be a partially completed weapon handle.]
"This is the standardized enchantment process that I helped codify, based on centuries of dwarven tradition refined through cooperation with other Cabal members. Every enchanted item worth its salt—and plenty that aren't, but we'll get to that—follows this basic principle: Storage, Conversion, Channeling, and Triggering."
[She sets down the biological stone and picks up the ruby crystal.]
"First, we need permanent storage. This is where biological stones and artificial crystals diverge. That fire drake stone? It's DYING. Even perfectly preserved, it's a temporary resource. Its biological components are breaking down, its quantum field coupling is degrading, and within weeks it will be inert powder."
"So we extract the mana—using processes Nixus will happily demonstrate with entirely too much enthusiasm if you ask him—and transfer it to THIS."
[She holds up the ruby, which seems to glow with inner fire even in the lecture hall's light.]
"Artificial crystal. No biological components to decay. Stable crystalline lattice that will maintain its structure for decades, centuries if properly crafted. The mana stored here doesn't leak away—well, it does, but at a rate of maybe one to two percent per year instead of five to ten percent per week. See the difference?"
"The extraction and transfer process is where we lose some efficiency—maybe ten to twenty percent with a skilled practitioner, more if you're sloppy or working with degraded source material. But what we gain is permanence. The mana that goes into this ruby will be available for years to come."
[She sets the ruby into the gold setting with a click, the mechanical precision of her artificial hands evident in the delicate movement.]
"Next: Conversion. This gold setting isn't just decorative. See these runes carved into it?"
[She holds it up, and the intricate symbols etched into the metal catch the light. Several students lean forward to see better.]
"These are transformation arrays. Pure mana comes out of that ruby, hits these runes, and gets converted into fire-aspected mana suitable for our intended effect. The gold itself matters too—gold has natural fire affinity, making the conversion more efficient. Try this with silver and water-aspected mana, and you get better results. Use the wrong metal, and you're fighting against the material's natural resonance."
"This is why aspect-matching is crucial. That fire drake stone contains fire-aspected mana. We transfer it to a ruby—good fire alignment. We set it in gold—excellent fire affinity. We're working WITH the material properties, not against them. The difference in efficiency? Thirty to forty percent improvement in output."
[She picks up the weapon handle and begins assembling the components with smooth, practiced movements.]
"Then: Channeling. This handle is pinewood—natural fire mana conductor. The spell-shaping runes carved along its length don't fight the mana, they guide it. When someone activates this weapon, fire-aspected mana flows from the ruby, through the gold transformation array, down the pinewood channels, and out in the form we've specified—in this case, a burst of flame on impact."
[She completes the assembly, producing what is now recognizably an enchanted war hammer. She sets it carefully on a display stand.]
"Finally: Triggering. This particular piece uses pressure activation combined with vocal authentication—grip tightly and speak the command word. Simple enough for battlefield use, complex enough to prevent accidental discharge. Some of my colleagues prefer purely pressure-based triggers, others like acoustic activation. It depends on the application."
"The entire process—from harvested biological stone to finished enchanted item—involves at least four specialized craftspeople: an extractor to transfer the mana, a runesmith to carve the conversion arrays, a jeweler to mount the storage crystal properly, and an assembler to integrate everything into the final piece. That's before we even discuss the initial harvesting."
[She crosses her arms, her mechanical limbs producing a faint whir of movement.]
"Now, the economics. Pay attention to this part, because it explains why adventurers risk their fool lives hunting dangerous creatures, and why a single ancient dragon stone can fund a guild chapter for a year."
[She produces a slate with chalk marks showing various calculations.]
"Market tiers break down roughly like this: Common stones from young predators—fifty to two hundred gold. Quality stones from mature creatures—two hundred to one thousand gold. Superior stones from dangerous megafauna—one to five thousand gold. Exceptional stones from legendary creatures—five to twenty-five thousand gold. And stones from ancient dragons or mythic beasts? Twenty-five thousand to over one hundred thousand gold crowns."
[Several students gasp at the higher numbers. Brunhilda nods knowingly.]
"Aye, that last category could buy you a small castle, fully furnished. And before you go thinking that's absurd, consider what you're getting: decades or even centuries of accumulated mana, perfectly aspected, in a matrix that took a legendary creature its entire life to develop. You CANNOT replicate that artificially. We've tried. Believe me, we've tried."
"The value chain is actually fairly straightforward. Harvester sells to processor—they take a cut for the dangerous work. Processor extracts and transfers to permanent storage, sells to enchanters—they take a cut for the skilled work. Enchanter integrates into an item, sells to end user—they take a cut for the craftsmanship. Everyone profits, and society gets magical items that make life better, safer, or at least more interesting."
[She picks up several examples of finished items from her demonstration table.]
"Farmer's lantern with fire-resistant coating from earth-aspected stone powder—costs him twenty gold, saves his barn from accidental fires. Soldier's blade with flame-burst enchantment from drake stone—costs the military two hundred gold, might save his life and those of his squadmates. Noble's temperature regulation system for his entire manor using multiple high-grade stones—costs him five thousand gold, but he's comfortable year-round and his wine cellar maintains perfect conditions."
"The market is stratified by quality, aspecting, and freshness. A stone harvested within six hours? Premium price, twenty to fifty percent markup. Proper documentation from licensed harvester? Another ten percent. Perfect aspecting with ninety-five percent purity or higher? Double the base price or more."
[She sets down the items and fixes the class with a serious look.]
"But here's what most people don't understand: even 'spent' stones have value. Nixus walked you through the biology of decay. I'm going to explain why my colleagues and I fought for years to change how these materials are handled."
[She produces a jar of fine crystalline powder—the remains of a processed mana stone.]
"Before Master Artificer Gareth Ironforge's research forty years ago, this was trash. Waste product. After mana extraction, the crystalline structure was tossed aside, buried, or at best ground up for very crude applications. Gareth—may the Stone sing his name—realized that the channels within these crystals, the quantum coupling structures, the aspect-aligned lattice... they DON'T go away just because the mana is gone."
[She pours a small amount of powder onto a slate, spreading it with one mechanical finger.]
"This powder, properly processed, conducts mana at forty to sixty percent the efficiency of living stone. Mix it with binding agents, and you get conductive paste for runes. Suspend it in liquid medium, and you get enchanting ink. Use it as mortar additive, and you get walls that accept enhancement enchantments. The applications are ENDLESS."
"More importantly, it's AFFORDABLE. Gold dust for runic work? Expensive. Silver inlay for water enchantments? Expensive. Stone powder from spent biological stones? Twenty to thirty percent of the original stone's value—still significant, but accessible to journeyman enchanters instead of just masters."
"The economic impact cannot be overstated. Enchantment costs dropped by forty to sixty percent almost overnight. Items that were luxury goods became available to the middle class. Innovation exploded because experimenters could afford to fail and try again. It transformed our entire industry."
[She dusts off her hands—an oddly organic gesture from mechanical limbs.]
"So when you hear people talk about mana stone harvesting as wasteful or mercenary, remember this: every part of these biological organs gets used. The mana goes into permanent storage for decades of service. The crystalline structure becomes conductive material for hundreds of smaller projects. Even the lowest grade stones contribute to our craft."
"Questions? And unlike Nixus, I actually want to hear them, so don't be shy."
[A student in the middle raises her hand.]
Student: "Master Brunhilda, you mentioned that biological stone-sourced mana performs better than ley-line or artificially generated mana. Why is that?"
Master Brunhilda: [Her mechanical arms whir softly as she picks up a complex diagram.] "Excellent question. The leading theory—supported by decades of comparative testing at the Imperial Academy—is that biological processing creates quantum coherence that artificial methods struggle to replicate..."
[The lecture continues for another ninety minutes, with Brunhilda providing detailed breakdowns of manufacturing processes, quality control standards, Guild regulations, and market dynamics. Several students take notes specifically on the economic aspects, recognizing potential business opportunities. By the end, they have a comprehensive understanding not just of how biological stones become enchanted items, but of the entire industry that has grown around this resource.]
Part Three: Harvesting, Hunting, and Harsh Realities
Presented by Master Ragnor
[The third evening finds the lecture hall arranged quite differently. The demonstration table has been moved aside. In its place, Master Ragnor has set up what appears to be a small armory: various weapons, harvesting tools, preservation equipment, and disturbingly, what looks like portions of actual monster carcasses under preservation spells. The eight-foot orc's presence fills the space in a way that has nothing to do with physical size and everything to do with the aura of controlled violence he emanates. His scarred green skin catches the lamplight as he methodically checks each piece of equipment, his movements economical and purposeful. When he speaks, his deep voice carries easily to the back of the hall without any apparent effort.]
Master Ragnor: "Sit. Stop fidgeting. If you came expecting stories of glorious battle and heroic deeds, you're going to be disappointed. What I'm going to tell you is why mana stone harvesting is one of the most dangerous professions in Aethoria, why half the people who try it don't live past their second year, and why proper training saves more lives than powerful magic."
[He picks up a wickedly sharp knife, examining its edge with practiced eyes.]
"Nixus told you what mana stones ARE. Brunhilda told you what they BECOME. I'm going to tell you how we GET them from creatures that really, REALLY don't want to give them up. And more importantly, how to not die in the process."
"First truth: Most creatures with mana stones are predators. They evolved these organs because they needed extra power for hunting, fighting, or surviving. That cave troll whose stone is worth a thousand gold? It got that stone by living for decades, eating its weight in meat and minerals every few months, and killing anything that threatened it. The fire drake whose stone Nixus showed you? It got that stone by incinerating prey and competitors for sixty years."
[He sets down the knife and picks up what appears to be a preserved claw, easily as long as his forearm.]
"These creatures don't die of old age very often. They die because something killed them. Sometimes that something is another creature. Sometimes it's environmental—rockslide, flood, magical accident. And sometimes, it's an adventurer who REALLY wants that valuable organ and is willing to risk everything to get it."
"The Adventurers Guild tries to regulate this. Licensing, training requirements, documentation, safety protocols. Know what that does? It reduces the death rate from 'absolute certainty' to 'merely highly likely.' The creatures we hunt for stones aren't rabbits. They're apex predators with supernatural abilities, enhanced physical capabilities, and survival instincts honed by years or decades of staying alive in a world full of threats."
[He pulls out a series of diagrams showing creature anatomy.]
"Location, location, location. You cannot harvest what you cannot reach, and you cannot reach it if you're dead. Every species stores its stone differently. Quadrupeds—most common type you'll hunt—typically behind the heart, embedded in the chest cavity. Requires opening the rib cage without damaging the stone. Sounds simple until you remember the ribs are often thick enough to turn aside a sword strike."
[He points to another diagram.]
"Reptilians—drakes, serpents, dragons if you're very brave or very stupid—usually base of skull or along the spine. Protected by thick scales and surrounded by incredibly dense bone structure. And if you're hunting something with multiple stones like a mature dragon? You need to know where ALL of them are before you start cutting, because if you damage one, the resonance feedback can contaminate the others."
[Another diagram, this one showing an orcish-looking figure with multiple marked points.]
"Regenerating creatures like trolls? Multiple smaller stones throughout the skeletal structure. Harvesting these is a nightmare. You basically have to dismantle the entire corpse to get them all, and trolls don't stop regenerating immediately after death. I've seen harvesting teams have to kill the same troll three times because pieces kept regrowing while they were working."
[He sets down the diagrams and picks up a set of tools—knives, saws, hooks, all looking well-used and impeccably maintained.]
"The Guild-approved harvesting sequence exists for a reason, and that reason is 'keeping you alive and profitable.' First: Verify the creature is ACTUALLY dead. I cannot stress this enough. I have personally witnessed six separate incidents where overconfident harvesters started cutting into creatures that were unconscious, paralyzed, or playing dead. Do you know what happens when you start carving into a living troll's chest cavity? It wakes up EXTREMELY motivated to solve the problem of your existence."
"Detection magic if you have it. Physical signs if you don't—breath, heartbeat, magical aura. And DISTANCE. If you can't verify from ten feet away, you're too close. Trust your instincts. If something feels wrong, it probably is."
[He demonstrates proper cutting techniques on one of the preserved specimens, his movements surprisingly delicate for someone of his size.]
"Second: Time. You have hours, not days. Optimal window is six hours after death. After that, value drops like a rock and decay accelerates. This creates pressure—pressure to work quickly, pressure to take risks, pressure that gets people killed. Resist it. Better to extract a slightly degraded stone safely than die trying to race the clock."
"Third: Proper tools. This blade?"
[He holds up the knife, its edge catching the light.]
"Guild-certified extraction knife. Enchanted to maintain sharpness, resistant to contamination, balanced for precise cuts. Costs two hundred gold crowns. Know how much a replacement arm costs after you slip with a cheap knife and sever your own? Much, much more. Invest in proper equipment."
"Fourth: Cleaning and immediate preservation. The moment that stone leaves the body, decay accelerates. You need to remove adhering tissue without scoring the crystal surface, dry it properly, and get it into protective containment. Mana-conductive cloth, sealed container, cooling elements if available. The difference between proper immediate care and sloppy handling? Thirty to fifty percent of the stone's value."
[He begins repacking the tools with the same methodical care he used to unpack them.]
"Now, the harvesting is actually the EASY part. Getting to that point—surviving the hunt—that's what kills most people."
[He picks up various weapons from his display.]
"Blessed weapons. Nixus's protective enchantments. Brunhilda's properly crafted gear. These aren't luxuries, they're necessities. The creatures we hunt have supernatural capabilities. Your standard sword isn't going to cut it—literally. That cave troll's hide turns aside normal blades like you're hitting it with a stick. Fire drake's scales? Might as well be hitting stone. You need weapons that can actually damage these creatures, or you're not hunting, you're just dying messily."
"Armor. Good armor. Properly fitted, regularly maintained, with appropriate enchantments for what you're hunting. I've seen too many young idiots go out in whatever looked impressive rather than what would actually protect them. Fashion doesn't save your life when a drake breathes fire in your face."
"But here's what really keeps you alive: TACTICS. Planning. Intelligence gathering. Understanding your prey. Not charging in like some glory-seeking fool who thinks courage and a sharp sword are sufficient."
[His expression hardens, old pain flickering across his scarred features.]
"I've led armies for centuries. I've seen thousands die because they underestimated their enemy or overestimated their own abilities. Hunting magical creatures for their stones is warfare—small scale, but warfare nonetheless. You are going into hostile territory to kill something that has every advantage except possibly intelligence. Maybe."
"Some of these creatures are smarter than you think. Drakes plan ambushes. Trolls set traps. Ancient creatures have survived for decades or centuries by being smart, cautious, and absolutely ruthless. If you approach them like they're dumb animals, they'll kill you and not even know you thought you were hunting them."
[He begins laying out different scenarios.]
"Solo hunting: Stupid unless you're exceptionally skilled and hunting small prey. The pay is better because you keep everything, but the risk multiplies. One mistake, one injury, one moment of bad luck, and there's no one to help you."
"Small team: Three to five people, balanced skills. This is optimal for most hunts. Enough people to handle complications, small enough to move quietly and coordinate effectively. But you need people you TRUST. Someone panics, someone makes a mistake, everyone dies."
"Large team: Necessary for megafauna or legendary creatures. More people means better chances of success, but also more people to keep alive, more complex coordination, and more ways for things to go wrong. Plus you're splitting that valuable stone many more ways."
[He picks up the preserved claw again.]
"Risk assessment. This is from a creature that killed its last three hunting parties. Guild posted a bounty of five thousand gold for its stone. Sounds tempting, doesn't it? That's enough gold to retire on if you invest it properly. But those three failed parties? Twenty-seven dead adventurers. Experienced ones, too. Some of them were personal friends."
"The fourth party succeeded. They spent a month researching the creature's habits, studying its territory, gathering intelligence from survivors of previous attempts. They used poison, traps, superior positioning, and overwhelming force. When they finally engaged, they had every advantage they could manufacture. The fight still took three hours and cost them two dead, five seriously wounded, and nearly exhausted all their resources."
"Was it worth it? Five thousand gold split eight ways—625 each, plus covering the costs of healing and replacing gear. The injured ones will eventually recover, though one is still missing an eye and another has nerve damage that healing magic couldn't fully fix. The dead ones... well, they're dead."
[He sets down the claw with deliberate care.]
"That's the reality of mana stone hunting. Every stone in Brunhilda's demonstration came from a creature that was dangerous, powerful, and did NOT want to die. Every stone represents risk, planning, skill, and often blood. The expensive ones? Those came from creatures that killed people. The cheap ones? Those came from younger, weaker creatures that were STILL dangerous enough to kill someone unprepared."
"The Guild requires licensing for good reason. Not to extract fees, though they do that too, but because untrained idiots trying to harvest stones die in stupid, preventable ways. They botch the verification and get killed by 'dead' creatures. They use improper tools and contaminate the stones or injure themselves. They hunt alone and disappear when something goes wrong. They harvest in restricted areas and get arrested or executed."
"Worse, they disrupt ecosystems by killing without understanding population dynamics. They waste valuable materials through incompetent extraction. They create more grotesques by leaving corrupted corpses to contaminate the environment. The regulations exist because collective centuries of experience have taught us what works and what gets people killed."
[He crosses his massive arms.]
"Some of you are sitting there thinking 'I could do this. I'm brave, I'm skilled, I could be one of those adventurers getting rich off mana stone contracts.' Maybe you could. The Guild is always recruiting. But before you commit to that path, understand what you're committing TO."
"It's not glorious. Most hunts are days or weeks of tracking, planning, and preparing, followed by minutes of intense violence, followed by hours of bloody work extracting and preserving your harvest. You'll spend more time cold, wet, hungry, and scared than you will feeling heroic."
"It's not safe. Every contract is a gamble. The creature might be stronger than reported. Your information might be wrong. Your gear might fail. Your teammates might panic. Environmental factors might change. A dozen things can go wrong, and you need to be ready to adapt or die."
"It's not guaranteed profit. Failed hunts happen. Sometimes the creature gets away. Sometimes you damage the stone during extraction. Sometimes someone else got there first. Sometimes the market price drops between contract acceptance and completion. You might spend three weeks on a hunt and come back with nothing to show for it but scars and debt."
[He picks up one final item—a small, unimpressive stone about the size of a walnut, cloudy and cracked.]
"This was my first harvest. Young wolf, nothing special, barely magical at all. I was fourteen, overly confident, and thought I knew everything about hunting because I'd survived a few tribal skirmishes. The wolf nearly killed me. I still have scars from where it tore open my side. I botched the extraction because my hands were shaking from blood loss and adrenaline. The stone degraded to almost nothing by the time I got it back to camp."
"I sold it for ten silver pieces. Barely covered the cost of the healing magic I needed. But I learned something that day that's kept me alive through centuries: Respect your prey. Respect the process. Respect the danger. Overconfidence kills more hunters than any creature ever has."
[He carefully sets down the stone, treating even this poor specimen with respect.]
"If you choose this path, do it for the right reasons. Do it because you're willing to invest in proper training. Do it because you can accept that some days you'll fail. Do it because you understand the risks and have decided the rewards are worth them. Don't do it for glory—there isn't any. Don't do it because you think it's easy money—it isn't. Don't do it because you want to be a hero—the creatures don't care about your self-image."
"Do it because you're willing to become a professional. Because you'll study your prey, maintain your equipment, work within the regulations, and treat every hunt like the dangerous, complex operation it is. Do it because you understand that the mana stones powering Brunhilda's enchantments and driving Nixus's alchemy research come at a real cost, and you're willing to pay it."
[He surveys the class with those ancient eyes that have seen too many deaths.]
"Questions? Real ones, not 'can you tell us about your most glorious battle' nonsense. I'm here to teach you how not to die stupidly, not to feed your fantasies of heroism."
[A student hesitantly raises his hand.]
Student: "Master Ragnor... you mentioned that regenerating creatures like trolls are especially difficult to harvest. What's the proper procedure for ensuring they won't... reanimate during extraction?"
Master Ragnor: [A brief smile crosses his scarred face—the first expression of approval he's shown all evening.] "Good. You're thinking about practical problems. The answer is..."
[The lecture continues for two more hours, with Ragnor providing detailed tactical breakdowns of hunting different creature types, safety protocols for various scenarios, and hard-earned wisdom about what actually keeps adventurers alive. He demonstrates proper weapon maintenance, shows various preservation techniques, and shares case studies of both successful and failed hunts—the latter presented without sentimentality but with clear respect for those who died. By the end, several students who had been considering adventuring careers look significantly more sober about their prospects, while a few others seem more determined, their eyes bright with the kind of careful consideration that might actually keep them alive.]
Closing Remarks: A Joint Statement
[The fourth evening brings all three speakers together for a final discussion and questions. The dynamic between them is immediately apparent: Nixus bouncing with enthusiasm, Brunhilda organized and precise, Ragnor a looming presence that somehow combines menace and safety. They've arranged themselves at a shared table with their various materials on display behind them.]
Master Brunhilda: "Right. Before we open to general questions, the three of us want to make something clear: what you've heard over these three nights is interconnected. You cannot understand mana stones properly by learning just one aspect."
Master Nixus: [Grinning widely] "She's being diplomatic. What she MEANS is that you'd be dangerous idiots if you learned only one part. Knowing the biology without understanding the harvesting gets you killed. Knowing the harvesting without understanding the applications makes you wasteful. Knowing the applications without understanding the biology makes you a poor craftsperson who'll never innovate."
Master Ragnor: "The goblin is correct, if unnecessarily cheerful about it. These biological organs are resources that connect multiple aspects of our society. Adventurers risk their lives. Alchemists process the materials. Artificers create useful items. Merchants distribute them. Consumers benefit from them. Break any link in that chain, and the entire system suffers."
Master Brunhilda: "More than that, understanding the full process creates respect. When I'm working with a stone that cost someone's life to harvest, I'm going to do my absolute best work. When an adventurer understands how their harvest will be used, they're more careful with extraction. When an alchemist knows the tactical risks involved in obtaining materials, they're less wasteful in processing."
Master Nixus: "And when students like you understand all of it—the biology, the economics, the danger, the applications—you're better equipped to improve the system. Maybe you'll develop better preservation techniques. Maybe you'll create new hunting tactics that reduce casualties. Maybe you'll discover more efficient extraction methods. But you can only innovate when you understand what you're working with."
Master Ragnor: "Or maybe you'll decide this isn't the career for you, which is also valuable information. Better to realize that in a lecture hall than in the field when a troll is trying to rip your arms off."
Master Brunhilda: [With a slight smile, flexing her mechanical arms] "I can personally attest that losing your arms is inconvenient at best."
[Nervous laughter from the audience. Nixus grins wider, while Ragnor's scarred face might have shown the ghost of a smile.]
Master Nixus: "So! General questions now. Anyone can ask any of us anything related to mana stones, their applications, harvesting, or anything else we've covered. Who wants to go first?"
[Hands shoot up throughout the lecture hall. The three masters exchange glances—Nixus eager, Brunhilda resigned, Ragnor impassive—before Brunhilda points to a student in the front row.]
Student: "Master Nixus, you mentioned that aspecting is influenced by environment and diet during development. Could a creature's stone aspecting be deliberately influenced through controlled breeding and environmental manipulation?"
Master Nixus: [His expression brightens dangerously.] "NOW that's a delightfully unethical question! I love it! The theoretical answer is yes, but—"
Master Ragnor: [Cutting in] "But the practical answer is that the Guild, the temples, and basic decency forbid it. Creatures aren't manufactured goods. They're living beings with their own nature. Attempting to breed them for optimal stone production crosses several ethical lines and would get you executed in most jurisdictions."
Master Brunhilda: "Though I'll note that the Merchant's Guild HAS investigated whether domesticated animals develop mana stones. They don't, generally speaking. The organ only develops in creatures that actually need it for survival—predators, primarily, or creatures in especially hostile environments. Your average farm cow has no need for emergency magical energy reserves, so it doesn't develop them."
Master Nixus: [Slightly deflated] "Which is disappointing from a research perspective but probably for the best. Can you imagine the disaster if every chicken and goat had harvestable mana stones? The market would collapse, people would start industrial farming operations, and we'd lose the entire ethical framework that currently prevents the worst excesses. So, boring answer: don't try to breed creatures for stones."
[Another student raises her hand.]
Student: "Master Brunhilda, you mentioned that stone powder applications transformed the enchanting economy. Are there any other revolutionary applications being researched?"
Master Brunhilda: "Several. I'm currently working with Nixus on whether stone powder can be used in alchemical synthesis to create more stable potion bases. Early results are promising—the mana-conductive properties seem to help stabilize certain volatile compounds. Eldamar is investigating whether stone powder integrated into spell focuses might improve casting efficiency. And there's ongoing research into whether the powder can be used in architectural applications beyond simple mortar—possibly creating entire buildings that can support advanced enchantments."
Master Nixus: [Interjecting] "The alchemy applications are FASCINATING. We're seeing reaction stability improvements of fifteen to twenty percent when using stone powder as a base medium instead of traditional reagents. Plus, the aspecting carries over—fire-aspected powder makes fire-related potions more potent, water-aspected powder improves healing draughts, earth-aspected powder creates more durable physical enhancement concoctions. We're basically getting a free efficiency boost just by using what used to be waste material!"
Master Ragnor: "From a practical standpoint, this means adventurers can now sell both the raw stone AND the spent crystalline structure. Total profit per successful hunt has increased by twenty to thirty percent. This has made contracts more attractive, which means more competition, which means more applicants, which means we can be more selective about licensing. Everyone benefits."
[More hands. Brunhilda points to a student in the back.]
Student: "Master Ragnor, you mentioned that some creatures are smarter than people expect. How do you assess a creature's intelligence before a hunt?"
Master Ragnor: "Observation. Always observation. Study how it hunts—does it adapt tactics when something doesn't work? Does it set traps or use environmental features? Does it retreat when wounded or fight to the death regardless? Interview survivors of previous encounters—what surprised them about the creature's behavior? Look for signs of territory marking, den construction, tool use if applicable. The longer a creature has survived, the smarter you should assume it is. Survival past a certain age requires more than just strength; it requires cunning."
"I personally witnessed a drake that had survived for over a century by specifically targeting lone travelers, never groups, and always choosing ambush points with multiple escape routes. It wasn't just strong—it was SMART. The hunting party that finally killed it required three master tacticians, two divination mages for prediction, and eight skilled warriors positioned in overlapping fields of coverage. Even then, it nearly escaped twice. That's the kind of intelligence you're sometimes dealing with."
Master Brunhilda: "Which is why proper reconnaissance is essential. Ragnor teaches a three-week course on pre-hunt intelligence gathering for exactly this reason. Most novice adventurers think the hunt starts when they engage the creature. Experienced ones know it starts days or weeks earlier with research and planning."
[The questions continue for another ninety minutes, covering everything from theoretical applications to practical safety concerns to market dynamics. The three masters work surprisingly well together despite their different teaching styles, each contributing their expertise while respecting the others' areas. By the end, students have a comprehensive understanding of mana stones as both biological phenomenon and commercial resource.]
Postscript
The lecture series concluded at the tenth bell of the evening. Master Nixus immediately retreated to his workshop, where small explosions and excited cackling could be heard for the next several hours. Master Brunhilda returned to her forge, where she spent the remainder of the evening working on a new prosthetic design inspired by questions from the lecture. Master Ragnor was last seen in the training yards, personally drilling a group of students who had expressed interest in adventuring careers—his way of ensuring they understood the harsh realities they'd be facing.
Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with particular appreciation for the practical focus and the obvious expertise of all three presenters. Several students have since applied for advanced apprenticeships with the respective masters. The Adventurers Guild reported a fifteen percent increase in serious applicants for harvesting licenses, while simultaneously noting a twenty percent decrease in clearly unqualified applicants—suggesting the lectures successfully communicated both the opportunities and the very real dangers of the profession.
The transcript of these lectures has been requested by several other academic institutions for their own use, and Master Eldamar has recommended making it standard reading for all intermediate-level students at the Founders Academy.
-- Apprentice Scribe Marcus Thornweave, Final Notes
Document Classification: Educational Material - General Distribution Approved for Reproduction: Founders Academy, Adventurers Guild, Crafts Guild Recommended Reading Level: Intermediate Students and Above Last Updated: Third Age, Year 2985 PC3