Mods/Thaumcraft/Node

Aura Nodes are the primary source of ../vis/ in Thaumcraft. They are scattered across the landscape, including over water. They may also be found above temples or near other structures. Each node has one or (usually more) types of vis that it produces, and a strength level for each type (usually all strengths are the same, but there are exceptions). When vis is drawn from a node, its strength is reduced until it regenerates, but if any type is completely drained, the node may fail to regenerate that type, or do so more slowly. The aspects of a node are random, but affected by the biome they are found in.

A node also has a "node type" which affects its behavior :
 * Normal: The baseline, no special behavior.
 * Sinister (formerly Dark):  Normally found embedded in an ../Obsidian Tower/.  This node type creates an ../Eerie biome/ for a small distance around it.  This biome will spawn ../Hungry Zombies/ at night, and occasional ../wisp/s and/or ../pech/s.  When seen with magical vision (see below) it has a distinctive dark core.  Note that the Eerie biome counts as a magical biome.
 * Tainted: These nodes create a ../Taint/ed Land biome around them, which can spread outward slowly but inexorably.
 * Pure: These nodes, frequently found within ../silverwood trees/ create a ../Magical Forest/ biome around them, and can also block taint out of their immediate area, even curing already-tainted land.  With magical vision, they show a distinctive bright ring.
 * Hungry: Very Dangerous!  This menace to life and property will pull in any entities in the vicinity and damage them.  A player can easily be killed by this, especially since the pulling is quite disorienting.  If it's a player, their dropped items and experience will shortly be sucked in as well.  They will even rip nearby blocks out of the landscape and suck those in as well.
 * If a player is foolhardy enough to try and scan them, they will find that a hungry node keeps the aspects of all items and blocks it has absorbed. (They can also be re-scanned after gaining a new aspect!)  However, their strength in every aspect is limited to the strongest aspect they had when they spawned.
 * Detection: If found on land, their destructive habits will create a distinctive crater around them, and if the block-ripping is visible, that will be quite distinctive.  If found over water, they may be less obvious, but squids dying in midair are a pretty good sign.  Even without magical vision, they have a distinctive pulsating appearance.
 * Hungry nodes do have some weaknesses -- in particular, they cannot suck in any block with a Hardness against mining of 5 or more. This includes most notably obsidian, but also the mineral blocks of coal, iron, redstone, emerald, or diamond. Also safe are Anvils, Iron Doors, iron bars, and Monster spawners.  Also, their suction (for blocks at least) comes in spurts, with a few safe seconds between them.
 * Unstable: These nodes change their strengths and even aspects over time.

Independently of the above types, nodes can also differ in their regeneration speed. Bright nodes regenerate faster than normal, Pale nodes slower, and Fading nodes not at all.

Nodes are faintly visible as a small shimmer in midair. With a ../Thaumometer/ or ../Goggles of Revealing/, they can be seen more clearly, and both devices can reveal their type, aspects, and current strengths. With this magical vision, nodes will show rings of color reflecting their aspects, and sometimes additional features revealing their special type. A node can be tapped by right-holding a ../wand/ at it, but this will only drain Primal Aspects. More advanced work can capture a node and place it elsewhere, or use it in magical constructions.

Nodes can be broken with a pickaxe, upon which they drop ../Ethereal Essence/ corresponding to their aspects. These rare drops are used in advanced magic, and are otherwise available only by killing ../Wisps.