When you first take over a town, you must dedicate the town to the production of one mana type. Generally this is the only mana this town will generate, although some spells can change that.

The Mana Dialog box offers you a choice of one of the six mana types, the default being the primary mana in your House. If you're playing Making, for instance, Order is the highlighted mana type in the Dialog.

Houses are associated with two mana types: primary and secondary. In general, you will focus on creating the primary mana type early in the game, adding secondary mana as you take towns or as required to cast your favorite spells.

For some decks, it may be worthwhile taking a third mana type. For instance, since Death is Mystery and Will, you could take some Despair cards with low Strife mana and use a town or two to generate mana for your Despair cards. You could also take low power Mind spells, using your towns to generate Clarity instead.

Note, please, that your Sanctum generates only the two types of mana indicated by your House, so in general, taking towns is the only way you will be able to mix in a third mana type.

The town continues to produce a point of the mana you choose until either the town is captured or the game ends.