Summary
One of the primordial mana-types, often known and drawn alongside its twin,
radiant mana. Like all primordial manas, eclipse mana is found much more easily in the Heavens than on
Veltrona. It is much harder to gather than other primordials, but it is 'everywhere' in the vast emptiness of space. The rare and largely unseen black holes are its actual best source to gather from.
The essence of eclipse mana is 'introversion'. It contains within itself all things, but it is secretive about how it works. Because of this, it can only be found in the context of others, hence its name of 'eclipse'. To find the heart of eclipse mana is to brave the unknown, the dangerous, and the bizarre. Order and rules distort and change, becoming different and alien to the daring soul who approaches. Indeed, within nothingness is something, and so meaning is found where none existed.
Such paradoxical ideas are the purview of eclipse mana.
Eclipse mana, so-called
dark mana in common vernacular, is a hard mana to associate with. Its selfish nature lends many to tie it toward icy behavior, but its changing and ephemeral behavior is evocative of
water as well. Some even bring
fire up, for it is a consuming force that 'brings within itself' all others. Indeed, eclipse mana draws toward itself everything it can, and only those with strong cores to resist that pull survive.
In other words, a weak water's currents will drain into the eclipse mana. A strong, rushing tidal wave will surge free, able to navigate it without becoming lost. In the moments of becoming lost, one would find their footing, changing into something even grander. Eclipse mana encourages change and purity of form found from doing so, and scorns those who remain stagnant. It is not chaotic as in 'everything must always be changing'. Like a sculptor who sees clay, they transform the formless nothing into a formed something. What exists afterward embodies the essence of change.
Comprehending eclipse mana's introverted nature is critical. It finds certainty within itself, surrounded by an uncertain and ever changing world. One informs the other, hence those who wish to utilize it need strength of character. Eclipse mana changes the universe around itself, observing it and becoming observed in turn. What happens to it, or whatever is around it, depends on the circumstances of their meeting.
The deeper one delves into eclipse mana, the more the prospects of change broaden. Infinite possibilities assail the mind, all them as helpful as destructive. Without a certain vision of purpose, a singular identity that can withstand such change, they will become lost. That is why abundant sources of eclipse mana distort reality where they appear–gravity, time, laws of existence, and more–are all subject to it.
Magical Arts
Eclipse mana is profoundly demanding to utilize as a magical art. Aside from the stressful costs associated, the exponential chaos it brings can lead to calamity. Prior rules and understandings are constantly challenged. If they fail to stand up, the unknown awaits in what will spring forth. Keeping one's center of understanding, and a strong rule framework, is vital toward navigating the shifting tides of eclipse mana.
What ultimately happens does vary, and there are those who simply fail to endure what it engenders. In doing so, what it becomes, and those influenced by it, are changed. Eclipse mana is known by frames of reference; it has no sense of malice, compassion, good or evil. A philosophical example would be: one sees a dog and looks away, the dog has become a cat. The person who looked at the dog is now a bird. The cat became a sheet of paper. As each beheld the other and changed, they too, changed.
Because frame of references are so important, many types of eclipse-based magical arts are handcrafted experiences. To utilize their works is to fully understand the references, so that the eclipse mana can be utilized correctly. In some ways, it embodies the essence of
magic: a product of a person's wholly unique, special existence. To be unique in a world full of uniques, it is easy to lose one's sense of worth. Yet, in keeping it, eclipse mana becomes stronger.
Its principle value to mages is its ability to bend and change rules. Common ideas like 'fire is extinguished by water' lose ground, as newer, unpredictable realities emerge. In its pure form, eclipse mana magic is a profoundly useful defensive magic. It can distort incoming 'weak' magical attacks, making them go wild like
silverdyne, or become something different. Strong magic, however, will mutate into something even more grand and capable. It is a double-edged technique, though endlessly interesting as a source of study.
In a sense, by studying how eclipse magic changes things, new innovations are found in other forms of magic. It ironically became best known as a supplemental tool, not a primary source of magic in itself. Mistresses of all kinds would pit their arts against the eclipse mana to find new breakthroughs. Rare are those who practice exclusively to tame and shape eclipse magic itself, though.
The most common association people have with eclipse mana is darkness, particularly voids contrasted by something else. As its sculpted by their perception, darkness itself becomes a tangible 'thing'. Similar to radiant mana forming 'hard light', eclipse mana can create 'solid darkness'. There are few notable applications of it, though. Popular convention is quite curious about
Velandra, Sovereign of the Heavens, and her
horizon blades and
singularity spheres. While seemingly not an actual eclipse-using mage, her similarity to the mana and its magical arts is a constant source of speculation.
Appearance
Eclipse mana in its pure state is an imperceptible 'void' surrounded by the universe itself. It can be seen because of what happens to everything
around it more than the mana itself. In a more mana-heavy environment, its edges curl like a shimmering event horizon.
Where it and these other manas come into conflict, it spits out curling licks similar to fire. Some liken it to the intermixing of different paints and oils, not quite mixed, but intermingling. The ones that go in too close disappear, but the ones that break away become different than before.
Its classical representations are usually burning wheels, and black voids wrapped in a silver circle. These icons are usually 'inverse' ideas of what radiant mana is represented by, keeping the two quite close together. An empty circle without embellishment is a more distinct way of showing it without connotations of radiant mana.
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