Overview
Darkness magic is a rare magic school that creates shadows as tendrils, barriers, walls, solid masses, and shaped tools. Lythariel teaches Eira control after Eira becomes a darkness mage. Eira uses the school in Xalmyrra, Lythariel later uses it in Valrindor to counter spellblasters, and Seralyth gains darkness magic after Aurion restores her with the last power of a spiral shard.
The school can attack, restrain, shield, move people, and shape darkness or corrupted force in combat. The restoration of corrupted ground into living terrain belongs to life magic, which Eira and Lythariel also wield.
Visible Forms
Darkness magic usually creates shadowy, purple-black force. Lythariel uses it as living tendrils, barriers, walls, fog-like forms, and dense impact mass. Eira shapes it into tendrils, travel planks, a disintegration blade, and power for constructs in Ashenford experiments. Seralyth uses tendrils for movement, restraint, descent, and shielding after her revival.
Darkness barriers withstand attacks that overwhelm standard defenses. Lythariel blocks massive physical-magical blasts, protects allies in combat, and stops red spellblaster or spell-corruptor projectiles that disrupt other magic. The school also gives its users unusual mobility, letting them swing through terrain, cross gaps, carry allies, and change position at high speed.
Spells
Disintegration barrier
A disintegration barrier is a defensive darkness spell used by Eira and Lythariel. It shapes destructive darkness into a shield or expanded field that shreds, dissolves, or devours incoming force before it reaches the caster.
The barrier can stop flames, falling debris, encroaching darkness, wind, and blast force. Broad or sustained use strains the caster, and strong impacts can still injure through heat, pressure, exhaustion, or overuse. Lythariel can also wrap herself in dense shadow as a disintegration barrier. The dense shadow obscures her and protects Eira during attacks.
Eira uses the barrier in training, arena fights, and the cataclysm at Irrathis, where she clears debris and darkness before widening the field against the shockwave from the black sphere near the port. Lythariel forms similar barriers during the black-hole detonation involving Zayren, near Irrathis, and near Xalatun to defend Eira; her barrier holds against the shockwave that breaks Razen's temporal shield.
Properties
- Darkness magic uses void awareness and void power. Essence cores fail as fuel for the school.
- Darkness magic demands strict mental control. Poor control lets the darkness pull the mage toward corruption, whispers, and a hollowed state.
- Darkness mages can sense one another across distance.
- Darkness magic can draw on surrounding corruption, consume it, and reshape it. Poor control disintegrates what it touches.
- Eira and Lythariel wield both darkness magic and life magic. Darkness magic draws in corruption, life magic restores living terrain, and Eira loses both when she severs the hand bearing the spiral mark.
- Eira and Lythariel shape the school into practical tools and constructs.
- Silas / Malcairn uses Zal'therak's veil-and-illusion power and edge-of-void travel for shadowlike movement. Silas himself wields cosmic magic with some temporal skill.
- Thorik argues that the world needs more darkness mages, and Aldar asks whether darkness and life magic can be taught.
History
Eira first uses darkness magic in the Land of Darkness after the spiral shard changes her. Tendrils erupt from her hands and destroy attacking umbral stalkers, leaving visible dark changes in her body. The power follows void-based rules and breaks from essence-based casting.
Lythariel emerges soon afterward as a feared master of the school. She reaches Eira, teaches her control, and turns darkness into life force. She becomes famous in Xalmyrra as a darkness mage from Erenmyr who researched control and the transformation of darkness into life force.
Silas / Malcairn challenges that history. He lived in Xalmyrra for years with no talk of darkness magic. In his account, Eira created both darkness magic and Lythariel when the shard's power overtook her. Tianlei and Brynor repeat the same conclusion: Eira's shard power created the school, gave Lythariel life, and rewrote Xalmyrra's memories around them.
Eira loses darkness magic and life magic after cutting away the hand bearing the spiral mark. Lythariel remains active afterward, using darkness magic to fight in Valrindor and counter spellblasters. Her life magic restores corrupted ground near places such as Bjarnholt, Skarnheim, and Stormhaven. Seralyth carries darkness magic after Aurion's shard-assisted revival and uses it in the defense of Erenmyr's coast.
Uses against darkness
Lythariel and Eira directly shape, absorb, and use the world's darkness against corrupted threats. Fire, barriers, and other defenses can also burn, block, deflect, or withstand darkness. In mages who also wield life magic, darkness magic draws corruption into rebirth. Life magic turns barren ground green again.
Spiral shards can create magic schools and people as well as reshape terrain or weather.
Secrets and Mysteries
Eira creates darkness magic and Lythariel through the spiral shard when the shard overwhelms her, rewriting Xalmyrra's memory so both have older local histories. Eira cuts off the marked hand and loses darkness and life magic. Lythariel remains active, and Seralyth gains darkness magic after Aurion spends the shard's last power restoring her.