Dark (Element)

**Darkness** is one of the primordial elements, one with quite a sinister reputation. Darkness represents lack of morality, cynicism and sacrifice. Its Great Spirit is Naraka. A wielder of darkness is an **Umbramancer**.

## Darkness as an Element

Darkness is the master of Curses and **sacrificial magic**, sacrificing short-term advantage for long-term gain. It is often very negatively connoted due to its ability to **weaken** foes, make them suffer, and **summon** entities from Inferno and other similar, dark-aligned Planes.

Darkness is also the element of **stealth and sneakiness**, able to trouble vision and to deal tremendous damage from unseen angles. It is the element of undeath, negative energy and unholy immortality, and is often confused with Demon magic. Perhaps Darkness's greatest weakness is its negative connotation and the fear it is met with, preventing Umbramancers from exercing their arts openly.

## Darkness as a Symbol

Darkness is the element of torment and sacrifice. It is often opposed to Light whose rigid moral code and belief in a superior truth is diametrally opposed to Darkness's philosophy that everyone is imperfect and that morality is nothing but a lie invented in order to justify hypocritical actions.

Darkness is not cruel, neither is it evil. Darkness is a pragmatist, and would gladly kill a person to save ten more. Darkness does not believe in self-improvement, rather, it believes in accepting one's true nature and turning one's weakness into weapons of their own. Darkness is surprisingly honest, gladly confessing sins and mistakes, which gives it the reputation of a sinister villain - but rather than being evil, it is more a state of fatalism, accepting one's imperfections and failures as a part of the personality, and not attempting to hide or correct it.

## Darkness with other Elements

Darkness, like most other elements, can be used with other elements in a process called **elemental hybridation**. Hybrid elements born of Darkness magic are corruptions of their previous states, often with a theme of impurity and unholiness.

* Darkness can be combined with Earth to create **Poison manipulation** which defiles and putrefies living thing with a slow but extremely efficient death.
* Darkness can be combined with Fire to create **Hellfire manipulation**, wielding the corrupted flames of Inferno as a weapon of destructive and self-destructive magnitude.
* Darkness can be combined with Ice to create **Void manipulation**, a lesser aspect of the Void that allows the annihilation of material things and the summoning of black holes.
* Darkness can be combined with Light to create **Chaos manipulation**, an art akin to Thaumaturgy uniting light arts and dark arts for a greater good.
* Darkness can be combined with Thunder to create **Gravity manipulation**, binding enemies to the ground or expelling them with tremendous cursed power.
* Darkness can be combined with Water to create **Blood manipulation**, cruel magic that twists opponents's blood into obeying the user and drains life at will.
* Darkness can be combined with Wind to create **Illusion manipulation** by conjuring cruel tricks and playing with the opponent's mind with nightmare and phantasms.