Lacrimas

**Lacrimas** are specialized crystals that can store elemental energy. They can be used as power sources for mages as well in as magic items, where they are inscribed with runes that instruct the energy on how it should be released, causing a specific effect in the physical world. They can be used by mages and non-mages alike.

## Creation

Lacrima crystal is an extremely simple form of crystal, present in small amounts in almost all igneous rock. The crystal is similar to soulcrystal, except while soulcrystal naturally accumulates lattices of soul energy, lacrima crystal accumulates elemental energy. Large, pure deposits of lacrima crystal are naturally occurring in some parts of the world, but it is often easier for a fire mage to create the crystal in a lab environment by tempering ordinary stone with magical fire until it is stripped of impurities. The larger the lacrima, the more power it can hold. Lacrima crystal is not very durable – they are able to be cracked by a creature of considerable strength (comparable to Falst or Kendal), and a single crack in a lacrima is enough to compromise its integrity and cause it to explosively release its energies.

After the blank lacrima is acquired, it can be charged with elemental energy. This can be done by a mage channeling energy into it, inscribing it with a Great Rune to draw the energy into it, or it can be placed in an area with a natural flow of magic and allowed to gradually charge itself with elemental power. This technique was pioneered by the Ancients, who couldn't be mages, but it also sees some use in cities such as Vash, where lacrimas were placed on top of tall towers in flows of magic and charged with water and lightning in order to disrupt severe weather and prevent flooding. However, blank lacrimas will begin accumulate a charge from ambient elemental energy, which tends to instill a mix of various elements into the lacrima. This is usually less useful than lacrimas charged with a single element, so blank lacrimas are commonly stored in soulcrystal cleanrooms in order to prevent them from building up an ambient charge. However, lacrimas containing two or more types of elemental energy can be programmed to perform two unique actions, such as a lightning-wind lacrima being directed to produce both a bright light (lightning) and a loud sound (wind).

If a lacrima is meant as a power source for a mage, it doesn't need to be inscribed with runes, as the power will be commanded by the mage directly. However, if a lacrima is meant to perform a task independent of a mage, it must be inscribed with runic commands in the First Language, using the Auroran Runic Alphabet. A lacrima can be inscribed with runes before or after it has been charged, but before is generally considered safer. These runes are generally less versatile than a mage, and it's considered unwise to inscribe more than one spell onto the same lacrima, but there are many benefits to them. It allows non-mages to cast select spells, a lacrima can continue to cast a spell that might exhaust a mage after a long period of time, and it allows for consistent casting of the same spell: for example, many life lacrimas are used in medical care since it is often simpler and safer to command a lacrima to regrow lost tissue than it is to conscript a life mage to do so manually.

## Uses

Lacrimas can be used for a number of things, although all of their uses stem from their one single property of being able to gather, store, and direct elemental energy just like a mage would be able to. The uses listed here are only a summary of the general uses of lacrimas explained by Red and seen so far in the story.

### Power Sources

When a mage uses a lacrima, they don't need to inscribe it with runes. Instead, they can use it as a source of power; rather than channeling ambient elemental energy through their souls, they can utilize and direct the energy inside the lacrima without having it enter their bodies at all. This means that lacrimas can allow mages to perform acts that would require much more power than they would safely be able to channel on their own, such as Doctor Jolon's life lacrima.

A lacrima can also act as a source of energy for a mage if ambient elemental energy is depleted. This can be due to a natural lack of elemental energy in an area or an artificial one, such as a mage binding the elemental energy in a large enough spell or a creature such as a spelleater, which drains elemental energy. Even if a mage doesn't have access to elemental energy, they can still utilize the energy in the lacrima to cast spells. Inversely, a large enough lacrima can also be programmed to drain the energy from an area.

### Spells and Magic Items

A lacrima inscribed with runes can be used for a number of things. They can be used in more decorative or domestic settings, such as a fire lacrima acting as a heatless light source, or they can be more functional, such as a wind lacrima or pair of wind lacrimas acting as a long-distance communication tool. Magic items can be crafted with lacrimas when the lacrima is attached to an item, such as a sword blade lined with flame or the Ancient war machines powered by lacrimas. These runic commands must be very specific, such as explicitly directing the fire to curve around the sword blade and no further. However, any runic command will always be second to the will of a mage; a fire mage would be able to command the fire to leave the blade, no matter how meticulously the lacrima commands were crafted.

For mages, inscribed lacrimas can be useful to constantly maintain spells that would be taxing to channel for long periods of time (such as when Erin used a lightning lacrima to maintain his lightning shield while entering the Storm), be relied upon to be more consistent in easy, defined tasks such as healing.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *"A lacrima is an energy storage device. If inscribed with a truename command, it'll release the energy in that specific way...*" to "*they can just use it as a battery for their own regular magic*": messages in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
2. ↑ Howdy Red, can soul crystals power things like how lacrima does? Ie a golem powered by a soul crystal. (tumblr.com)
3. ↑ *"Lacrimas are made of a kind of crystal that accumulates elemental energy quite easily - it's similar to soulcrystal, but slightly differently arranged"*: message in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 How are lacrimas made? (tumblr.com)
5. ↑ Page 1.9.28 (comicaurora.com)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Magic (comicaurora.com)
7. ↑ Was working on the wiki and thinking about Vash (the city)‘s water system so I really want to know... (tumblr.com)
8. ↑ Is it possible to combine two lacrimas to create something that does the functions of both... (tumblr.com)
9. ↑ If you have a Life Lacrima, can you do whatever spells and cantrips a Life Mage can do so long as you know the spells in question and the Lacrima’s mana supply holds out, or are there other limitations? (tumblr.com)
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Page 1.9.8 (comicaurora.com)
11. ↑ Do mages “run out of juice” for a while if they cast too much too quickly?... (tumblr.com)
12. ↑ With the communication aspect of Wind, you've said that "spoken information can be woven into wind-spirits that carry it to its destination with no loss of information"... (tumblr.com)
13. ↑ Erin's tats are, if not required to let him do magic, sure do help him channel the energy... (tumblr.com)
14. ↑ Page 1.4.6 (comicaurora.com)