Mitraxis Lily Extract
The Blessed Ichor of the Manashine
"...aaaaand we're done. All we have to do now is to let it sit - away from heat or light, children, away from heat or light, and always away from mana sources. We don't want to repeat last week's incident, do we?"
The volatile Mitraxis Lily extract represents the cornerstone of modern mana-preserving methods and technologies. Its most common form is a viscous dark purple liquid with light blue iridescences that form thin lines; it closely resembles the eponymous flower, but without the lighter tints and shades of its petals.
The extract has a very strong smell, a more powerful and concentrated version of the flower's natural perfume. Whatever you do, do not directly smell the compound, as it has very potent mind-altering properties. People who have ignored the warning have later described seeing "vivid images of departed loved ones", "detailed memories of their childhood home"; some even admit to have re-lived an altered version of their entire childhood, showing trouble remembering their real past after the experience.
The Elders of the Exarhi Council have created (and freely distributed) a smell-generating magic array that replicates the perfume of a Mitraxis Lily; catching a small whiff of the perfume is almost always a sign of extract spillage, so the Elders made sure that as many Exalted mages knew of the danger.
Properties
Material Characteristics
The extract is liquid at room temperature; it has the viscosity of honey and requires extremely low temperatures to freeze. Its color is a very dark purple, with shimmering strands of light blue inside its mass. The glow is not strong enough to serve as a light source in the dark - its luminescence can be compared to that of Vesphea fireflies.
The most notable physical characteristic of the extract is its distinct smell - a very powerful perfume, sweet and flowery, much like the flower it is obtained from. However, the substance should never be inhaled directly; even one whiff can prove dangerous. Mana-rich compounds, like the Mitraxis Lily extract, have an intrinsic psychoactive nature; this extract in particular is remarkably easy to assimilate by human and kirfolk bodies, causing vivid hallucinations of past events or people.
Physical & Chemical Properties
The Mitraxis Lily extract can be used to absorb and keep a high concentration of mana - the more it holds, the harder it will shine, with the light blue color of its shimmer turning whiter and whiter the more mana it absorbs. Its unusually high mana reserve capacity greatly exceeds that of a person, sometimes even tenfold.
This, however, makes the compound highly unstable - in order for mages to make use of it, they must avoid direct exposure to light and heat, and must be very careful when mixing with mana. As soon as it comes into contact with even a strand of mana, the whole mass will be absorbed by the extract - if the mana source is large enough, this will result in a endothermic explosion that will spread around the compound. After such an explosion, the substance quickly deteriorates: it turns darker and darker and it leaks its remaining mana, as well as emitting a sickly sweet perfume.
Life & Expiration
A vial of extract will not deteriorate as long as it holds at least a small trace of mana inside. It will consume the mana it holds at a very slow rate, converting it directly into useful energy that keeps the organic parts alive and functional.
When it runs out of mana, the organic parts quickly deteriorate. The color turns purplish-pink and the smell becomes more and more bitter. At this stage, the extract is no longer capable of holding mana; the Council recommends using it as compost for other plants.
The Mitraxis Lily is the only known source for the substance, hence the name "Mitraxis Lily extract". Artificial synthesis of the extract is one of the most important research topics for the Elders of Exarhi University.
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