Echo Mage

Echo Mages look like humans, but their limbs are tinted a pure, matte black that light does not reflect on, making them look silhouette-like. This black touch can be as little as just the fingers and toes having been touched, or all the way up their limbs, shoulders, stomach; as long as the heart is not touched by the darkness, they are still not a full Echo. Once an Echo Mage has accepted the Wildes' magic into themselves at any point during the transformation process, the process can sometimes stop entirely, leading to a Mage with the skills of an Echo and the magical abilities of a Mage. They are often humanoid-looking, but as with all Mages, they have a mark. An Echo Mage's black Echo marks fills this requirement.   Echo Mages have amazing sight in the darkness, though lights that are too bright can be painful to them. They often avoid direct sunlight as they sunburn very quickly and easily regardless of their skin color, but they can be exposed for up to a half hour without too much harm. They are able to use and learn Shadow Magic with ease and excel in it further than any other Mage. Echo Mages can draw extra energy from humans as well, but cannot get to the point of possessing them. Often this will leave a human with mid-stage Echo Bite at most.   Echo Mages also have a special ability of being able to connect to human souls. This is a remnant of what would have become the ability to possess a human should they have turned entirely into an Echo. All an Echo Mage must do is touch the base of a human's neck and they can connect to them. This can allow them to feel the human's emotions, put them to sleep, influence their dreams, or even witness their memories. Doing this while the human is asleep can work well and even be a peaceful experience, but attempting this while the human is awake can be incredibly harmful to their mind and traumatic. If an Echo Mage is not careful, they can destroy the human's psyche, or get trapped inside the human's soul.

Echo Mages happen when Echoes that are partway through their transformation and accept the Wildes' magic into them before the encroaching darkness reaches their heart. This happens rarely, as by the time a human begins to turn into an Echo they are too stubborn to make such a drastic change in ideals to allow the Wildes' magic into them.

Echo Mages can eat anything that humans can, but this food is often only half as nutritious as it should be. Echo Mages still need to feed off of some human energy, though much less so than a full Echo does. The more magic they use, the more human energy they need. Once they run out of human energy, their magic wanes and they begin to show the same symptoms as early-stage Echo Bite until they are fed again. An Echo Mage can survive for very long periods of time without feeding off of a human, but after two years they begin showing the symptoms of mid-stage Echo Bite, and after five years late stages of Echo Bite. At this point they will usually fall unconscious, and the shadows of the Wildes will absorb the body.

Much like Echoes, Echo Mages are loners who tend to avoid each other. Meetings between two are often short and quick and mostly to exchange information. They guard information on humans and known entrances jealously, for food sources are scarce.

Echo Mages are an avoided species. They're seen as disgusting half-breeds that do not deserve the magic of the Wildes after rejecting it for so long. Their magic with the shadows of the Wildes is far too valuable to ignore entirely, however, so some other Mages will put up with their presence in order to trade items or spells.