Arcana

Aether, the most distilled and pure form of arcana, is straight-up powerful. It restores (heals), energizes, refreshes, replaces need for food/water, and can even very briefly replace oxygen at a 1:1 ratio. Aether doesn’t naturally exist in the world in its pure/refined form, though. It needs to be converted from elemental energy or other sources of arcane magic. Magicians usually use raw or refined arcana for their magic work, but pure aether is incredibly valuable and rare as fuel or a component of a spell.   Raw elemental arcana -> refined (elemental) arcana -> pure (non-elemental) aether   Anima -//> arcana/aether - it is a separate energy entirely and cannot be converted (either direction)   Anima, in the microcosm, obeys the law of conservation of energy. When a magician/witch is involved, there is no magical (hurr) increase or decrease of anima in the equation. With arcana/aether, there is definitely a loss of volume with each stage of refinement (roughly 1:10 ratio). A unit of arcana is called a lume. >_>   Abyssal energy has trace amounts of arcana in it, which is what eldritch uses to replicate itself when it comes up against abyssal, but is also why eldritch has a very slow reaction rate with abyssal - there’s a lot of inconvertible “mass” to abyssal energy that eldritch has to wade through. (I … need to explain this better at some point.)  

Interactions with Other Energies

  Arcana can be purified into aether. Aether can be used wherever arcana can be used, but requires much less aether to get the same result.   Arcana can shape, influence, and/or affect anima. It takes a whole lot of arcana (and skill) to permanently change an anima imprint (e.g. a soul otherwise it takes a constant flow of arcana to maintain an enforced change. Arcana can be used to destroy anima (the energy) or disrupt/break anima patterns (including souls).   Arcana can resist eldritch, but not very well; it needs to be extremely complex and cleverly engineered in order to last against eldritch corruption for any length of time. Arcana cannot be used against eldritch as brute force; an enormous amount of arcana vs eldritch will just give the eldritch more noms to convert to itself. Unfortunately, small amounts of arcana - even if perfectly designed - will be surrounded by and quickly converted by eldritch. It’s a very one-sided power dynamic.   Arcana is super sculpey compared to the pure clay of abyssal energy. Arcana can be made so much more detailed, nuanced, complex--but all of those subtleties get smoothed down and washed out by abyssal energy. Abyssal contains trace amounts of arcana, so masters of arcana can use abyssal (it’s like metal-bending, okay) but not with the level of deftness and precision as they could use arcana. Arcana /can/ be used as brute force against abyssal; devious engineering of arcana will not do a damn thing against abyssal. Think of arcana like air and abyssal like water.