Ink, the Corrupted Element of Balance
Governed by: Inketch Sacred Land: The Inketch Death Associated Color: Deep Black-Purple Associated Season: none Positive Associations: adaptability, perseverance, creation Negative Associations: corruption, the other, sickness Examples of Abilities: ink manipulation, ink constructs, etc.
Ink was once the Element of Balance, governed by the Serpent of Balance. Whatever Balance’s abilities were has now been lost to time. Current scholars theorize it might have been a sort of “omni-Element” which included all abilities, allowed broad manipulation of magic or was something more circumstantial that only did what the user needed at a specific time.
After the exile of The Serpent of Balance and his corruption into Inketch, Balance corrupted into Ink. Ink is only aligned to few Saturnians; the former creations of Inketch, the shapeshifters, creatures whose Element has been “corrupted” and the [[Anomaly]]. Ink’s applications are very limited, as its abilities largely only include manipulation of ink.
Saturnian Ink
Ink itself is a curious, naturally occurring substance in a few locations in Cosmotalia, notably the Inketch Death and the Inkine Rocks. Shapeshifters are also naturally made of it which allows their main ability of shapeshifting.
Ink, like magic itself, seems highly suggestible by intent and thus, this makes it a diverse substance. Healers can prepare it with herbs to make potent healing potions. Poisoners or assassins can distill it into a dangerous poison. Warriors or cultists can ingest it to whip themselves into a frenzy.
Ink ingested in its pure state can cause vomiting, stomachaches, illness or even death in extremely high quantities. Sustained ingestion of it can even warp the body, mind and spirit—that is, if intentions are especially impure. You might get what you want but suffer a prolonged self-destruction. Good intentions don’t entirely ward away negative side-effects when its in its pure state but it might ward away the damaging and corrupting effects.
Due to its two primary locations in Saturnia being the Inketch Death where Inketch was exiled and the Inkine Rocks where the Satchu Peninsula was ripped away, there’s a common belief that ink is Saturnia’s lifeblood.
