Dark Mirror
Dark Mirrors are mysterious objects of ancient origins. To most, all knowledge about them was lost and those who know about them do not speek freely. A certain uncomfortable aura or feeling of taboo surrounds Dark Mirrors, but, when pressed, the wise reveal their secrets and the stories continue to circulate in the shadows.
The Origins and The Early History
There are many Dark Mirrors in various systems of The Galaxy including one found on Bar 1 but they are mostly kept in secret now. It is said that, in the past, Dark Mirrors were widely known and praised for great deeds done under their influence. Today, those things are remembered as myths and their stories are often told excluding the mysterious mirrors. Dark Mirrors date as far as a few millenia ago. Following The First Migration and the establishment of some regular communication between several major planets, two cults formed among the wisest and most powerful people in that part of The Galaxy. They worshipped the same being, however, differed on multiple levels of their beliefs. During that time, the newly established colonies began to expand over to nearby systems and make some technological advancements. Together, with social, political, and religious differences two opposite super-colonies began to rise up, challenging each others influence and position in the galaxy. Finally, in the face of the looming super-conflict, the two religious factions decided to seek a solution. The powerful opposing leaders met up in the shadows for the first time in two centuries (the relationship between the colonies was so tense that an open meeting would be considered a treason). They meditated to contact and ask their god for help. Nothing happened at first, but later, over the next year following the first meeting, they noticed new dream patterns and night visions among many members of both religions. Interestingly, low-power members, not present at the first meeting, also had new dreams and visions imparted. This looked like a response to the leaders' requests - something that was never heard of before. The prevailing theme of "the message" was that the peace between the super-colonies could be ushered only by a wide-spread wisdom among all inhabitants of the galaxy. This extraordinarily difficult goal initially baffled the religious leaders but they remained open-minded and willing to learn more. The following year, they secretly met again and locked themselves together for the next year or until they have all the answers, whichever comes first. They also took a larger number of their "followers" (mostly the most gifted and hard-working pupils) as test subjects, to keep track of the dreams and visions in case of any communication problems with their home planets and systems or outbreak of the now seemingly imminent war. This time, the answer came immediatelly on the first day and everyone was surprised with its intensity. As soon as the doors and windows were sealed, the ground shook and the lights went out. Unknown but pleasant smell filled the room so much that it felt like they were in a sweet thick syrup. Slowly, as their senses were giving up to the overwhelming situation, the earthquake stopped but the smell became even stronger and now it was filling every thought and memory. Some people, those who were most acute, realized that their ears were ringing now with a full spectrum of sounds, from the lowest tones, but not raspy, to the highest pitches, but not shrieking. Every person felt in that moment that they just should give up the control and fully immerse in the experience to be able to feel every minute detail of it. To call it enjoyable would be, on one hand, an understatement but also innacuracy - the situation was electrifying and the realization of human frailty against the spiritual force was frightening and sobering. Suddenly, everything stopped and the lights came back on. Everybody was slowly getting up from the floor, visibly shaken with the experience which was now quickly wearing out. Nothing of this sort every happened in the known history and no significant encounter was recorded again that year. In fact, all present discussed the experience and decided to return home and work on being able to spontanteously get into contact with their god who, as they believed, was behind the experience. In the aftermath, by the end of the year, both religions were radically changed and revitalized. They became quite alike, as many elements that formerly divided them became irrelevant in the light of the new discovery. In the next few years, all members were getting increased numbers of dreams concerning only one subject and, finally, the first batches of Dark Mirrors were manufactured. They were simple objects with no ornaments or words written around them yet. The glass was originally enchanted with the highest power level they experienced at the time. Everyone's goal was contacting their god so the first mirrors were solely focused on that. They often only showed the person wielding the mirror (which is rare nowadays) but through their connection to the power source they implanted words, thoughts, entire phrases, and even pictures into the person. As a result, the user no longer saw themselves in the mirror but a more powerful and mysterious being that only remotely resembled a human being. The pictures with the voice led the viewers to create more and more Dark Mirrors. The new batches included frames with various ornaments and words. Over time, the wielders learned to accurately see and hear future and this raised their position in the governments of both super-colonies. Finally, a long-lasting peace ensued as both religions and factions came to work together openly. Several decades later, the mirrors became commonly accessible and people began to redirect them from their original purpose. This led to their new uses and, eventually, the start of The Golden Age of Science.Appearance and Places
A Dark Mirror is usually framed in an ancient-looking ornamented frame and in most cases, its face remains completely black at all times. The frame does not resemble any known works of art and is fully covered in symbols. Each Dark Mirror seems to carry a slightly different set of symbols and they often look like disjunct words or syllables from different languages tied together by ornaments or pictorial symbols. Dark Mirrors can be often found in high places, such as the noblest palaces and castles. They are very valuable items used in various religious rituals. They help people see beyond natural limitations of space, time, and matter. For this reason, they are also very important to the scientific and exploratory communities which seek deeper knowledge of things as well as find new worlds. In the recent past, they would often be carried, against their true purpose, on large space warships and used as a help in large space battles. They proved only mildly useful in that because of their wavering accuracy and slow results. Many Dark Mirrors were lost or scattered across the Galaxy during the most turbulent wars.Bar 1 Dark Mirror
Bar 1 Dark Mirror is framed in a heavy, golden frame and looks especially old. Its size is such that a grown man who found it thought that it perfectly fit in his extended hands.Mirror Wielding
The Dark Mirror can show some things to the person who is looking. What can be seen depends on many factors, among others: the power of the wielder and the mirror's history. Each mirror has a power level of 4 which means that a user must have the same power level or higher in order to command the mirror. A person looking can still see things shown by the mirror on someone else's behalf but passive use in this manner is rather dangerous. In general, it is best to avoid watching things that the mirror "decides" to show you because there is always a person behind those visions: they could be true but, of course, assuming some malice, they also could be perverted, manipulated, or outright false. Moreover, the person in control of the mirror could be looking at you from the other side by using another mirror or a similar device. They could gather information about you and your surroundings without your knowledge. The only way to prevent it is to control the mirror or detect the power contest and win control over the mirror. The history of a particular Dark Mirror can also influence what can be seen. More elegant mirrors tend to be more gentle in how quickly they can change their focus. It takes more power and time (to avoid breaking it) to change the "direction" of such a mirror and the first look of the new session might be also the last thing that was seen when the mirror was left alone. To redirect it entirely (that is, including a high level of detail) would mean even more work and time for the user and such devotion would have to be justified by a very important or noble cause. For so-called scouting or casual checking of things, a person would be much better off using a less elegant mirror with a shorter or less important history. In the end, it might provide a little less detail and be more susceptible to other users and their influence but it might also be perfect for the situation.Religious use
Dark Mirrors are primarily thought of as a religious objects. Rituals and religions vary but the primary purpose is the same - to learn the truth and with it the true power. This goal is highly elusive and, at best, not easily achieved as the mirrors largely depend on the power and knowledge of the wielder and are limited by their own flexibility and acuteness to details. The user without a clearly defined vision will fail at learning from the mirror and, in fact, may actually end up worse off than before looking into it (this is not taking into account any detrimental effects caused by any enemies). To be effective at using the Dark Mirrors, the person needs to direct it at an object, an area, or express a very strong connection to a single idea so the mirror will bend to his/her will and accurately show the desired thing. Weak exercise of one's will can result in unfaithful visions and, therefore, false information which is the opposite of the sought after ultimate truth. It is especially worsened when a person focuses on an idea rather than a tangible object because the mirror can "choose" what to show or how to teach the wielder. Weaker mind may end up not only getting a wrong information but also by accident connecting to a more powerful stranger, with another mirror somewhere in the Galaxy or beyond, whose intents and character may be unknown.Scientific uses
The Dark Mirrors were long ago adapted to learn more about the natural world instead of chasing after an elusive idea of the truth. Powerful scientists learned how to wield a mirror from the most open minded priests and priestesses. Most of the early science in conjunction with the mirrors focused on the exploration of other planets, systems, stars etc. Explorers would find and buy the most flexible mirrors and use them to scan for interesting areas. They would focus their gaze only long enough to see some of the basic details that helped them determine if they needed to take a closer look at things. This helped the science in exploration of the vast expanses of the Galaxy in more methodical and less dangerous manner. With time, some of the best explorers were able to not only direct their mirrors at specific areas but also to slide their far-sight past things and allow the mirror to be interrupted by a heavenly body entering between them and the seen object. This ability required a lot of training and intimacy with one mirror to make it so flexible, responsive, and real-time connection to visions. Those explorers were able to draft the most precise maps of the Galaxy ever and included unimaginable number of key elements, such as meteor and debris fields, black holes, supernovas, and many unknown, dark, and mostly uninhabited planetary systems. This highly detailed work and the altruistic, nearly religious, commitment of the early explorers encouraged other scientific branches across the Galaxy to the learn how to use the Dark Mirrors. Unfortunate side effect of the early work was the destruction of many mirrors, mostly because they were forced to bend too much. Another branch of the scientific community learned to connect with other systems and share their developments. This sped up the unification process across some friendly parts of the galaxies as well as led to The Golden Age of Science early in The Second Universal Era. During that long-lasting period, other, more reliable means of long-distance communication were invented through collaboration of systems. This could not have happened without the Dark Mirrors but it also made them mostly obsolete for the scientifically focused kind of far-sight. Many other advancements were made during the Golden Age and they are all directly tied to the mirrors. The Dark Mirrors were also used to look internally to discover microscopic and milimolecular systems within living bodies. Some early scientists learned to focus some elegant mirrors (to the detriment of those) on the things placed in a specific area. They were forced to constantly project the highest level of detail of quickly changing objects (that is, for elegant, unflexible mirrors, not humans) which was against their nature but in accordance with their scientific specifications. This led to a practical loss of many mirrors which permanently fixed their gaze on one spot in the Galaxy and became useless for anything else. The good that came out of it precedes the Golden Age of Science and that was mostly medical and botanical. Many illnesses, bacteria, and plants were at first discovered and often described for the first time in the Galaxy, however, it took much longer and often other resources to delve deeper into that part of science and make use of that initial progress (e.g., to properly heal, exterminate, mutate, or clone).
Item type
Religious / Ritualistic
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I'm sure that dark mirrors can do even more, given enough time to think creatively about them. It's also a really detailed article, going into depth for their many uses. I'd love to hear a specific story of a dark mirror, its on history of users. Inspiring so that I added it to this article
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