Abyssum
Mythological · Legendary · Medieval
The theoretical prima materia of medieval alchemists, a hypothetical base substance from which all metals were believed to derive. Abyssum was not merely a metal but a philosophical concept: the primordial undifferentiated substance that existed before creation imposed form upon it.
Identity
- Source
- Medieval European alchemy
- Aliases
- Bottomless metal, Prima materia (alchemical)
Physical Properties
- Appearance
- Absolute darkness, described as 'the color that exists before color', neither reflecting nor absorbing light
- Luster
- Dull
- Magnetism
- Non-magnetic
- Electrical conductivity
- None
Mechanical Properties
- Workability
- Impossible
- Brittleness
- Tough
- Malleability
- None
- Ductility
- None
Chemical Properties
- Corrosion resistance
- absolute
- Reactivity
- none
Lore & Narrative
Paracelsus, Albertus Magnus, and other medieval philosophers debated whether abyssum could be isolated. Some claimed that a sufficiently skilled alchemist could transmute any metal into any other by first reducing it to abyssum, stripping away its accidental form to reveal the essential void beneath.
- Notable uses
- Theoretical transmutation base, philosophical construct, ritual dissolution
- Forge uses
- transmutation, philosophical
- Worldbuilding traits
- void, alchemical, primordial, philosophical
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