Damestears is a rare form of magical meteorite coming from the astral abyss of space, in the past scholars believed that damestears came from the Moon but that was disproved in the late 19th century.
Tears hold raw magical energy and is often seen glowing in bright colors, commonly blue or white.
Consumption and Magical Effects
Being pure magic, even the essence of being near a tear will amplify magic even more than at a full moon though prolonged exposure may cause a magic user to go mad and die. Tears can be refined into a powder form and consumed to replenish magical energy and enhance magical prowess as mana potions though the trade was banned shortly after the Blackpowder Rebellion.
Weaponized Damestear
Throughout history many have found damestear meteorites and have forged weapons.
A tear weapon functions the same as a regular steel equivalent but was often kept sheathed due to risks of overexposure but in combat, it's real advantage was its ability to absorb magical spells and act as a casting rod for spellcasters.
During the Blackpowder Rebellion the damestear industry was shut down by the Ravelians and confiscated large sums of refined damestear. They soon implemented the powder into their bulletcrafting process and it proved to be a winning factor in the war, a tear-infused bullet could penetrate any magical wards or abjurative protections a mage could cast.
Damestear Market
In modern times, the Damestear market is closely regulated within the Empire and the usage of the product is outright banned for consumption; while a black market exists, most traders sell their meteorites to the Empire which offers the highest buying price. Today, Damestear is mostly used for the purpose of bulletcrafting.
The Empire first subsidized its own ammunition companies in 1652 and has since become the world leader in bulletcrafting, by the 18th century a tear-infused bullet was seen as standard issue.
(Chronicler's Note: The rise of gunpowder and magic-penetrating bullets meant that the art of wizardry changed over time: the art of abjuration, protective spells, slowly declined. By the 1600s offensive schools evolved from devastating spells with long cast times to weaker and quicker spells for better manuevorability. -J)