Mental Magic
Mental magic allows a mage to use the void to connect to the mind of their target. The mage can only be connected to one mind at a time and will have two tells. Their abilities range from telepathy to illusions and even wiping memories. Mental Barriers and wards can serve as a defense against this magic but you must learn how to form your mental barrier or have an enchanted item creating the ward for you.
Specifications
The more creative the mental mage the more uses they'll find from the magic.
For example, the most basic and commonly used spell is telepathy. All the mage must do is connect to the target's mind and think of what they wish to share. These thoughts are then heard by the target as one of their own thoughts, thus unable to identify the mental mage. Compared to other abilities telepathy doesn't require much energy at all yet mages generally only use it to create private conversations while missing out on other possibilities. For the mental mage who likes to cause a bit of trouble telepathy could be used to play as someone's conscience. Telepathy could also be used to gather information, whispering to the target about a certain person or thing then watching to see what they think of in return.
Mental magic is often seen simply as a way to gather information or try to cause terror in another's mind however it can be used combatively as well provided the mage takes on a supportive role. Telepathy could be used to try getting the enemy to make a wrong move. Mental illusions could be used to trick the enemy or hinder their senses. This of course is not all that one can accomplish with this magic but merely examples to show the creativity.
Levels
- Tier one
- Before even connecting to a mind the mental magic student will learn of barriers and wards. Specifically the differences between the two and how they are created. At this point breaking through such protections is beyond the skill of the student but they can learn how to protect themselves from other practitioners. From there the first connections will be to the mind of an animal provided or pointed out by the teacher. The reasoning behind this would be that most animals lack the complexity of human thoughts therefore easier for the student to connect and observe. When the student seems enough at ease with this they can then move to connecting to a descendant’s mind and learn more of telepathy. The first telepathic communications will be very short (an emote or two) before the connection breaks and will take frequent practice to improve.
- Tier two
- At this stage the student can add mental illusions to their arsenal. Starting out with merely altering existing stimuli such as changing the volume of a sound heard or altering the color of an object seen. These illusions of course require being connected to a mind and only that target will see them. Starting off the student can only focus on one sense at a time for their illusions and said illusions will be very simple but as they get stronger and more adept at the spell the complexity can increase. By the time the student has reached being able to steadily create their own stimuli they should be able to try altering two senses at once. Creating stimuli is trickier than altering as the illusion created needs to be rather realistic. The mind doesn’t like to question itself but an unrealistic illusion might tip a knowledgeable target that a mental mage is around.
- Tier three
- Now that the mental mage can create small illusions they can begin learning how to get past the mental barriers that may sometimes block their progress. When a barrier is encountered the mage can try to either distract the target or rile up their emotions as this would cause the barrier to fall. However, when first starting out the student won’t be very successful when it comes to attacking barriers. The biggest thing that they’ll learn now is mind melding. A very accurate way to gather information provided the student know exactly what they’re looking for. It can still fail like any spell of course and takes a large amount of energy from the mage. No matter what level of mastery a mental mage is at mind melding will wind them, preventing a mage from running or fighting instantly after using their magic.
- Tier four
- The mental mage has come far at this point, here is when illusions reach their most complex level as the student learns of the cataleptic illusion and of removing stimuli. Cataleptic is intense as it is basically performing two illusions at once. The target’s mind and body are tricked into a sleep-like state, both relaxing them and allowing their mind to be more receptive to illusions. Illusions before that seemed a little off become more easily accepted while in the cataleptic state as the target’s mind compares it to dreaming. However, obvious illusions will still be denied. To use the cataleptic illusion a mental mage must first plan out what illusion they’ll be creating before enacting the spell on the target. Due to the strain early attempts at cataleptic illusions will be very simple. Removing stimuli comes next and is something that only mental mages can do with their illusions. Simply put the mental mage blocks a sound, object, etc, from reaching the target’s mind. While at first this may sound simple it requires not only blocking the senses from transmitting the information to the brain but the mental mage can’t simply leave the gap there. They must also create something to take its place. For example, if blocking the target from seeing a glass on the table the mental mage must not only block them from seeing the glass but also then fill in the empty space with how the table looks to avoid suspicion or confusion. As with normal illusions these will start off very simple at first but because of the complexity mastering this ability takes a great amount of time.
- Tier five
- Finally the mental mage has reached the peak of their abilities however their learning does not stop here. Removing stimuli is still worked on, slowly improving the complexity along with cataleptic illusions. One of the last things to learn, and the most complex, is the memory removal. While this can be learned while the student is in tier four due to the strain, dangers, and level of trust needed to teach the spell many teachers may put it off until tier five or not even teach it at all. The first limit here is that only memories which have occurred within the last elven (irl) hour can be affected. The process isn’t terribly long, but isn’t short either taking at least five emotes from the mage to be completed. During this time the target will be aware of the presence in their mind and will be put through mild pain. Delicate focus is required for a memory removal, the process easily broken by loud noises (louder than a simple shout or clap), bright flashes of light, or pain delivered to the mage. Should it complete however then the target will only remember what the mage wants them to from the previous hour. For those afflicted however do not fret! There is a chance to undo the process, another mental mage must go into your mind but there are limits to this. Not all of the memories can be brought back and the longer it takes to get help the fewer memories return. After an elven (irl) week it has been too late and the memories are lost forever.
How to learn
If you are interested in roleplaying a mental mage your character must find a teacher. Mental magic at this time cannot be self taught, it’s too complex, and thus requires guidance. Once you’ve found a teacher they’ll help you fill out the student application on the forums.
Random Tidbits
- Mental mages cannot force any thought or actions, merely using suggestions and influences. So no mind control.
- All mages have a tell for when they connect to the void (usually a random twitch). However, a mental mage gains a second tell for when they connect to a mind.
- Every mind is different, a good mental mage is one who oocly asks the target what their character's mind will look like.
- Teachers will often have their students practice on animals before moving on to people since animal minds are considered more simple.
More can be found out about mental magic on these pages!
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