Seers (Eyes of Vaasek)
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| Please note: The following information is scarcely known. As such, you cannot assume to be aware of this information unless taught about it in-character. |
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Contents
Introduction
When a blind individual becomes overcome with anguish and desperation to gain sight, be they born blind, injured, diseased, or elderly and plead or beg they may have their prayer answered by the ever vigilant Vaasek. He sees opportunity in vulnerability and grants the blind individual a kabalees (or “witness”) to bond with them in their sleep. The witness feeds the individual their vision which is interpreted by their mortal soul and mind to create an imperfect translation so long as they embrace their own blindness and cover their eyes, a symbolic act of surrender. This newfound vision is called secondsight and is the defining trait of seers.
Overview
History
The first account of a seer harnessing the magic of a witness beyond secondsight is unclear among the very, very few scholars there are on the subject. Lady Eldecia is thought to be the first, starting in Anthos, however some records do note of Mori’Quessir who possessed strange sight and clairvoyance as well as the once-famous Nawari gypsies of Aegis, some of whom were blind in a similar fashion. Likely a machination of Vaasek’s influence on muddying the annals of history, a subtle throughline exists; the daemon’s agents have existed alongside and outside the descendent races and do to this day. Regardless of wherever or whomever the use of seer magic originated it persists still. Any blind individual desperate enough can make the plea but not so easily are seers granted the arsenal of their witness thus teachers of the art have quietly passed through history, creating small rings of local seers to test and potentially induct into their circles.
To harness the deeper powers of a witness a seer must be graced by a teacher, an individual already entrenched who has proven themselves a valuable asset. By giving their blessing through the ritual of sanctioning they in turn give Vaasek’s blessing to let the seer further bond with their witness. In both teaching the magic and allowing existing users to increase their devotion, seers do so at the expense of their bodies, minds, and soul. Upon acceptance of their first sanction, a seer who takes on the magic begins to degrade. Greater musculature becomes impossible to maintain and they take on the physical attributes of a sedentary lifestyle regardless of their exercising habits; they dwell in a slightly less-than-average build and may become scrawny or plump while possessing little in the ways of strength and endurance. Beyond the body, the mind begins to take a toll as the witness’s increasing presence and in turn Vaasek’s bleeds with an aura of anxiety and fallacy. Upon dedication the seer becomes afflicted by a form of fear or false belief which deepens and spawns more upon further dedications.
Seers who delve into Vaasek’s art become subject to his desires, namely that of great misdirection. He is enraptured with the fear of his death at the hands of mortals from his vision ages ago and thusly uses his seers to infiltrate the likes of guilds and nations and steer them towards one another. He seeks to incite dramatic tension of the greatest magnitude to avoid lasting peace and cooperation which could lead to his foretold fate. Seers wield powers conducive to such a goal.
Lastly, Vaasek has one tenet and one tenet alone. His eyes and ears are everywhere and he gives little stock to what individuals he has leashed beneath him and so cares only upon one act; betrayal. Seers blessed with his magic cannot kill one another, oust eachother’s secretive operations, or directly work against one another without Vaasek abandoning them immediately and therein losing their magic forever. Only seers who have killed their kin in self defense are exempted. It is much more favorable to cooperate.
Abilities
| Secondsight - Combative |
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| Secondsight is enabled by a covering over the seer’s eyes or eye sockets with some form of opaque (mask, visor, helm, spherical stones in the sockets) or mostly opaque (ratty blindfold, thick veil) non-living material. Should this covering be removed the seer is rendered blind until they can once more cover their eyes; all they see is unintelligible fuzz and static.
Secondsight usually manifests as normal 20/20 visual within a 20 block radius however it is commonly disrupted by the nature of a mortal trying to perceive through divine eyes. As such seers are prone to experience lack of focus, eye floaters, black spots, nearsightedness, farsightedness, double vision, and other such visual anomalies in fluctuating frequency. These effects typically are nuisances and require seers to look at things for longer or move around to better perceive them but may voluntarily be more severe. Past the 20 block radius the seer only sees unintelligible fuzz and static. In times of great stress and/or extensive physical exhaustion the seer’s translation of the witness’s vision becomes botched and they begin to perceive more raw and/or warped inputs which commonly lead to distressing and horrific visual hallucinations, typically illusions over existing surfaces. In these periods of tension the seer will see extreme alterations in the world around them such as people being comprised of writhing, dripping worms and a landscape of flaming limbs or their shadow contorts into a fractured, unhinged, monstrous doppelganger and their skin appears to flake and rot with maggots squirming within. However, these disruptions need not be necessarily haunting or terrifying but rather disorientating and confusing such as all shapes and objects becoming prismatic and geometrical, radiating with fractals of brilliant and overstimulating colors. These episodes heavily distort the seer’s vision and impedes related activity until it subsides alongside the stress or exhaustion. Red Lines: - Seers cannot see beyond the 20 block radius. - Seers cannot see any better than average 20/20 vision. - If a seer’s covering is removed they are blinded and remain blinded until a covering is put on. Living material such as a seer’s hands do not qualify as a covering. - Seers who go through trauma, experience intense stress, or become physically exhausted such as through combat or extensive casting trigger psychedelic visual hallucinations that make any activity relying on sight very difficult to the point of removing the eye covering being an appealing option; they cannot aim with any relative accuracy and the casting of other magic will prove dangerous for any nearby. This passes when the stress or exhaustion triggering it passes. |
| Dilated Secondsight - Combative |
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Dilated secondsight expands off of the original seer feat’s only ability with the following additions:
Tier 1: The seer’s normal field of vision of 135° is expanded to 155°. Their visual anomalies subside to temporary, moderate distractions. Tier 2: The seer’s field of vision is 175°. Their visual anomalies fade into easily dismissed and mild distractions. Tier 3: The seer’s field of vision is 195°. The seer can read the lips of those speaking a language they know in line of sight within 20 blocks. Their visual anomalies are no longer noticeable. Tier 4: The seer’s field of vision is 215°. The seer can see closer than they are, having the same precision at 3 blocks away as they would up to their face. Tier 5: The seer’s field of vision is 235°. The seer can see closer than they are, having the same precision at 6 blocks away as they would up to their face. There is no longer a distance limitation on a seer’s sight and they can see as far as a normal person. Seers still suffer the same psychedelic hallucinations when under intense physical or mental stress but can willingly distance themselves from the witness to see in a lesser tier until the effect can subside as usual in order to negate the botched translation. In doing so they see with a -2 tier penalty and cannot use any activated seer ability. Dilated Secondsight is a passive ability. Red Lines: - Seers cannot see beyond the 20 block radius until tier 5. - Seers cannot see any better than average 20/20 vision. - If a seer’s covering is removed they are blinded and remain blinded until a covering is put on. The seer’s own body such as their hands do not qualify as a covering. - Seers who go through trauma, experience intense stress, or become physically exhausted such as through combat or extensive casting trigger psychedelic visual hallucinations that make any activity relying on sight very difficult to the point of removing the eye covering being an appealing option. This passes when the stress or exhaustion triggering it passes. |
| Caecic - Combative |
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| Caecic is best represented through in-game signs, however a personal ‘code’ hinting at their location can also be used to help designate where these invisible messages are. Give some way to identify the area or message such as a sign with a number or a specific block arrangement that other seer players are aware of. These locations should have privately recorded messages easily given to other seers upon finding the Caecic writing. It can be written on anything with a surface flat enough that could be otherwise written on normally and acts as magical ink.
Caecic writing requires 1 emote to focus on coordinating with the witness and then 1 emote per 10 words or 1-3 emotes per block covered when drawing (depending on intricacy). This focus takes the form of stillness and repeated strikes with a finger to test for success like trying a dry ink pen. Seeing and reading Caecic is a passive ability. Writing or drawing Caecic is an activated ability. Red Lines: - Caecic can only be read, written, and erased by seers unless temporarily revealed by a black asper (described later). - Caecic messages/drawings need to have some kind of in-game representative or clue to their existence in public areas or areas you know other seers may be. These messages cannot be hidden from particular seers and shown to others. - Caecic is not its own language but rather a magical writing technique so all messages must be written in a language the writer knows. |
| Polyglot - Combative |
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| Seers can read any written language.
Polyglot is a passive ability. Red Lines: -Polyglot does not allow seers to learn or teach languages they read, merely interpret what is written. -Polyglot does not break through riddles or ciphers and translates them as normal text. -Polyglot cannot be used to read lips, only written language. |
| Heat Lense - Combative |
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When channeling heat lense a seer observes the world nearest them through infrared, capable of distinguishing levels of heat through sight. What they see appears in a rainbow scale, lack of heat appearing dark / purple / blue and heat appearing yellow / orange / red / bright. Beyond obviously seeing what is hot and cold, heat lense also allows seers to perceive invisible entities as spots theys couldn’t otherwise see such as invisible phantoms as cold spots and invisible mystics as hot spots.
Tier 1: Heat lense extends out 2 blocks. Tier 2: Heat lense extends out 3 blocks. Tier 3: Heat lense extends out 3 blocks. Tier 4: Heat lense extends out 4 blocks. Tier 5: Heat lense extends out 4 blocks. Heat lense requires 1 emote to focus on a deeper level of the witness’s vision which causes warps to briefly radiate from their face and can then be maintained until dismissed by waving their hand past their face. While channeling heat lense a seer cannot cast any other spells. Heat lense is an activated ability. Red Lines: - Heat Lense must be activated in order to perceive invisible entities and is not a passive ability. - Heat Lense only affects entities that have ‘bodies’ such as phantoms or humans, entirely intangible entities such as witnesses or dormant spirits cannot be perceived. - Requires OOC permission to reveal a CA Creature (Ghost, Frost Witches, Etc). Non-ghost creatures appear as descendants unless permission is given. Invisible Ghosts do not appear at all. - Heat Lense cannot penetrate a mystic’s Deadbreath. |
| For more information, please see the forum page for this lore, found here: https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/186068-%E2%9C%93-feat-magic-lore-seers-eyes-of-vaasek/ |
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