Pathomancy Revised!.... Again

[EmbryoGod 816]

Origins:

 

In the dim glow of the cellar, two men of equal stature walked down the stairs. A large, circular room spanned out in front of them. They walked over to the nearest piece of furniture in the cold, dark cellar: a table made from stone, and sat on it. The older of the two pulled out a book and began to chant, releasing a chain of events that no one ever could have foreseen coming.

 

     Before modern settlement of Athera, there were no cities, no gleaming beacons of the Descendents, no testament to what would be considered modern advancement. There were only small, barely populated settlements. It was, in its entirety, a much simpler and better place. These humble settlements all spoke different languages, and practiced different religions. Poly-theism was the most common, with few places choosing to worship something more similar to the Creator.

     It was in this time that it truly began: the wonderful, yet intensely dangerous practice of faith that could be translated (albeit very loosely) to Pathomancy. Pathomancy was not just a practice of faith, but an entire movement of ideology. It preached the teachings of Iirn, a mystical being that appeared to the settlers of Kirn'velohm (there is no translation yet available for this town), taking the form of a leper. She (as it stands to record, they described the being as feminine in appearance) preached for the acceptance of all life, not just what was beautiful (this could perhaps be a reference to native forms of druidism). She believed that even leprosy was a form of life and of beauty, just in ways not yet imaginable to the “ignorant brutes” (once again, perhaps a reference to the forms of Druidism in the area). Some scoffed at her, choosing to accept what She believed to be ignorance, and pelted her with tomatoes. She did not raise a fist, yet instead chose to leave and appear again the next day, repeating the same message. Each time She came, a few still chose to deface her and her word.

     For two more days she repeated this, however on the fifth day, she was nowhere to be found. This was when the plagues struck. Many died, the rest became beings of such hideousness that they dared not even look at water, as they feared they would witness their true faces and kill themselves. Those that did peer into the water drowned themselves. This is when the people of Kirn'velohm cried out, begging for their beauty to return, for some form of salvation. They did this for seven days, until the next fifth day of the week, and She returned. She preached that even now they still were too ignorant to accept that they were beautiful. Yet the people still cried, ignoring her word. Iirn did what She had to do, and sat down, chanting in a strange language, the people reverting back to what they had once looked like.

     In their celebrations, the people had forgotten about Iirn, who had fell into a state of sleep that she would never wake up from. It was only when a small child ran over to Her, much against the words of their elders, and told the crowd of happy settlers. Only then did they realize the true price of their hubris: She was no more, bound now to life beyond. Her burial preparations were made at once, the people placing her in the finest casket that could be made, and constructing a mausoleum made of silver and precious metals (as it is written, no evidence of such a crypt has been found so far). Her belongings were put inside with Her, except for a book found on Her person: it was written in a strange tongue, yet it seemed to be notes of some sort.

     The book (which to this day has yet to be translated) apparently outlined the teachings of Iirn, though it did not speak of the strange magic that She had displayed. Those who had been at Her initial preachings, and had ridiculed Her, became Her most devoted. They spread the word of Iirn, feeling in debt to Her for all She had done for them. It was later that Her subjects had found something strange, their skin began to mottle and green, some had pus-filled boils and others had rashes, some even showed signs of leprosy.

     The subjects did not falter, their sickness not seeming to be much of a bother for them, and continued to spread Her word. They were granted mysterious abilities and knowledge, knowledge most people couldn't grasp. They spoke of too-small-to-see creatures which dictated the existence of larger creatures, that living creatures were no more than complex structures of these tiny beings, like a puzzle. Their beliefs at the time were seen as mad, but none the less helped shape the societies of the primordial Athera.

     With this revolution of thought, the subjects of Iirn (known as Pathomancers), committed acts of greatness. They were responsible for creating a flavored, edible paste (known in Common as Yogurt), as well as many other things. They healed the deathly ill, it was even stated that they could take the foul smell from a room. There were also rumors of a dark splinter group that instead of using their knowledge to benefit all of Athera, used their powers to make others ill, as well as causing mass hysteria.

     However, it was believed that they all died out with the settlement of Athera (their water supplies were, ironically enough, poisoned by warring factions of Pathomancers or accidentally by descendant settlers).

There are rumors of a man that found the book of Iirn, this is merely speculation and unknown, however, this would mean a great revival of Pathomancy and perhaps a new great age of understanding.

 

Pathomancers:

 

     Pathomancers are, at a fundamental level, the earliest example of biologists. Their magic (which is given to them by intense prayer) grants them control of all bacteria and viruses that exist. This means they can choose to either manipulate them into constantly reproducing, or even kill them for a specifically desired effect. Bacteria does not mean the kind that make others sick. While Pathomancers have control over this type of Bacteria, that is not the only thing they choose to focus on. Pathomancers can make probiotics to bolster others' immune systems, or even become bakers and utilize their knowledge of yeast and other types of bacteria to make breads and fine cheeses. Pathomancers are also renown for their abilities in medicinal work, as they are capable of making most bacteria either disappear, or grow to help defend the body.

 

What roleplay with a Pathomancer looks like:

 

     Now, while the most powerful Pathomancers are capable of spreading disease and sickness, most are incapable of such feats, as they are not told by Iirn how to control and spread such things, only how to prevent them and or stop them entirely.

Most Pathomancers appear (for the most part) normal and healthy. They might be the town baker or doctor, it depends on what they choose to focus on.

Pathomancers despise modern Druidism, feeling that it focuses only on nature, and not the true, microscopic beauty of life.

     Stronger Pathomancers will appear very sickly and ill, this is considered to be a closer connection to Iirn and Her teachings. Also any type of plant or tree will wilt when near these Pathomancers, as their bodies are practically radiating bacteria (even too much of good bacteria can be dangerous to such weak and defenseless things as plants), though this is not to be feared, as healthy beings will be able to withstand such bacteria.

 

How Pathomancers get their magic:

 

     Through prayer and worship, Pathomancers gain a stronger attachment to their deity Iirn. Iirn will teach them all She can, though She can only teach as much as the Pathomancer's connection to Her is. Therefore, the more you pray and practice Her teachings, the more information one would be able to obtain. Once the knowledge is embedded into the Pathomancer's mind, they must speak to Iirn in Her language. This can vary from a few small words, to an entire paragraph, informing Her exactly what you wish to do. She will then, in turn, give up some of her power to you to preform the task (some Pathomancers can just rely on their own magical ability to accomplish their task, though they are very powerful and have such a good connection with Iirn that they do not require Her intervention as often). It gets very complicated and befuddled when trying to teach the language to Initiates, however. Iirn will understand the situation on the basis of what is meant behind the words you speak, this means that if you are dealing with someone who has cancer, and you are powerful enough, you could say “help” and She will understand you, assuming your connection with her is well enough. This is considered a practice that improves over time, strong Pathomancers only needing to say one word to cure complex diseases, or anything revolving around bacteria and virsuses for that matter.

 

How Pathomancers worship:

 

     Pathomancers follow the creed set down by Iirn, and Her three covenants.

1. Every organism is beautiful.

2. Every organism serves a specific purpose.

3. Those who deny the two covenants above must be punished.

 

     Pathomancers believe the beauty in everything lies in the function of said things, not based off of physical appearance. It is considered a grave insult to your own intelligence if you ever insult anything based off of appearance in their company, and you will most certainly be corrected.

 

 

Pathomancy outline:

 

     In order to become a Pathomancer, one must either read the Book of Iirn, or be inducted through a member of the faith, and they will be treated to a ritual that begins their process down the path of a Pathomancer. They will be considered an Initiate, and will learn the basics of communicating with Iirn, and eventually be able to produce small quantities of bacteria. Producing and making bacteria multiply, however, is a very difficult task, and requires much time of chanting. 

     After months and months of training, they are considered an Apprentice Pathomancer, and will learn more general applications for bacteria and viruses, as well as understanding their functions. Their connection with Her will steadily increase, and in order to maintain this level one must pray once a day. The time required to affect the bacteria and viruses around the Pathomancer shortens, taking slightly less wording.

     After even more months, one will become a Journeyman Pathomancer. This is when their training ends and they are expected to learn from Iirn. Praying now is quite frequent, and the Pathomancer will begin to appear somewhat sickly, though hardly noticeable. Time for modifying viruses and bacteria shortens significantly, the Pathomancer now able to make things happen with only a sentence or two.

     After a full two years, a Pathomancer may choose to come back and further their connection with Iirn, where they will learn even more advanced uses of bacteria, and their connection will be even stronger than before. They will look even more sick, thinly and perhaps ashen-white. Any plants near them will begin to wilt slightly, and they will be able to introduce Initiates into the faith of Iirn. Now the magic can be cut down to a few words in a sentence, or a broken and incomplete sentence.

     After many, many years, a Pathomancer may be able to have an incredibly strong connection with Iirn. They will progressively worsen in appearance to the point that many will wonder why they are not dead. Their eyes will turn a strange, light shade of green. Plants will severely worsen around them, and they are capable of replicating diseases, and utilizing them in whatever ways they see fit. They are considered exemplary Pathomancers and should be called upon during rituals to initiate someone. Most magic can be done by themselves at this level, however when calling upon Iirn, they will rarely use more than one or two words.

 

THINGS TO NOTE:

1. Long-term diseases have to be agreed upon by both parties, no one is forced to roleplay as having cancer or any sort of disease.

2. No, it is not possible to walk into a city and give everyone in the square a vomiting fit. No Pathomancer would ever attempt something such as this and it is impractical and would require so much magic that Iirn would never agree to help you.

3. You are there to provide a roleplay experience engaging for everyone. This magic is not designed to be combat intensive, and is designed more for an addition of RP.

4. If you don't pray IC, Iirn's not going to listen to you and you will lose your magical capabilities over time.

5. No you can't start a plague like in Thales (I believe it was Thales)

6. This will fatigue the individual in question, so please roleplay as if some form of fatigue occurs (unless, of course, you're very powerful and doing something very, very basic)

 

 

Authors note:

Thank you very much for reading this! This has gone through an incredible amount of revision and I honestly think this is going to add incredible amounts of RP to LotC. For one, it adds a sort of anti-Druidism to the server (which when this was run through twice before, people seemed to love), it encourages legitimate roleplay regarding sickness (because apparently the majority of people in a place without water purification and proper plumbing are never ill), and just adds fun. The magic is diverse and can be branched off into many different uses, the possibilities are endless! Also, thank you for reading such a long, long idea. I really wanted to flesh it out much better than I have in the past.

 

Edits: Formatted better, added more red lines, and added a few sentences about the time it takes to preform magic

[excited 10834]

Format it better before I decide how to read it, friend!

[ScreamingDingo 17064]

You can do this with necromancy fyi

[Booklight12 477]

 

It's possible, though I don't see it that often.

 Anyways the only things I would say about this lore, is perhaps format it a bit better it was tough to read through and I only really read the gist of it. Besides that the lore seems alright, though not quite sure it requires an entity to draw from or to pray to. Though, there are a very limited number of things you can really draw magic from so I suppose it's alright. It doesn't seem like it really would do any harm, though I don't really know if it would catch on enough to make a cult or group who worshiper lirn. Besides that though, I don't really see much issue with it. Just feels odd that it is a religion.

 

 

Edit- I just wanted to know, what exactly does it do and how? It can control bacteria, what exactly are you able to do with that besides spread, or stop disease? Make bread? Iunno.

[EmbryoGod 816]

You can do this with necromancy fyi

They can manipulate the bacteria already in the air? No? Necromancy is the manipulation of aura. It doesn't give you any specific disease, nor do Necromancers focus on bacteria, nor do they worship a Deity to get their magic, and nor do they have the capability of healing anyone.

[excited 10834]

This adds a lot to us Acerbus folks should it be accepted, I'mma +1, however I think it requires a little more expansion on Iiru (it was Iiru, right?) and you could give some more red lines, and charging times for spells. 

[EmbryoGod 816]

This adds a lot to us Acerbus folks should it be accepted, I'mma +1, however I think it requires a little more expansion on Iiru (it was Iiru, right?) and you could give some more red lines, and charging times for spells. 

Iirn* And I don't really know how to define the red lines, and I suppose there could, I just wanted to get this out there quickly before I forgot any of the info

[EmbryoGod 816]

It's possible, though I don't see it that often.

 Anyways the only things I would say about this lore, is perhaps format it a bit better it was tough to read through and I only really read the gist of it. Besides that the lore seems alright, though not quite sure it requires an entity to draw from or to pray to. Though, there are a very limited number of things you can really draw magic from so I suppose it's alright. It doesn't seem like it really would do any harm, though I don't really know if it would catch on enough to make a cult or group who worshiper lirn. Besides that though, I don't really see much issue with it. Just feels odd that it is a religion.

 

 

Edit- I just wanted to know, what exactly does it do and how? It can control bacteria, what exactly are you able to do with that besides spread, or stop disease? Make bread? Iunno.

Bacteria has a surprising amount of uses in baking and food industries, so anything in that, as well as medicine. Pretty much everything you stated

[Hydra 513]

No. How would people even be able to study bacteria we couldn't even see it until the 1600s and it did not have much use until the 90s.

Also this could theoretically be done with conj. because making animals is far more complex than bacteria and necromancy for ill effects like plague rats.

Edit:

4. If you don't pray IC, Iirn's not going to listen to you and you will lose your magical capabilities over time

Remove this, it gets rid of all possible roleplay of rouge priest which would need to be hunted down and unattuned

[Sky 0]

Control of something you physically cannot see, even with the help of an Aengul this seems quite powerful. If you want to make illnesses and such, become a necromancer!

[EmbryoGod 816]

No. How would people even be able to study bacteria we couldn't even see it until the 1600s and it did not have much use until the 90s.

Also this could theoretically be done with conj. because making animals is far more complex than bacteria and necromancy for ill effects like plague rats.

Edit:

4. If you don't pray IC, Iirn's not going to listen to you and you will lose your magical capabilities over time

Remove this, it gets rid of all possible roleplay of rouge priest which would need to be hunted down and unattuned

 

Okay first off, you can't use technology as an argument about lore, it's been argued both ways that we do have the ability to see and understand bacteria and that we also don't. Two, if we're staying true to your argument, you couldn't do it with conjuration, because first off this is modifying things already in the world, we aren't getting anything from the void. And Necromancy's illness is all magical, whereas Pathomancy's is more of a scientific approach. Also they don't just have to use their magic for ill effects. And I'm keeping that there because 1. I never said that you had to continuously be part of religious activities, you could be a powerful Pathomancer and pray in your own time at your home, and 2. it doesn't. You can't just be "unattuned" either. You steadily lose connection with Iirn and become weaker and weaker, if you were a prisoner and shackled you wouldn't even be able to pray anyway.

[EmbryoGod 816]

Control of something you physically cannot see, even with the help of an Aengul this seems quite powerful. If you want to make illnesses and such, become a necromancer!

It isn't physical control, imagine the same principles of telekinesis, but instead of moving the object you're forcing it to do your will. And they don't see objects either, using their connection with Iirn they are capable of sensing certain aspects of nature, meaning they sense the type of bacteria, with guidance of Iirn of course. And that second argument really doesn't hold up. This isn't Necromancy, Necromancy doesn't add the rp benefits of skilled doctors and chefs. This magic isn't just for making disease, I added that there because it wouldn't make sense for someone to have a control over bacteria and not be able to make people ill, it just wouldn't. This magic wasn't posted just for my or any single person or group's benefit either. I wrote this so anyone can enjoy it, so it would help further people's roleplay experience.  

[Sky 0]

I wasn't questioning why you made it. Though, I don't believe this is needed currently.

[Tirenas 677]

How can this even be a thing if we haven't developed the germ theory?

[EmbryoGod 816]

How can this even be a thing if we haven't developed the germ theory?

The same question could go towards healing magic. How can we heal very severe wounds magically without the knowledge on how to solve those wounds? It's all through their deity.