[Magic Lore] Mysticism Addition 2

[Zarsies 6027]

Coming after this addition.

 

This has been moved to the Outdated Lore archive to be efficient and save space. The Original lore has had the Additions edited in:

 

 

This second addition to Mysticism comes as the end results to experiments ran by the architect of spirits, Barrowlord Kozilek; each of these new liturgies must be discovered under proper means by Kozilek and the Synod and won’t be implemented until the proper discovery roleplay commences. All additions are documented within the Grimoire of Phantoms.

 

Hexing - spiritual cursing.

 

 

Spoiler

A weary dreamscape. An accursed fool’s paradise. This is the land of the deadrealm; the Soul Stream, Ebrietæs. Distorted, dead, and dreary are the souls lost outside of the Relative Center in the warped and shaken plains, crags, swamps, and ruin of the afterlife; the despair of limbo is all that lies beyond the paths guided by Aeriel beyond all but one other: home. Dubbed polygeists, the name encompasses any spirit within Ebrietæs that finds home outside the Relative Center and thus any spirit that lingers in the Soul Stream’s rather than move into the hub and find their sought comfort. For polygeists, their home is nothing but a cage; the very presence of being within the Soul Stream and outside the Relative Center spells for uncontrollable, constant, and acute emotions of sorrow, longing, heartache, despair, and anguish. It is thus that the residents of the realm may, if given the chance, seek to flee at any cost. Through unknown machinations do some souls return, returning to the mortal realm as Ghosts or Gravens, others being intentionally abducted from the Soul Stream by necrotic means of revival or by the intrusion of deities. However, some souls find themselves unable to manifest as phantoms and no mortal  souls nor immortals on the living side or otherwise seem to care to return these forlorn and forgotten memories, adrift in their own doom instead.

 

That is, until now. Through a ritual theorized originally by the Synod in its ancient days, mystics are able to call out into Ebrietæs and lure out lost souls should they be away from the Relative Center. In the form of a seance, mystics may open holes into the Soul Stream and tease out any wandering soul, intentionally looking for a specific individual or not -- that isn’t to say that the polygeist which presents itself is the one which was sought, but the likelihood of finding the soul desired is greater than that of a liar.

 

The use of this lure is to draw the envy and lust of the polygeist contacted; in their world of misery and condemnation, they seek relief. For a polygeist, the only way they may find comfort is by temporarily discharging their hateful suffering onto that which does not possess their curse, meaning the living. Mystics, through the seance, may task a polygeist to haunt a given object. This item then becomes linked to the Soul Stream by a similar relocation process present in Binding where the polygeist is anchored into the object but is unable to leave Ebrietæs, remaining stuck yet connected.

 

Referred to as a hex, objects haunted by polygeists may manifest a host of many different traits. Similarities between all hexes is that the polygeist haunting the object will attempt to inflict some form of negative effects upon any entity that touches the object depending on the attitude of the spirit as some spirits prefer to wait and surprise their victims. The use of these effects soothes the spirit because they displace their own torment onto another, temporarily stripping them of their pain and bringing a high-like sense of pleasure. Polygeists also garner the same pleasure and sense of fulfillment when negative effects are brought onto others by their influence, not just upon the first and immediate person to encounter a hexed object. These spirits, for the most part, are very malicious. They, however, blind to fellow soul shadows and disregard the tampering of other dead for their lust for calming may only be derived from those capable of feeling their own soothing or happiness -- the living.

 

While inflicting powers similar to Ghosts in regards to their outer effects, polygeists also instill physical powers akin to Gravens. Hexed objects are resilient to physical blows as Gravens are and, in turn, are all harmed in far greater scales by gold or enchanted weaponry as well as alteration, shamanism, holy magic, and Fi’ magic. The most powerful of Hexes, those which require a larger sum of kills to be created, are immune to any physical harm and only equally powerful holy magic may purge the Hex and its haunting, ravenous polygeist.

 

The names of polygeists -- fettergeists, grievegeists, ragegeists, etc. -- are insubstantial names that summarize the aspect or theme to that given geist. A stormgeist is characterized as a turbulent, rumbling, and riled spirit whilst a gloomgeist is a somber, dull, and clouded spirit. There are no limits on the names as they are generally insignificant; the only name that is important is the single one which unifies all of these phantoms, that being “polygeist”. There is no single spirit that is a polygeist, rather some form of geist. Poly- is a root used to describe their numerous nature. Their leading core -- the word that summarizes them and gives them their name -- is akin to a flavor; their functions are all similar, if not the same.

 

[[Hexing is about cursing objects that will attempt to bring about a desired effect or shall protect itself; this acts as an alternative to enchanting for the Dark Arts that is fitting to the mysticism theme because it is naturally defensive and, more importantly, an aspect of RP that is not used enough. Any hexes that step outside the realm of power that a Ghost or Graven may perform must be reviewed by the lore keeper for if it is possible and what form of cost it should take. While a normal Hexing requires only 1 kill, stonger Hexes could require more and more kills in order to balance their potential. Some examples of Hexes could be:

 

-a crown haunted by a fettergeist may weave dark, malicious thoughts into its wearer and try to twist their mind down painful paths like a poison or ailment. It may drive them to hurt others or themselves. The longer it is worn, the greater the influence of the fettergeist.

-a mirror haunted by a grievegeist may warp the viewer’s appearance to inspire negative emotions while trying to lay the view into a trance. An entranced victim lives out a daydream of any sort where they are physically stuck in place until something else awakens them or until they fight their way out of the mental hold. The longer a person looks into the mirror, the greater the influence of the grievegeist.

-a ring haunted by a ragegeist may, if worn, inspire its wearer with irritability, aggression, or even stupors of fury or blind rage if worn long enough. The longer the ring is worn, the greater the influence of the ragegeist.]]

 

 

Eidola - knight-errants.

 

 

Spoiler

Revival. Resurrection. Reawakening. The rousing of slumbering souls is defined as a foul act by many, yet it comes as a comfort to some; death is a darkness like no other, numbing and taking greater than any other, yet it is often the one returned that may feel a savored respite from its gag. Here do ediola rise, awakened from their black slumberings for servitude in unlife.

 

The creation of an eidolon is performed through a very precise ritual, requiring multiple reagents in order to be done successfully. Firstly, a Menhir must be erected within a chamber that will be used to create the form of the eidolon. Secondly, both a Wight and a mystic must be present who will each perform a given liturgy in their arsenals for a given effect. Lastly, another being must be present who may offer up their life in exchange for the retrieval of a soul -- this can be the person that will be made into the eidolon or it may not and the intended person that is to be converted is already dead. In order for the ritual to work, the process must strictly follow this order lest it fall apart and bring about no effect beyond wasting time.

 

The mystic mentioned before must envelop the Wight, their intended kill, and the Menhir in deadbreath through the appropriate liturgy. Because of its required size, the mystic must be of sufficient practice (tier) in order to produce enough deadbreath (tier 3 or 4 is enough). Once clouded, the Wight must then also produce their own batch of deadbreath. This amply saturates the area with an additional, excessive addition of ectoplasm and marks their identity alongside the other mystic to the to-be ushered eidolon. By the initial casting of deadbreath, the mystic has established a base for the Wight to then cement the area; this order cannot be switched or ignored, for the ritual functions off the two-tiered bubble of deadbreath where the initial haze creates a phantom-friendly atmosphere and the secondary wave locks the soul in so that when it attempts to leave due to lack of an anchor it is caught. Once the core of deadbreath by the first mystic is shelled by the Wight’s, the Wight must then use Saturation to kill the given sacrifice and then promptly use Saturation again to stab the corpse of the person they wish to revive if they are not the first sacrifice. In the case of there being a sacrifice and a corpse whose soul is to be returned, the use of Saturation kills the living and opens a very short window for the other dead to return through, drawn by the large amount of secreted ectoplasm. The soul then enters the deadbreath cloud. Should the sacrifice be the person to be risen, the soul instead simply lingers instead of passing. Whilst inside, the mystic must then perform the Binding rite upon the Menhir. This, when encompassed in deadbreath as originally intended, brings the soul of the to-be awakened into the Menhir. Due to the excessive amount of ectoplasm present between the 2 or 3 liturgies of the Wight, 2 liturgies of the mystic, and the established Menhir all congeal. In a very vivid and lucid display, all of the deadbreath present siphons into the Menhir once the soul is within it and both the obelisk and the open ectoplasm is compiled together to create an anchor for the eidolon. After convergence, the Menhir will violently rip from the ground, suspend itself in the air, and promptly contort and shudder to compress itself into the shape of a suit of armor. The armor is designed by the souls personal identity and subconscious, meaning the eidolon’s player chooses how it appears, and after a substantial amount of Gleaming the process ends.

 

After the deadbreath, Saturation, Binding, and waiting, the eidolon emerges. The ectoplasm expended has since been drawn into their new form, giving the stone a metal-like hardness and a lively, churning texture of the eidolon’s will to exist. Alongside their form, an eidolon is simultaneously born alongside a weapon befitting themselves out of the Menhir’s very dense material. They are hence bound by the deadbreath’s identity which caught them, meaning their allegiance lies with Wight just as a mystic’s lordship is heeded by phantoms they create in the exact same principle. Birthing is a disturbing experience for eidola and they are likely to come fairly confused: being roused from the sleep of death is a very perplexing experience.

 

The ritualistic process of creating an eidolon can be interrupted by any mistakes made by its mystical users or the interjection of any sort; the process will only work if the system goes safely and without tampering. An air evocationist could gust away the deadbreath and thus ruin the ritual, as could a holy magic user. Any usual Descendant could assault either the Wight or mystic, thus disrupting their focus and ruining the ritual as well. It is a very delicate course that cannot be disturbed lest it fall apart.

 

Visually, eidola are suits of armor. They can will their passive lighting on or off, where their inner cores Gleam as mystics do or to whatever extent they wish. If not used and not Gleaming an eidolon appears to be a statue of empty armor comprised of hard stone alongside a weapon that compliments their personality. They are capable of speech, sounding like a voice in a cavern; their voice resonates within their armor and leaks out through its gaps, given a very broken up and distorted tone. Eidola are completely sentient and as intelligent as they were in life, although their mental disorder and usual undead traits may alter their behavior. Eidola are locked into servitude to their creating Wight where any commands given by the Wight are irresistible; relationships between Wights and their eidola can be very abusive if this law is used frequently, but it is not required if handled delicately where the eidolon has a choice. Just as any phantom, they are vulnerable to alteration, shamanistic spirits, Fi’ magic, and holy magic as well as gold or enchanted weaponry. While decapitation or limb loss means little to an eidolon, complete dismemberment by any means, draining of their mana through Fi’ or alteration, exceptional damage to their armor, or being stabbed with gold or enchanted weaponry many times will result in the slaying of an eidolon. In death, every bit which comprised the eidolon will all draw inward and force together to the point of collapse before converting to wispy, cloudy strings of deadbreath. When they are killed and convert to small wisps of fog, they wash away through the air and leave no remains of their natural form. They then revive back at the leftover Menhir they were firstly born from unless their controlling Wight relocates their anchor through Binding.

 

[[Eidola are the spectral cousins to the elusive race of Dreadknights, vigilant Ents, and hushed Golems. They relate through form but are otherwise unique to themselves. They are make from PKed characters and require a magic application to be played. An eidolon is a large, armored knight of great strength and physical prowess who serve the Wight which created them in return for their revival and newfound state of undeath. They are slow, heavy, durable, and relentless; although they are bound to a specially made suit of armor, they have immense persistence and may endure extensive damage before finally being vanquished. Eidola have personalities as they had in life and are just as personal as any other character. They do, however, suffer from a mental disorder of their choosing to varying severity alongside the usual weakness that comes with being undead: alteration, shamanism, Fi’ magic, holy magic, and weaponry of gold or enchanted make may all make efficient work of them while other armaments or magic gives far lesser impact. An eidolon may survive instances of gold stabs, purging holy light, or other such banes but only in lesser amounts as their makers do -- multiple cuts or more than short hits with those magics will bring an eidolon close if not to death. Eidola were sought to be created in the shadow of Dreadknight removal but does not seek to take their place whatsoever; they were already thought of when Constructs became organized. Eidola do not supplant Dreadknights and in no way stop their return.]]

[Trips 344]

yes zarsies

[DISCOLIQUID 1963]

Excellent writing as always, Zarsies. 

[ShameJax 1391]

I like it.

[Swgrclan 2633]

Two most excellent proposals. I trust you will prevent the Eidola from succumbing to the accursed inactivity that blighted Dreadknightica.

[𝙻𝚞𝚟 XO 3066]

I luv it.

[Zarsies 6027]

7 minutes ago, Swgrclan said:

Two most excellent proposals. I trust you will prevent the Eidola from succumbing to the accursed inactivity that blighted Dreadknightica.

 

I shall indeed. If things turn out that way however, they'll play a role in story and their removal will be justified.

[TeaLulu 1783]

neato

[Gone 868]

Accidentally read Eidola as Ebola

[Gladuos 857]

A very good read. Well written. I'm enjoying the trend of command-able minions lately.

[Ford 1990]

boy yes

[Wretched 2038]

Under review.

[Wretched 2038]

Lore accepted

 

Moved to implemented lore.