[✓] Anti Magic Re-Write & Additions

[The King Of The Moon 5123]

 

Anti Magic

 

The art of blocking magic in its many forms, be it Voidal, Dark or even Holy. Anti Magic was first founded by the ancient Mali’aheral bloodline: Elibar’acal, whom observed the boons of the chaotic Arcane as the ultimate blaspheme, watching in horror as it did corrupt the ‘perfect’ image granted to their people by the Golden Pools by constricting their flesh and, in the Elibar’acal’s view, forming a dependency that’d shunt the all important progress (Maehr’sae) of the High Elven people like a crutch held by an otherwise able man.

 

Soul Stealing

 

The Elibar’acals sought to stem the perceived ill that afflicted their people with the resurrection of the Weeping Blades’ ideals; they held their condition and ability as the greatest of self sacrifices.  Precisely which member of the family instigated the use of Fi’hiiran’tayna and how is unknown. In modern times, albeit, many know of the magics derivation from dark ritualism: the soul of another must be sundered from its host and brought under their dominion as a weapon ((Requiring the OOC consent of the ritual’s victim to PK)).

The second soul is held under the dominion of the first, kept in tandem as a leal weapon with the capability to expunge mana from an individual and into the void itself. The weaponized energy manifests as a smoke befitting the dominant souls’ aura, then is applied to the target object or entity. The Fi mist matches on and begins to draw from the targets (living or nonliving, enchantments included) mana, and as stated earlier, releasing it into the Void.

The mist itself may (read: potentially) span 10-15 meters from the caster, though it grew increasingly less effective with distance - though as a rule of thumb, it always manages to disable the cast of the opponent if conjuration begins in a narrow span of time. Its gaseous state would also render it able to sink easily through the gaps in armour and fibres of clothing.

There is a great variety of beasts and items effected by this magic is expansive: all that which depends on active mana to function, specifically. When met with a coating of the “Fi” magic, they are initially crippled; further allocation of the magic can quite literally tear them apart at the seams..

As stated, the earliest incarnations of “Fi” magic were simply weaponized to deal with users of the Voidal Arts; with time and epiphanies came the understanding that this too worked against all manners of degenerate creatures, and came into common use as a measure in opposition to the other Dark Arts.



With this art would come serious defects to the practitioner: Having two connections to the Void would quite ironically render the Anti Mage doubly as affected by its energies, leaving them on physical par with a mid-range Necromancer. Their body would be rendered unstable from the unnatural presence of a second soul, seldom leaving them to ever feel fully ‘healthy’ again, organ failure and internal bleeding as well as notably slowed healing being the most apparent of these negative traits.

Mental instability and side effects are also prominent - The second soul, whilst eventually growing submissive to the first, can drive the Fi’hiiran’tayna user insane at first. The voice will eventually dull and grow to be blocked out completely by the Anti Mage as they become more practiced and able to influence it, though they’d still be able to commune with it if they desire to do so.

This submission would not be final, however, as in times of immense strain from the magic’s practice it may re-emerge and torture to the extent of an Illusionist’s abilities, such as hallucinations and the urge of foreign emotion ((Something that can be RP’d by the Anti Mage themself, or, if they will then player of the PK’d character can be creative through PMs)). For this reason compiled with the physical discomforts of Anti Magic, users are always stuck to face the defects of insomnia and ever-present nausea as well.

Soul Stealing Ritual

To enable the unification of the foreign and local souls, the teacher must seek out a place of tranquility for their acts. Focus is required for even the slightest blunder can destroy either of the souls depending on the ritual’s stage. For this the primary Anti Mage, their student-to-be and their sacrifice must all be taken within a close proximity. Whilst both the Elven and Human practitioners have their own views on what is and is not necessary for this ceremony, the essential act is the taking of the sacrifice’s life whilst they are surrounded by the Anti Mage’s mist so that as they die and their soul departs their body, it is blocked by the Anti Mage’s pull on the mana surrounding it and cannot reach the soul stream ((Here OOC consent to PK the character is required)).

He with the grasp must then pull the soul towards himself as he’d siphon mana that’d usually be cast into the void by his own soul and at the last moment divert; Throwing it into the student’s body and ceasing their cast abruptly ((Again, OOC consent is required of the student to have the second soul forever inside of them)) to leave it trapped.

The result would be an internal horror as the pair battle it out for dominance - whilst it is not unheard of for a second soul to dominate the body’s primary host from time to time - the soul in its natural place will nearly always succeed in capturing the new arrival beneath itself. The mana of each fuses together into one collective pool with which the former may use to connect to the Void then and at later dates manipulate the second soul into the peculiar mists that’d pull on mana.

This is a binding that’d persist in the soul stream, even monks being unable to sever the two and with disdain returning fallen Anti Mages with their abilities intact on the event of resurrection.

Magic Blocking Ritual

As mentioned earlier, bold acts of mana blockage can have lasting effects and prevent magic from being used for prolonged amounts of time. In this scenario, however, they can come with more permanence. Akin to the ritual of soul stealing, this act must remain uninterrupted as slips in such can easily bring about the demise of the Anti Mage’s target (Albeit bodily, shifting about their mana unintentionally so that they’d combust rather than killing their soul - not something that can be done in combat).

For this, Fi’hiiran’tayna mist is flooded excessively into a body until completely surrounding their soul to squeezing it shut and stopping it from being able to produce more active mana whilst the active mana that remained is stolen and cast into the void. This is a barrier that will effectively render ALL magic unusable. One may do this with a dense flooding and disable magic use completely for a certain amount of time ((Up to a week forcibly)) or if done expertly leave a mage without their power forever ((Requires OOC consent if longer than a week)) or with a thinner barrier to stunt a mage’s prowess until its decay ((Maximum of two tiers down for all magic T4 or below, tiers repairing at half the time usual learning would be though no longer than a three weeks total.  T5 mages may only be scaled back to T4 which again after three weeks will cease if not fixed sooner)). ((Requires OOC consent if longer than a week. Once given at the initial ritual, OOC consent cannot be retracted))

Pros of Anti Magic:

• Anti Mages are granted the ability to disarm Mages of all fields as one warrior might be able to disarm another warrior of their weapon. If done so in excess, it can disarm a spellcaster for prolonged periods of time. Victims of Fi’hiiran’tayna will also lose the mana required to perform their spells that have been warded to a lesser extent to the Anti Mage, having the subject's mana siphoned away and cast into the Void uncomfortable whilst fatiguing them and when afflicted in excess a Mage may find themselves completely unable to cast for some time, if not drained of mana to a point of unconsciousness. Anti Mages also will require less time than the spell caster to counter (bearing in mind doing so as slowly as an Abjurer’s wards would render this Magic useless).

• Anti Mages may in practice unravel the Active Mana of a less mundane entity (such as Golems, Atronachs or creatures comprised of Ectoplasm), either disabling it completely or outright destroying it. In most cases they may be immobilised with ease whilst outright banishing the creatures will take more time.

• As a rule of thumb, Anti Mages will always be able to disable Mages one tier above them without too much stress. Past T3 this can be extended to effect T5 Magics, however at much further detriment to the Anti Mage. Once the Anti Mage is T5 they may disable magics beneath their tier with absolute ease and will seldom fail to dispel a Mage of equal tier (to a reasonable degree).

• To an extent information can be gained from the stolen soul, though skills and significant intelligence will have decayed too much to be utilised.

• Increased sensitivity to mana in high amounts - Enchantments and Wards in the presence of an Anti Mage will make them feel uncomfortable. When the Anti Mage is casting this effect does not persist as the second soul is put into use and no longer drawing in mana beyond the reach of the mists.

• Mists can span between 10-15 meters from the caster's body dependant on their density, being more effective at close range and less at long range. 

• The Mists can be manipulated and shaped within reason to the Anti Mage's will, though such will seldom provide more than aesthetic benefit as regardless of positioning the Anti Magic shall have the same effect with the exception of how distant it is from the caster or how dense it is. These take minimal effort to spawn and manipulate, the majority of the Anti Mage's suffrage coming from the tug on their own mana when pulling away external active mana from a target.

 

Cons/ Red Lines of Anti Magic:

• Can NOT learn any other magic or have practised any other magic to Fi'hiiran'tayna. The second soul’s role in an ever-consuming state of mana renders it simply impossible.

• Susceptible to Ascended magic as they wield a corrupted soul within them. If significantly harmed they may be rendered unable to cast for up to an IRL day.

• Anti Mages are subject to a physical infirmity that leaves them with the strength of a journeyman necromancer. They are always weakened more significantly than a usual Void Mage.

• The constant state of insomnia and nausea grows more intense as the magic is practiced, causing the focus of the Anti Mage to wane after large feats of dispelling and projectile vomiting to be a consequence of  many practice sessions.

• Sensitivity to mana in high quantities does not grant the Anti Mage the ability to sense a magic user or their powers. This only stops applying if an Anti Mage was to ‘test’ their magic on one using active mana to sustain itself; Should a creature reliant on active mana be enveloped in Fi’hiiran’tayna, the Anti Mage would feel a wane on their own mana and likely realise something was amiss just as a Fire Evocationist would feel a wane on their mana from conjuring flame, however they would not be able to understand the specifics of the creature beyond its magical properties.

• The passive consumption of active mana does not mean they passively dispel it - simply being near a low tier mage does not have any effect on them, nor should anything beyond a significantly powered spell (A call down of lightning, an Olog sized boulder) affect the Anti Mage. Enchantments below half a mana obelisk’s worth of active mana would not be available to them, though that higher might be noticed as one might notice the humidity in a room.

• The mists conjured by Fi’hiiran’tayna bear no physicality beyond what is seen. For example whilst they may potentially blind an opponent if held before their eyes, this opponent will not choke on the smoke or have their eyes irritated by it. In light of this it obviously lacks kinetic force.

• Only one soul can be consumed by an Anti Mage for submission, consuming more souls than necessary will tear the body asunder and require he whom neglected the Red Lines to PK.

• Mists must always keep a direct connection the Anti Mage's body, if this is severed then all mists cease their effect. Should mists be kept far from an Anti Mage's body then they will grow less and less effective.

• Mists must always reflect the aura colour of the caster.

• Whilst no lone Mage's active mana can suffice to overpower an Anti Mage, Archons will prove to be more challenging adversaries and groups of skilled Mages against a singular Anti Mage can eventually subdue the individual if they are not sparing. Anti Magic in essense still costs the user their own Active Mana, which will run out and bear its defects like any other Void Magic.

• No longer can Anti Mage's effect all magical creatures - their sole ability is pulling away or blocking Active Mana. If a creature does not use Active Mana in its being then the mists will no longer effect them.

• Rituals can not be learnt without an adequate Teacher who knows it.

 

 

Soul Splitting

 

 

 

 



Observing the issue of reliance on the traditional system of taking another's life to serve one's own self as a tool against the magical elements of this world, a conflict of interests for which many label dispelling Magi as 'heretics' and 'evil', the common ritual of apprenticeship passed on for aeons by each generation of Elibar'acal and the house's friends has been manipulated and revitalised by the newer, More exotic practitioners beyond Haelun'or. Where once the soul of another was needed to be equipped by a student, an alternative - albeit possibly more sinister method has  been created by more Pious men of Orenia, in which a teacher might instead choose another path for his student to take. Through immense focusing of their evoked mist upon the soul of their student, where once it might've bound two together it'd instead cleave one en twain by forcing Mana into it and pushing it outwards in a separating motion.
 

If this event is successful, the result would be an individual forever scarred - a third of their soul missing from its natural place, taking with it the soul's purity and leaving it susceptible to not only Ascended attack as a normal Anti Mage would, but the damage of all Holy Magic (Xan's mist and Tahariae's flames - essentially that which would usually harm Undead, though less effectively) and even traditional Anti Magic should the practitioner not first dispel their opponent's approaching attack. This is because the missing third of the soul is kept with the body as a shadow of its former self - akin that which a Ghoul might possess - rendering the Anti Mage as partially Undead in such a regard.

 Due to this type of Anti Mage’s outright self mutilation, once able to wield their ability they must rectify their own soul in the same way muscle must break and repair itself to grow. Only by taking on manifestations of energy above the tier of simple spellcasters might they grant their broken souls a chance to grow and heal enough to sustain their own bodily requirements and the powers of Fi’hiiran’tayna, meaning progression in learning is slowed. Whilst this shall grow and heal both the primary and shadow soul to suitable lengths, the latter will still remain corrupt and ‘incomplete’ when compared to a natural source and therefore lead to the magic being inefficient from its dependency on Active Mana to keep it stable. In regards to this where a traditional Anti mage would be capable of spanning their mists further and using them faster, this use of Fi'hiiran'tayna may only stretch 10 meters from the caster as a rule and will siphon away Active Mana a third less quickly than usual Anti Magic.

 This shadow soul may be purposed akin to a stolen soul wielded by a normal user of Fi’hiiran’tayna for its practical use, however the mental defects suffered would be somewhat dissimilar. Instead of experiencing the ailment of another presence forever bound to torment for which they are responsible, prying to disturb their consciousness where necessary, causing severe lucid dreams, hallucinations, extreme nausea and insomnia in this instance similar outcomes would occur however due in fact to the unnerving influence of a lesser version of themselves. The shadow soul maintaining some identity from its prior wholeness and suffering equally to a stolen soul, flung into perpetual agony as it is seemingly manipulated time and time again by what it recognises as itself, continually begging the stronger soul for a unity that may never come and lashing out on the stronger half of the soul in the same way a stolen soul would against the host.

Soul Splitting Ritual

Soul Splitting requires an already practiced Anti Mage (Whom either has their own soul split or possesses a second soul, such does not matter) to find a place of seclusion with his apprentice. Then for this, akin to the disconnection ritual, the individual shall saturate their student’s body with smoke - again grasping the mana pool and enveloping it in its completion, though instead of blocking the soul’s access to the mana pool such would be directioned through the soul, meaning to tear a third of it away ((Here OOC consent is required for the student to be forever corrupted as well as an OOC clause to PK if the ritual is interrupted or fails before its completion )).

Provided this long and delicate procedure is successful, the aspiring Anti Mage would be locked in immense pain and feel their very essence being rendered asunder. Now things grow difficult as the Anti Mage must successfully retract all of his mists from the host’s body to release the mana and allow it to re-bind the shadow soul in service of the former and stabilise the entities, leaving them fused (though not a singular being) as split souls may be.

 From then forth the new Anti Mage’s self shall be split; Mind plagued with a second consciousness that is both their own and external as such is trapped agonisingly in a state of undead abuse from its former self and will act akin to the stolen soul of a traditional Anti Mage, expanding later to bring about the same physical ailments.

Pros of Soul Splitting:

• Anti Mages can now be made without the necessity to PK another character (though it is still an option in which the traditional system remain) and may therefore hopefully become more of an accessible magic for many players.

• Opportunity for Anti Magic to grow more widespread due to it being less RPly frowned upon (my intention being to keep the details of this ritual hidden ICly as well as I can).

• Similar ability as normal Anti Mages minus that which involves a second soul.

• Physically on par with a Void Mage due to the lack of a second soul damaging their body in the same way, making them bodily stronger than traditional Anti Mages.

 

Cons of Soul Splitting:

• Same Cons/ Red Lines as normal Anti Mages minus that which involves a second soul.

• These Anti Mages are subject to a physical infirmity that leaves them with the strength of an expert Void Mage.

• Drainage of active mana will function 1/3 slower than a traditional Anti Mage due to their shadow soul's innefficiency and fragility regarding active mana to sustain itself. The maximum reach of the mists is reduced to 10 meters from the caster. (Essentially meaning a split soul Anti Mage can only achieve T4 in the magic compared to the traditional users.

• Masses of active mana must be targeted by the Anti Mage whilst in the first/second tier. To progress to tier three the broken soul must be amended by the consumption of these manifestations of magic, and as such more time is taken for a Split Soul to be utilised as a Stolen Soul - making learning slower.

• Susceptible to ALL Holy Magic as Ascended Magic would effect a traditional Anti Mage, which grows cripplingly painful and can eventually kill the individual. It’d also render them unable to cast for an IRL day if harmed enough. Alongside this Fi'hiiran'tayna can yield the same results if used against this form of Anti Mage, for their damaged souls are bound in active mana for stability unlike any other creature's.

• The Anti Mage's soul can NOT be repaired or re-purposed (EG in a Phylactery or Golem Core) once it is damaged and if revived by Monks, the Shadow soul will not function to its proper capacity until after an IRL hour.

• Soul Splitting Ritual can not be learnt without an adequate Teacher who knows it.

 

 

*

 

The purpose for the re-write

Whilst observing the reviews on my addition and even when writing it before posting initially it came to my attention that there were very few Anti Mages around to clarify Lore (Myself being dependant upon AerialKebab and SupremacyOps’ responses to questions) though still a requirement for such due to there being no up-to-date posts containing all the necessary details about the magic for those practicing or becoming victim to it. With some prompting from members of the LT, I decided to take it upon myself to write this up in the scope of modernisation as what DID exist prior was not applicable to newer Lore additions.

If anyone needs anything clarified then please comment so below. I also felt as though the old system with which the Magic was split into two subtypes (Fi'hiiran'seth and Fi'hiiran'acaele to block Void Magic and Everything Else Magic) was unnecessary as they both worked so similarly and it would be more simple for them to be combined into one Magic with the functions of both.

The purpose for the 'soul splitting' addition

The traditional system (Everything above the title ‘Soul Splitting’ is a re-written part of the original Anti Magic lore) works with the original Anti Magic system and is implemented for the following reasons. It is no secret that presently Anti Mages are scarce and this, I believe, is due to both the IC stigma given to Anti Mages for having stolen a target's soul, making them generally unwanted by most populations as demonstrated with the contravention Golden Owl as well as the OOC stress of trying to obtain the magic when many players with the potential to serve as a sacrifice for Anti Mage's learning simply do not wish to grant OOC consent to permanently killing their character, understandably so. It is these issues that have lead me to try and rectify the inactive state of this magic with the following suggested lore. This magic’s take on consuming magical creatures to at first sustain itself is also a deviation from older Anti Magic lore written by SupremacyOps, in which Ghosts had to be consumed to sustain Fi’hiiran’tayna without the need for PKing another, though this addition brings with it what I would argue to be better balancing mechanics regarding its weaknesses to Holy Magic - it also merges in some elements from SupremacyOps' 'Tempered Fi' lore in which the users wielded slightly less powerful Anti Magic in exchange for a better physique. With the re-write's confirmation that only Active Mana an be effected by 'Fi', it has stripped practitioners of their most common use against many Magical Creatures, deeming the ability to use weapons and armour to the same degree as a normal Void Mage (whom also has their own arsenal of offensive and defensive magics that Anti Mages lack) necessary.

I’d like to give credit to:

Mephistophelian and KnghtArtorias for prompting me to make this re-write and helping me out with Lore on which i was uncertain,

SupremacyOps for coming up with the original Fi’hiiran’tayna Lore from which much of this work is derived

And Amduscias for helping me out with grammar issues.

 

List of LM approved affects on creatures, to be updated if required:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rhnQ_G2yRMSNxmDxuM6i2q7LTutX6boQ3oWSmygXVyw/edit

 

Thanks for reading!

*

[Ambduscias 1027]

A vote for this lore is a vote for Nephilim.

 

edit: spell my name right

[GDPR 014 23]

GOD BLESS.

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

Meh. On one hand, I'd rather see Fi' perish and replaced with an actually interesting and not one-sided anti-magic, but I suppose if you're able to make Fi' actually active and more than just a small clique, I wouldn't mind giving this a chance. +1

[Wendigo 786]

I like the rewrite and completely agree there needs to be a new one, glad you took up the challenge. I have two qualms however that you may be able to clarify for me a little bit. Magic Blocking Ritual, you state that it voidal arts can be blocked up to a week for a voidal mage forcibly. Okay no problem there, but then you go on to mention later in the lore Fi's sensitivity to Ascended and if damaged it'd take only one IRL day. Perhaps considering that an Ascended would be messing with the other soul it'd take more then just one day for it to rejuvenate. I think there should be a little more balance there personally. My other qualm was being able to 'sense something amiss' when using it against dark arts creatures, I can feel the meta already. Other then that the lore ACTUALLY makes sense now lol. 

[The King Of The Moon 5123]

Just now, Wendigo said:

I like the rewrite and completely agree there needs to be a new one, glad you took up the challenge. I have two qualms however that you may be able to clarify for me a little bit. Magic Blocking Ritual, you state that it voidal arts can be blocked up to a week for a voidal mage forcibly. Okay no problem there, but then you go on to mention later in the lore Fi's sensitivity to Ascended and if damaged it'd take only one IRL day. Perhaps considering that an Ascended would be messing with the other soul it'd take more then just one day for it to rejuvenate. I think there should be a little more balance there personally. My other qualm was being able to 'sense something amiss' when using it against dark arts creatures, I can feel the meta already. Other then that the lore ACTUALLY makes sense now lol. 

The former qualm I'd address with the lore fact that Ascended magic would outright kill an Anti Mage if used anywhere beyond its day-long disability, since the Anti Magic ritual would require a massive excess of casting and significantly more time than an RP fight. As for the second issue, it's something Anti Mages can already do as it can disable dark arts creatures already - the Anti Mage has to feel a tug on their own mana when disabling that of another creature.

[Corvoo 562]

Has my full support.

[The King Of The Moon 5123]

Update!

To calm fears brought to me about Anti Magic trumping Holy Mage's abilities to fight Dark Magic creatures, I fear I didn't outline clearly enough in the original post but I'd like to affirm that Anti Magic will disable most dark creatures (whom are disabled by having their active mana pulled away) at a decent speed, though won't fully kill them without a decent amount of time. This contrasts Holy Magic in the sense that they can outright kill these creatures at speed and don't need to linger around to finish the job. Also it should be noted that Anti Magic's purpose is to pull available active mana away; If mana is not being used in fueling a spell or helping a creature's outer function (passive) then Anti Magic cannot have an effect.

[The King Of The Moon 5123]

Update #2!

 

A multitude of things in the post have been/ are being edited so a lot of feedback comments may not make sense to some readers as they've been taken on board and applied! :D

[Mephistophelian 972]

After taking much verbal abuse and cruelty from Yours Truly, Valmir has somehow remained calm and made changes that make this pretty damn fitting to current lore. I support this rewrite and enjoy the very original take on the splitting of souls process. I wish you all the best in reviving this magic if this lore is passed, Val!

[GDPR 014 23]

Just now, Mephistophelian said:

After taking much verbal abuse and cruelty from Yours Truly, Valmir has somehow remained calm and made changes that make this pretty damn fitting to current lore. I support this rewrite and enjoy the very original take on the splitting of souls process. I wish you all the best in reviving this magic if this lore is passed, Val!

 

God bless

[garentoft 8353]

I support this.

[Will (TauFirewarrior) 2465]

A vote for this rewrite is a vote for Pablo Escobar. +1

[GDPR 014 23]

Under review.

[GDPR 014 23]

Accepted.