Ilikefooddude

Phenomenal jobs, guys! It's fantastic concept that you've explored really well through the piece, and I think it'll augment Spiritual Roleplay more so than any lore has in a long time! Good luck, and +1 <3

Farseer Shamanism

Index
1. What’s Changed?
2. Definitions
3. Magic Explanation
4. Abilities and Spells
5. Farseer Tier Overview

yo, bro is it safe down there in the woods? (Toblin, Deviantart)

1. What’s Changed? 

Farseers progress as they level up
- At higher tiers, Farseers become more powerful. Roleplay is much more about the journey than it is the destination, so instead of keeping a Farseer’s capabilities static, they progress at each tier to become more capable than they were previously. Reaching the next tier gives you a little more kick, but also a little more flexibility through the use of Undercasting.

Farseers can Undercast
- Rather than surpassing and forgetting each step of your journey as you reach the next, Undercasting allows a Shaman to use what they learnt at previous tiers to make their magic more flexible. With Undercasting a Farseer can cast lower-tier blessings on a higher amount of creatures. For example, a T4 Shaman is capable of some pretty powerful stuff. But they can lessen the power of their magic to a T3 level to spread their blessing over a greater amount of creatures or a larger area of land. With Undercasting, we keep the main focus of the Shaman (and their progression) on an individual, one-on-one level, while also allowing acts of group support and magical flexibility, letting the Shaman make lighter touches where a heavy-handed approach would be a bit much.

Blessings have tailored Durations
- Not only are the durations of the Blessings tailored to the individual spell, but there are also three separate time durations (Real-life time, Narrative time, and Roleplay emotes) that are, for most spells, interchangeable depending on the situation. The choice is up to the Shaman or an overseeing ST.

Farseers don’t have spells for every single Spirit
- The beauty of Shamanism is that it’s a Community magic. At its core, it brings people together to collaboratively tell a story (through a spirit walk) or change one (through a blessing) in ways that, otherwise, seem totally out of reach. But not all of the community wrote this magic. If we want our magic to meaningfully impact roleplay it would be fitting if our roleplay could impact our magic. For that reason, there are gaps in the spells that have been written, because Farseers can write their own blessings.

Farseers can make their own blessings.
- Through the use of an MART application a Farseer can propose (Through review by the ST) a new Blessing to be added to the Spirit Blessing list. If it’s reviewed and gets accepted it’ll be added to the Farseer Blessings List and can be used by everyone. Making an MART is an homage to Shamanism and the stories it can create and should be representative of some Spiritual roleplay that took your story in a direction you wish you could share with others.

Farseers have permanent emotional blessings
- Storytelling is a huge theme for Farseers but the mechanics of the previous lore didn’t seem to facilitate this enough; although blessings could affect people short-term there were very few mechanics that allowed a Farseer to make permanent changes. At T5, several emotional blessings can impart within a person a permanent but non-compulsory catalyst for change. A usually unhappy, guilty person may feel (gently) their thoughts pushed towards more pleasant places or may have their outlook on life set to a more hopeful one. Cowardly beings may feel the first blossoms of bravery within their souls, urging them to act to protect, serve or unite. This can not be forced, OOC'ly or IC'ly in any capacity, and even after being cast can not be enforced by a Farseer (Or an ST) upon a person. These blessings act as catalysts for roleplay and change, shaping a story in different ways should both the character/player want it, but are not certain how to get it. If a character has gone down a dark path, and truly wants to change, this is the sort of blessing that can offer that.

Some little stuff
- Tattoos have been fleshed out, individual Blessings are more varied and different effects for different soul types are outlined in several Blessings.

No true Sun, Moon or stars circle the Spirit Realm and no Gods oversee its colour schemes. Pure Chaos.

2. Definitions

Superior Souls (Descendants, etc.):
Descendants and other mortal creatures have Superior Souls. As a part of this there is a Soul Blueprint (like a mould) that dictates precisely what a being and its soul is. A Soul Blueprint makes a creatures’ soul both rigid and elastic; reluctant to change and eager to snap back to its intended form. Creatures with Superior Souls are the hardest to bless.

Lesser Souls:
Most animals, branching from beasts such as Scaddernaks to creatures like rats, have Lesser Souls. Creatures with Lesser Souls are capable of rational thought and have souls more rigid than insects and plants, but are much easier to bless than Descendants.

Inferior Souls:
Insects, creepy-crawlies and simple fish all have Inferior Souls. These creatures act on little more than base instinct and hold the second-weakest form of souls. This means a Farseer can bless more Inferior Soul’d creatures than both Descendants and Lesser-Soul’d animals.

Soul Essence:
Holding the weakest forms of souls, plants and the soul essence they contain can be blessed so easily that a Farseer often casts upon areas of them rather than individuals. 

3. Magic Explanation 

Farseer Shamanism is, exclusively, a support-based magic that sees a character play as a diplomat and intermediary between the Spirits and the people of the Mortal Plane, often acting (unofficially) to correct imbalances that arise across the Spiritual and Mortal realms. Because of their duties Farseers frequently Planewalk between these realms and build up rapport with the Spirits they supervise, gaining, in return, the ability to protect and heal the bodies and emotions of people and creatures in need.
Farseers have three main capabilities:

a) Planewalking, their skill to travel between the Mortal, Immortal and Elemental Planes by extending their consciousness from their bodies;

b) Farseeing, which is the act of receiving and interpreting visions from their travels in the Spiritual Planes; and

c) Blessing, which involves using a Spirit’s power to change the strength of certain emotions or aspects within a person, creature, or area of plants.

With these abilities Farseers strive, above all, to impart peace and balance upon both the Mortal and Immortal and Elemental Planes, easing political tensions and solving squabbles between Spirits, Mortals, and the natural world as a whole.

Farseers are adept travellers, but they’re much more adept at making friends.
Equira: Bahresk (Narsilion, Deviantart)

4. Abilities and Spells
Click titles for links

Farsight and Vision Infliction:
Using their knowledge as Planewalkers, Farseers earn several skills and abilities as they grow more experienced. On their journeys they can receive prophetic or historic visions of events and cataclysms. Alternatively, should the fancy take them, a Farseer may also impart visions they construct themselves onto other descendants.

Planewalking and Spirit Walks
Farseers can slip between worlds Mortal and Spiritual, casting their consciousness from their body and leaving only a small anchor of mana by which to find their way home. 

Tattoos:
Very few of a Farseer’s abilities are permanent; Spiritual Tattoos are one of these exceptions. Weaving spiritual power into a descendant’s skin a Farseer can create dynamic vistas that dance and shimmer when in the presence of certain emotions or environments.

Blessing Mechanics:
As the caretakers of both this plane and the Spiritual ones, Farseers can utilise Blessings to help their allies, heal those needed and bolster the skills and capabilities of those on the side of the Spirits. Blessings are temporary alterations of a creature or plant’s soul that empowers their body or controls their emotions as a Farseer sees fit.

Blessing List:
As the magic and community grows and changes, the Blessings that Farseers are capable of will expand beyond what’s currently written. When a Farseer’s proposition for a new spell (Through the MART system) is accepted the new spell will be added to the Farseer Blessing List.

Shaman (kuteynikovroman, Deviantart)

5. Farseer Tier Overview

Tier One (Two Weeks):

Tier Two (+Four Weeks):

Tier Three (+Six Weeks):

Tier Four (+Eight Weeks):

Tier Five (Takes 20 weeks to reach):

Farseer Blessing List
This lore acts as a companion piece to the Farseer Rework (LINK)

Several Blessings found below do not strictly follow the mechanics outlined in the “Tier Strength Table”. These have been marked with a
*
and should be read over carefully. Although this table was created to simplify blessings, in cases such as Healing and Enchanting-focused blessings more care had to be taken to provide mechanics that were fair, balanced, and reasonable when scaled. If you have any questions or concerns about these Blessings don’t be afraid to contact your friendly neighbourhood Shaman ST.

NB: When the Duration of a Blessing is outlined as a certain amount of ‘Days’, this represents ‘Real-Life’ days, which are 24 hours long starting at the moment the Blessing is completed.

Blessing of Enrohk: Empowerment
Spirit of Bloodlust, Savagery, War
Emotional Blessing
 

*Blessing of Kotrestruu: Empowerment/Enchanting
Spirit of Memory and the Recording of Knowledge
Physical Blessing
 

Blessing of Vulka: Empowerment
Spirit of Warfare, strategy, and siegecraft
Emotional Blessing
 

Blessing of Jevex: Empowerment
Spirit of Order, Hard Work, and Self-Sacrifice
Physical/Emotional Blessings
 

Shezept: Empowerment
Spirit of Revenge, Plots, and Stealth
Physical Blessing
 

*Blessing of Ogrol: Empowerment.
Physical Blessing
Spirit of Despair, sapped strength, and Entrapment
 

Blessing of Arwa: Empowerment
Spirit of Fertility, Harvest and Farming
Physical Blessing
 

*Blessing of Akezo: Healing/Empowerment
Spirit of healing, health and vitality
Physical/Emotional Blessing
 

Blessing of Freygoth: Empowerment
Spirit of the Wilds, Nature and Animals
Emotional Blessing
 

*Blessing of Ghorza: Empowerment
Physical/Emotional Blessing
Spirit of Travel, movement, and fortune both good and bad
 

Blessing of Kezt: Empowerment
Emotional Blessings
Spirit of honour and bravery
 

Blessing of Thulezia: Empowerment/Illusion

Physical BlessingSpirit of Lust, Pleasure and Beauty
 

Blessing of Isuz: Empowerment
Emotional Blessing
Spirit of love, caring, and tranquillity
 

Blessing of Leyd: Empowerment
Physical Blessing
Spirit of dominance and physical strength
 

Farseer Blessings
This lore acts as a companion piece to the Farseer Rework (LINK)

Blessings: Empowerment, Rituals

Planewalking, and the abilities that stem from it, are merely means to an end for the enigmatic Farseers of this realm. Although conniving, cajoling and consoling Immortal Spirits take up the brunt of a Farseer’s duties and much more than the brunt of their free time it has often been said that actions are more powerful than words. And so, when Farseers choose to get off their asses and do something about the way of the world (Spiritual or otherwise), they do so through the use of blessings.

Index:
1. Roleplay Description: What can I do? 
2. Roleplay Mechanics: How do I do it?
3. How much stuff can I bless?
3. Blessing Strengths: How much stronger am I at different tiers?
4. Undercasting: What is it and how does it work?
 

Blessings are a lot easier when you have some peace and quiet.
Solitude (Huussii, Deviatart)

1. Roleplay Description
Blessings are temporary alterations or augmentations put upon any being with a soul or soul essence by a Farseer. They are exclusively unharmful and involve the positive manipulation of a particular Immortal Spirit’s aspect (Or aspects) within a mortal being. One could bless an Uruk with strength-of-muscles through Leyd, a Halfling with honour and daring in battle through Kezt, or even a field of ungrown wheat with fertility through Arwa.

There are three steps a Farseer must undergo to bless a creature or a plant.
a) Connecting to the Spiritual Realm.
b) Calling upon the Spirit they desire, and asking for a deal.
c) Channelling the Spirit’s power and imparting the blessing.

2. Roleplay Mechanics:
a) Connecting to the Spiritual Realm
Minimum Two Emotes
This part is identical to Planewalking, so it won’t be touched upon much here, however it mechanically involves the temporary Relegation of their soul to a particular Spiritual Plane. This cannot be done while a Farseer is participating in active combat, and requires a steady mind and a seated position to perform, as well as, occasionally, a heap of drugs, some musical instruments, and smatterings of Old Blah. Connecting to the Spiritual Realm will take a minimum of two emotes, both of which must contain Old Blah and the use of a Shaman’s tools.
At tier Five, the use of tools (including drugs) is no longer required, as a Farseer becomes capable of travelling to the Spiritual Planes at greater ease than before. Tools are suggested for aesthetic reasons, though.

b) Calling upon a Spirit
Minimum One Emote
This is where a Farseer actually chooses what sort of Blessing they wish to impart, and it requires them to call out into the Spiritual aether for whichever Spirit represents the aspect they want to alter. This step of the blessing takes a minimum of one emote focused on heralding and praising a particular spirit and their aspect in Old Blah.

c) Channelling Spiritual Power
Minimum Two Emotes
The final part of a blessing is channelling the power granted from this temporary pact to a Spirit. This can be done through a variety of aesthetic ways, but it requires a minimum of two emotes independent of the Farseer’s tier.
When a Farseer wishes to cast a Blessing, mana is expended to create a bridge between the Farseer and their chosen Spirit. With the Farseer’s physical form and a Spirit’s power over an aspect, spiritual energy is funneled into a being’s soul, strengthening, weakening or realigning certain aspects or emotions as the Farseer sees fit. Thus, through this process a Farseer can bend the abstract concepts within a creature or a plant to their will.

To those looking on, the great amount of Mana a Farseer expends will, at first, appear to be on nothing much at all. They’ll be surrounded by a substantial amount of swirling aura that hangs in the air, poised and waiting for a Shaman’s direction. Once a spell is cast, it snaps into action. The aura itself can be used as an (ooc’ly necessary) physical tell for how the magic is acting (Although the process is truly invisible), either sticking to a creature, absorbing into their skin, surrounding them, being pushed aside by a seemingly ethereal hand, etc. etc. It is up to the Farseer to add their own flair to this part of the magic, attaching personality and aesthetic to their roleplay as they see fit. It should be noted that although blessings themselves might not be harmful the processes by which they’re imparted can be, and having skin or muscles ache or flashes of visions plague the receiver of a blessing is advised and encouraged. A Blessing might also have specific downsides that are compulsory to roleplay, which will be laid out in the Farseer Blessing List.

More Roleplay Mechanics:
- Part A conforms to all of the redlines of Planewalk connection, and is essentially the same.
- A Blessing is just that: A Blessing. It is never Directly harmful and always imparts a positive boon onto whomever receives it.
- The maximum number of people/creatures/plants a Farseer can Bless is only a maximum: They can cast upon less than this number at will with no change to their Blessing’s effects.
- A Farseer can’t participate in battle when performing a blessing, but can attempt to cast her magic while a fight is taking place. They cannot move, direct their attention away or defend themselves without the ritual being ruined.
- The Farseer has to have met the Spirit they’re calling upon before using them in a blessing. Roleplay in the earlier tiers will be directed to understanding and interacting with individual Immortal Spirits and their aspects.
- The agreement a Farseer forms with a Spirit should be beneficial to that Spirit in some way. For example, a blessing might be made to bolster the potential for healing within a person, and will thus increase Akezo’s power from its prevalence in the Mortal Planes. If it isn’t directly beneficial in this way, a Shaman should be considered in their debt and can’t perform one of these blessings again until an actually beneficial blessing is made. Alternatively, a Farseer can worship that spirit for a while, erect shrines, spread the word of the will, or even bring balance through Witchdoctory.

The Costs of a Blessing
- The agreement a Farseer forms with a Spirit should, as a rule of thumb, be beneficial to that Spirit in some way. Immortal Spirits grow stronger with the spread of their aspects, through the worship of their name or the vanquishing of obstacles in their twisted political paths.
With that in mind, how can you perform a Blessing when it might not be directly in the Spirit’s Favor?
- Erect or give sacrifice to a shrine or place of worship of the Spirit in question.
- Take up a Spiritual Tattoo!
-


Red Lines:
- Unless stated specifically in a blessing’s mechanics, a Farseer cannot bless themselves.
- Every blessing that isn’t a T5 Emotional (See Farseer Tier Outline) is, above all else, temporary. Lingering effects must be approved by an experienced staff member.
- A person (Descendant or otherwise) must be willing and must consent to being blessed (The single notable exception being the blessing of Isuz). This applies both in character and out of it.  
 

A Farseer can often sway a deal his way through taking up a tattoo. If he’s got enough skin left for it.
Dusk Druid (GuzBoroda, Deviantart)

3. Blessing More Stuff: A List of Souls, and how many a Farseer can bless.
The weaker the soul, the less rigid. Beings with soul blueprints (Descendants, for example) are particularly difficult to manipulate, however lesser creatures, such as those only with soul essence (Plants!), can be altered near en-mass by experienced Farseers.

Superior Souls (Descendants, etc.): Descendants and other beings that mimic their form all hold a soul blueprint that dictates precisely what a being and its soul should be. Because of this, they're the most difficult beings for Farseers to Bless. Superior souls and their Soul Blueprints are both rigid and elastic- resistant to change and eager to snap back to their true forms.

Lesser Souls (Higher animals, creatures): Creatures with intellect and cunning, ranging from rats to whales, all hold Lesser Souls. These types of souls are weaker than Superior ones and, as a result, more of them can be Blessed without tiring a Farseer out.

Inferior Souls (Lower animals, insects): The majority of creatures smaller than a rat (insects, small lizards and fish, for example) have Inferior Souls. Usually acting on base instinct more than anything else, these simple animals can be blessed much more easily than any others.

Soul Essence (Plants): Holding the weakest forms of souls, plants and the soul essence they contain can be blessed so easily that a Farseer often casts upon areas of them rather than individuals.

Blessing Numbers:
Farseers at T3 and above (That aren’t undercasting) can bless this many creatures:
Descendants: 1
Animals: 4
Lesser Creatures: 8
Plants: 10*10 blocks
Farseers at T2 scan bless the same amount, but cannot bless Descendants.

A flair for the dramatic is often an even more useful trait than a silver tongue.
Louhi- The first snow (Deepseaweed, Deviatart)

4. Blessing Tier Strengths

Tier Two
Physical Blessing: This blessing has an impact, but it certainly won't change the tide of battle or the stature of the weak. It can set hearts beating and muscles pumping as if a creature is instantly ready to fight or act, but little else depending on the specific blessing. A subtle change is seen in plants/foliage, as if they’ve been fertilised or nurtured in a specific way. 

Emotional Blessing: An insistent nudge towards change, as if pressure has been placed upon one's psyche. The affected would feel compelled to act differently, though to an extent that doesn't force them to go against their nature.

Tier Three
Physical Blessing: This blessing holds some weight, and might just make a difference if put in the right place. A creature is noticeably stronger, able to exert itself as if it was at its race's prime or sneak or dance with natural ease with no need for preparation, depending on the specific blessing. Plants act and react quicker to this blessing, and grow as if in the perfect (natural) conditions to follow the mechanics of the blessing cast.
Emotional Blessing: The affected would be able to feel an unnatural change of their person as the blessing it set upon them, as if the direction of their thoughts has been set towards a specific aspect. It still cannot make something go against their nature (A whimpering child won't rush to battle), but this blessing prompts a creature or person to act suddenly and insistently in a certain way depending on the specific blessing.

Tier Four
Physical Blessing: A creature's physical abilities will change beyond their race's natural capabilities, allowing them to perform feats that seem semi-unnatural and, to those looking closely, magically aided. A human could wield orcish-sized weapons with only slight discomfort, or make only the noise of a man in muffled leather while striding forth in full plate. Plants take on supernatural agency, twisting and weaving slowly, but still noticeably, before one's eyes, as if urged onwards by invisible hands.
Emotional Blessing: A person blessed at this level will be prompted to act against their nature as a psyche-bending force is pressed down upon their person. They feel a desperate urge to act differently depending on how they're blessed and won't be held back by personal barriers or beliefs. Here it is important to remember that a Farseer's blessing must be consensual and beneficial to whatever creature they're casting upon, as the lines thereof begin to blur. The effects will depend vitally on the specific blessing.

Tier Five
Physical Blessing: Able to wield a Spirit's power to its maximum potential, a T5 Farseer can impart physical blessings that can beyond a doubt put a dangerous edge upon whatever creatures they wish. A creature may be capable of feats up to 2 times greater than their usual capacity, moving with dangerous speed or violent strength depending on the specific blessing. Plants are bolstered beyond their normal means to form compact, efficient forms of foliage with respect to the blessing at hand. Although they don’t rival a T4 Druid’s effort, they’re still uncannily affected by the influence of the Spirits.
Emotional Blessing: A blessing at this level does not cause an immediate change. Instead, incredibly, it plants an emotional seed. Within the psyche of a creature blessed at this level there is imparted the potential for permanent change. A usually unhappy, guilty person may feel (gently) their thoughts pushed towards more pleasant places or may have their outlook on life set to a more hopeful one. Cowardly beings may feel the first blossoms of bravery within their souls, urging them to act to protect, serve or unite. This can not be forced, OOC'ly or IC'ly in any capacity, and even after being cast can not be enforced by a Farseer upon a person. These blessings act as catalysts for roleplay and change, shaping it in different ways should both the character and the player want it, but not be certain how to get it. If a character has gone down a dark path, and truly wants to change, this is the sort of blessing that can offer that. Contact your local Shaman ST with any questions.
 

Some Shamans are more flashy than others. Figures.
Meditation (anna_lakisova, Deviantart)

5. Undercasting: A Farseer’s Dimmer Switch
Roleplay Description:
Undercasting a blessing allows a Farseer to cast it as if it were at a lower tier. An Undecast blessing has its potency spread over a larger number of creatures or a greater area of plantlife than a regular blessing but has its effects lowered down one or more tiers. In this way, Farseers can make fine changes where heavy-handed ones would prove dangerous and cast sweeping blessings across large tracts of land, spreading their powers to more of those in need.

Mechanics:
- A Blessing can be Undercast to any tier below the Farseer’s level that is capable of blessing a creature or descendant (For example, a T5 can Undercast blessings to T4, T3 or T2 level). This undercast blessing has the strength and mechanics of a blessing cast at that lower Tier, but can be spread to a greater number of creatures or plants (This amount is dictated in the Table Manners section below).
- The casting ritual and all effects related, aesthetic and otherwise, are identical to those of a blessing of the level cast at. Undercasting can be done without adding any extra emotes to this ritual.
- A Blessing aimed at Descendants cannot be Undercast to Tier Two level since Tier Two Farseers can’t bless Descendants. In a similar fashion, Tier Two Farseers cannot Undercast at all.
- Just as a Farseer doesn’t have to bless their max amount of creatures/plants in a regular blessing, they can bless as few as they want when Undercasting.

Table Manners:
- A handy table can be found below! When casting your regular blessing, just look at the left hand column, under ‘Regular Blessing’. When undercasting by one Tier (For e.g. from T4 to T3) look at the second one. Etc. Etc. Etc.
- You’ve probably noticed that Descendant numbers are weird and different! AH! This is just because you can’t bless descendants at T2- that means there’s no ‘grey’ column, so they’re offset! Simple, right?
- Everything’s colour-coded for ease of reading. If you’re T4, for example, you can undercast by up to II levels, all the way up to the Green columns!
 

Example:
You’ve just become a Tier Three Farseer! Congratulations! As a celebration, you want to bless a small field of wheat with a boon from Arwa, the Spirit of Fertility and Growth. Without undercasting, though, you can only bless a 10*10 area of plants, and your wheat field is 20*20! Luckily, as a T3 Farseer you’re now capable of Undercasting! Since you can bless plants at T2 you can Undercast your blessing so it acts at a T2 level, but impacts a greater amount of creatures! Undercasting by one Tier (From T3 to T2) increases the area of plants you can effect from 10*10 to 20*20- Hurrah!
You double check the spell itself to see if this has any consequences. At Tier Two, the blessing lasts 2 Days (Rather than 3 at T3) and has a more subtle effect upon the plants, as if they’ve simply been fertilised and nurtured by invisible hands.
Now knowing the mechanics you cast your blessing at a T2 level and roleplay the effects/mechanics respectively.

Spiritual Tattoos
This lore acts as a companion piece to the Farseer Rework (LINK)

A long-winded prelude

It’s a hard truth that a Farseer’s work is often rooted in impermanence. A blessing can be strong, can be potent and can even be (despite a shaman’s best efforts, perhaps) a catalyst for great change. But for all these things the work of a Farseer can rarely ever endure. You could, indeed, be blessed to fight battles worthy of history, to create art destined for fame or to write songs to be sung for ages, but a blessing itself does not endure. It does not last. A good blessing dies lighting the spark of great fires, and very few remember these sparks in the shadows of such great flames.
But permanence is not impossible. Not all good things need to die. If one truly wants something to last- if they truly hold something close to heart- they should do as any rational, forward-thinking adult does after great thought and thorough contemplation. They should get it as a tattoo.

Baldur- God of War (Sketchy-Linez, Deviantart)

Magic Description:

Tattoos are Farseer’s answer to the age old struggle for legacy. Through the infusion of a blessing into a person’s skin instead of their soul (and through the help of specific spirits) a Shaman can create magical tattoos with very minor but very permanent aesthetic effects. These effects are not powered by the blessing itself but from interactions with the aspects which they represent. For example, a tattoo from the Spirit of War, Enrohk, might shine, shimmer, hum, dance or otherwise move about dramatically when its owner enters battle or otherwise experiences emotions of savagery or bloodlust. It is because the tattoos are powered by the aspects they represent that they have permanence. They aren’t powerful or potent, but they can be beautiful, meaningful or profound in equal measures, and as such are a skill coveted greatly by those who wield it. 

Colorfree (Sooj, Deviantart)

Creation
The creation of a Farseer’s Tattoo is not a difficult task, however this is all the more reason for their careful and considerate application. These aren’t simply carvings of one’s lover’s name into their upper thigh, they’re pieces of art and magic that will last as long as there’s skin attached to a person’s body, so care must be taken in making absolutely sure you know what you’re getting tattooed. An Immortal Spirit (and only an Immortal Spirit) must be selected which represents the aspect you want tattooed. Elemental Spirits have little interest in aesthetics or in the representation of their elements upon Mortals (who are a rather messy combination of all elements and thus are rather unsavoury in these spirits’ eyes) and Ancestral Spirits find little use in having their name scrawled across their whelp of a grandson’s trapezoids and, as such, stay comfortably out of the picture. With the spirit chosen, a Farseer must undergo the process of blessing a patch of the victim’s skin to, firstly, be able to change its colour, to ripple, to flare, to dance or perform any other series of aesthetic performances and to, secondly, be connected to and powered from any aspects of an Immortal Spirit. The form which the tattoo takes (Although this can vary, it will always revert back to an original form when unpowered) is a compromise between the owner’s wishes and the Spirit’s demands and is often surprising and alien in nature. You can never truly expect a Spiritual Tattoo to go as planned, but having a firm vision of a tattoo in mind is a good step for getting something akin to what you’d like. With the blessings completed the skin will undergo rapid change. Pigmentation will fade. Pox and boil will smooth. Pain will throb across the man or woman’s skin as if it’d be burnt or scoured off and naught will sooth that but time (an elven day, on average) or an unsubtle amount of opiates, but once the pain is gone the end result will be in full bloom. A Spiritual Tattoo of a person’s choice will be clear and present for as long as any magic remains and its connection to a Spirit lasts; a testament to permanence, a herald of the Immortals.

Mana (Gpzang, Deviantart)

Use
As stated above, Spiritual Tattoos are fueled by exposure to their connected aspects, however this exposure can come in many forms. Physical contact to a related aspect will easily power a tattoo (for example a wielder of a tattoo from Betheruz will have it activate when they’re in close proximity to a celebration or party) but so too will emotional contact. When a person experiences sadness, bloodlust, despair, pain or bravery and they have a tattoo representing that, it will activate with a strength much greater than any that could be replicated by its physical counterpart. The aesthetic effects will be more visible and more animated and will carry with them a greater spiritual meaning, too. In this, Spiritual Tattoos become representative of genuine and meaningful emotion- of being signs of truth and strength of character that otherwise may not be plainly obvious upon a person’s normal visage. They’re a means to show pride in your connection to a spiritual aspect; to show the world, unafraid, the truth of your soul and the fervor of your being.

Spiritual Tattoos- Non-Combative, Aesthetic Empowerment, Ritual

RP Description

A Farseer places a blessing upon the skin of a creature with a Superior Soul, creating a permanent physical change in the form of a tattoo. This tattoo is dormant until powered by a person’s physical or emotional exposure to the aspect of this spirit by which they were blessed, at which point it can have a series of aesthetic (and only aesthetic) sensory effects up to the Farseer and Wielder’s discretion. 

Mechanics:
Requirements:
- To create a Spiritual Tattoo the Farseer must be a Tier Three or greater Farseer.
- A Spiritual Tattoo must represent some aspect or aspects of a single Immortal Spirit. Its affects are aesthetic and only exist when the wielder physically/emotionally in contact with those aspects.
- Once the tattoo is made, you cannot change the effects/behavior of your Spiritual Tattoo; it stays the same no matter what stimulus triggers it.
- This ability must be taught in roleplay, and punishments will be enforced for those who cannot provide adequate screenshots.
- Creating a Spiritual Tattoo is a 6+ emote Ritual that follows the procedure outlined in the ‘Creation’ subheading of this lore.
- Tattoos of this kind can be taken up to sway the spiritual deals of Farseers in their favor. The only limit on how many tattoos a Farseer can have is skin space.
 

Red Lines:

- Spiritual Tattoos can only be applied by Farseers and must be learnt. Farseers can apply them to themselves without repercussions.
- This is an entirely aesthetic ability and cannot impart any additional blessings onto the holder or anyone else whatsoever.
- A Tattoo can only be powered by physical closeness or genuine emotional contact with an aspect. This emotion, and hence the activation of the Tattoo, cannot be forced or faked.
- There’s a certain artistic freedom in creating Spiritual Tattoos, however they cannot be used in battle or as a legitimately convincing illusion (i.e. effects they produce can’t be harmful and obviously come from the tattoo).
- Tattoos can’t activate differently to different stimuli- eg if you have a tattoo blessed by the Spirit of Magic and are in an area with active magical effects, it would activate, however you couldn’t determine the type of magic or its intended effects. (If you think a tattoo is being used to metagame in this way please contact an ST)
 

Farsight and Visions
This lore acts as a companion piece to the Farseer Rework (LINK)

Prelude

Granting these wise Shamans their names, Farsight is the gift of receiving visions of past, present or future events. These come in two forms: Passive visions, which occur naturally as a Farseer travels through the Immortal Planes, and Targeted visions, which are the product of an Immortal Spirit (Usually a Greater) directly contacting a Shaman to impart information onto them.

let me guess, u got lost again? (Toblin, Deviantart)

Farsight
Roleplay Description:

As said previously, Passive visions occur naturally within the Immortal Planes. What causes them is mostly unknown; unlike the Elemental Planes, the Immortal Planes are not inherently linked to Time itself, and it is not perceived by Spirits the same way as it is by Mortals. Luara, Spirit of the Moon and Counted Time, anchors both Spirits and Mortals to the here and now, but as the Immortal Plane is a realm of Ideas, Concepts and, largely, the attention of mortals upon these things, occasionally echoes of events that surged with strong emotions and hard-forgotten sentiment ripple through this plane and arrive as a vision. Often cryptic and usually misunderstood, a Farseer will generally perceive a vision as a scene within the Immortal Plane they can see but not interact with. It proceeds as a twisted play, acting out muddled details of an event that either happened long ago, has yet to occur, or that booms strongly through the Mortal Plane at that very moment, and is often entirely representational, telling the Shaman very little of what truly happened, but instead the emotions and ideas that flared up during and because of it. An example of a vision precursing a terrible war might be two stampedes of beasts charging towards each other, one side indistinguishable from the other, and meeting in a town of faceless, screaming innocents, leaving nothing but rubble. Farseers with keener eyes and greater experience with visions often notice more specific details- Banners the beasts carry, words the people scream. A Passive vision will never be clear cut, but as a Farseer becomes wiser and more accustomed, they can learn to draw more from the motley depths of these ethereal representations of events to come.

Mechanics:
- Once a Farseer has connected to the Immortal Plane (As outlined in the Planewalking section of the Lore), they are capable of receiving Visions.
- A Vision can be shared with as many people as can be taken on a Planewalk.
- Visions are, essentially, a purely thematic ability and don't necessarily need to have any basis in real life or events. A Farseer is essentially capable of making up her own mini-event.
- ST's, however, are capable of visions to Farseer that have pertinence to official ST eventlines and lore. An ST Provoking a vision in this manner must either:
- Oversee the Planewalk and treat it as their own mini-event, or
- Post the vision they're releasing as an official ST post on the LotC forum.

Red Lines:
- Visions have no impact on any events outside of a Spirit Walk. They are not Blessings and have no such effects on the people that experience them.

Song of Mwuuau (AntonKurbatov, Deviantart)

Vision Infliction:

Roleplay Description:
Stemming from their capacity to travel to different planes, Farseers become able to impart Visions upon any creature with a greater soul once they reach the third tier of their magic. One of a Farseer’s very few unpleasant abilities (Though not inherently, simply in that it doesn’t require consent), these visions are similar in nature to those received by Farseers from Greater Immortals and involve the manipulation of a person’s soul, and the sensory information that soul receives, once they’re within the Immortal Plane.

Mechanics:
The steps required to inflict a Vision are as follows.
a) Eye contact must be made and held for a total of two emotes, followed or preceded by an emote of focus. At least two of these three emotes require the muttering of Old Blah.
b) The above step acts to lessen the person’s soul’s hold upon their body, and an emote should be made through /msg following a similar theme to when they’re taking someone on a Spirit Walk, where someone’s vision dims and the control over their body dulls.
c) The person’s soul is pulled from their body (The soul’s connection isn’t {and can’t be} broken, just like during Spirit walks) and thrust into the Immortal Plane. Here, a Farseer is able to construct a Vision involving:
Tier Three: Sight and sound only
Tier Four: Sight, sound, touch
Tier Five: Any senses and very minor spikes of emotion, such as ‘A rush of primal fear,’ ‘curiosity,’ etc.
d) The Farseer’s grip on the soul fades and a person’s consciousness will return to their body. An emote should be made by the Farseer explaining their vision/senses returning which stuns the person affected for one emote.

Once a Farseer reaches Tier Four, the use of Old Blah is no longer necessary (but is recommended for the aesthetic), however the process takes just as long and requires the same amount of attention. No matter the tier, a Farseer can’t perform combat or any actions that require their full attention while imparting a Vision (They are capable of speech, though).
At Tier Five, Farseers can choose to strike someone with Visions from any range without needing eye contact, however this requires either the flesh, blood, hair or saliva of whoever they’re targeting (Similar to Witchdoctor Voodoo dolls) and additionally needs four emotes of focus, three of which must include Old Blah.

Red Lines:
- Farseers can’t grant visions until Tier Three
- At Tier Four and above, Old Blah is no longer required.
- At Tier Five, Visions can be inflicted out of eyesight, but require:
a) The flesh, blood, hair or saliva of the target.
b) The use of old blah.
c) Additional emotes (Basically turning it into a ritual).
- Visions don’t directly affect the mind, which means:
a) Farseers can’t ‘read minds’, and likewise can’t use the images of people/things important to someone in Vision (Unless they knew of it previously).
b) Visions can’t be blocked by mental barriers, either regular or Voidal Horror-y in nature.
c) They have no lasting effects and will be remembered similar to a dream. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to convince someone a vision actually happened (This isn’t Illusion).
- Visions require the brunt of a Farseer’s attention. If they’re interrupted they’ll be stunned for one emote, and if the Vision reached step c) the target’s consciousness would return as in step d).
 

Frum'Shauk
Spiritual Companions: A re-submission.

Assistant Shaman (Tyami, Deviantart)

“… all forms one could imagine. They gathered about the great Traf accompanied by their Shamans as Frum'Shauk; they obeyed, but only in companionship, for these beasts were never to be controlled. By one Uruk’s side only a flat, grey shadow could be seen, trailing from his feet and blinking back at those that glared…”
 

Frum'Shauk, the spirit-y companions of the Farseers, Witchdoctors, Lutaumans and Elementalists alike, reside solely in the Immortal, Ancestral and Elemental planes as beastly echoes of the mortal realm. As a Shaman progresses through training, their travels through their respective realms become more frequent and, as a consequence, more in-depth. An adept Farseer may spend every second day traversing through the Immortal Realm in times of confusion or unsurity, and an Elementalist can often explore the Elemental Plane for weeks without finding a spirit suitable to bond with. As a result, Shamans, often and tragically, become lost. As a general rule of thumb, the Spirit Realm is not a nice place to be lost. Around every corner something unpleasant is bound to be lurking- whether it intends direct harm or not is not the issue, but rather that most shamans don’t pack a spare loincloth in their travelling kit. Thankfully, not all spirits are quite so callous.

They can arrive at any moment of a Shaman’s’ journey; whether they’re in direct trouble, or are simply lost out of their minds, eventually a Frum'Shauk will come to their aid. They can come in any shape, size or disposition, though often enough they take a form eerily similar to the creatures of the Mortal Realm. A wolf, a cat, or something more diverse and disturbing- There seems to be no limit to what form they take, or to what end they'll aid their shaman. They're typically Minor Spirits- those wandering oddities which no greater spirit has taken interest in, on account of their uselessness. From time to time a servant of Ghorza, the spirit of travel, takes up the mantle of a Shaman's Companion, though this usually comes from a deal with the spirit themselves. Strangely, Frum'Shauk are capable of traversing through the Immortal, Ancestral and Elemental Planes on a whim, and seem to know precisely where they're going at any time- even if they don't exactly mention it. Above all, a Shaman must trust in their Frum'Shauk, for it's them that will lead them away from the traps and tricks of the more sinister spirits which reside in these dangerous realms.

Red Lines and Clarifications

~ Frum'Shauk reside purely within the spirit realm- they can't manifest upon a Shaman's call, and neither can they be controlled

~ Furthermore, they won't be any use in a Shaman's spirity battles. They're guides, not warriors.

~ They're purely for rp diversity- Fun, pretty much! To expand upon and to encourage roleplay posts of a Shaman's travels.

MC Name: ilikefooddude

Character's Name: Thurak'Yar

Character's Age: Too damn old

Character's Race:

Uruk

Link to your accepted MA:

https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/194231-farseer-shamanismmailikefoddude/

What magic(s) will you be teaching?

Farseer Shamanism

Describe this magic or a creature as a whole:

I wrote it; if you have any questions feel free to hit me up at ilikefooddude#8500

Do you have a magic(s) you are dropping due to this app? If so, link it:

No

Do you agree to keep the ST updated on the status of your magic app?:

Yes

Have you applied to teach this magic on this character before, and had it denied? If so, link the app.

No

MC Name: ilikefoddude

Character's Name: Thurak'Yar

Character's Age: Old as H*ck

Character's Race:

         Uruk

What magic(s) will you be learning?

         Farseer Shamanism

Teacher's MC Name:

         Grandfathered

Teacher's RP Name:

         Grandfathered

Do you have a magic(s) you are dropping due to this app? If so, link it:

         No

Do you agree to keep Story updated on the status of your magic app?:

         Yes

Are you aware that if this magic is undergoing an activity trial and fails said trial, that you will lose the magic? And that if it is apart of the Lore Games, it might drastically change soon?:

         Yes

{field_name_147}

         {field_value_147}

Claimed!

Make it so.

Some nerd holed up in Krugmar wonders how 9/10’ths of a single Dwarf voted for Dorinmur, 2.24 were undecided, 5.62 voted for Charles and 11.24 Dwarves voted for Jorvin. Either DNN’s stark raving mad, asked someone more than once, or there’s something terribly, terribly wrong with the Dwarves of Urguan.
He tries not to think on it too hard.

Thurak’s memories had been slipping, of late. They often slipped and found old friends.
Four Hundred Years. Laughter and languish and slaughter and tears and four hundred very, very long years had left Thurak wise, weary, and wanting every single one of those four-hundred back. Today, he wanted to see his friend again.

Chatlog: 2016-02-27
Azoth saves Thurak’s ass.

Thurak opens his eyes and lets a simple, sad smile slip onto his face. When he glances down to the paper at his desk and its fondly-familiar, beautifully calligraphic prose, he notices its marred by a few wet splotches. The ink spreads and muddies across the page. More than usual- more than ever, perhaps, Thurak wishes, quietly, that he could write back.

MC Name: ilikefooddude

Character's Name: Thurak'Yar

Character's Age: 430
Discord: ilikefooddude#8500

Character's Race:

Uruk

Link to your accepted MA:

https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/192546-alchemy-grandfatheredfailikefooddude/

What magic(s) will you be teaching?

Alchemy

Summarise the Lore of this magic(s):

Alchemy is the art of manipulating the Signs (and their Symbols) that make up the materials of the mortal planes. These signs and symbols represent quintessential aspects of the materials and energies they are found within: Fire, Peace, Connection, Clarity, etc. By separating and re-combining symbols an Alchemist can create new materials (Be they potions, salves, metals, powders) with properties exactly the sum of their parts. Alchemy is neither magical or mundane, but is instead a scientific bridge between the materials of this realm and the powers and truths held inside them. 

Do you have a magic(s) you are dropping due to this app? If so, link it:

No

Do you agree to keep the ST updated on the status of your magic app?:

Yes

Have you applied to teach this magic on this character before, and had it denied? If so, link the app.

No

MC Name: ilikefooddude

Character's Name: Thurak'Yar

Character's Age: Too old

What feat(s) will you be learning?

         Alchemy: Grandfathered

Teacher's MC Name:

         N/A: Grandfathered

Teacher's RP Name:

         N/A

Do you agree to keep Story updated on the status of your feat app?:

         Of course

Have you applied for this feat on this character before, and had it denied? If so, link the app:

         Nope!

Are you aware that if this feat is undergoing an activity trial and fails said trial, that you will lose the feat? And that if it is apart of the Lore Games, it might drastically change soon?:

         Yes

For several months now, greedily and selfishly, I’ve hoarded a technique that has made me, and none other, an all-powerful, all knowing and unmerciful God of LotC. This power is not for everyone. It’s definitely not free from abuse. These were the reasons I hid it from the outside world, safe in my care, and maybe I was right. But maybe that isn’t for me to decide. Forgive me for opening pandora’s box.

If you’re like me, and you have a smart character that is played by a person with the intellect and memory of a dead goldfish, you’re going to forget things your character should certainly know. Unfortunately we don’t live in the same world as our characters, and so Boblin the Goblin, who’s lived amongst the Descendants for 200 years and has made friends, acquaintances and enemies that he’s dealt with most of his life, is piloted by a dude/dudette who roleplays maybe only a couple of hours a week these days and doesn’t remember Boblin’s wife’s sister’s name Not because Boblin’s a bad husband, but because his player had a physics test today and their brain is currently a luke-warm slurry. We Aren’t our characters, and for the times that our characters should know something, but we don’t, it can be frustrating roleplay ignorance or forgetfulness. I’m not saying doing that’s a bad strategy- Sometimes it is, in fact, the best one to take, and it’s still one I take three times out of four. But… What if you had a way to remember? What if you could choose to roleplay a character who actually seems like they live in this world, because you can actually remember events that they’ve lived through. Well. You can do that.

Instantly finding names, phrases, or emotes found in any of your Minecraft chat-logs.
By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to hit Crtl-F, type in a name, and see if it’s ever been mentioned, and when it has been mentioned, in any minecraft chat log you have. This is what it will look like.

There are three steps to this- None of them particularly hard or requiring more than a few clicks, but all the same I’ve laid out a click-by-click walkthrough for anyone not so used to this type of thing.
1. Finding and copying your logs.
2. Creating a file to store them in.
3. Letting the .log file to be indexed.

Step One: Finding and copying your logs.
If you already know how to access the .minecraft folder and the logs folder within it, this step’s super quick. Get everything inside that and copy it; feel free to skip the Spoiler if you can do that.

Step Two: Creating a file to store them in.
Super simple, but there’s a bit at the end you should pay attention to. Paste into a folder, unzip and change advanced search settings to search through non indexed system files and file contents (Step 4/5).

Step Three: Letting the .log file be Indexed.
Trickier, but still only a few steps. Go into indexing options and add the ‘log’ filetype to indexed files.

And you’re done! Hottdamn! Go into your folder and hit ‘CTRL-F’, type in your phrase, and every single file that has that word in it should come up. Try typing in your username: Every single log should have it.

Click on whichever file you want, go inside it (If it’s not already the default, open the file with ‘Notepad’) and, once more, type in ctrl-f to find where in the document that word is. And there you have it. It’ll look something like the Image posted at the top of this thread. Well done!
 

Moved to Denied- Character has been Permakilled.

Moved to Denied- Character has been Permakilled.

Amazing builds and an amazing person, he’ll been a great asset to the team and any projects they’re working on. He definitely has a good grasp of theme and aesthetic, and I’d love to see some of his work put into practise in more varied ways.

Student has a new teacher, and is progressing again. MA has been updated accordingly.

Denied.
@Anty, Please resubmit this app. when you have time for a TA interview- Until then, this will be move to the denied subforum.
Thanks!

Thurak’Yar’s signature eventually arrives upon the application.

Please contact me on Discord in the next three days if you’re interested in a TA Interview. Cheers!

Pending! This means the application needs some changes before it can be accepted.
First and foremost, although your CA has some great information in it, a good deal (Especially the Kha’ Subtypes) has been taken directly from the wiki and barely reworded. It’s not something we like to encourage since copying and pasting (Even if you did change some words) doesn’t demonstrate your knowledge of something.
Try rewording your application and formatting it a bit more smoothly. Some good examples of this are

and

Additionally, do some more research into Kha’ children (5 is a  young age to start at, especially for a Kha cub), into exactly what Apekha and Soulkha are in the Kharajyr society, and their leadership.
You have three days,
Best of luck @Simochii!

@Anty, your application is now Pending and awaiting changes.
Please link your previously denied T.A for this character.
After these changes we’ll be good to move on.
Best of luck!