Mephistophelian

With this in mind, what about this rewrite prevents you from using it solely for character development, now? What do you feel is forcing players to adhere to something that is flashy and used in combat?

If this is merely an addition, then the title of the lore needs to change and the Soul Contracts detail must be further explained so we know what exactly it can do and what it cannot do. Also, what is the purpose of the first section of the lore (under the title of 'Soul Puppetry')?

I apologise in advance for the brevity of my reply; I've had to rewrite if four times already because of my internet forcing the page to reload and thus resetting all my progress. Very frustrating...I'll try sum up the points I made, but please don't think of this as aggressive, merely short and as basic as possible because I'm sick of rewriting my replies. Thanks for the compliments, I appreciate them :) I know I can't change your opinions on the lore, but I have a questions instead: what makes you think this addition will change how cognatism is RPed or how it effects RP? Additionally, what makes you believe this lore is restricting the magic, especially when it was designed to allow for more expansions? I apologise in advance for the brevity of my reply; I've had to rewrite if four times already because of my internet forcing the page to reload and thus resetting all my progress. Very frustrating... I'll try sum up the points I made, but please don't think of this as aggressive, merely short and as basic as possible because I'm sick of rewriting my replies. I feel like I did rather well in making this make sense lore-wise. What do you believe is the thing that makes it not make sense in lore (more specifically, in the lore I wrote; I refer to the whole artificial mind thing that I hope you read about before saying this)? Also, what do you mean by your points on memory wiping? Are you referring to this accepted lore?: Also, I completely understand your concern, which is why I have specified the red lines on memory removal :) If anything like what you described occurs, it will be powergaming. As much as I'd like to control if people PG magic or not, it really isn't my decision, nor is it the fault of the lore. I'm sure you, a previously good lore writer, understand this. This is very cool and would work in another magic system other than LotCs, and I think it'd be cool if our system was more like that! It isn't, though... but that makes me think.... hrmm

What does this rewrite achieve or explain that the original lore does not? In fact, why write this rewrite when it is less detailed than the original lore? As for soul contracts; how do you plan to make this more used than the previous lore? Finally, have you contacted the practitioners of the magic before requesting a rewrite?

Hey folks, sorry for the bad formatting but I'm not on my laptop right now. Let's get on to this simple submission, then! Soul Puppetry requires a link to be formed between puppet, puppeteer and target, where the puppeteer manipulates this very bond in a bid to alter the target's physical, mental or magical structure. In days past, this was done by collecting blood - fresh blood - and dropping it onto a figurine similar to the donor of this blood, thus binding something that was once part of a soul-bearing creature to a puppet. What was not understood, however, is that other pieces of the target may be taken, too: Strands of hair may be collected and integrated into the puppet's structure; flesh may be woven into its body; nails may be used to support or even represent other sorts of solidity; saliva may be dripped into the mouth of the effigy. Long lost, though now rediscovered, the art of integrating all types of bodily products into a puppet is now available again to those who manipulate the denizens of their world with strings... Red Lines: - The used bodily items must be relatively fresh (i.e. Blood cannot be dry if it is to be dripped, saliva must be moist, hair must be plentiful enough and in long enough strands, flesh must not be rotten or dried). - No waste-products can be used; only useful items of the target's body must be integrated into the puppet (i.e. No urine, faeces, etc). - The items must be integrated to the puppet. The only things that do not need to be actively integrated are non-waste bodily fluids (e.g. Blood, plasma, saliva, bile, etc). Explanation: Soul Puppetry has long been limited to having to collect blood from the individual, and doing so has often lead to being immediately killed. Sometimes it is for good reason, but most of the time some subtle metagaming occurs. Whilst this does not make it any easier to collect the parts needed, it allows the puppeteer to be more creative, whilst also preventing people from so easily metagaming. Remember, this does not mean a soul puppeteer can connect your soul to their puppet from one strand of hair; they'd need multiple, good-lengthen strands integrated into the puppet for this to work. Credits: Matheus - Idea Mephistophelian - Writing

I couldn't answer your questions very nicely, but they are in double brackets in the quote itself. Yes, it has been capable, though the explanation was never very good or almost entirely lacking. Now we have a good explanation.

Mental Magic has been able to do this before, though it is weaker than Sensory Illusion in this regard since it can only affect one person. This is from what I was taught, however; we must bear in mind the old lore did NOT allow that, but it also did not allow the removal of memories, which happened regardless before it was officially written down. In other words, this is my interpretation of what is canon, though others may differ and I encourage everyone to note down their own interpretations! Yes, it does allow for long-term memory removal with OOC permission. I have seen people who don't mind that, and I think it can only add to RP if both parties consent. And yes, again; this is all sticking to the fact that people may want to RP things slightly outside of what is typically RPed without the need of OOC consent. In other words, no one is forced to RP this or ever mention this. It is simply present for the people who would like to use it. Yes, it is basically a different spectator mind, though it is far less powerful at first. You can make several, though one must remember them just as they remember things via void translocation. Since it is the art of remembering, I doubt it counts as a separate list. We remember things quite equally, and it rarely matters if they are different. For explanation purposes, however, one can consider it to be a similar list with different things listed. Think of a grocery shopping list and a car-part shopping list. Yes, they exist in the void instead of somehow in someone's head. Feedback loops vary depending severity. If you have a simple artificial mind you've connected to, it might just be a feedback loop impaired by visual stimulation, which can be dealt with by closing one's eyes and easing their real and artificial minds away from one another. If it is a more intense feedback loop, they mat not recover. As for the after effects; I'll leave that up to the player. I don't like forcing PKs or making people not recover at the monks. Thank you :) ---- I agree that it does seem like a lot of spells, but that is just because I have tried to be as thorough as possible. I could have merged many things into one category (removing, manipulating and recovering memories could have just been 'Control of Memories') but I decided agains that for the sake of clarifying everything. Besides, Cognatism's potential uses are not so great that one can consider the abilities as 'adding power'. At most, they are a neat RP gimmick with a bit of foretelling/revelations and enchanting explanations thrown in. As for the overpowered nature; how is it overpowered? How do you believe I could fix this, without changing the fundamentals of the lore?

~+ Mental Magic +~ ~*~ ~*~ Glossary: Real Mind - A mind belonging to an existing creature. It is solely the creature’s, and is linked to that creature’s soul. Artificial Mind - A mind created in the Void by a Mental Mage. It is linked to the Mental Mage and may be freely manipulated by them. Target - The individual being affected by the Mental Mage. ~ How it works ~ ~*~ The term ‘Mental Magic’ covers many abilities and skills that evolve due to the interaction between two minds; namely, the Mental Mage’s mind and the target mind. Whether the target mind is one that already exists or one created by the Mental Mage is an entirely different story, and utterly separate abilities stem from the interaction with either. The minds of thinking beings may be entered through the Void due to the slight trace they leave upon it, and they may thus be affected by alterations created by the Void-user. Thoughts, emotions, desires and more are all intangible by nature, and thus leak out into worlds beyond the mortal plane, such as the Spiritual and Voidal realms. It is through the Voidal realm, however, that Mental Mages work, and thus the magic requires a Voidal connection in order to be learned and used. Minds created entirely by the Mental Mage, however, are just as peculiar with how they work. Formed entirely in the void, they are made by imprinting a design of the Mental Mage’s making. Due to the immensity of the Void and its incredible capacity to store any form of information (as proven by voidal translocation), these minds are capable of remaining in the Void until called upon again. This is only doable by the Mental Mage that had created it - just as objects thrown into the Void may only be recalled by the translocationist that put them there - and doing so allows them to access the mind as they would another’s, though this mind may be utterly manipulated by its creator. In days past, the ability to create and alter a mind within the void was called ‘Cognatism’. It is through the use of these minds that a Mental Mage is able to perform their magic, and every ability stemming from it may be explained by either referring to the manipulation of an already present mind or the creation and alteration of a new one. ~+ The Manipulation of Real Minds +~ ~*~ ~*~ Said to be the most prominent ability of Mental Mages, the manipulation of Real Minds is one that has been coveted by scholars and spies alike for its versatility. No single person may be certain of its true origins, though there is one such tale that people have come to believe; an old tale of a tree and the fight to defend its forest. There is a single, written recording of the tale, penned by the man said to have begun the practice of modern mental magic; Jon Evaglno. “In Asulon, there is a place that all living creatures avoid at all costs: the Wretched Grove. This forest of snow and ice has existed in Asulon for many centuries, and its corruption has led many to fear it. However, this forest is not truly what it seems. It was once home to a people known as the children of the forest. These people were unlike the other races that existed in Asulon, in that they kept no place to live. They did not need one, as they were born of trees, and could survive without a roof over their heads. The children of the forest were connected to the trees, for the trees were their ancestors who guided the race in everything they did. The children of the forest had a power over minds of trees and animals alike. The people loved peace, and hated anything that threatened it. The council of trees soon decreed that all the children of the forest should not reveal themselves to anything in their true forms, be it an animal or another Asulonian race. Many came through the grove, and none learned of the children of the forest, so they soon passed out of memory and into legend. There was a terrible nation in Asulon that had just dawned. It developed beasts of fire that needed wood to survive. Before long, the nation had destroyed many forests, leaving harsh deserts where lush forest once was. The nation came across what would be later known as the wretched grove. They brought their lumberjacks with fire and axes to clear the forest and burn its wood to feed their beasts of fire. The eldest tree, known as the Tree of Minds, saw the urge to destroy in the people's mind, and entered every being's mind that it could, and drove many away. It could not get all the minds, so it called upon the children of the forest to defend their home. As soon as the children tried to attack, the men brought their beasts of fire to end this squabble. The beast roared, and shot smoke, and threatened to destroy the peaceful grove the children had worked so hard to protect. After a long and arduous battle, every child of the forest had been killed, and only the Tree of Minds still stood. Even then, the tree was wounded, and continued to fight. However, the losses were not of the children's alone. Almost every person who attacked was either driven away or killed, leaving only a small band among them. The tree changed what they saw, and turned brother on brother. After all had been slaughtered except one, the tree allowed the final one standing to see what he had wrought. In seeing what his fit of madness had caused, he fled, and nothing came to the tree for a long time. After this event, the Tree of Minds was filled with anger. It cast out everything that came near with violent hallucinations. Eventually, the wound it took healed, and its rage subsided. The tree now appeared to be dead, but was the center of the now almost lifeless forest. It continued to force out almost all creatures. Some creatures, however, were allowed into the tree's inner grove to learn the ancient art of the children of the forest. They were chosen for their curiosity, knowledge, wisdom, or intelligence, and were granted the power to see into other's minds and change their senses. The very few who were granted this power were then cast out to keep the vicious peoples of the axe away from the only source of Mental Magic still existing. Then, a calamity ensued, destroying the Asulonians slowly. Many of the masters of the tree's art died out and were lost to history. The visitors to the tree became far and in between. Eventually, it could find no intelligent beings, and was alone in Asulon for some time. Then, the descendant races arrived from Aegis. After having been alone for such a long time, the tree quickly repelled all that came near the woods, now using more frightening images than it had during the time of the Original Asulonians. It only saw a squat and war-like people, and people who were fixated on destroying whatever they could to make themselves larger. After finding so many of these people, it found a tall, twig-like person. This person had neither intelligence, nor wisdom, nor knowledge in a great enough degree, but it had an ample amount of curiosity to be taken to the inner grove where the tree was. Here, the twiggy mind was taught the art of mental magic, and sent off, never to find the place again. It is unknown whether the tree has had visitors since this twiggy mind, but this is a place for them to come forward, and reveal their places of hiding.” The abilities that arise from interacting with a Real Mind are vast, and all of them involve the manipulation of the target mind. These skills and abilities are as follows: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reaching ~ This skill is the most basic of the abilities, and the foundation for manipulating Real Minds. To perform it, the Mental Mage must first connect to the void, allowing their mind to slip into its depthless grasp. If simply seeking minds for the first time with no aid, they would be flooded with a plethora of thoughts, feelings and instincts from every thinking creature around them, unable to detect the exact location or thoughts of these minds. With visual aid, however, the Mage may seek their target’s Mind, aiming to find thoughts, feelings or ways of thinking that are likely to belong to the individual. By using sight to hone down the distance, direction and mental state of their target, the Mental Mage is able to identify the mind amongst the host of other mental presences they would otherwise detect. Red Lines: One cannot reach their mind out to detect a specific person’s mental presence without some form of knowing where they are. Visual aid is required for the most part, though a Mental Mage may be able to remain connected for a moment if they look away or lose visual contact. Illusions do not provide a proper example of where the mind is, and thus one cannot use an illusion of someone to connect to their mind. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mind Melding ~ Then, with another effort, they are able to connect to the mind, reaching out with their own to view and sense all the complex processes that run through it at any given moment. Their mind, too, would let slip a small amount of thoughts through - the drawback of reaching out - though this can be greatly limited by practice and by perfectly distancing one’s mind from that of their target’s. It is from the act of connecting to a mind that a Mental Mage may perform the remainder of their abilities. Once freely connected to a mind, one may view the current thoughts, emotions, feelings and more of the individual. Though they are unable to view any more than this, this technique in itself is one of the most useful in a Mental Mage’s repertoire. With verbal or illusionary coercion (the latter of which will be explored below), the Mental Mage may cause a person to think upon or recall certain memories. For example, a Mental Mage may mention an event, causing the target to recall the events of that event in the form of a memory. If their minds are melded, the Mage in question would be able to view the brought up memory as the target remembers it, and may choose to ask more questions regarding it. Another quirk of Mind Melding would be what individuals call ‘Telepathy’. By allowing their own thoughts and emotions through, a Mental Mage may communicate with their target, choosing to either converse or relay information in a silent, reliable manner. Doing so, however, puts the Mental Mage at risk of intrusion from their target, should this target have such an intent and the ability to do so. Red Lines: A Mental Mage may not read through someone’s memories like a book; they must make the person think or bring them up themselves, else they will be unable to view them. In other words, a Mental Mage cannot force someone to think about something and then view that thing. Connecting to the void requires one tell, whilst connecting to a mind requires another, separate tell. Whilst one target may have more than one Mental Mage connected to them, a Mental Mage may not connect to more than one Real Mind. It is extremely difficult to fully avoid thinking of something if it is brought up in conversation or caused by Mental Illusion, and utterly avoiding this without a Mental Barrier is powergaming. A Mental Mage will always let a small sliver of their own thoughts or emotions slip through, usually when first connecting to a mind. This can be reduced by practice, but it must be present. Most individuals would rarely consciously detect the tiny slip-up of a master Mental Mage, however. When Mind Melding, a Mental Mage exposes themselves to retaliation of their target’s own mind, should the target have the capability to do so (e.g. they are a Mental Mage themselves). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mental Barriers ~ Mental Barriers are less a solid, defined thing and more a plethora of techniques all grouped under a single name and goal, with the goal being the prevention of a mental invasion of privacy. They come in many shapes and forms, though the most common are repeated mantras that prevent the Mental Mage from directing the individual’s thoughts. Other examples include scenarios created in one’s mind, false thoughts and memories, chaotic barriers of random thoughts or even being in a fully vegetative state. In effect, any train of thoughts that prevent a Mental Mage from gleaning specific memories can be considered a Mental Barrier. Red Lines: Mental Barriers do not prevent someone from the effects of Mental Illusions or Diversion of Consciousness, it merely prevents one from divulging information to a Mental Mage. Making a Mental Barrier requires conscious effort and knowledge that a Mental Mage is intruding or about to intrude. One cannot typically have a constant Mental Barrier. All Mental Barriers must have a way to be broken, else they are impossible to create. At any time, a Mental Mage may call upon a member of the MT to make sure there is a way to access a mind. One must be taught how to make an efficient Mental Barrier by a Mental Mage (who must be able to vouch for it). If taught by a non-Mental Mage, the individual will not have someone to scrutinise their technique and thus will have an inferior barrier. Either way, training to put up an effective Mental Barrier takes many years. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mental Illusions ~ Only possible upon connecting and Melding with a mind, the Mental Mage is able to create feelings, emotions and thoughts and press them upon their target’s consciousness. This ability is vast and extremely powerful, capable of creating illusions that are almost impossible to pass off as false, as it is the very mind of the target that is perceiving them, not simply their senses. Whilst it helps to have personally experienced the events that are being illusioned, a Mental Mage with enough creativity may create any sort of illusion that obeys the laws of logical understanding. Should something be too unbelievable, however - such as the target suddenly teleporting into an alternate dimension - the Mental Illusion would fail. With Mental Illusions, senses may be dulled, altered, increased or even removed entirely, though these must once again adhere to a reasonable amount of believability. By using Mental Illusions, one may even find a way to break a Mental Barrier. Again, the means of doing so vary greatly, and are often specific to the Mental Barrier the Mage is faced with. Red Lines: Mental Illusions must fall within the spectrum of believability, though this may be bent a good deal due to the mind being directly targeted. Utterly unbelievable illusions cannot be pressed by simple Mental Illusions. It is difficult to make someone feel something they would not otherwise feel in a situation (such as making an individual feel joy as they see their beloved wife die before their eyes) without breaking the believability of the Mental Illusion, and doing so is often the cause for the breaking of a Mental Illusion. One cannot control an individual with Mental Illusion or Mental Magic, merely coerce or affect how they perceive things (and thus indirectly altering how they might react). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diversion of Consciousness ~ Named ‘Catalepsy’ in the days of old, this technique can be described by its very name; it involves diverting a Real Mind’s consciousness away from its body and into a dreamlike state. Doing so causes the person’s physical body to fall unconscious, though it may still be awakened by any typical means that wake a person from very deep sleep. Whilst in this state of diverged consciousness, an individual is entirely open to any form of Mental Illusion, as they are - by all technicalities - dreaming. From this, a Mental Mage may access deeper memories or direct the person’s consciousness towards far more specific areas of their mind, and they may even view the more basic structure of a person’s mind. Inversely, a Mental Mage may choose to let the person believe they are still awake, never letting them realise their body has fallen asleep, apart from a small lapse in their thoughts. Red Lines: This is the only exception to the ‘Mental Illusions’ red lines, where some form of believability is required. The body may still be awakened if certain actions cause such a thing, though one must be aware that it is in a state of profound sleep. At the very least, a lapse in thoughts and a brief loss of senses must be used as an indication for the target when they slip into this state (similar to when one walks into a room and forgets what they were doing). Bringing an individual into this state requires great concentration, and it cannot be done in scenarios where the Mental Mage is focusing on something else (such as in direct combat against an opponent). The target is still capable of resisting the Mental Mage’s attempts to bring them into this state, especially if they are aware of the Mage’s mental presence. They may also provide a far more powerful barrier if they are aware that their consciousness has been redirected to a dream-like state. Again, this barrier must follow the red lines of Mental Barriers. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Removal of Memories ~ Requiring the target to be in a state of diverged consciousness, a Mental Mage may remove certain memories of an individual. These range from fresh memories - the easiest to remove - to old, well-kept memories - the most difficult to remove. The process of memory removal includes the location of the desired memories and then the throwing of these memories into the greedy expanse of the Void. For an Elven week after this, these memories linger, though they fade and become less clear until they are - typically - entirely gone by the end. Doing so is incredibly difficult for long-term memories, and in either case the target experiences a burning pain within their mind, with the Mental Mage sharing a similar discomfort along with magical exhaustion. This is one of the most powerful of the Mental Magic spells, and a master of the art may typically only perform it up to twice or thrice at any given time, though this varies depending on the amount of memories removed. Red Lines: OOC consent is required when removing long-term memories. To clarify, this OOC consent must be given before the memories are removed, so that the players may discuss the terms of said removal. OOC consent is not required when removing recent memories. Recent memories are defined by any memories that would be lost if someone were to die and be revived at that very moment (i.e. events leading up to the death OR events 30 minutes before the death). Removed memories leave a large, blank gap in one’s recollection that can be found by a Mental Mage that both knows what to look for and is using Mind Melding or Diversion of Consciousness. Whilst the target can attempt to make thoughts or memories that explain the gap in memories, this rationale is often easily seen through. Entirely removing an individual’s memories requires OOC consent, and is exhausting to the point of passing out to the most Masterful of Mental Mages. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Memory Manipulation ~ Once again, this ability requires the diversion of the target’s consciousness into a dreamlike state. The Mental Mage may then choose to target an already existing memory (by first discovering it) and explore it with the target’s conscious recollection of it. They may then force the target to relive the memory, using Mental Illusion to edit certain parts of it. Though the entire memory may not be entirely changed, aspects of it can be altered, such as the presence of certain details or the sudden appearance of previously non-existent details. For the memory to be anchored and accepted as true by the target’s mind, one must ensure it is as believable as the original, unaltered version. Anything straying from this would be impossible to do. If all parameters pass, the target’s mind is made to accept the manipulated memory as real. The process is uncomfortable, and a sense of panic is often felt in the target when their memory is manipulated, whilst the Mental Mage experiences greater exhaustion. Mental Mages are also capable of manipulating Memories so that they are not blocked by the shroud of confusion, stress-related amnesia or more. This type of therapy is heavily dependant on the condition that represses these memories, but the fact of the matter is that they must still be present and existing to be able to be manipulated into being accessed again. Grave consequences can be had from this, however, as a mind oft causes forgetfulness to relieve itself of the stress said memories cause. Red Lines: One cannot make entirely new memories, merely edit and manipulate current memories to one’s satisfaction. These edited memories must be as believable as the original, unaltered memories, and the changes made cannot be too great. Working with the target is essential, here. The process takes almost as much effort as removing memories, and the same rule of OOC consent applies when manipulating long-term memories (i.e. any memory that goes beyond the death-rule). To clarify, this OOC consent must be given before the memories are manipulated, so that the players may discuss the terms of said removal. OOC consent is not required when manipulating recent memories (i.e. memories that would be lost if the person died). Manipulating certain memories can cause Spirits of Mental Instability to detach, though the exact memory must be targeted for this. Entirely manipulating an individual’s memories requires OOC consent, and is exhausting to the point of passing out to the most Masterful of Mental Mages. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Memory Restoration ~ When faced with blank memories, a Mental Mage is able to put their target into the same state of deep sleep as mentioned before. They may then seek out the memories that have been tossed into the Void, provided they are still somewhat linked to the person who had lost them. These memories are then dragged back and returned to the Real Mind that originally hosted them, though they may be slightly faded and distorted due to their time in the Void. When faced with manipulated memories, a Mental Mage is forced to find any subtle inconsistencies in said memories and alter them - in much the same way there memories were first manipulated - to return as they were. Red Lines: Restoring memories needs OOC consent, and must be done within a week of the memories being removed (if done by the Removal of Memories). Any memories that have been magically removed by Mental Magic require the Mental Mage’s OOC, express permission to be restored if the removal occurred more than a week ago. (IRL times are used in this red line example). The Mental Mage that removed the memories of an individual must be contacted if the memories are restored, as it is for them to discuss and debate how many memories can be regained and how clear they are. Restoring manipulated memories is extremely difficult, as the target has been made to relive them in an entirely different way. The Mental Mage that manipulated the memories must be contacted if an individual wishes to have them restored. Restoring certain memories can cause Spirits of Mental Instability to detach, though the exact memory must be targeted for this. Entirely restoring an individual’s memories requires OOC consent, and is exhausting to the point of passing out to the most Masterful of Mental Mages. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mental Magic and Warding ~ When interacting with a ward that halts Mental Magic, the Mage would find that they can see the individual but are unable to detect their mind, as it is defended by the ward. With persistence, however, one may continuously attempt to reach out towards where the mind should be, weakening the ward over time. More forceful attempts to reach out and connect would cause a faster draining of the ward, too, though it has the added effect of draining the Mental Mage of their own mana. Red Lines: No Mental Magic Ward is infinite or unbreakable, though they can be too powerful for a single Mental Mage to break through (in such a case, they cannot be powered by a small or even medium mana gem). Effort is required to break Mental Magic Wards. One cannot effortlessly drain the ward of its supplying mana. The more powerful the Mental Mage, the less effort required to break such a ward. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Credits: Jon Evaglno - Writing the original Mental Magic lore and the ‘Tree Story’ in this lore. Mephistophelian - Writing this lore.

Why make an entirely separate realm for the ancestors of a certain people? If done correctly, the ancestors of humans could very well live in the ancestral plane of the spirits, too, just as the ancestors of the dark elves do!

I'm interested in the creatures that can be summoned. Can some examples be given, so we can understand their limits?

How will you explain this race coming out of nowhere if this lore is implemented? People have explored those islands and would have likely found something about them, but there is nothing, not even ruins. How would you make it believable?

This Lore has been accepted. Moved to Implemented Lore, it will be sorted to it's appropriate category soon.

Oh damn yeah this was accepted! How did I even miss this?

I talked to Swgr about this, actually. We agreed it is better not to go too in depth and explain it to that level. Besides, blood no longer moderates how lifeforce is spread through a body - the yoresigil does. I politely disagree. I find that defining this (though it is so loose I hesitate to call it 'defining') will only help with clarifying future lore. What if you want to make a lore that is an anti-magic (I'll use an already existing example)? Well, most people said that anti-magic affects active mana. Neat, so what is active mana? Here is where people got confused. Some people believed active mana was produced by souls and simply lay there, burning away, until it was used. Other people thought spells were fuelled wth passive mana and it only became active mana after the spell was fuelled (a bit like how active mana burns to become aura). That would make active-mana affecting anti-magic pretty useless, eh? But that's the problem! Whilst not everyone was that off, some people thought different things and would thus be deviating from what is actually accepted. What I'm doing is putting accepted, commonly referred to lore into words. Whilst you may dislike this, this is what everyone is already RPing (as Katari/PinkLion said), and if they aren't RPijg it they are often breaking a few redlined of their magic. Wouldn't you rather I write down what is typically accepted so people can refer to it without making mistakes than leaving it unwritten and letting lore writers and mages alike get frustrated over the lack of definition? Previously, people who would want to submit lore involving the origin of creation wouldn't be able to because Mathic was hidden. They'd stumble around in the dark constantly getting their lore denied. I had the same thought about mana. What if someone wants to submit a magic lore that goes against how mana is commonly accepted to work? Do we accept it even though it is completely outlandish? From Moot's old lore, he explained mana anchors as the point where you focus your mana to provide for a spell. In this case, none of that has changed. You are still providing your mana, and the wards simply stop this mana from reaching the point you are providing it at (I.e. It sends the active mana someplace else). The ''mana-anchor" is just a nice way to describe this, really.

Thanhium produces active mana at a constant rate. That has always been the case. Besides, this is a broad enough definition that it merely helps others build lore on top of it. I've thought it through a lot and I can't find problems. If you can, I'd be pretty surprised!

This is one of the things that pops up on Google images if you search up 'lifeforce is mana'. His face is pretty similar to mine when I read the phrase 'lifeforce is mana' so there's that.

You're out to get me, Ski!1!! First off, how does this contradict how Thanhium works? I wrote the latest lore for the way thanhium works (and that involves a lot of mana-related stuff) and it functions perfectly. Unless I don't understand my own lore or you are referring to the other thanhium lore (which doesn't explain mana-interaction as much as my lore does)? Second, I realise I did not mention that aura isn't always visible. Thanks for pointing that out :) Finally, what other contradictions are you thinking up?

It's commonly accepted but there is no lore for it so most people make up their own explanations for it. This is something everyone can refer to. And you'd be surprised how much debating went on with some people before we all agreed on one form of applying this.

The States of Mana --+--==[-]==--+-- --+--==[-]==--+-- Passive: This is found everywhere, in everything. Souls produce passive mana, too (every sort of soul, including those of dogs, liches and every other soul-holder). Souls can only directly manipulate passive mana produced by themselves. If passive mana is produced by a soul, that soul can convert it into active mana. Thusly, a ‘mana pool’ is how much passive mana a soul has produced. Typically, a soul never uses its passive mana pool, and the excess passive mana seeps away as aura. Passive mana is not found on one’s physical person, and is instead found around their soul. When passive mana is produced by a soul, it is specific to that soul, and thus when it seeps to become aura or is converted to active mana and burned, it has a specific aura colour. All soul-bearing individuals require passive mana to survive, and thus converting all of one’s passive mana into active mana results in death (the death occurs due to being unable to do anything, be it breath, think or move). Passive mana is capable of being manipulated or changed, though this is an ability that only magics can do. Shade magic, for example, may convert passive mana into Amber, whilst alteration may manipulate passive mana and alter the properties of objects. Active: This is passive mana that has been given a task, and is thus active. All magics use active mana, and active mana is used to fuel all sorts of magical actions. Thanhium produces active mana when converting heat into mana, explaining why it is so useful. Active mana may not be reverted to passive mana, and burns away (instead of seeping away, like passive mana does) into aura when used or when in excess. Active mana may be stored in gems, which prevent it from burning away as quickly, effectively powering enchantments. Active mana gems, however, may run out, though this would take many centuries to occur. Anti-magic works by tearing active mana away from spells and other forms of magic and disposing it into the void, effectively nullifying the spells. Wards work and abjurations in a similar way, though one must understand exactly how the active mana is applied in order to ward a spell. The active mana is then redirected away from the purpose of fueling the spell, thus causing the spell to vanish. Aura: The ‘smoke’ of mana. Passive mana slowly degrades to become aura if it is in excess (such as when it is in a soul that produces lots of passive mana, such as a mage’s soul). Active mana, when used to perform actions, is spent and burned, becoming aura. This is why a mage’s aura is most visible when they perform magic, yet this does not mean it is always visible or that is must be visible when magic is cast. In fact, it is usually invisible, but the use of magic makes it more likely to be in large enough quantities to be visible. Aura can be considered the ‘smoke’ if mana being used is the ‘fire’. If aura forms in vast quantities, the colour it takes is entirely dependent on the Mage producing it, which is dependent on the active mana and thus dependent on the passive mana and finally the soul. This means that the aura colour of an individual is a good representation of their base character. Aura colour does not change under typical circumstances, however, and is a constant throughout one's life unless great change happens to them or their soul (such as becoming a Shade or binding one's soul to a soul tree). The colour of aura can mean many things, where blue could mean anything from a cool, analytical mind to a cruel, heartless one, or red meaning bravery or wrath. It is usually very difficult to be sure of a person's nature solely by their aura. Auras are typically monotone, though magical alterations to one's soul may cause unique effects to appear. This only occurs when a soul has been warped to such a level that it can no longer be considered a descendant soul. Genus: Genus is a form of dormant, powerful mana that is found in the blood of all creatures capable of magic. Through forbidden, ancient techniques, Blood Mages have found a way to manipulate this form of mana and use it to empower their magics. When manipulated, it may be used in a similar way to active mana, albeit it is far more powerful. Because it is not naturally under the domain of the Blood Mage’s soul, it is far more difficult to control or manipulate. Genus does not count as active mana; it is merely Genus. Genus does require active mana to manipulate, however. Amber: A corrupted form of passive mana that has become an entirely new state of its own, this is produced by the Shade Gem and Daeva and used by Shades to create a great manner of things. It is incredibly versatile, capable of changing temperature, density, state and many other physical and chemical properties whilst still remaining the same substance. Only those with a corrupted, Shade-imbued soul may manipulate it, but even then the process requires active mana. Amber naturally deteriorates into a flaking, black aura, though this can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours. Ectoplasm: A mixture of lifeforce and active mana, this substance glows an eerie, deathly colour and is found in all types of ghosts and spectral beings. It is typically manipulated by Mystics and Wights to perform their magic of mysticism. Mixed and made by the unnatural souls of ghosts and the spectral dead, this form of mana is the only one which blends with lifeforce, and thus its presence is largely unnatural and it is almost never found in ordinary life forms. The binding of lifeforce and active mana makes both useless to use, where the lifeforce cannot be manipulated by necromancer sand the active mana may not be used for magic. It is for this reason that, to manipulate ectoplasm, queerly enough, one requires active mana. Credits: - Mephistophelian: Writing - Bokratz/Phil: Feedback - Swgrclan: Feedback

I wrote this lore a long while back, which is pretty much the same thing but with applications and RP that goes with it has a far wider range (dark shamans use them, shamans and mental mages can affect them, each one of them is unique, etc). What does your lore add to the server that is different from this lore?

From the feedback given, I have decided to make it non-permanent, given that the person who removed the magic grants it back, or the person who lost the magic contacts the LT with the request of gaining it back through some sort of event. This means that inactive players who have had their dark shamanism removed can get it back, and will be given priority over those who weren't inactive when their dark shamanism was removed. You can quote me on that. BNK, It is also worth mentioning that one must contact the LT to be able to perform this skill. It is not a thing that may be done wantonly or without reason. No single LM may permit the use of this skill, either, thus removing and chance of bias. I hope this fixes any issues you had. If you still have issues, please tell me! I always enjoy taking feedback from the community.

Any dark shaman of any tier. Obviously, the higher tiered ones can fight back harder. Also, why do people say +1 and then don't plus one... my staff position already wrecks my post to rep ratio, don't wreck my hopes and dreams too, yo :'(