The Complete Unsound Magic Lore Link
Lore Summary
Unsound Magic is a [1] Slot Voidal Magic, given to Descendants by the Voidal Behemoth Oshoggdos’chlubb. It functions through a forged connection between the users of Unsound Magic and the Behemoth itself, allowing for various effects to be performed through the exercising of such. All of it comes at a great price, however.
To learn this magic is a similar process to any other void magic, with one simple change. That being, when forming your connection to Unsound Magic, you must reach out with your mind through the infinite expanse of chaos in search of the great Behemoth. Should they take note of your presence, they will form a connection with you. Oshoggdos will push through the teacher’s figure in the form of condensed and congealed mana. From there, the mana would flow into the student’s chest, where the aspiring Unsound Mage would begin feeling overwhelmed with a flurry of sensory overload whilst the first splotch of dark taint would appear on the center of one’s body, and the student's connection to the void would be distorted... now centered on the behemoth.
Physical Effects Once one has become an Unsound Mage, they immediately will notice voidal taint beginning to spread upon their body. At first this is small and easily hidden, though eventually grows too large to hide beyond full-body coverings. The growth of taint throughout the tiers can be expressed with this simple table:
As the voidal taint grows, so to does the voidal weakness of the Unsound Mage. For the first tier of Unsound Magic, there is no noticeable difference in strength between an Unsound Mage and a normal Voidal Mage. Beginning at Tier 2 however, the voidal taint upon their body begins to eat away at their strength, causing them to grow as weak as a regular Tier 5 voidal mage. Once they actually hit Tier 3 in Unsound Magic, the taint does not restrain itself at all, eating away at them constantly and bringing the Unsound Mage to a very frail state, hardly able to swing a sword. At this stage they’d be prone to internal bleeding and organ failure from heavy blows to the torso, easily capable of breaking their bones under heavy enough pressures.
The only “Upside” to this, though as well a negative in its own right, is their inability to feel fatigue. From the moment of becoming an Unsound Mage, they no longer notice fatigue’s toll upon their bodies. It is still present however, and they will begin to suffer from suddenly collapsing from a failure to take note of this. This can be from casting, or simply physical exertion(though mostly the former).
Mental Effects
From the moment that an Unsound Mage is connected, they will begin to suffer when they sleep. No longer bound to Lyes’ realm, and instead to Oshoggdos’ own mental-scape, they will find themselves viewing countless horrors when they rest. None of these are intended specifically to torture them, though the effect can still lead one to refuse sleep for days on end. Additionally, an Unsound Mage may understand and speak Moonspeech, and will begin to hear maddening screeches in voidal tounge echoing throughout their heads from a varity of different voidal creatures depending on the tier. Passive Effects Once the Unsound Mage is connected, they begin to give off a passive aura that drains mana from items around them. This never brings a harmful effect to another Spellcaster, but those the Unsound Mage makes friends with may begin to notice a faint tug on their mana-pool whenever the Unsound Mage is in close proximity. Beyond this, the effects of this passive drain are detailed under “Spells,” in the forms of Passive Mana Absorption I, II, and III. These effects may not progress past any line of Mage Gold however, such seeming to rend through the effects brought on by the Voidal Behemoth.
Lastly, should the Unsound Mage carry any enchanted items with Voidal-Effects on them, they would run out of mana within an hour, essentially negating their use for the Unsound Mage. This much cannot be stopped with even mage-gold, given that it is constantly in close proximity to the Unsound Mage, long enough for the effects to pass such.
Passive Mana Absorption I, II, and III
Non-Combative | T1
Emote Requirement: 2, once a IRL day for a week
Description: Beginning at this stage in their learning, the Unsound Mage produces a passive drain on sources of mana near them, causing items and other magical creations to begin to function strangely.
Mechanics:
Emote Guide:
Active Mana Absorption
Non-Combative | T1
Emote Requirement: 3 Emotes, Continuous Duration
Description: This spell forms the foundation of the magic - The manipulation of mana in other items. The Unsound Mage may focus their Passive Mana Absorption now onto a single subject of interest, and cause the item to lose its mana beginning after 3 emotes as their mana-consuming connection to Oshoggdos grows larger and more pinpointed.
Mechanics:
Emote Guide:
Confusion
Combative | T2
Emote Requirement: 2
Description: The Unsound Mage may now open up their connection to Oshoggdos, and focus it onto a specific individual to lightly disrupt the manapool of a target. The first step in an Unsound Mage’s small combative arsenal.
Mechanics:
Emote Guide:
Subversion
Non-Combative | T3
Emote Requirement: 2
Description: This spell allows the Unsound Mage to cast forth their aura, and fling it out at an object in order to distort and scar an inorganic object’s color and texture. An exercise of disruptive mana’s control over space, a useful tool for marking its presence.
Mechanics:
Emote Guide:
Sunder
Combative | T4
Emote Requirements: 4
Description: Focusing onto the mana signature of another voidal mage, the Unsound Mage launches a bolt of aura to disrupt the opposing mage’s mana pool, sending a surge of sharp pain throughout their body, breaking their connection and returning all spells to the void.
Mechanics:
Emote Guide:
Negate-Mana
Combative | T5
Emote Requirement: 4
Description: An Unsound Mage taps into their connection with Oshoggdos, allowing it to tear through them and to those around with a devastating effect on both the spells present, as well as the Unsound Mage themselves.
Mechanics:
Emote Guide:
Tier 1 (1 Week After Receiving An Accepted MA) - Upon one’s connection originally getting warped by Oshoggdos, they would notice a splotch of dark taint appear somewhere on their mid-torso. The occasional whispers of a moonspeech emanating throughout the unsound mage’s head at least once a day. They begin to feel the strange sensation of mana pulling towards them. All around one most definitely feeling confusion from the sudden lack of fatigue as well as their dreams all of a sudden turning into freakish sudden nightmares.
Spells Learned At This Tier: Passive Mana Absorption T1, Active Mana Absorption
Tier 2 (3 Weeks After Receiving An Accepted MA ) - At tier two, the unsound mage gets access to the spell Confusion. The whispers beginning to get gradually louder and appearing more often. The dark splotches of taint beginning to slowly appear on other spots of one’s body whether that be palms, shoulders, legs, calves, etc. The Unsound Mage becoming accustomed to the lack of sleep from the freakish dreamscape they’ve been cursed to. By this point, the unsound mage’s muscle mass would be almost entirely tapped away. Leaving them a frail and almost sickly shell of what they once were.
Spells Learned At This Tier: Confusion
Tier 3 (1 Month After Receiving An Accepted MA) - Once hitting tier 3, the unsound mage gains access to a greater passive mana absorption area as well as Scrying… the eldritch whispers growing to be as common as once an hour now, lasting for a good few minutes in ones head… sometimes as needless screaming yet sometimes as maddening chants and unnerving sounds, enough to turn one paranoid. The taint continues to spread and congeal around one’s body, tainting roughly about 1/3rd of a Descendant’s skin by now.
Spells Learned At This Tier: Passive Mana Absorption T3, Subversion
Tier 4 (2 Months After Receiving An Accepted MA) - At tier 4, an unsound mage is able to learn consumption. The taint growing to take over roughly ½ of a descendant’s skin. The whispers in one’s head growing to last longer and more often. There’s barely a break as what almost seems to be multiple voidal creatures talking in one’s head persists almost entirely throughout the day. It’s hard to fall asleep by this point. Very occasionally the voidal horrors even attempting to play tricks on an Unsound Mage’s mind, making things akin to mirages and other personal tricks in order to pick away at one’s mental state.
Spells Learned At This Tier: Sunder
Tier 5 (4 Months After Receiving An Accepted MA) - By the final tier, the whispers of Oshoggdos themselves could be heard. Still mostly complete and utter gibberish, yet the screeching echoes of the voice would begin to almost hypnotize the Unsound Magi. By this point, the taint would have taken up about 2/3rds of a descendant’s skin, and the whispers would be continues, multiple voices at one time and yet… the lull of Oshoggdos seems to alleviate the crippling paranoia, leaving an Unsound Mage with a form of almost artificial acceptance of what has happened to them. This is not a perfect mental control, yet in the swirling chaos of one’s mental state, reaching this point is like achieving a form of entropy in the Mage’s mentally torn head. As a result, one might find it simply easier to just.. Not fight against the lull. The lull breaking the old mind and leaving the descendant a unhinged version of what they once were, yet with a newfound sense of self-understanding. By this point a mage, now T5 can apply for a TA and attempt to corrupt a “student’s” connection. This corruption process involving Oshoggdos reaching through one’s form (usually in the form of congealed and condensed mana) and directing a descendant’s voidal connection towards themselves.
Spells Learned At This Tier:: Passive Mana Absorption T5, Negate-Mana, Connection-Corruption (The Ability To Make a TA)