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Along with the magic the psi is another all-round power in Meln. Thought is the basic element of psi. Several thoughts form a way of thinking. Many involved ways of thinking form a persona. The persona is intual’s* character which is also called as a soul, karma, aura or a focus of thoughts. When a one persona touches, speaks, listens, watches or on the whole thinks of another persona, a thought bond is formed between them. The bound thoughts combine personas to a universal network of thoughts. The more often another persona is thought about the stronger the bond becomes. It doesn’t matter what kind of the thought connecting the two personas is. It can be friendship, fear, suspicion, envy or hate. Only the strength of the thought matters. The more intual hates another persona the stronger the thought bond becomes and stronger that subject of hate belongs to a life of intual in question.
(*Definition of intual: Intuals are those who are aware of themselves and their existence. Intuals understand time concepts of past present and future.)
“You lowest caste focus of thoughts!”
- Insult used by mentalists –
Psi doesn’t exist in matter and air like magic, but it exists as a network between focuses of thoughts. In this association we use the term focus of thoughts, because in addition to intuals, also animals, plants and even items are included. Psi is strongest in intuals. In animals psi appears in form of primitive thoughts and instincts. Plants have only a very little and items only have a psi potential. Psi potential means that a bond of thought can be created to the item, but the item can’t independently create or send a new bond of thought. Should a worldwide map of psi energy being drawn, the psi energy would be visible everywhere where life and death exist. Strongest it would be in largest intual towns. In that map psi would be seen like a mycelium, because a persona is always connected with several focuses of thoughts. A psychic paranormal phenomenon always causes “a jag” in the psi network. The stronger the jag is the larger and more widely it can be felt. Roughly saying: By the criterion of mortals, 50 meters is maximum distance where even the strongest paranormal phenomenon is blend unnoticeable in all time changing psi-network.
Psi, life and death
Practically psi isn’t same as life. It only appears more clearly besides life. The psi can also appear very powerfully in death. Ghosts for instance are pure psi-energy. They were living beings death was able to take only a physical body. Their will or in other words psyche was far too strong to “rest.” The psyche of living and death beings are completely different. Psi of death beings can be powerful but that is “static.” In a way it is already beyond the affection of time. Ghosts are intuals. They are aware of themselves and their surroundings. The ghosts know concepts of the past, present and future, but can’t assume those anymore. Death psi doesn’t develop same way as living psi does. It may be said that living psi is flaming and death psi only glows.
The most powerful embodiment of psi is the phoenix, which in some cultures is called only by name of a fiery bird. That appellation comes from its flaming appearance. Like the body of ghosts also body of phoenix is pure psi energy. The difference between the phoenix and ghost is that the psi of phoenix is extremely living. The psychic strength of fiery bird was so enormous that it nearly solidified.
Influencing
Psychic powers can most easily affect to other psyches or in other words personas. The personas usually are seamlessly connected to their body or living matter. That is the easiest way to affect concrete world with psi. For example a psyche wishes that a bronze-silt lying on ground raises and moves into own purse. That psyche simply asks a hand to reach and pick up the coin and put it into the purse. That way a psyche affects a death matter via a living matter. Psychists are intuals having exceptionally strong will. They are able to use the thought bonds between thought focuses and that way they are able to manipulate other personas and via those even living material of other personas. The psychists are aware of their possibilities to affect with their mentality and thus devoted to examining themselves and their surroundings. The psychists are masters to live “in this moment.” They are trained to be conscious of their surroundings: humans, animals and atmosphere. They don’t have to see expression of other human or hear his words to sense the atmosphere.
Passive or in other words subconscious psi appears as emotions in normal human’s everyday life. Humans for example send low psi energy to their surroundings all the time. It appears also as physical manners and marks. When a young maid is charmed by a boy, the psi energy automatically makes her pupils expand a little. That information is transferred to the boy when he looks at her eyes even though he won’t become aware of it. If the boy would sensitively live in that moment he would sense the closeness of the charmed girl even though he wouldn’t otherwise sense her. This is also valid to aversion, hate and other emotions. The stronger the emotion is the farther psi carries and the clearer it is to sense. Identical twins could have a very strong psychic bond. If they would practice they could possibly communicate via emotions or even impressions. Even without practicing they could possibly sense each others thoughts.
Psi and lifeless material
In this chapter we speak about a stone, which represents all lifeless material. Earlier we spoke about how psyche affects living material, but a psyche strong and trained enough could affect even lifeless material. Then a typical “way of thinking” of the material in question must be known. Plants have only some psi and stone has it even less. The stone has so less psi that it is classified to only have psi potential. Extremely weak psyche of stone has only two meanings, which are striving downwards and coherence. Even though the psyche of the stone is only a potential, it still must be understood first, before it can be affected. Understanding way of thinking of different creatures and matters is the most difficult part of being a mentalist. Indeed the intual don’t even always perfectly understand itself. When a psychist understands the stone’s way of thinking, he can easily win the psyche of stone with his own willpower. This way the psychist could for example “persuade” the stone to become passive, when it won’t strive anyplace anymore, but crumbles. If the psychist wants the stone only to stop striving downwards, the stone becomes weightless and it begins floating.
Same phenomena work in case of lucky charms too, but in smaller scale. When an intual carries some chosen item long enough and positively believes to it, the item would be charged with a positive energy. When needed, subconscious mind can bale out this positive energy, which intual itself calls as luck.
Psychic items
All materials have different capacity of psi-potential. Gold, gems and charmed or in other words noble platinum don’t have any psi-potential. Next least psi-potential is in lead. The materials listed above block the course of psychic energy. Even a thick forehead band made of gold or lead blocks all telepathic activity both inwards and outwards. By the same token and not necessarily knowingly doing this, kings often make their crowns of gold. Psi-potential is much larger in materials that have been alive once than in materials completely lifeless. For example materials like bone and wood have once been alive. Of the metals platinum and silver have the largest psi-potential, which nearly reaches the potential of once lived materials.
The psychists can knowingly store up or charge psyche into an item and take necessary amount back when needed. This happens in a similar way how wizards charm magical items. This way common items become psychic items and their modes of action can resemble magical items. The psi-potential of item determines the amount of psi energy that can be charged into that item. It may be possible, though very difficult to charge so much psi energy into some item that it begins reacting to itself. This way it begins forming thought bonds and it no more is a lowest caste thought focus. In other words the item learns forming own primitive thoughts. These kinds of items are called as intelligent items. The intelligence level of these items varies from empathy to psychic. The psychic items use the psi-network in a same way as bards do. They absorb psi-energy from their surroundings and feed themselves with it. They absorb so little amounts of psyche in a time that it doesn’t disturb or affect for the surroundings.
Empathic items can perceive thoughts and feelings from surroundings. They can perceive racial ways of thinking, different emotions or even lies and truths. Empathic items can react for their experiences with their own unique way. The item could get warm or burst into flames for example, when it perceives ways of thinking typical to undead. (It must be noted here that animated undead don’t send any kind of thought waves. This kind of weapon could only sense intelligent undead.) Empathic item could change color when noticing a lie. The item charged with a psi is like a child. The parents can never know the character of the child, but can try to foster it towards desired direction. Like an intual, also intelligent item is an individual. Empathic item can communicate with simple emotions.
Mental item is much harder to create than empathic item. To make a mental item a psychist must regularly store up more psychic energy into that item. At the same time he must “foster” the item and tech desired skills to it. The psychist must also teach his own possible comprehensions about right and wrong, if the item seems to be developing a comprehension of good and evil. Deplorably often empathic item is over-charged. If this happens, all psyche discharges from the item and its psi-potential is destroyed. The way of thinking of mental item is also simple, but it already has clear phases of development like intuals have. A mental item has a childhood, puberty and adulthood. Childhood of mental item is full of new things. In puberty it seeks its own identity and in adulthood its development has become more balanced. These phases of development don’t appear in a same way than in humans. This is, because items don’t have same kind of needs than living intuals. Difference of needs is often a wide chasm between human and intelligent item. Intelligent items don’t suffer hunger or thirst. Sexual instincts don’t make them running tongue under the belt. One need common to all beings they have and that is the need to survive. A mental item can communicate with emotions and mental images. Few psychic abilities can be taught to a mental item.
The intelligence of a psychic item is near genius intual. Even experienced psychist needs one human lifetime to create a psychic item. The psychic item can do much more than a mental item. It could possibly even observe its surroundings by seeing and hearing. These senses don’t directly correspond to human senses, but the outcome is same. Logical thinking has developed on stage where psychic item can measure its intelligence with intuals. It could be able to even control other intuals. Psychic item understands the difference of good and evil and it can make its own choices between right and wrong. Because of this psychic items feel also regret, superiority or uncertainty. Psychic item probably don’t have same need than living beings, but it could have a need to reproduce. This however has nothing to do with sexuality. It appears so that the item tries to get someone to prepare similar item. If old psychic item succeeds in its aims, it itself teaches and charges this new item. Notorious psychic items could have an ability to drain the psyche of living intuals. These can kill intual with a brain dead. Most known items doing this are “Grimdala” (The dark light) and his son “Rothames” (The stranger). These swords were forged in the Age of miracles in Mirion. Psychic items communicate with emotions, mental images, suggestions and telepathic words. Psychic item can itself study its own psychic powers.
Proportion of psi and magic
In all simplicity difference of psi and magic can be brought to a head that psi is much more cunning and careful than magic. Psychists also deal more with their own body and its possibilities than wizards. Magic is easier way to affect matter directly and psi is easier way to affect matter either via persona or cosmic phenomena. A cosmic phenomenon means gravitation for example. A wizard acts so that he channels magical energy on ground below target’s feet and then releases it as an explosion. This way the target and ground area are flown aloft. A psychist to same extend grasps more abstract concept: the gravity and temporarily inverts it. For an outsider the results are exactly the same, but the purpose, which is damaging the target, happens in a different phase. The wizard damages the target first time when magic explodes upwards as a pressure and stones strongly hit the target. More damage comes when dirt and the target fall back on ground. The psychist to same extend damages the target only when the target and dirt fall back on ground.
Psi is the easier way to affect abstract matters, because their conceptual truth is easier to distort than concrete truths. A merchant living in Meln hasn’t necessarily even thought that concept of gravity even exists. “When a coin drops, it goes downwards” a merchant thinks. The merchant doesn’t have to think why it happens. By seeing it merchant’s point of view: “It will drop anyway no matter how much I would think about it.” This is a typical way of thinking among intuals. A psychist has practiced thinking impossibilities: “What if the coin wouldn’t drop downwards, but upwards?” This is loosening of conventional ways of thinking. First one must get loose of these, before he or she could even think about other possibilities.
Wizards still think in a way of typical intuals that a stone always drops downwards if nothing supports it. They have studied to shape magic so that it supports or moves the stone. By differences of the ways of thinking magic and psi are completely separate of each other. Detecting magic doesn’t reveal paranormal phenomena and vice versa.
Exceptional intuals – the psychists
Anybody can’t study to become a psychist, but one must born to be one. Quality of individual’s mentality and strength affects to this. Many with exceptionally strong psychic talents will never even know of their possibilities. This is because they don’t ever even think to depart from conventional ways of thinking. Very often psychist has had a twin brother of twin sister in some stage of development. The twin sibling hasn’t necessarily been concrete. It could have existed only in embryo phase when also psyche has been partially developed and then merged into the stronger embryo. This way the stronger embryo has got psyches of two intuals. Usually the embryos have attached to each other from spines when nerve tracks are the same and psyches can easily identify. Usually these kinds of intuals never know that they have an embryo of their twin sibling besides their spinal cord. Probably it never affects to intuals life. In very rare cases the embryo can be seen. Only fraction of children having a twin sibling the unborn embryo is seen as a bulge. Only a minimal part of these could have embryo-like features on skin or under skin. Should this kind of deformed child be born, it is very likely that the baby is slain as a child of evil powers.
Especially strong psi-powers are among Halflings of Meln. This is because only a third of all Halfling babies born completely alone. Two of three halflings have one or more twin sibling. One of ten seemingly alone born halfling has a sibling attached to its spinal cord. In other words three halflings of hundred could probably have psychic talents. It is not known how many of those are aware of their powers or is even interested in practicing them.
Written by : NorAdron
Translated by : MoR
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