Path of the Mind

> "*Trust in ones servants is what a wise ruler sows and a foolish one harvests.*"
> ― Abstract from the book Asrai Hementor
>
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## General

### Other names

Quai Shaiai, Path of the Divine Messanger

## Specific

### Notable powers

Controlling minds, giving superficial comands

## Introduction

The Path of the Mind was developed in Xyrillia and is widely spread, especially among the nobility and royal mages who use it in political affairs.

## History

The power originates from the Geungaoi who mastered it to controll their large amounts of servants and create a hive mind controlled by their magic users. The Xyrillians later attempted to learn and copy this power. Although they brought the associated commands to a form that surpasses that of the Geungaoi, they are troubled to controll larger masses effectivly and can only achieve this through the help of Ley-Stones.

## Powers

The Path of the Mind is able to project ones will upon the minds of others. The commands it uses are rootet deep in the mind of the Antediluvian. Understanding the true meaning of an order and putting it in the right words is the key to mastering this path. Those with sufficient willpower can use it to bend their surroundings to their will with a few words. Magical commands are usually extremly complex and intricate. When uttering them, the phrasing must be exact as they cant leave any room for interpretation. Orders that can be interpreted in more then one way will either create unexpected results or not work at all. Yet it is not necessairy that the target understands the command as it draws its power from the association within the casters mind. It is thus possible to use a rather simple and quick command the caster associates with the full and detailed order. Fully understanding the desired command and every possible interpretation is essential to master this power. For that reason, Xyrillian mages have developed an entire language dedicated to this path of magic. Each word is connected to a very long litany of words the caster must study before using it. They usually do not make up their own commands since the process is increadibly time consuming but rather learn existing ones. It is possible to target more then a single thing with a command, yet this is far more complex and requires different wording and understanding.

Most casters can only use the Path of Mind to subjugate humans or animals to their will. Those who master it can make the elements or reality itself bend to its words. They may use it to destroy objects, defy gravity or kill with certainty.

## Known commands

There exists a large set of superficial commands across the dimensions, especially in Xyrillia. Its mages try to guard these with absolute secrecy so that no outsider may learn them.

### Xyrillian commands

**Sush´lai-** *Cease the movement of any muscle under thy controll. Feel the desire to stand and stay where you are and succumb to it. Do not walk or crawl or perform any movement of your feet. Lay down your arms and open your hands so that any object held by them will fall down. Do not move your lips or vocal cords. Remain still and silent.* This command is amongst the most common and simply forces a target to stop and remain paralysed.

**Kicha´lash-** *At the very place you stand right now, you will bow your head. You will go down on your knees and lower your torso until your head touches the ground. You will stay there on the floor, cowering before me and not move. Neither shall you move the muscles under your command nor anything else you might desire to do.* Often combined with the order to stop, this command can be used to make a subject bow obediently before the caster.

**Moira´shai**- *Empty your mind, empty our head, empty your soul. Do not let thoughts or feelings touch you. Let your mind be calm and clear. Like water you shall mirror what i present you and neither move nor think on your own at any capacity. Anything I will tell you are not words but the very truth, the truth about yourself.* This command is most likely amonst the most powerful. It sets a target into trance, so that the caster may hypnotize them. This is only possible when the chosen target is calm and unsuspecting of danger.

**No´gnji-** *Close your eyes. You will feel tiresome, exhausted and powerless. The only thing in your mind is sleep. Surrender to it in mind and body. Lay down and sleep.* Unlike Sush´lai which paralyzes a target only for a few seconds or minutes depending on the caster, this command can be used to put out a target for long. As long as they remain undisturbed, the target will fall into a dreamless slumber that only ends after they are well rested. It is also in very common use at royal courts to put children to rest or cure insomnia.

**Tu´shat-** This command can be used to force a target to suicide. The method may greatly change the necessairy understanding or require a different word. Tu´shat is made to force a target to stab itself in the belly with a onehanded blade.

**Din´chien-** The power of this command will make it impossible for a chosen target to tell a lie they are aware of being one.

**Dao´(...)-** The dao commands are many and amongst the most complex. They do not force actions upon a target it could perform by will but regard their body functions. The easier ones can be used to humilitate a target with their excrements or cause pleasure while the more dangerous dao commands might cause a heart ot cease beating or lungs to stop breathing. They are illegal and punishable by death.

**Lei´Shu-** This command is extremly hard to master. It allows a caster to walk on water as if it was solid ground. The water surface will carry the caster safely even during a storm or tsunami.

**Kai´chien-** With this command, a caster walk float and swim through the air. For the caster it will gain characteristics like water and enable a form of flight.

**Cru´Ji-** This command allows the caster to make objects burst. The material the object is made from must be defined. This order is amongst the hardest to learn. *Cru´Ji* only targets wood, yet there exist commands for metal, stone and silk.

**Aga´lay-** This command is able to ignite a chosen object or person within range. If it continues to burn depends on the material it is made from.

### Xaarian commands

The Xaarians have created far more commands then their western cousins. They have developed a unique language for the Path of the Mind, so that their enemies wont be able to understand or counter them.

**Suray-** This command allows a sorcerer to incinerate everything in his sight. With this accursed command he sets fourth a wave of flaming energy that burns through the air until hitting the ground where it explodes, igniting everything it touches.

**Yana Shai-** With only two words a sorcerer cracks open reality itself, sundering everything in a straigth line. This creates a blinding and maddening ray of unreality that streams fourth as fast as a galloping horse. It cuts through anything, even Leyriel, like a hot knife through butter. This commands is the hardest to master for a Xaarian, yet also the most devastating. It is more or less impossible to uphold this power for more then a few seconds. Only with the aid of an Witcheye tower can it be used to unleash devastation across large distances.

**Sashka Ren-** This command is close to Soulrender, tearing out the soul of a chosen target out of their body. Although it is easier for a target to resist this then the other two words of destruction, it will result in certain death.