Forbidden Arts (Old Lore)

## Introduction

The Forbidden Arts are a range of supernatural powers that humans naturally obtain, granting them the ability to change their enviroment. Most of these Arts can be learned by anyone with the necessairy knowledge. The Dawnbringers outlawed the practice of each of these Arts, even though its agents often use them.

## Known Arts

The most prominent of the Forbidden Arts, as above, are usually associated with dark powers. Those who learn and master them are often feared and hated by common men aswell as their rulers, seen as witches or worse. For that reason, these arts are usually practiced in the dark and never in the public.

### Bornweaving

Many races have priests or alchemists, guarding the Born and experimenting with it. Due to distillation and magical practices it is possible to isolate certain natural features and abilites of a race. This can create a deadly poison killing or mutating a individual. Those more skilled can also create elixirs able to alter the form or biology of a individual, enhancing certain parts in their genom. This can strengthen some muscles or change there genes in general, but also gives them the ability to develop features that have been long lost in their evolution or belong to the opposite sex. Through this, Bornweavers can create Elixirs that change the appearence, hair- or skincolor. Some might even make their subjects stronger or taller, let them age faster or slower or change their entire physiology.

Even though the practice is strictly outlawed and probably the one prosecuted the most, there are alot of Gutteralchemist that offer their expertise to those seeking cure to a heavy disease, a longer life or the quick regeneration of injuries.

### Minddancing

Minddancing is a art as old as its
powerful. Every thinking species is able to perform it and every
individual can learn and master it, even though only few are aware of
it. A Minddancers can invade a targets mind, manipulating and reading
their memories. Those who dig deeper can enter the connection between
mind and soul, a world of its own, representing the victims
personality. There they can change memories at will, damadge his
mind, lobotomise or even kill their target. However entering ones
mind is not without danger for a Minddancers might get trapped inside
or be attacked by the defender.

According to the common people the art is connected to Witchcraft and those who practice it often known as Mindeaters. Under Dawnbringer ranks aswell as local cartells and gangs Minddancers are highly valued as they are able to extract every information from the mind of their victim.

### Forseeing

Often mistaked with prophecy,
Foresight grants a Forseer the ability to understand and analyse the
world around him. This ability is close to magic, but instead of
altering reality, a Forseers connects himself with its framework.
This way, he can block magic, detect manipulations of the flow of reality and
predict the future upon the information given to him, for he
understands that the entire universe is based on cause and effect.

It is not exactly known if this Art is based on a natural talent or training but certain individuals develop if from time to time. Forseers are probably the ones the least prosecuted for they are little danger and most are selfproclaimed imposters anyways

### Shadowbending

Only a handful of people are blessed
with a connection to Arafel, the Maze of Shadows. The energetic web
of the Spectres, the dark energies of the dead. A few humans are born
with the ability to manipulate it in Garauth fashion, granting them
the Mazes powers. They usually do not live long however since both
the Dawnbringers and the ghosts of the Garauth hunt them for using this power. None of them will leave a Shadowbender alive.

### Ritespeaking

Ritespeaking is less of a Art, rather a secret teaching. The Dawnbringers list it as a Forbidden Art however, even though it is mostly based on knowledge and ingredeance and less on skill. A ritualist can use this teaching to perform powerful rituals, enhancing the power of magic or creating or manipulate their enviroment. Each ritual connects itself with the fabric of reality, activating hidden resources of power and allowing the ritualist to spark for stronger changes.

Some of these rites can be casually used to ease up the every day life, find enemies or shield certain areas, most of them however are connected to darker powers with the goal to weaken the worldwalls and create gateways to the horrors that lurk outside.

### Spellcasting

Spellcasting or simply magic is probably the most common and well known of the Forbidden Arts. Its possibilites are endless, however a caster us usally very limited in their usage. To really use a spell one must understand it and the physical phenomenom behind it. Should a caster know nothing about electricty, a thunderbold will be nothing but a glowing illusion. Usually a caster focusses on a certain group of spells that are connected to each other since this makes them far easier to learn. It takes between five and fifty years to fully master a spell, usually even longer if a caster lacks sources and knowledge to really learn them. Only those with a strong bornbound, a long life and a vast amount of arcana knowledge are able to become powerful enough to whipe out entire armies with their spells. A ordinary human will be much stronger if he invests his time in martial arts instead of magic.