Blin

Blin is one of the most important concepts in Razhai both for the lore of the world and as an actual game mechanics. Blin is a major factor because it is the "magic" of the world of Razhai. It is the energy that allows fantastical, otherworldy things to happen. The concept of Blin is very abstract and pretty metaphysical due to having its' roots in a concept that doesn't exist, mainly being magic.

## Overview

Every living creature has a spirit in the fictional world of Razhai. These spirits or souls can range wildly from different races and even individuals in each race. A soul is responsible for the personality and abilities of any living creature. The type of soul can differ between creatures but they all share the same foundation of elements. For example the soul of a tree is very different than the soul of a human. The soul of a tree is very simple and quiet and isn't complex due to the fact that plants don't have any sentience so they have very simple souls. A human on the other hand has a much more complex soul that is much more powerful by comparison and has unique features to humans. While there are many differences between these two examples the soul of a tree and the soul of a human are both made of the same energy, a human soul is just a more complex figuration of this energy.

The soul is what is responsible for a creature having life but the soul isn't the same concept as Blin. Blin is the concept of a creature turning their own soul into a form of usable energy. This energy can be used in a limitless amount of ways but most commonly it is used to enhanced the physical ability of a creature. For example a human using Blin can enhance their strength to jump higher, lift heavy objects, or throw a lethal punch. This is the most common application of Blin because it is a fairly easy technique to learn. Superhuman strength and agility is the very bare minimum of the application of Blin however. Blin can be used as far as the users' imagination and willpower can take them. When first finding out about Blin one may be mislead about Blins' true nature, they might see Blin as a power that can make someone a god but Blin is very far from that reality.

The use of Blin follows a series of rules based on its' various properties and can be very dangerous if these rules aren't understood or followed. One of the first rules of Blin a new Blin user learns is their own limitations. The inhabitants that walk Razhai are mortal and have to obey the laws of living creatures and Blin adheres to these properties as well. The power of a users Blin is dictated by the overall strength of a users' soul and is calculated by the combination of their physical ability, their mental capacity//intelligence and overall willpower. If a Blin user has a weak soul they won't be able to produce a lot of energy meaning that they have a smaller limit to their abilities. The strength of a users' soul also determines how much Blin energy they can use before having to rest and replenish it. The stronger the users' soul is the more Blin they are able to wield at a time but the more Blin they use the longer they will have to rest until a full recovery. The amount of Blin a user is able to use at once isn't determined by the strength of a users' soul however instead being determined on an individual basis. Some users have the capacity to use massive amounts of Blin at once, even as far as using half of it in a single action. The more Blin used during an action of attack the more potent it will be with the downside that a user will deplete their energy faster. The opposite principal goes for users who have a much tighter restriction on the amount of Blin they can use at once. While they may not have as powerful effects these types of users obviously have more endurance due to using less of their energy at once. Think of this concept like the difference between sprinters and runners. Athletes who specialize in sprinting short distances move much faster and exerts all of their energy over a short time. Runners who run marathons may not be as fast as the sprinter but they use their total energy over the course of an entire marathon compared to the short few minute race of a sprinter.

If a Blin user tries to push these limits however the resulting effects can be very dangerous. There are two main ways a Blin user can surpass their natural limits and that is by using more energy than they have available and using more energy at once than they are capable of. These two concepts are referred to as **Exhaustion** and **Overload.** The soul of an individual is the main reason they have life at all and tapping into that energy further than normal can be dangerous.

Every Blin user has a certain level of excess energy their soul produces that can be used with no consequence and this amount of excess energy is linked to the strength of the soul. This excess energy isn't necessary to the basic functions of the soul and can be used and replenished over time. The dangerous effects of exhaustion are felt when a user runs out of this excess energy and tries to use more Blin energy. Since the user has no more excess energy they use essential parts of their soul as energy which will weaken their overall life force. A good parallel to this effect is what happens when an organism starves to death. At first the body uses the food consumed as energy to perform its' necessary functions such as breathing, moving, etc. When a body hasn't eaten any food, the body will use up the fats as a stored source of energy. The excess energy a soul produces can be seen like the food a person eats because the energy can be consumed with no consequence to the body. Things get tricky when the body runs out of food however and that's when the usage of Blin gets dangerous as well. When a body has no source of nutrients to use it will start to break down muscle to use as energy. Blin is similar because with excess energy, the user will start to break down fundamental parts of the soul to use as energy. The first part of the soul to be consumed is the users' willpower which can lead to side effects like depression, hopelessness and a lack of drive to complete any task. In severe examples a user might take their own life due to the lack of willpower to even just keep living. Luckily if a user consumes their willpower they can gain it back with the proper steps and training just like how muscles can be grown again after starvation. The next steps of Blin exhaustion are extremely dangerous and usually irreversible however. Containing with the starvation similarities, when a body has no more muscles to break down for energy the body will start to break down organs just to keep functioning. This how people die of starvation, they consume their own organs to the point they are unusable and Blin is similar. After consuming willpower, the Blin user can further breakdown the soul to be used as energy. The results of this will be some form of insanity as the user loses their personality and sense of who they are. Depending on the severity of the exhaustion the user may be irreparably damaged and may live the rest of their life with a fractured psyche. If their personality is completely consumed they will become a feral husk that doesn't resemble anything of who they once were. Even further than becoming a husk of a person a Blin user can sacrifice the very core of their soul as one final action in exchange for their life. Understanding the reserves of energy one has is extremely important and learning what your limits are can mean the difference between life and death in a stressful situation.

Overload is the other dangerous effect of Blin consumption and has more physical effects rather than psychological ones. Every Blin user has a unique restriction on how much Blin they can use at once and through training this limit can be expanded or reduced. If a user tries to use more or less Blin than their natural limitation they will experience negative physical effects. This is because their bodies can't take the extra pressure of added energy and will fail. Much like an athlete tearing a muscle if they exert to much force, a Blin user can exert to much energy resulting in a range of colorful but deadly effects. For example if a Blin user is casting a fireball projectile from their hand and they try to add more power than their natural restriction allows, a side effect could be a broken arm at the minimum and completely blowing their arm off at worst. To avoid the disastrous effects of overload a Blin user must train to better control or unleash their Blin powers.

While every creature has the capability to utilize Blin, not every creature can naturally use Blin. In fact the ability to naturally use Blin from birth is quite rare and Blin users who can utilize Blin from birth are usually exceptionally powerful. For most average people however the effects of Blin have to be awakened by proper training and sometimes it is even necessary for the individual to be exposed to another source of Blin before they can use their own. Blin is like a muscle in the fact that it has to be trained and taken proper care of in order to grow to its' full potential. This is why the majority of common people living in Razhai as well as natural animals can't use Blin. While they possess the ability to use their soul and Blin energy they simply don't know how to train in order to access this power.

## History

The history of Blin is actually quite simple even though it is a complex concept. The true introduction of Blin dates all the way back to the Synth-Walkers but the concept of Blin didn't exist. The Synths didn't understand the concept of a soul so the idea of trying to harness power from a soul wasn't even considered. The only examples of Blin were those born with exceptional power and an innate ability to channel Blin. These members of the synth-walker society were held as superhumans and given very special treatment. This all changed after Saivoz however and the bombings of Razhai are what is mostly responsible for the people of Razhai understanding Blin they way they do now.

Saivoz was responsible for the fracturing of the **opayaga** which had a drastic effect on all creatures with a soul. The new increased levels of **opa** energy was a perfect environment for awakening and growing ones ability to use Blin. More and more children were born with natural Blin using capabilities and those seeking to learn the uses of Blin found it easy to start. Even still with all this new found ease of access to blin, not many people would set out to master it. The road to becoming a proficient Blin user was extremely hard, and required a lot of strength, willpower and determination. Not to mention it was extremely dangerous to learn to control Blin deterring even more people away from the path of Blin. While the common farmer may have no need for Blin, many warriors and adventurers may find it worthwhile to train in the art of using Blin.

## Applications

The applications of Blin are extremely vast and can be used in many different ways but most Blin users tend to gravitate towards one of the types of Blin usage. These types of Blin usage dictate what kinds of abilities the user will be able to best master. These categories are Enhancers, Conjurers, Manipulators and specialists.

### Enhancers

Enhancer type ability involve granting extra powers or abilities to individuals or objects. Enhancers convert Blin energy into straight power that can enhance themselves or other people or objects. The most basic example of an Enhancer power is for a fighter to use Blin to make their strikes hit harder and faster. By channeling Blin into muscles a Blin user can increase their physical strength and durability by however much they can muster. In some cases this means a user may only gain enough strength to block a single bullet or become strong enough to survive a direct hit from a missile. These are only the most basic examples and the applications for enhancement type abilities are limitless. Some users can even use their Blin to give extra strength to other people or even but extra power in objects. While enhancement abilities are seemingly simple compared to other Blin abilities, their effectiveness cannot be understated. Instead of training a complex ability, many adventurers instead just train simple techniques that will give them added strength, agility and durability for use in the wilds. Enhancer abilities are used in direct melee or ranged combat or can be used for things like manual labor. One important distinction about enchantment abilities is that it strengthens the effects of a pre-existing characteristic. For example enhancement would make a human stronger by improving the performance of their muscles but not give them any extra properties like the ability to fly.

### Conjurers

Conjurers abilities allow Blin users to create objects out of Blin. These objects can range from energy making different different shapes and pictures like to form an illusion or Blin energy converting to actual matter. Conjuration Blin has a lot of applications and can be used to make a lot of different ways. A general rule of conjuration is the simpler the substance one is trying to create, the easier and less energy consuming it is. Creating a small block of iron takes a good amount of training and energy use at first but can be easily mastered in a relatively short amount of time. Something like human flesh is much harder to create due to it being a much more complex structure. Some conjurers don't focus on creating physical matter, instead creating only visual representations of Blin. This type of Blin can be used as an illusion to trick the mind. A simple example of this illusionary technique is when a Blin user makes their Blin extremely bright and blinding to disorientate an opponent. Conjurers are extremely powerful and master conjurers can make very powerful and complex objects.

### Manipulators

Manipulator abilities allow a Blin user to change the properties of an object, even at a molecular level. A manipulator is able to give or take away properties to objects. For a basic example a manipulator could raise the temperature of a material like iron. Manipulators can turn a material into another type of material like turning iron into gold. Turning materials into other materials is one of the most complex manipulator processes however and require a lot of training and practice. Manipulator abilities have a wide range of applications from alchemy to advanced combat tactics.

## Schools of Blin

Due to the limitless potential of Blin, many beginner Blin users don't really know where to start or how to use it and the best starting place is a school of Blin. Many different groups and organizations have formed schools of Blin for people to follow. These schools aren't usually a specific place but a collection of similar techniques, skills, and philosophy on the use of Blin. These schools or paths of Blin lead to a particular lifestyle and focus around different philosophies that some users take to heart while others abandon. There are some major schools that almost every beginner Blin user studies at first and these are the schools of Destruction, Restoration, and Alchemy. These three schools are the broadest and most encompassing and almost every advanced Blin user uses or has used techniques form one of these three schools. These three schools are not all encompassing however and there are many different popular schools as well as very small niche schools and even individual techniques that standalone.

#### School of Destructa

The school of Destructa is focused on the way Blin is used for warfare. This is one of the most vast schools of Blin and almost every single Blin user has at least one or two of the base techniques learned in this school.

#### School of Alchemy

The school of Alchemy is focused on the transformation on physical matter based on the understanding of molecular composition. Many scientists practice alchemy to create different substances to help with experimentation.

#### School of Restoration

The school of restoration is focused on healing and restoring objects to their previous state. Many priests and doctors use this school of Blin to help heal people of diseases and injuries.

#### Ammomancy

Ammomancy is similar to the school of destructa but separate because it entirely focuses on fire arms. Not only does ammomancy increase the effectiveness of weapons but also creating guns, maintaining guns and wielding guns.