Psychomancy

> "*Speak the correct series of sounds into a man's ear and he will hurl himself off a cliff, create the right environment of visuals and he will sacrifice his life to protect it. Plant the proper ideas into a human's mind and they will work tirelessly and happily to the day they die, create the improper environment and they will become agitated and destroy everything around them. The potential of this science is limited only to the potential of the human race" -*Opening prologue: Pyschomancer's primer-
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**Psychomancy** also called **Mentalism** in some countries of Soi is the field of science that deals with the shaping, healing, and manipulation of mental faculties, primarily that of human beings, though a sub-category exists for dealing with the mental processes of various animals. **Psychomancers** and **Mentalists** are often employed by rulers of some wealthy nations or by those running large enterprises in order to keep order without the use of brute force or monetary incentives.

The applied use of psychomancy has been touted to increase efficiency in workers, keep people complacent, and ease transition of ruler ship between different nations and conquering armies. On a smaller scale, diseases of the mind such as **war fatigue** and **ennervation** can be treated, sometimes overlapping with the fields of **Biomancy**

* While some psychomancers ply their trade honestly, many find the practice unnatural or unnerving, and thus they either have to disguise it, or apply it in other fields such as sales.
* Facilities of higher learning for Psychomancy exist in The Circle. At least one guild exists in each Ashed city state

## Applied uses

### **Mind Sculpting**

> *"Every part of the body has a corresponding part of the mind, and every action, or emotion also has a corresponding part of the mind, if we can heal a broken leg by cutting it open, should we not seek to do the same with the mind?"*
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Mind Sculpting is an extreme form of psychomancy that is rarely done by anyone other that experience psychomancers to any degree of success. The art of mind sculpting involves physically manipulating the physical matter of the brain itself. This is sometimes done through long probes inserted through the eye or nose, and in rare cases, opening of the skull.

Mind sculpting, while dangerous has been able to cure serious ailments such as extreme chronic head pains caused by blunt force trauma. Though it has also been used by slaver cults to create mindless servants by excising parts of the mind linked to aggression or defiance.

Research done to improve the understanding of mind sculpting is often dangerous and illegal as experimentation is usually fatal for the subject involved. **Ashed** city states often allow their worst criminal offenders to be used in such experimentation, **Northguard** is know to perform experimentation on captured that are of little use to them. **The Citadel** and **The Circle** acquired advanced knowledge on the subject, but the latter lost most of their documentation during the great war.

## Mental constructs

### **War Mind**

A construct mostly used by Ashed Mercenaries, the **War Mind** is the mental ability to put oneself in the proper mindset for combat. The essence of the war mind is to temporarily shut down emotions that would prevent one from functioning properly in a life or death situation such as empathy or regret. This allows for the mercenary to kill with no hesitation and strike at the most vulnerable spots of the body without sympathetic pain or squeamishness. This also helps to cut down on **Residual Terror** or **War fatigue** due to the emotional disconnect when the soldier is in this state.

Ashed mercenary guilds employ psychomancers to train soldiers to induce this effect temporarily, then come out of it once the danger has passed. The mind must return to its normal state of thought or the soldier risks losing emotional functionality.

### **Broken Kingdom**

#### **Oaths**

The Oaths of Iron and Stone are part of the cultural glue which holds the Broken Kingdom together. The practice of repeating these oaths before beginning a duty and before retiring to bed is common practice in the kingdom; the words chanted softly like a mantra. The repetition is said to help focus the mind on the task at hand, and to help bring peaceful dreams.

#### **Battle Chants**

While not common among Armored Riders, the general populace of the Broken Kingdom has been known to use battle chants to help keep time in practice and to maintain morale during battle. While the practice may help some participants find reassurance and their courage in the reverberating voices of their comrades, it is generally considered by outsiders to be more of an intimidation tactic when combined with the People of Stone's reputed zest for battle. Others claim the songs helps silence or drown out any whispers of uncertainty in the ranks, preventing faltering morale among those who may have had too much time to contemplate the battle. The chants vary over time and from kingdom to kingdom; but generally follow the pattern of flirting with Death, wooing Death by dancing with her in the coming battle, and sending her to seek the enemy forces (this part usually bellowed before a charge).

#### **The Black Blade**

The Black Blade is a rumored meditation technique practiced by the Armored Riders and taught by the Members of the Trinity Order assigned to each noble family. The technique is said to help the user clear their mind of fear, stray thoughts, general emotions, and even ignoring extreme pain to stay focused on the task at hand. While such meditation techniques are rumored elsewhere in the world (Kushan's monk orders), the Black Blade is taught formally only to Armored Riders and as a part of higher religious training to those who profess the Truest King's divinity before the Magistrates with conviction and sincerity. It is rumored that this is the source of the eerie silence of the King's Army during charges and battle. It is generally assumed any Armored Rider is at least a novice in this technique, while Senior Riders and Knighted Riders are considered experts who can assist novices in achieving the mental state fully. The Trinity Order (aside from the Cathedral Guards) are generally recognized to be masters of the technique with the Magistrates of the Order of Truths being recognized as the most skilled of all.

## Known mind illnesses

### **Ennervation**

The most common of mental illness, **ennervation** refers to a state of low energy and lack of motivation that afflicts people of Soi for varying causes. Treatments include anything from certain mushroom extracts to seeing a psychomancer directly.

### **Residual terror**

**Residual terror** or **Past shock** is a recognized illness of the mind that when one experiences an event that pushes their fear or terror response too far too quickly. The illness manifests itself in extreme sensitivity to related stimuli, often putting the sufferer into a panic at innocent events that remind them of their past trauma.

### **Deep madness**

**Deep madness**, or **Miners disease** is a disease of the mind that compels those to compulsively dig in a downward direction often to the point of exhaustion. The reasons behind this are unclear, but tend to affect miners that pull extraordinarily long hours underground and can often be easily treated with exposure to sunlight and fresh air. It tends to be concentrated around the Midlands of Soi, with isolated cases being reported in the Firelands and Eastern Bloc. Instances are almost completely unheard of in the Broken Kingdom, this being attributed to the large amounts of alcohol imbibed by Kingdom miners

More extreme instances of deep madness induces auditory hallucinations of voices telling the afflicted to "dig into the deep". This effect can also be seen in **Coldwater swamps** when unfortunates get towards the geographic center and mostly drown as they swim downward.