Mortem

*Mortem* is death magic - taking life from living things. *Mortem* is dependent on the mage's mercy and is the element of redemption.

* **Direct** - Active stealing of life from alive things
* **Simple** - Low kaph usage

Symbol - Snake

## Background

Around 2 months following the discovery of *Vitae*, Edward "Dagon" Hochstedler was found to be the culprit of numerous terrorist attacks in Qatorch. Many heroes attempted to defeat him, but all were killed. In a desperate measure, the SWANs called Entity-347 for help. 347 answered by telling them to ask Chavah about "Mortem". When researchers asked her about "Mortem", she initially acted paranoid and responded defensively. However, she did end up sharing her knowledge on *Mortem*--the only magic that truly counters *Vitae*.

The SWANs then called in Pioneeress to also learn about *Mortem*. After she was ready, she left to go defeat Dagon--and she was victorious. After she left, the SWANs decided that if *Vitae* is public knowledge, then *Mortem* should also be public knowledge; and thus, *Mortem* was revealed to the public.

## Overview

*Mortem* can take life from living things, but unlike *Vitae*, it cannot give life.

### Behavior

*Mortem* is the direct opposite of *Vitae*. *Mortem* can affect any living organic matter and non-living objects infused with vitality. *Mortem* cannot store vitality and can only take it and release it from living things. This alludes to *Mortem* being the element of redemption - redemption releases life and does not hold anything.

*Mortem* *Corpus* is one of the only ways to restore vitality from reanimations to their appropriate owners.

### Combat

While being a very peaceful-sounding class, this class has some negatives (since it is death magic).

Plants affected by *Plantae* cannot be revived no matter what. *Pestis* is a forbidden skill (for good reason).

Since *Mortem* can affect living organic matter, this means that it can be used as a direct attack. Assuming the opponent has an organic body, by killing the cells of the opponent it can cause pain. If taken to the extreme, it could kill the opponent.

#### Against other elements

* *Mortem* is the weakness of *Vitae*

*Mortem* cannot do anything in particular against other elements. It excels at going against *Vitae*, but that's about it.

### Symbolism

The symbol for *Mortem* is an Ira-snake in the form of a stylized מ & ת (from מות). Colors are usually black and crimson

### Civilian use

There is no real civilian use for *Mortem*. The most common use is in health workers - sensing vitality.

## Skills

### Plantae - Plants

Permanently take life force from plants (prevent *Vitae* *Plantae* from manipulating it).

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**Targeting** - Requires a plant to take life from

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Life force is not stored within the mage unlike *Vitae* *Plantae*. *Vitae* users will no longer be able to control the plant or absorb life force.

### Corpus - Undo Reanimation

Return vitality from reanimations to their source, effectively killing the reanimation.

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**Targeting -** Requires a reanimation to undo

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Kills reanimations safely - returns the vitality within them. If a being were to kill a reanimation, not only would it take away the vitality from the reanimation, but it would take the mage’s vitality too. Taking too much vitality away from a mage can kill them. *Mortem Corpus* is the safest way to kill reanimations.

### Pestis - Disease

Cause disease that can affect most organisms.

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**Targeting** - Requires a living organism

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**Corrupting** - Can corrupt a mage due to its common end result of death

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**Forbidden** - It is illegal to use *Mortem* *Pestis* on sapient beings

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When isolated, the disease is referred to as *Mortus Pestis Mortem.* The disease cannot spread to other organisms. Symptoms and other traits can be specified by the caster. It can only be cured by *Aquae* *Medicus*, and all symptoms will be reversed.

## Elemental Imprinting

*Mortem* is properly imprinted on the left of the chest.

## Passive Abilities

### Positive

* **Mortem** - Ability to kill living organic matter
* **Vital Signs** - Sense vitality
* **Vaccinated** - Immune to *Mortem Pestis*
* **Low Vitality** - Vitality cannot be sensed

### Negative

* **Low Vitality** - Vitality cannot be sensed

## Known Users

* Demon's Covenant members use *Mortem* for terrorist attacks (more specifically, *Mortem* *Pestis*)

## Trivia

* Mortem means death in Latin
* The name for *Mortem* *Pestis* derived from *Yersinia Pestis* (scientific name for the Black Death). It would have been originally *Mortem Mortis.*
* Ironically, *Mortem* is not a feared class because it is used to basically clean up *Vitae*. In fact it is one of the most respected classes.