Spiritualism

Communing with spirits, as well as the ability to discern the past, present and future through magical means. This is an ability highly dependent on OOC consent. If one scrys something about a particular character or place, they will need to ask the people involved. If you are the sort of person who tries to limit OOC conversation as much as possible, this is not the ability for you.
 

Occasionally, there may be a storyteller post with information that Spiritualists may see in a vision. This will rarely be something very specific, but symbolism that may need to be deciphered. Similarly, if a Spiritualist wishes to scry something specific about sim storylines or NPCs, they can file a ticket. Turnaround should be fairly quick, but please give a week for responses just in case. Sometimes, we're busy and sometimes, we are not quite sure what to give you yet! For this reason, you should describe what you plan to do, RP preparing for it, and then perform the scene when the results are given.

 

Level 0:

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Kinetic Memory Lite: By touching an object and focusing, the witch can determine the emotional state of the last person to touch it. (once a day)

ESPN: Unless the weather is magically manipulated, the witch instinctively knows what the weather will be like the next day. You don’t even have to use your breasts.(innate)

Dead-dar: Instinctively, the witch will know if a person has ever died in a room they have entered. They will not know who, why, when or how. Only that there is a mark in the ether signifying the end of a life at some point. (innate)

Level 1:

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Kinetic Memory (Level 1): By touching an object and focusing, the witch can picture the last person to touch it. If they do not know the person they see or have an ability allowing others to see what they see, they must describe the person in RP to the people they wish to inform about it. Putting (Describes Sally Joe) is not acceptable, however “A young woman with a lot of blond curly hair, about five-seven, with gray eyes” would be. If you don't know what they look like, ask. It's simply more enticing RP that way. The image seen is brief and does not move. There are no sounds or smells, unless the Spiritualist is blind. If that is the case, rather than an image, the Spiritualist will either hear a short sound (either a word that was spoken by the person while touching the object or a sound or word that the person heard while touching the object) or a smell.

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Oneiromancy (Level 1): Sometimes, you have prophetic or highly symbolic dreams. If you perform a ritual before bed to try and induce one of these happening, please file a storyteller  ticket. (and be patient, please!) Note: If you are using Oneiromancy, please be SURE to include your ritual RP scene with your ticket.

Seeing the dead: By touching one's own eyelids and concentrating, one can see the presence of any present spirits. Depending on the spirits, they may or may not see and hear the witch, but the witch can attempt to communicate with them. At this level, the witch cannot hear the spirits, so responses will have to be in gestures. (innate) Note: Be aware that communicating with spirits will normally involve a Storyteller – file a ticket and be patient. 

Level 2:

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Kinetic Memory (Level 2): By touching an object and focusing, the witch can picture the last person to touch it, as well as experience any strong emotions they had at the time of handling it. If they expend a lot of energy/reagents or are in the area that the strong emotions occurred (or both), they can witness a period of time up to two minutes long that happened when said strong emotions occurred. All of their senses are taken over by the vision, which they see as if through the eyes of the person who had last held the object. This means that in the “real” world, they are unresponsive, and if something distracts them, they lose the vision, and their reagents. Get the information by contacting the person in the vision OOC, or another person who was present. If they do not know the person they see or have an ability allowing others to see what they see, they must describe the person in RP to the people they wish to inform about it. Putting (Describes Sally Joe) is not acceptable, however “A young woman with a lot of blond curly hair, about five-seven, with gray eyes” would be. If you don't know what they look like, ask. It's simply more enticing RP that way. (lightly draining)

 

Oneiromancy (Level 2): At this level, the Spiritualist can move through dreams. At first, they will only be able to visit other spiritualists and their familiar while they sleep, but soon, they will be able to visit anyone who is either A. willing or B. of lower power than they are.  They do not have any power over the worlds of other people’s dreams, but they do have the ability to control the world of their own dream. In addition, if they give someone a totem, then sleep with one that was made as its companion, they can invite that person into their dreamworld.

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Seeing the dead too: By touching a willing person's eyelids and concentrating, one can see the presence of any present spirits. Depending on the spirits, they may or may not see and hear the witch, but the witch can attempt to communicate with them. At this level, the person cannot hear the spirits, so responses will have to be in gestures. (innate)

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Seance: With the use of a ritual and a few others present, the Spiritualist can contact one who has been dead for one month or less. This does not include vampires, unless they were turned within the last month... and then died again. To contact the spirit, they will need to be near the location of their death and possess an item belonging to them. The spirit will appear in a spectral form which may look as they did in life or as they did at their death. They will only be able to answer yes or no questions, and they are compelled to tell the truth as they saw it. If the spiritualist is in possession of a mer's tear and offers it up to the spirit, they can ask questions until the spirit is tired or irritated, and the answers it can give may be up to five words. However, in this state, the spirit may answer as they please, including lies if they so desire. If the witch is not polite or the spirit feels offended by anything about being summoned, they will not answer their summons again. However, if they are amicable, the spirit may be contacted again 2 weeks later. If a mer tear was given, it will have to be given again the next time they are summoned. (but storytellers have the right to limit these rituals/conversations for their own sanity.) (once every 2 weeks. Requires 3 people present, at least one must be a witch.) Note: Seances require the presence of a storyteller. Please submit a ticket to arrange a date and time. 

Vision Quest: at this level, the Spiritualist may perform a rite, with the aid of hallucinogenic materials and meditation, to find out certain truths about themselves or others. While they can try to focus on learning something specific, these sorts of journeys tend to reveal what the universe thinks the one on the quest needs to know rather than what the person believes they should know. Like most visions, these are told through symbolism and vague imagery and will likely require someone to help with interpretation. The quest can be stationary, but it is common for those experiencing it to wander through a natural area. A drop of mer blood is said to be the most potent material to induce vivid imagery for this rite. Of course, anyone can get high and wander around the woods, but the visions induced by the practitioners of this magic are far more powerful. Note: If you wish to file a ticket, you can, if you want to just RP it about yourself, go for it. However, Vision Quests that involve sim plots and/or other players and NPCS will require a ticket. 

Level 3:

Possessed Familiar: The Spiritualist can lure a spirit, willing or not, into an inanimate, handmade object, such as a doll or a stuffed animal, binding them to be their familiar. Their memories before becoming a familiar are lost to them.  The familiar is fairly unsettling to others, particularly if the spirit was unwilling.  It must have a representation of arms, legs, eyes etc. to use them. It has the standard abilities listed on the familiar page. You will need to include at least one rare reagent in your familiar (a lock of mer hair sewn into the doll hair, perhaps)

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 If the vessel holding the spirit is destroyed, the spirit escapes. Willing spirits may be lured back and placed in a new vessel. Unwilling spirits… become ST property…

Shared Glimpse: By touching a person, the witch can share a glimpse of a vision that they had, up to 30 seconds worth. Whether or not the person is capable of understanding what they just saw depends on their own training and experience with such things. Witches and other magically inclined creatures will have a better capacity to understand what they're seeing. Non magic using shifters will have a stronger connection to the emotions of the vision rather than the actual events. Vampires and Mer will have a stronger ability to understand if there is any magic happening in the vision (should it be a glimpse of the past or future). Particularly vivid or terrifying visions may cause non-magical humans to have a breakdown or go mad for the length of a scene. (innate)

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Walking Dead: You’re not dead, not really. But you’ve been interacting with spirits long enough that you can hear their language properly, get their attention on occasion (some dead are just too occupied doing that one thing they’re obsessed with), speak with them and move among them without disrupting their vibe.

Binding: The ability to temporarily bind a present person or spirit to an object or place, forcing it to remain within ten meters of it. A drop of mer blood is said to be the best reagent for assisting this spell. This binding ritual lasts for twenty four hours, unless the object the spirit is bound to is destroyed. If the person is alive (that is, has a body), the caster must remain in contact with them while speaking the words of the ritual through two posting rounds. If they are able to interrupt the caster, the spell fails and must be began anew. Those who are bound will find themselves incapable of damaging the thing to which they are bound, but none who are bound are compelled to be docile or obedient unless there is a secondary magic in place.

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Vision Quest Tour: at this level, the Spiritualist may guide a small group of people through a hallucinogenic fueled journey to find out certain truths about themselves or others. While they can try to focus on learning something specific, these sorts of journeys tend to reveal what the universe thinks the one on the quest needs to know rather than what the person believes they should know. Like most visions, these are told through symbolism and vague imagery and will likely require someone to help with interpretation. The quest can be stationary, but it is common for those experiencing it to wander through a natural area. A drop of mer blood is said to be the most potent material to induce vivid imagery for this rite. If used, a drop would be needed for each person undertaking the journey. Those taking this journey need not be magic users if they are guided by one with this magic. Of course, anyone can get high and wander around the woods, but the visions induced by the practitioners of this magic are far more powerful. (can be a scheduled ST event or just an impromptu group of people wandering about, up to you!)

Level 4:

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Oneiromancy (Level 4): When the spiritualist is not being accosted by prophetic dreams in their sleep, they are truly free. And potentially, a menace. Now, a master of traveling along the paths between dreams, they can visit even the unwilling, peeking in on their most private moments. That is not to say they will not be met with resistance, and to die in someone else’s dream is definitely not the same as dying in your own dream (But no spoilers) but it can be done. In your own dreams, you are a master, and you can build up walls of a dream palaces that can only be bypassed by spiritualists of equal or higher power.

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Guidance of Our Ancestors: Through the use of ritual, the Spiritualist can summon the images of their people's deceased ancestors in a grand display above them and the people gathered. This display takes quite a bit of energy, and is generally reserved for ceremonies where only certain people are present. (shifters for shifters, mer for mer, witches for witches.) There is little actual communication with these ancestors, though they can be asked if they approve of certain actions, such as a wedding or the advancement of a member of the group. They will only answer a couple of these questions, and generally in a non-verbal way, with those who agree acting in one way and those who do not acting in another. It's your show, you can decide how they show this action, but be sure to ask the admins of your particular race how they will respond OOC.

Additionally, these ancestors can either be asked for guidance on a certain action that may affect the group as a whole, or they make be ask to share a boon with the group, such as greater luck or success in battle. While the ancestors can't REALLY make people more successful in battle, they can skew things a little in their favor, such as affecting strikes so they are less fatal. Guidance will be given in the form of a mass hallucination, either dictated by the admins/storytellers, or created by the Spiritualist player in a manner that represents what they are told by admins. We will tend to veer towards the latter, unless there is a specific reason for the vision to occur in a certain way.

 

A less savory Spiritualist can exploit the ancestors and force them to answer / show what they wish them to show by holding a mermaid's scale in their mouth. The taste of the scale is vile, and the more angered the ancestors are about being manipulated, the stronger and longer the taste of the scale will remain in the mouth of the Spiritualist, long after the ritual is over. For small indiscretions, it may just be a few days, but it can be as long as a couple years depending on how angered they are. For particularly terrible things, it is rumored that the taste may remain forever. As long as the taste of the scale lingers in the mouth, the ancestors cannot be summoned by that Spiritualist successfully.

Level 5: Limits on level 5 spells are for rituals led by level 4 witches. The limits of level 5 witches is undocumented.