Lykata
From Mizahar Lore
| "The easiest way to remove wisdom from the picture is to invoke emotion. Emotions are important, but can be distracting in the pursuit of truth and the reclamation of history. I can imagine the achievements we’ve made lost - in an instant - who then would look to recover them? Only those with a passion for History and a willingness to rediscover what was lost. And to those we leave breadcrumbs like the fairy tale of two children lost in the woods. Because in everything we touch we leave an impression. And that impression can be everything." - Thomas Lormar - Pre-Valterrian, Deceased Champion of Eyris |
| Gnosis | |
 The secrets are waiting. | |
| Granted by | Eyris |
|---|---|
| Positive marks | The Ability To Take Wisdom & Knowledge From Objects |
| Negative marks | Lack of Contribution, Understanding, and eventual Loss of Knowledge |
| Pos. mark appearance | A Glowing Lormar Symbol |
| Neg. mark appearance | A scarred broken Lormar Symbol |
| Mark location | Back Of Hand |
| First mark | Upon Getting The Goddess’s Attention |
| Champion | Thomas Lormar - Slain just before the Valterrian |
Lykata is the Gnosis power that Eyris - Goddess of Wisdom - grants her followers. It allows them to take an object or thing of any sort and read the past history of that object gaining insight on where it came from, what it’s purpose was, and who crafted or created it. These objects can range from those crafted to those organic - meaning bones, fossils, and even bodily fluids and scat. A person imbued with Lykata abilities can lay their hands on a stone pillar in an isolated pre-Valterrian ruins in an attempt to get information on who constructed it and why. They might ferret out images of the carver, what he was thinking when he was carving, and the purpose of the building. They might gain insight into the person’s status - slave or free craftsman - or how they actually felt about their work (pride, devotion, loathing, etc).
On the other side of the coin though, an Lykata bearer can pick up a piece of dried camel dung laying on the desert floor and get impressions from the scat as to what the animal was, maybe who its masters were, how far ahead they are, where they are going. It all really depends upon the level of the marked and how strong their ability is in terms of how much information they can gain. Information gained from animals obviously is a lot less accurate than information gained from human sources. A person invoking Lykata might understand how the animal felt, but not understand what it was thinking. Going back to the camel example, the Mark Bearer might understand the animal that excreted the dung might be tired and overburdened, yet not sure of destination or direction. However, if the camel had been on that trip multiple times, he or she might get a very clear understanding of ‘how much longer’ or ‘destination’. Knowledge, again, depends heavily on circumstance.
Lykata does not work on living things. It will work on parts from living things - feathers, horns, bones - just so long as they are separated from the act of living itself meaning they must be shed, cut off, etc.
And finally, the last thing a Lykata can do is take a ‘contribution’ and use it (at certain mark levels) to locate the Chavi of a contributor accurately and quickly in the Chavena. They do this by being able to sort out the djed of the individual mixed with the djed of other individuals and the object itself and trace it back to its source. Because of this ability, the Lykata often work hand in hand with Divinists and Dreamwalkers - and can even have multiple gnosis marks from Avalis, Nysel, and Eyris herself.
How Lykata Works
All things have Djed. It is a simple fact of life on Mizahar. When an object is crafted, handled, or has been part of a greater thing for more than just a brief moment of time djed from the living things that handled it or produced it (as in the case of feathers, horns, scat) leave a minute amount of djed from that living thing. That djed, in turn, stores information on the life and motivations of the creature it belonged too. Those whose djed have been added to an object are called ‘contributors’. Contributors are made up of any living thing; people or animals. When a Lykata invokes these ‘contributions’, they are said to be ‘reading’ an object.
A follower marked with Lykata can read that djed just like it in itself was a book or record and get impressions of the contributors themselves. Those readings are not always perfect - sometimes just fleeting impressions - but they are still important to the overall ‘history’ of an object and its purpose in life.
A follower of Eyris thusly marked has only to take up the object in his or her hands - or if it is too large - lay their hands upon it and focus. They then open their awareness, wipe their thoughts clean, and start reading the impressions they get from the object. Depending on their level, impressions can be just fleeting glimpses or vast skilled in-depth looks into the heart of who owned or created such things. A first marked Lykata user might pull an ornate but really far decayed (and thus unrecognizable as such) headstall from a burial chamber and hold it in their hands. They would get an immediate notion that it was in fact a bridal headstall from a horse. They might even catch a glimpse in their mind of the horse or horses that wore it.
A more advanced user of Lykata, a champion of Eyris, could probably tell you the name of the craftsman that created it, what kind of life he lead, why he created it, how much he was paid, and then go down to list all the horses that wore it and all the hands that touched the reins attached to it and what they were like. Lykata is an awesome humbling gift. It can bring terrible awareness of the past and clarity of what the future holds. But most importantly, it brings wisdom which is what Eyris is all about.
Lykata does not grow more difficult the older an object gets. Newly made objects and incredibly ancient artifacts are equally easy to read. Newly made objects, however, have far less ‘contributions’ and are fairly easy for the Lykata to define. Ancient objects might have hundreds if not thousands of contributions and are often far more difficult to deal with due to the sheer amount of information to wade through.
Assisting Skills
Lykata takes no formal training or prerequisites to use. To the mark bearer, the simple act of touching can invoke Lykata’s abilities. It does, however, take skill to quiet ones mind enough to really clearly see what images the Marks are able to bring forth from the objects the worshiper holds. However, there is one very important skill that can aid Lykata tremendously and that is Meditation. People well versed in Meditation seem to get a boost to being able to clear their mind and receive the images this gnosis brings forth.
Mark Progression
| Marked [Cursed] - 1 Gnosis Mark | |
| The singularly marked Lykata can invoke random images associated with objects. They might gain simple insight such as species, race, or even a name. If they are lucky they will be able to see purpose or perhaps even the mood of a contributor. Level ones don’t often get more than two or three impressions off any singular object. However, if they move through a location and try and ‘view’ more than one object at a time they can often get a pretty decent idea - via random glimpses at contributions - of what a location or set of objects was used for.
A cursed individual cannot ‘contribute’ to anything they handle. This in effect erases them, in Eyris’ mind, from the history and collective knowledge of the world. These individuals cannot teach because they have lost the ability to impart knowledge on others. Giving others simple directions, for an example, to a location in their city is beyond their ability. | |
| Favored [Despised] - 2 Gnosis Marks | |
| A favored Lykata will gain a whole host of information about a specific object and can often see details and motivations. If they are handling a reproduced book for contributions, they might not only read the copyist’s personality, but in fact read traces of the original purpose of the book as the copyist viewed it while making the copy. They can do this without reading the book and even if it is in a different language. If the book, for example, is a copy then they can only gain the copyists impressions. Original texts, however, are incredibly precious because often the Lykata can gain key concepts out of the book by reading the author’s contributions. They would also be able to read impressions from anyone who’s ever handled the book or read it. The same holds true for carvers and artisans of all kinds. At this level, language is usually not an issue because the written word is bypassed in favor for the intention behind it. Impressions come in the language of the Lykata - translated neatly by the gnosis.
Another important ability that a Lykata can do at this level is locating the chavi of a person - even one that is long dead. They cannot necessarily ‘read’ the chavi without other gnosis marks like divination and dreamwalking, but they can be important tools for Divinists and Dreamwalkers who are desperately trying to locate lost chavi. They have the ability after locating a chavi (with some difficulty) to impart this knowledge on to other marked followers (of Avalis or Nysel) for their use. In this way, Eyris inspires cooperation and learning among the other gods. A secondary cursed individual will stop being able to retain any knowledge he or she learns after receiving the second mark. They in essence become developmentally halted at their current level of knowledge. A touch from one of these individuals can also cause knowledge loss in others. | |
| Priest/Priestess [Adversary] - 3 Gnosis Marks | |
| At this marked stage, the follower becomes an actual priest or priestess of Eyris. They have all the first and second stage abilities, but in addition often can comb through these impressions, guide them, and gain specific information easily and accurately. Using Lykata to them is just as easy as using their eyes or ears. They can locate contributors’ chavi instantly and accurately. Priests and Priestesses, most importantly, can with a simple touch, share their readings with others. By taking the hand of someone and then touching an object or thing and invoking the Lykata abilities, those impressions not only fill their mind but the minds of the people who have physical contact with them. For this reason, the priests and priestesses of Eyris often act as judges in communities. While they cannot read off the living, the 3rd Marked Lykata can easily get the greater picture of a scene from a murder weapon or a stolen item recovered in someone’s possession and then ‘read’. These individuals are greatly respected in various communities, though the darker side often covets them for more nefarious and forced situations as information slaves.
Priests and priestesses can also finally read sections of chavi that are pertinent to the contributions they locate the Chavi by. This means that if a slave was carving on a stone tablet for a full season and left a ‘contribution’ on it - the Lykata can read the piece of chavi from that slave that was created in that season of servitude working on that object | |
| Champion [Nemesis] - 4 Gnosis Marks | |
| Truly staggering in their power, Champions of Eyris often teeter on the brink of madness. They can touch something and access everything and everyone that’s ever came in contact with that object. Not only can they know those in contact’s personal histories and thoughts, but they can access their chavi much like divination can in order to access the whole of those persons lives. They cannot alter chavi like dreamwalkers, nor can they as clearly read them like Divinists; but they can see the whole of a contributor’s life and make certain accurate assumptions.
It is said that the murderer responsible for Thomas Lormar’s death, a druvin, is marked with a forth negative mark from Eyris though there are no actual recorded histories of this being the mere rumor or actual fact. | |