Static

From Mizahar Lore

Static

Divine magic
Full name	Static
Availability	Throughout Mizahar
Learned from	Via Gods or Other Static Mages
Key concept	Ability to interfere with Divine Connections
Uses	Voice and other Sound
Risks	Detection By The Faithful

Static is a Divine Magic that grants its practitioners the ability to scramble, mute and corrupt communication (including transmission of power) from The Gods to their marked followers. This magic even has the ability to interrupt prayer in all forms depending upon the level. Static works not only on people, but on objects and concepts that have originated from The Gods. Gnosis mark powers are specifically susceptible, though marked items and sacred locations can also be affected.

Contents 1 History 2 Initiation 3 Practical Applications 4 Effects 5 Limitations and Hazards 6 Artifacts and Instruments 7 Awareness of Static 8 A Note On Multiple Gnosis Marks 9 Skill progression 10 Progression

History

Static is unique in that it is one of the only known magics to have been crafted by the Gods for the use of the faithful of those gods in controlling corrupt or out of control worshipers. In the days before the Valterrian and even in the days long prior to the Empires of Suva and Alahea, the Gods of Mizahar came together to blend their unique powers to create the divine magic of Static. As the world turned, more and more Gods joined in the sacred weaving that was static. Lead by the God Rhaus, Static was born of music – silent music – that interferes with all things Divine. This might seem like a crazy thing for the Gods to do, but in those days there were powers in the world that humans had crafted which could eclipse the individual powers of certain Gods. Humanity grew powerful, evenmoreso than most races, and at times had been known to steal the powers of the Gods themselves and harness them for their own use. Especially before the Valterrian, the divine power of individual gnosis' flowed across the lands, not always used in the way the Gods intended. And also in the days of old, more champions walked the world which were often stand-ins for absentee or inattentive Gods. These Champions caused issues, more often than naught, and had to be dealt with by the mortal world. Ruros’ death – the God of War – by the hand of the mortal Myri was instrumental in the creation and maintenance of Static. It proved to be a catalyst in finally getting the pantheon of Mizahar to unite under a common cause. The Gods did not want to see another divine death at the hand of lesser creatures wielding borrowed power without their consent. Ruros’ followers would have protected him and struck Myri down had the God’s followers had access to Static.

So taking a lesson from history, the Gods created a tool and then gifted it to their most loyal followers in the form of a divine magic. This tool, this divine magic, remained an effective and strong countermeasure to gnosis gone rogue for ages. But like all things, the world changes, disaster befalls, and knowledge gets confused or lost. Static was no different.

During the Valterrian, much of the knowledge of Static’s existence was lost as Champion’s fell and followers died by the millions. Static lost a purpose really, with so much death in the world. There was only one faction who retained control of Static and maintained a knowledge of its existence through the Valterrian and beyond. This group, having never been intended to wield this tool, secretly stole the knowledge of Static long before Ivak's destruction of the world. And then they maintained Static as a tool to advance their hatred of the Gods and to push their agenda of a Mizahar without divinity. The Ruv'na are currently the only faction on Mizahar who knows what static is exactly and how to use it. Static artifacts crop up periodically, leftovers from pre-vatlerrian times. But in terms of the actual arcane knowledge of Static, the power is at an evolutionary standstill until the Ruv'na decide to bring it back. It is not recorded in any literature, record books, or even talked about among the living. The dead know if its existence. By and large, even the Gods have forgotten about its existence.

Initiation

You have to hear static to reproduce it. It must be vocalized in some form or another or crafted by the use of something that will make an audible noise such as through a magical instrument. And in order to 'hear' Static, one must have ones' eardrums reconstructed by the magic itself. And to reproduce Static, one must have ones vocal cords modified in order to either sing, chant, or even produce sound from a static instrument. In times past, long before the Valterrian, there were sacred rituals to accomplish this. Now, however, at the hands of the Ruv'na, the rites are rather dark. An individual seeking to become a static mage is normally sequestered in a place of sensory deprivation designed specifically for this static ritual for three days and three nights, given no food nor water, with the instructions to meditate on their life and their goals. Once this meditation has passed, the person, deep in the darkness, must find a ritual alter and climb upon it, and lie prone and wait. Then, through the course of this time, the mages willing to initiate the individual will come into the room and bombard the initiate with static. At this point the initiate cannot hear the static. Those that have undergone the intuition claim that the static fills them completely and utterly like a living thing, so full it becomes incredibly painful. Their heart beats to the chaos of static and will sometimes stop if they are not strong enough. In most, however, their eardrums rupture and become destroyed. If they are worthy of the magic, the static because it contains Rak'keli's power as well, will heal their eardrums and reform them. Then, unable to contain the static infused within them, they will tilt their heads back and release it out through their mouths. This in turn shreds their vocal chords. Again, if static finds them worthy, their chords are reformed and healed, thus enabling them to reproduce their own static. The magic, though released violently, never really leaves them. It becomes part of them. Once initiated, a static mage can begin to produce static and become fully aware of its essence.

Those that fail to complete this ritual often become deaf, mute or both. These failed initiates often have chords and eardrums shattered or shredding but never healing. Death is also a possibility. The initiation is dangerous and only the very strongest, mentally and physically, tend to survive.

Practical Applications

Static mages are incredibly rare. But once initiated, they often begin to test their power and attempt to discover their range. Static can only be utilized at the same range normal sound can be heard, though people not initiated into Static cannot hear it. One can witness, for instance, a Static Mage humming or chanting soundlessly and hear nothing. The uninitiated can also perhaps witness a static mage playing a flute that gives off no sound. The range, for all static, is simply within hearing distance. Even if a person cannot hear the static, the static can affect their connection to the divine, severing it.

It is noteworthy as well that static mages work best in groups. One on one with a marked person, a static mage may or may not be able to affect them singularly. But however, if two Master Static Mages took on a God or Goddess' Champion, for example, they would certainly affect and undoubtedly sever the Champion's connection to their God or Goddess. However, it's also important to note that a sudden disappearance of a champion from a God or Goddess' awareness would garner that deities attention immediately.

Static does nothing else at all other than render the Gnosis Mark bearer unable to draw power from their marks. A static mage can, however, force an initiation upon another person and thereby use static as a weapon to perhaps deafen or mute a person by an ill performed forced initiation.

Effects

• Novice - Can Sometimes Affect 1st Marks
• Competent – Can Sometimes Affect 2nd Marks, Can Always Affect 1st Marks
• Expert - Can Sometimes Affect 3rd Marks, Can Always Affect 1st and 2nd Marks
• Master - Can Sometimes Affect 4th Marks, Can Always Affect 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Marks

Static Mages, when coming face to face with a God or Goddess, cannot dampen that God or Goddess' power. They are advised, if not acting on the part of a divine being, to avoid them at all costs.

Limitations and Hazards

One of the most important things about static is that its mages can automatically sense those with gnosis marks (minus the marks of those Gods and Goddesses’ not in the weave – hereby called The Excluded). The Static Mage will know immediately, regardless of level, how many marks and from whom a person is carrying. The flip side of this awareness, and perhaps its greatest danger, is that those who are marked by these deities are also able to sense static mages. They may not understand what they are sensing, but they will know immediately that the static mage is extremely dangerous to them.

Once a God or Goddess has added their power to the overall weave of Static, they cannot withdraw their power. The only way a particular 'tone' of power can be removed from Static is by the death of the God or Goddess who has contributed. It is, utterly and completely, the goal of the Ruv'na to kill every last God and Goddess until Static as a power ceases to exist and the notes of the discord themselves fall to silence. New Gods and Goddess' can be added to the static weave at any time, but must be added by the deity themselves.

The second most important thing about Static is the existence of the Excluded. Static needs maintenance and complete pantheon involvement to be utterly effective. All the deities in existence have to add their powers to Static to make Static a perfect weapon. And to date, several new Goddess’ and Gods’ have no powers in the weave. If a God or Goddess hasn’t participated in Static’s creation and maintenance… the magic has no effect on them. Ssena, Krysus, and even the newest incarnation of Sylir haven’t joined their powers into Static. Myri, by force, has. Akvin and Xhyvas have not. And by the nature of his condition, Aquiras’ powers are no longer in the Static Weave. These deities are called The Excluded. All other Gods and Goddess’ have a presence in the power of Static and are affected by it. Those with deities no power in Static’s Weave have followers that cannot be affected by Static. All other Gods and Goddesses have an integral part in the Static Weave.

Static Mages have no power over The Excluded and their followers. Conversely the Excluded cannot utilize static to control the followers of other deities.

Artifacts and Instruments

Static Instruments and artifacts do exist. These can be created by static mages skilled in other areas like magecrafting. Static can be stored in glyphs and indeed in high level philters or potions. Anyone drinking a potion of static in order to produce static may be subjected to a shattering of vocal cords if the philter was ill conceived or created by the unskilled. Static instruments that are artifact level do not need to be played by those initiated into static to work and affect those around them by blocking divine connections. They simply need to be played. These items are rare and extremely annoying to the divine. Several rare mage staffs are known to exist that once belonged to high ranking Static Mages. One is called Vadrami and another Sukava. One is in a private collection and another is said to be hidden in Cyphrus' Stardown. Most artifacts and instruments for static are created by higher ranking static mages or deities.

Awareness of Static

One must have the lore of the existence static in order to know about its existence. Since static is not recorded in books nor common knowledge, these lores are extremely difficult to come by. Ruv'na characters starting within the ranks of the Ruv'na (most Ruv'na are born into the faction) will be granted the lore of static as part of their starting packages. However, in choosing to participate in the Ruv'na, one is almost guaranteed to be excluded from having gnosis marks unless they are of the negative variety since the goal of the entire organization is to eliminate the Gods from Mizahar. Folks recruited into the Ruv'na will also often be made aware of Static as a discipline as well.

A Note On Multiple Gnosis Marks

It is rare that individuals in Mizahar have only a singular gnosis mark. Often individuals hold multiple gnosis marks from a variety of Gods. Novice Static Mages can sense the amount and level of connection an individual has to a God or Goddess. And while a competent static mage may be able to severe the link between a single mark, if an individual holding multiple gnosis marks (say is a priest or priestess of a deity with three marks) the competent mage has no ability to affect that connection. So thus, a static mage may only be able to partially effect or sever a connection within an individual if they hold multiple marks from a variety of individual Gods and Goddesses. This is important to note because Static is complex and useful, but is not all powerful when it comes to the Gnosis Marks of the Divine. Static works on multiple levels and easily only have a partial effect on a marked individual if they hold more gnosis marks than the static mage has ranks in.

Skill progression

The skill progression for Static is very simple.

Progression

Novice (1-25)
	Novice Static Mages can first and foremost sense gnosis marks upon both people and objects. They can accurately identify which Gods or Goddesses the marks are from and how many are upon the object or person. This is an important trait in a Static Mage. Singular novices can sometimes affect first marked individuals. If the individual has more than one first mark, it is harder to affect them. Groups of novices in Static can almost certainly affect first marked individuals.
Competent (26-50)
	Competent static mages can initiate other individuals into Static. One on one initiations are difficult and often two or more competent mages are required for a seamless successful initiation. They can also sometimes effect second marked individuals but can always affect first marked individuals. At this rank, competent static mages can create simple static instruments by infusing the instrument with enough static that the static clings and imbues the object. These are one-time use items and have to be frequently 'recharged'. To achieve these instruments, the static mages must also be competent in the skill required to make the instrument. Instruments can be incredibly creative. A competent bower and fletcher can infuse an arrow with static, and with the appropriate skill (or hand the arrow off to someone who is a competent archer) can then fire the arrow at someone and if the arrow strikes them, can then render the victim incapable of divine communication or access to a gnosis mark. The rules of levels must apply though.
Expert (51-75)
	Experts in static can begin to craft static artifacts. These fixed objects an be used by any. They are also often competent at crafting philters or glyphing static if they have the appropriate complimentary skills (such as magecrafting, philtering and glyphing). Experts in Static can sometimes effect third marked individuals and can always affect first and second marked individuals. All instruments and static objects (such as the above arrow example) take on a more permanent infusion and do not have to be recharged after use. Experts can initiate new static mages on their own with little risk and difficulty (if the initiate is strong mentally and physically - there is always risk to weaker individuals).
Master (76-100)
	Static Masters can sometimes affect Champions of The Gods and Goddesses. They can always affect first, second, and third marked individuals. Initiations are no difficulty for them, and neither are crafting instruments, objects, and artifact level items. Static Masters can also craft Magic Staffs with ease. Since Static Masters are rare, there is a decided lack of knowledge on what a master can and can't do. Much was lost throughout the Valterrian or is kept secret in the ranks of the Ruv'na. As gameplay happens more and more static scenarios will play out and the roll of the Master Static Mage will unfold.

Out of character note: Static requires special permission from the Help Desk in order to start with knowledge of or acquire knowledge of in game.