Psionics
"Teleport spells allowed him to warp literally anywhere he had ever been. Strongest psyker, master thief. When we realised he just visited Hunzrin's personal vault ship, we really had to act quick. So we secretly flew it into deep space, opened the airlocks and rigged it to blow up on detecting a positive lifesign. His last warp must've been quite a treat!"
-Drizoyn Claddar, bounty hunter and K-Sec liaison on Natha Nar |
Drows and Psionics
Drow have always had an affinity for the psionic. In olden times, the most experienced were wizards, sages, capable of extraordinary feats. Even in the age of space travel, as many Elvaan had lost the ability to channel psi energy, everyone was affected, albeit to minor levels, by the wild powers of the Void.
When the Spike Drive started to become commonplace, those few pure-blooded wizards and genetically enhanced Drow were joined by those who had been exposed to psionic radiation from FTL drives while unborn - a strange condition called M.E.S. which resulted in otherwise genetically non-Psykers to develop psionic ability, though not pass it on.
Before the Scream, there was a wide rift in the Psyker community. Purebloods and "naturals", who were genetically predisposed to cast spells and often hailed from specifically bred or engineered families of psykers and therefore did not eventually go mad from their precious talents, resented M.E.S. psykers for being usurpers and pretenders, as well as inferior genetic material that was doomed to wither and go feral eventually - or worse.
Needless to say, this bitter struggle and bigotry was put to rest when the Scream killed all Psykers alltogether. Today the vast majority of Psykers acquired their gift through M.E.S.
The life of a psyker is not an easy one. Between the dangers of going feral and "torching" - surpassing one's limits - they must also come with widespread bigotry and shunning even in the more tolerant communities. Several worlds, usually those more hurt by the Scream, outright ban or execute known psykers. Cults known as "Templars" scout out known space, searching for lone psykers to capture or purge, and the few Shrines that can still help psykers often force them to remain on temple grounds for the rest of their lives.
On top of that, most psionics knowledge was never truly recovered and, in the absence of many talented mentors, the road to recovery has only been made steeper. Many psykers end up containing their powers or attempting to supress them alltogether - and many of them either fail, with consequences, or undergo a desperate process known as tranquility, little less barbaric than a lobotomy.
Yet, to those psykers who endure their gift, a whole world of promises and opportunities opens up to them. Telepathy, teleportation, endo- and exothermic spellcasting, and more are but the start of the alluringly risky adventures a psyker can dream to achieve.
Psionics work exactly like they do in Stars Without Number. The backstory and effects might be a little different, but psionics work pretty much the same.
When the Spike Drive started to become commonplace, those few pure-blooded wizards and genetically enhanced Drow were joined by those who had been exposed to psionic radiation from FTL drives while unborn - a strange condition called M.E.S. which resulted in otherwise genetically non-Psykers to develop psionic ability, though not pass it on.
Before the Scream, there was a wide rift in the Psyker community. Purebloods and "naturals", who were genetically predisposed to cast spells and often hailed from specifically bred or engineered families of psykers and therefore did not eventually go mad from their precious talents, resented M.E.S. psykers for being usurpers and pretenders, as well as inferior genetic material that was doomed to wither and go feral eventually - or worse.
Needless to say, this bitter struggle and bigotry was put to rest when the Scream killed all Psykers alltogether. Today the vast majority of Psykers acquired their gift through M.E.S.
The life of a psyker is not an easy one. Between the dangers of going feral and "torching" - surpassing one's limits - they must also come with widespread bigotry and shunning even in the more tolerant communities. Several worlds, usually those more hurt by the Scream, outright ban or execute known psykers. Cults known as "Templars" scout out known space, searching for lone psykers to capture or purge, and the few Shrines that can still help psykers often force them to remain on temple grounds for the rest of their lives.
On top of that, most psionics knowledge was never truly recovered and, in the absence of many talented mentors, the road to recovery has only been made steeper. Many psykers end up containing their powers or attempting to supress them alltogether - and many of them either fail, with consequences, or undergo a desperate process known as tranquility, little less barbaric than a lobotomy.
Yet, to those psykers who endure their gift, a whole world of promises and opportunities opens up to them. Telepathy, teleportation, endo- and exothermic spellcasting, and more are but the start of the alluringly risky adventures a psyker can dream to achieve.
Psionics work exactly like they do in Stars Without Number. The backstory and effects might be a little different, but psionics work pretty much the same.
Psionics can be used for many things, and were indeed the backbone of Kalimshari technology and, through their hegemony, most of the galaxy's...
That only made the Scream hurt so much more when it unfurled, ushering in its wake a dark age of Silence and lost wonders.
That only made the Scream hurt so much more when it unfurled, ushering in its wake a dark age of Silence and lost wonders.
Types of Psionics
In ancient times, there were two kinds of psionics : the "common" and the "arcane".
Common psionics are, nowadays, simply called psionics, but in ancient times the term "biotics" was used. This sort of power is historically split in five techniques : teleportation, telekinesis, biopsionics, precognition, and metapsionics Very few people would rise to master many of them. Practitioner of these arts are simply called Psykers or Psychics. While most potent pskyers died during the Scream, a very few reemerged naturally from the surviving population, though most current psykers are the byproduct of Metadimensional Exposure Syndrome.
Possibly supplementing psionics, arcane ability is yet more fearsome - and far rarer if not extinct. The ability to cast arcane spells strictly stemmed from a few dying bloodlines, which even before the Scream were largely forgotten, a shadow of their pre-FTL reign of terror. In the post-scream era, those known as Arcanists are little more than fairy tales, though more than one foolish psionic have killed themselves attempting to change themselves and master the lost secrets of the arcane.
There are nearly no Arcanists left alive and even fewer overspecialized Magisters and M.E.S. alone cannot alter one's genetics to allow arcane spellweaving - though many people use cybernetic "tricks" to fool people into believing otherwise.
Common psionics are, nowadays, simply called psionics, but in ancient times the term "biotics" was used. This sort of power is historically split in five techniques : teleportation, telekinesis, biopsionics, precognition, and metapsionics Very few people would rise to master many of them. Practitioner of these arts are simply called Psykers or Psychics. While most potent pskyers died during the Scream, a very few reemerged naturally from the surviving population, though most current psykers are the byproduct of Metadimensional Exposure Syndrome.
Possibly supplementing psionics, arcane ability is yet more fearsome - and far rarer if not extinct. The ability to cast arcane spells strictly stemmed from a few dying bloodlines, which even before the Scream were largely forgotten, a shadow of their pre-FTL reign of terror. In the post-scream era, those known as Arcanists are little more than fairy tales, though more than one foolish psionic have killed themselves attempting to change themselves and master the lost secrets of the arcane.
There are nearly no Arcanists left alive and even fewer overspecialized Magisters and M.E.S. alone cannot alter one's genetics to allow arcane spellweaving - though many people use cybernetic "tricks" to fool people into believing otherwise.
Secrets of Psionics
The arcanes of psionics may not be lost forever - records and data banks in surviving facilities have provided hints on the development of training protocols. Maddeningly, however, the secrets held on most salvaged data banks cannot easily be recovered, and forever belong to the Silence, relics of a lost age of technology. Psykers, as with most scientists, need to relearn and rediscover their lost arts using only their own instinct and ingenuity. The cost has been high in lives and minds, with only basic knowledge to show for it. Most worlds cannot spare such expanses, or simply do not have the tech needed.
On Bytha, the Void Shrine has managed to recover at least some basic training - serendipity that they salvaged some working data access equipment back from Imperial times from a drifting ship, and sold it for a fortune that went a long way to establish themselves across the world. The training the few Shrine mentors provide is still rudimentary, at best, yet they are kept under heavy guard and not allowed to leave the Shrine grounds. Indeed, such individuals are not necessarily seen in a good light in other systems, such as those of the Andanteri system, where cabals of wizards jealously hoard their knowledge and use their psionic powers to dominate their fledgling, chaotic world.
There are rumours of rogue mentors, and perhaps other small academies scattered across the sector - some affiliated to shrines, others not - roaming space and offering tuition to those with the ability to cast spells. They prepare small groups of students for purposes that are known to them alone. And while few salvaged ships have been promising, there are constant talks of psionic research centers hidden, perhaps in plain sight. Some claim the lost disciplines of the Empire can be found amongst the dead, vented across space or trapped on tomb ships, while stories tell of psychic horrors, perhaps even Unbidden monsters roaming around, fiercely guarding the secrets of an art that was once the pride of an entire race.
On Bytha, the Void Shrine has managed to recover at least some basic training - serendipity that they salvaged some working data access equipment back from Imperial times from a drifting ship, and sold it for a fortune that went a long way to establish themselves across the world. The training the few Shrine mentors provide is still rudimentary, at best, yet they are kept under heavy guard and not allowed to leave the Shrine grounds. Indeed, such individuals are not necessarily seen in a good light in other systems, such as those of the Andanteri system, where cabals of wizards jealously hoard their knowledge and use their psionic powers to dominate their fledgling, chaotic world.
There are rumours of rogue mentors, and perhaps other small academies scattered across the sector - some affiliated to shrines, others not - roaming space and offering tuition to those with the ability to cast spells. They prepare small groups of students for purposes that are known to them alone. And while few salvaged ships have been promising, there are constant talks of psionic research centers hidden, perhaps in plain sight. Some claim the lost disciplines of the Empire can be found amongst the dead, vented across space or trapped on tomb ships, while stories tell of psychic horrors, perhaps even Unbidden monsters roaming around, fiercely guarding the secrets of an art that was once the pride of an entire race.