[Mkguild] Story Fragment for Review/Revising. Psion: Blight of the Holocaust (Part 0 of 4 maybe).

[R L]

*H*ello Metamorians. Mister "Nelson" Background here. Those of you on the
TSA mailing list have already seen some of this story (although it was much
uglier than this version). Seeing as how it's intended to be placed in the
MK universe, I thought I should post it here. First, a little
background...no I'm fairly average in size. Some of you may notice that the
abilities of the main character in this story, an uplifted rabbit, is based
on a D&D Psion. Indeed, this was originally a character concept. I started
reading the MK universe about six months ago and thought he would make an
interesting character: a foil for the humanity of the Keepers. There are
several reasons I wanted to throw this out here incomplete, but primarily I
encourage people to use these characters in their stories (except Sapphire,
as she's doing her own thing). There will be several time periods in which
the rabbit (Blight) will have a consistent character and personality. For
now, the period will be between when he arrives at the keep (about six
months after most of this story takes place) and his first patrol mission.
Very few of the current characters will have major personality changes. Of
course, there are a few things I want to restrict in order to preserve a
plot:

-Blight's personality can more or less be summed up here:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheChessmaster?from=3DMain.Chess=
master
-Blight wants to hide the fact that he can use magic-like abilities, and of
course he also wants to hide his true reason for being at the keep
-Blight hates pretty much everybody (explained in the story)
-Unrelated to his psionic abilites, he has a sixth sense when it comes to
any trap which may threaten his life. *Somehow* he knows where these traps
are, knows how to avoid them, and can trigger them without damaging himself
in the process.
-Blight is illiterate, but he can "steal" literacy from others temporarily,
see the rules of his psionics (he will generally use this on Redfang, as to
not arouse suspicion)
-Despite this illiteracy, he is extremely intelligent and he has an eidetic
memory. He tries to learn everything about politics as he can, and can do
rather advanced maths. The *only *reason he's illiterate is because he
refuses to learn to read.
-Blight can read the emotions, IQ, and general wisdom of individuals. This
is his variation of magic-sight. Unlike his other psionic abilities, this
does not use power but it does make him tired if he does it too long. This
is a seventh sense he calls "Sentellect."
-For Blight's psionics to work, he has a moderately detailed knowledge of
modern sciences, such as the existence of physics, chemistry, anatomy,
biology, and DNA. For one reason or another, he will never share this
information with anyone other than Sapphire (translation: he's not going to
provide untimely advancements and screw up the setting). He calls atoms
"spheres," cells "divisions," and DNA "instructions" or some variant. His
view of the brain is significantly more abstract, and can change based on
personality and purpose of reading.
-Rules on Blight's Psionic abilities:
1) Psionics is not Magic, and vice versa. A mage who uses magic sight on
Blight's abilities will note that the strings of magic are not manipulated.
Blight can't even see the strings, unless he sees them through someone
else's eyes. Hipoccians have no more resistance to Psionics than other
humans. (D&D terminology: Psionic/Magic transparency is NOT in effect)
2) Blight has limited power reserves. They are restored when he sleeps. He
can use powers when his reserves are depleted, but this tires him quickly
and they are not nearly as effective. There are no hard numbers here, but
work under the assumption that reading one person's mind will not be enough
to deplete his power.
3) Neither side has a hard defense for the abilities of the other. Blight's
psionics are not blocked by magical shields; conversely, Blight's shields
will not protect him from magic. Blight may be able to read the minds of
powerful magi without their knowledge, but a small bolt of magic would be
enough to kill Blight. Elemental abilities created by either side, however,
can be blocked by either side.
4) Everyone has some resistance to Blight's mind-effecting powers. He cannot
make them do something that is totally against their nature. Should someone
be aware that he is trying to read their mind, they can attempt to prevent
this, but he may still break through. This is based on willpower, so the
"average villager" probably won't have enough willpower, but many main
characters will. These mind-effecting abilities will not be noticed, even if
they fail.
5) Naturally magic creatures, like dragons or the psychic gryphons, are
outright immune to Blight's mind-effecting powers. Humans turned into said
creatures are still effected (exception: Kiska).
6) Additionally, some information connected to Eli or the Lightbringer gods
cannot be read from the mind. Hough's confessional knowledge, for example,
is inaccessible, but the rest of his mind is fair game.
7) [Up for debate] The one factor that Blight's psionics can trump is
mind-effecting magic. Blight himself is immune to memory-altering spells and
charms. Any mind-controlling spells placed on Blight can be undone before he
acts so long as he has enough psionic power to dispel the effect. Even in
the unlikely event he's forced to do something against his will, he will be
aware that he is doing it. He can also rewire another's brain to confuse or
dispel any mind-effecting spells cast on others.
8) Unique to Blight, he is magic-blind and magic-deaf. Even when doubting,
he cannot see through illusions unless he uses a power to mimic sight. He
cannot see or hear Kyia, nor can he communicate with the Dragonettes or
anyone else who communicates with magic telepathy.
9) Blight can effect the physical body using psionics, but not as well as he
can effect the mind. He can speed up natural healing, encourage cell growth
(to restore limbs), effect hormones, and even alter small parts of DNA. The
more complex the situation, the longer he'll need to do it (restoring a
limb, for example, would take at least a month dedicated solely to doing so,
depending on size). Using any of these powers on someone else requires him
to study the target before he can do so. Generally, those he is unfamiliar
with will take three times longer to effect, those close to him two times,
and very close the same amount the time.
9a) When it comes to the curse, effected parts are "blurry" to him. While he
can change appearance and species, he cannot change the curse's effects. He
can turn a bear-keeper, for example, into a bear-fish, but the results will
always be at *least *half bear.

Other Character Descriptions:
Redfang:
- He Actually quite friendly and passive despite his size and appearance.
- He has unyielding loyalty to Blight, this is one half pack mentality and
one half gratitude. He himself, however, has no grudge against mankind.
- His sense of smell is magically enhanced, almost to the point that he can
smell the impossible. He can track things for dozens of miles.
Sapphire
- She has her own intentions, completely unrelated to the Keep. She has no
intention of attacking or protecting any Keeper.
- Only Blight (and by the real end of this story, Kyia) know(s) of her
existence.
- Sapphire is not affected by the limitations Blight has on his psionics,
and is *significantly *more powerful. In short, by the time you have read
this sentence, she will have memorized the contents of your brain. (Yes,
she's too powerful; no, that won't last.)
- She is Blight's teacher, but does not follow his orders or fulfill any of
his requests.
- It should never come up, but it's EXTREMELY uncommon for her to ask a
question.

Note:
-No rat keepers...I have plans for Charles. *pets a cat while sitting in a
leather chair*
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