Mind Blank

Art Statistics
Focus:	none Dreamsoul
Cost:	5
Orbit Required:	30
Affected:	Target

Duration

5 minutes.

Description

Prevents the user from being located via Locate Dreamer.

Plateau Effect

Duration increased by 5 minutes.

Decreased evoke time.

Art History

Mind Blank was reportedly created by Dalis. Dalis had long been a first hand witness to the forgetfulness a pretty face can create on the members of the opposite gender though this effect is quite more predominant among men. Guilty as charged I'm afraid. After spending some time studying this effect sometimes rather enthusiastically she found that certain actions could enhance this forgetfulness.

By combining these actions she could reproduce an effect much similar to the current version of Mind Blank we all know and use. Of course since most of these actions could not be repeated in public she had to find a different way. Dalis examined the very nature of our avatars and found that there is one portion of us, which is always active but when deactivated, does not cause any noticeable effect, save one. Naturally, as I'm sure you can guess, it prevents Location.

There's been a fair amount of speculation about how exactly the Art works or where this portion of our avatar is... But not much holds water. So we are left with an Art that we know vaguely how it works but not it's deepest secrets. There's about three major schools of thought on it, though one is ridiculous and held only by the very newly awakened. The first school as I mentioned, states that the art "turns off" a portion of our Avatar namely the one that allows us to be located.

The second states that Mind Blank erects a sort of protective shield around us that blocks the emanations from this particular portion of us. The last school, and keep in mind this is quite silly really, thinks that there is some sort of "flag" set by Mind Blank and when Locate Dreamer sends a "request" to some nonsensical Dream central... it will refuse to report their location. This disagrees with what we know of Locate Dreamer too, so it's widely rejected.

Alternate History

Prior to The Great Loss and even before the Dreamstrike Wars, during the up rise of the Entropy Coalition and the Overscanners, there was a little known group known as only "The Reclusive." These dreamers were a small group of some of the most intellectual dreamers there were. These dreamers considered themselves an elite group of dreamers who smarter and more intelligent than your average dreamers, and whose time was spent purely on intellectual pursuits.

These dreamers were often sought by the dreamers who considered themselves as part of this group. Eventually, these dreamers became so sought after because of their exclusive nature, that they decided that they would bar membership. This did not deter the dreamers from accosting the Reclusive in an attempt to gain their favor. The Reclusive used Mind Blank to hide themselves though.

The original intent of Mind Blank was to wipe the memories of dreamers in order to allow the reclusive to not only hide, but to maintain their anonymity when confronted by dreamers who did not know of their existence. This art however was changed when during an experimentation, one of the gatekeepers of the reclusive decided to evoke the art on himself.

The effect was that it deleted a portion of his knowledge of the art. When the gatekeeper tried to evoke it again, he found that he could not be located as his memory had fused with his surroundings. The Dreamsoul his memory was captured in had basically become part of the plain he was dreaming on so that locate could never quite get a bead on where that dreamer currently was. Being amused with himself, he taught it to a Dreamseer trying to con him into wiping out his own memory. This Dreamseer, evoking the art on himself discovered that he could hide anywhere in the dream provided he wasn't seen. This led to the use of the art of Mind Blank as we know it.

Researched by OfF KiLTeR

A story about Mind Blank

by Samarina

Dalis the Dreamwright and developer of the art of Mind Blank was a well-known teacher of Fatesenders. She remained for a long time a FreeSpirit, preferring to regulate her own affairs and devote her time to her students and her arts rather than to a House.

She was also very beautiful and charismatic, and these traits caused her some annoyance. She often found male dreamers hanging around her, getting in the way of serious students and trying to claim more of her time than she was willing to give. It was as a side effect of observing some of these annoying suitors that Dalis developed the art of Mind Blank. Thereafter, she would tell her students to meet her at a certain time and place and travel there MBed so as not to draw a crowd of suitors.

One of Dalis' most promising students was Aidana, a young Fatesender of OOSM. Aidana had a brother named Curran, a Guardian of OOSM, and a solid Gatekeeper with a dash of his sister's FS fire. Curran often escorted his younger sister in her travels around the Dream, protecting her and teaching her to defend herself.

One day, Curran went with Aidana to Dalis' class. He stood quietly at the back of the crowd, observing everything, but finding his gaze drawn more and more to the lovely teacher. Absorbed in working with her students, Dalis did not at first notice the silent presence at the back of the room. After a time, however, her glance was drawn to the tall handsome man standing quietly and a little apart from the eager crowd around her. She asked if she might help him and Curran bowed deeply and replied that he was there only as an escort to his sister and did not wish to take any of her valuable time.

Thereafter, Curran often accompanied Aidana to her classes. He found himself more and more drawn to Dalis, not only for her beauty, but for her intelligence and the kind and thoughtful way she handled her crowds of students. Dalis grew accustomed to seeing the tall GK standing quiet and self-contained at the back of the room. She found herself thinking of him at odd moments and smiling slightly at his patience and devotion to his sister.

Dalis was not the only one drawn to the handsome gatekeeper, however. Joanna, a Dreamseer of the Order, also had her eye on Curran. Although she was very beautiful, Joanna was also vain and self-centred, always needing to make comments and attempting to draw every conversation to herself. Joanna made a point of being friendly toward Aidana, trying to find ways of getting closer to Curran. When she learned that the two often went to Dalis' classes together, Joanna asked if she might accompany Aidana to one of the famous teacher's classes.

The class Joanna attended was the first to which another interloper came. Nerkon, an initiate of POR, was also smitten with Dalis. Her MB had long protected her from his boorish advances, but finally Nerkon had observed that several FS often slipped away at the same time each day. Rightly suspecting that they were going to a class, Nerkon followed them to the sanctuary where Dalis was holding class.

That day's class was a disaster. Joanna prattled merrily, trying to draw attention to herself and asking irrelevant questions. Nerkon attempted a heavy-handed flirtation with Dalis, demanding her attention and pretending that only she could task him for a plat in deafen. Curran did what he could, whispering to Joanna to stop interrupting and save her questions till Dalis was ready to give her attention. Although he longed to float the impertinent Nerkon, Curran could not do so in a sanctuary, and was reluctant to cause an incident with POR.

The next day's class was a little better. Joanna did not attend, but Nerkon did. At the end of the class, Curran finally made a request of Dalis as a teacher. He whispered to her that there was someone he wished to avoid and would be most grateful if she would consent to teach him the art of Mind Blank. Having observed Joanna in action, Dalis had a shrewd idea what was happening and granted Curran a task.

Quickly completing his task, Curran tried to locate Dalis to report to her. She was MBed. Sighing, Curran set out to search for her. He visited several of the sanctuaries in which she had given classes, but could not find her. He stopped every few minutes to try locating, hoping that the MB might wear off. So focussed was he on his search that Curran did not notice Joanna trailing him. On his way to the Basins of Stars, Curran passed through Evernight, followed shortly after by Joanna.

As Joanna crossed through Evernight, she encountered Nerkon. Never one to pass up the chance of talking to a man, Joanna greeted him with a smile and a flirt of her long eyelashes. The pair began to talk, both claiming that they wished to find Dalis to report tasks to her. Joanna pointed out that Curran was also searching and that by following him, they too might find Dalis. They located Curran in Middle Basin and set off in pursuit. Meanwhile, Curran had remembered that Dalis was particularly fond of the beautiful sanctuary behind the Lagoons in Middle Basin of Stars and had found her meditating there. Waiting respectfully till she emerged from her trance, Curran bowed and asked permission to report on his task. The two found they had much more to talk about than a mere task report, and spent some time in enjoyable conversation.

Absorbed in the conversation, Dalis forgot to grant the art until the peace of the sanctuary was broken by the entrance of Joanna and Nerkon. The two newcomers burst in, demanding attention. Quickly, Dalis evoked train and granted Curran the art of Mind Blank. Whispering that she would meet him in Lower Lambent to continue the conversation, Dalis woke. With a smile and a wave, Curran too woke.

Re-entering the Dream in the Threshold of the Alliance, Dalis paused only long enough to evoke MB and ran out the portal to Lower Lambent. Curran re-entered in the Order's threshold and he too stopped to evoke his new art before exiting to Trinity Fields and crossing into Lower Lambent. Dalis went first to the sanctuary in Lower Lambent. She waited there for a moment or two, but feeling too close to Thresh and likely to be discovered by chance, she soon moved on. Curran stood on the Bridge at Romance Falls and tried to locate Dalis. She was MBed. Cursing under his breath, Curran set out to search the plane. Dalis ran quickly up to Aciawyn's Lagoon and stopped to locate Curran. He was MBed. Cursing under her breath, Dalis began a methodical search of the plane.

Meanwhile, back in Middle Basin, Joanna and Nerkon stood in the sanctuary talking and trying to locate their quarry. Since Curran's art was still only level 1, his MB wore off and Joanna managed to locate him before he could renew it. "Lower Lambent," crowed Joanna, racing off. Nerkon quickly followed her.

Dalis and Curran chased one another around Lower Lambent. Each time they caught a glimpse of someone disappearing through a portal, they would take off in pursuit, only to find they were chasing the wrong Dreamer. Each time either of them stopped, they became convinced that the other was just a few rooms away and could be found with just a bit more looking.

Joanna and Nerkon arrived in Lower Lambent and also began a search of the plane. They soon became separated, and pausing now and then to locate, raced through the plane, searching for one another and their respective quarries. Once or twice Nerkon caught sight of Curran, but the Moonie always succeeded in outrunning the Protector. Once or twice Joanna's and Dalis' paths crossed, but the FS always eluded the DS.

Finally, breathless and dishevelled, Dalis returned to the sanctuary. A few moments later Curran ran in. Laughing and breathless, he cried, "Joanna's after me! Quckly, climb the waterfall!" The two leapt quickly up the waterfall, concealing themselves in the small space at the top. They were barely hidden before Nerkon ran in one portal and Joanna burst through the other.

It happened that neither Nerkon nor Joanna knew of the hidden space at the top of the waterfall, so although they perceived that Dalis and Curran were in the room they could not find them. Frustrated and angry, Joanna grumbled, "It must be some side effect of that stupid new art of hers! It seems like they're here when they really aren't."

Hidden at the top of the falls, Dalis met Curran's eyes and started to laugh. Desperately covering her mouth to stifle the giggles, she watched the normally sober GK dissolve in helpless laughter as well. Laughing like a pair of naughty children, they clung together, stifling their laughter till awareness of one another distracted them from everything else. Sobering, Dalis raised her eyes to meet Curran's and her lips to meet his kiss. Meanwhile, at the base of the falls, Nerkon and Joanna were discovering that there were other attractive Dreamers than their elusive quarry. Amid much fluttering of eyelashes and flexing of muscles, the two pursuers focussed on one another and agreed to continue their acquaintance elsewhere. In the end, the Order lost a flighty Dreamseer and gained another Fatesender.

Notes

This art does not protect the user from Sense Dreamers.

This art cannot be evoked upon a dreamer under the effect of Soul Shield.

References

• http://www.angelfire.com/ab7/dranak/Arts/arts-dreamsoul.htm#mb
• https://web.archive.org/web/20021031220235/http://members.cox.net/radiance/arts_mindblank.html