Poison
Art Statistics | |
| Focus: | SM (Major) |
| Cost: | 15 Resilience |
| Orbit Required: | 30 |
| Affected: | Target |
Duration
Previous: 10 minutes.
Description (Previous Version)
Target becomes poisoned, losing 1 Dreamsoul every fifteen seconds.
Description (Current)
Target becomes poisoned, losing 1 Dreamsoul plus 1 per plateau of the art, every 5 seconds. Art can be Reflected by a protected dreamer. Damage completely prevented by Meditation (which also removes 1 minute of the arts duration with each meditation tic... roughly 5 seconds).
Plateau Effect
Decreased evoke time. Duration increased by 10 minutes.
Art Research
For your enjoyment fellow dreamers....I give you some theoretical information on Poison and some related arts.
Poison: Resilience Art. Attainable at the third sphere by SoulMasters. By forcing a small amount of resilience from themselves, into the DreamState, a SoulMaster "catches" a portion of chaotic energies. By focusing another bit of resilience, that captured energy is bonded to another's avatar. This chaotic energy is bound directly to the essence of a dreamer. A dreamer's avatar is composed primarily of ordered bonds. These bonds are crafted from essence. As the chaotic energy is directly connected to these bonds, it begans to break them down.
Now, the ordered bonds of essence are very strong indeed, and take no direct concentration on the part of a dreamer to hold together. I hate to use the term subconscious...but...it is an subconscious act to remain coherent. When an avatar performs action though, some mental processes are maintained only to a lesser degree. Thus, the ability of the bonds to remain together is weaker when a dreamer moves, evokes, etc. This is when the "poison" truly takes effect. The ordered bonds are slowly torn apart by the chaotic energy within them, eventually resulting in total loss of coherence. Now, let us take a look at how Poison is related to a few other arts according to the above theory. (For the sake of seeking new understanding, I will forego any comparison of Antidote to the art of Poison.)
Meditation:
Willpower Art. Known upon achieving the Awakening.
The direct opposite to Poison. Concentration on the internal energies of an avatar allows the ordered bonds that maintain coherence to be repaired as well as controlling other focus energies. It of course is only effective while mental energies are not devoted to other pursuits. Thus, one cannot move, evoke, etc...
Blast: Insight Art. Attainable at the third sphere by DreamSeers. In effect, this is the more direct assault of poison. Chaos is directed at the bonds of an avatar, destroying them. Though without the use of Resilience, there is no bonding, and thus, no lasting effect.
Curse:
Resilience Art. Attainable at the fourth sphere by SoulMasters.
This art is another in which chaos is bound to an avatar and lingers there. In this case though, the chaos is bound not to the essence, but instead to the proximity of an avatar. The chaos then interrupts with that avatar's interraction with the DreamState.
Mindblank: DreamSoul Art. Attainable at the third sphere by all focii. Not all linking of an avatar to chaotic energies need be harmful. In fact, this art uses the ordered bonds themselves to manipulate surrounding chaos to a small extent. This art provides a chaotic "shield", which makes locating one's avatar difficult. (On a side note, this is the only art available to focii other than SoulMasters, which allows the bonding of chaos to an avatar.)
Paralyze: Lucidity Art. Attainable at the third sphere by FateSenders. We've looked quite a bit at arts that bond chaos to an avatar. Paralyze is something different, though it cannot be overlooked as we examine other art theories and how they relate to that of Poison. As I stated before, the bonds of an avatar that retain it's coherence are *primarily* order. But, some chaotic energy is also required to keep the energies of an avatar free to flow. Paralyze actually strips the chaos from the essence, leaving pure order. The effect of which is of course, the inability of an avatar to function.
Restore:
Resilience Art. Attainable at the first sphere by SoulMasters and the third sphere by all other focii.
Restore is another art which effects the bonds of an avatar. Though as opposed to many of the other arts I've noted above, restore does so indirectly. It's relation to poison lies in how it is evoked. Resilience is released into the DreamState, bonding with energy, then focused through further Resilience to pass energy to an avatar. The avatar then uses that energy to strengthen and repair bonds as necessary.
I hope that whether or not you agree with my theories, you have found answers...or better yet...new questions, from what I have written here.
Art History
The art of Poison was created by the DreamWright Boric, one of the older SMs. He was a great healer, and would never, and could never hurt a soul whether it be a dreamer or DM. During a stroll outside one evening, he and his wife were ambushed by the Dark Mare Molog. Boric was mortally wounded after the first blow to him. Paralyzed, he watched in horror as the love of his life was brutally torn into pieces by Molog. When Boric regained movement, he was able to counterattack the Dark Mare and heavily damaged it. Molog, however, was able to slip away into the dark surroundings. The SM tried chasing after it, but as much as he tried, the weakness that had overcame him prevented him from doing so. Angry at himself and depressed, he spent years locked up in his own room, trying to figure out a way to hurt an avatar even after a battle. Finally, he created the art of Poison. Once evoked on a dreamer or Dark Mare, the poison would slowly drain the DreamSoul out of the one being poisoned until death ensued.
Notes
Can be removed by Antidote.
Reference: http://www.angelfire.com/ab7/dranak/Arts/arts-sm.htm#Poison
http://minuette_ul.tripod.com/Pages/Reference/Research/PoisTheo/poison.htm
