Maddening Whispers

As the manna takes grip, as you begin to feel the intoxication of power, true power, the voices, those darker ideas, thoughts you'd caught yourself having, the ones that shocked, scared and even offended your sensibilities, as you give yourself over to the manna and the power it holds....they get louder. They get more robust, more concise and despite your earlier misgivings, you find yourself beginning to agree with them. As the fire floods your body and blood, the power of the inferno kissing your very lips you can't help but smile. Why shouldn't you burn down those whom tried to make you feel so small, so weak. Why shouldn't you feed them to the inferno, their flesh bubbling away. It seems a fitting fate, does it not, and besides......Their screams would be.....delicious.

That thought shakes you, the voice not one of your own, as you feel a sudden surge of someone....something beyond your own psyche. Your passion, your anger, your loss of emotional control....it is only now, as you erupt, a wave of uncontrolled Doitean ripping forth from you in all directions, immolating the neighborhood, that you realize what has happened, realized too late what you've done. It is only now, with no chance to save yourself, as you feel the entity fighting for control, forcing its will upon you, forcibly trying to evict your own consciousness and psyche, that you realize your mistake in fleeing and hiding from being forced into the Magisterium. Too late, you realize you'd fallen victim to the Maddening Whispers. To late, the realization that your own weakness had been used against you. Your last conscious thoughts begging whatever of the Ascended that might be listening for forgiveness, even as the voice in your head cackles with glee, and even as you feel your psyche, your very soul being torn, ripped and feasted upon by the daemonic presence of one of Libidine's Terrors, the Voidling feasting upon it, painfully wiping your existence to power its own transition to complete the rite of possession.

The Maddening Whispers do not afflict any one given species, ethnicity or race more than another, though so far as can be best understood, they are very much a sapient humanoid only condition. They are tied, intrinsically so, to the Touch of Arcanis, and thusly have always played a huge role in the general attitude and demeanor of society towards those whom can wield arcane power. From the earliest days after the Sundering, with the manna of the world so poisoned, this condition has caused massive and titanic shifts in culture, social norms and general demeanor, as well as legislation and practices to this day. There is no cure for the Maddening Whispers, there is simply learning to contain and filter them, acquiring the necessary mental discipline and training to blot them out, to filter out the tricksy voices, the daemonic whisperings and temptation. One can limit their influence greatly by limiting their interaction directly with manna, as well as limiting their studies and discipline to but one of the eight manna flows, as well as with specialized training, techniques and practices in regards to spell-weaving tied to each of these disciplines intrinsically. It is upon these principles that the Magisterium was formed, a massive change in society, another one tied directly to the effects of this condition, and to this day, the Magisterium and its structure, its eight orders, are the bulwark method against this condition, innoculating via education, extreme training and complex techniques and study, providing Magisters with a level of ability to resist these influences, to filter these foul and maddening whispers that is without peer. Gone by the wayside are the days when the Touch of Arcanis, this gift of Arcane Magick, was a death sentence in madness or in slaughter or execution (or suicide for some). Now there exists a path to stability, a path to safety and some level of mastery of the craft and the risk, eight of them to be exact.

This does not mean Magisters are infallible, for the condition cannot be cured, merely managed. It can be managed to the point where it absolutely will not in any way influence or effect your longevity of life, however doing so requires a lifetime commitment, and this is why the training and education regime of magisters, regardless of the techniques of the particular schools, can seem harsh and extreme to outsiders if they were to learn of some of the practices. It is that way because it must be. Even the most well trained and disciplined of Magisters could slip up, and though it is exceedingly rare now, it does happen. Usually such slips are someone abusing manna powder to the point of loss of control, flooding and over dosing on raw manna. Occasionally it can be under extreme stress. Such stories are disproportiantely more common amongst adventuring sorts, though even there still very rare nowadays.

Causes

The cause of this condition, in the grand scheme of things, is the poisoning of the well that was the Sundering. When the Realm of Nightmares consumed the Material Realm and the Aethyr for a time, encompassing all, it wasn't just the Fae, the now corrupted Faellen Folk, whom suffered. Many a creature and magickal beast were mutated, new aggressive, spiteful and vicious species were born, many a sapient humaniod group with a deep magick heritage (beastkin, greenskins, joten, etc) their very existence and identity was poisoned and warped beyond recognition. The Fell Elves, the Druka, were done in by this as well. However it was a deeper hurt, a more vicious wound, a deeper infection that was left behind. The very fabric of creation, that is the flows of manna themselves, were inexpliciably tainted, poisoned, corrupted. Filtering out this corruption, this taint of the Void, is part and parcel of weaving magick, for one cannot utilize manna in this corrupted state for most magicks, and those that it could be used for inevitably take from the caster brutally in some way, the corruptive influence demanding some sort of price.

Symptoms

Those with the Touch of Arcanis describe intrusive thoughts that are always there, on the perphiary, but never really loud or complete or on the forefront of their mind. These thoughts are fleeting, and oft are voiced in their mind in voices unrecognizable. They are generally relatively easily ignored.....until of course someone with the Touch begins manipulating manna and engaging in the arcane arts. Then the voices push a lot harder at the psyche and stability of the individual, trying to guide, manipulate and trick them into certain actions. In truth these are no mere voices in their head, but the mutterings of creatures beyond the Aethyr, drawn to the individual, for those with the Touch whom are not careful and are untrained actually weaken the Aethyr wherever they are whenever they reach out to touch manna and wield magick.

Treatment

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Though the Magisterium does not openly advertise it, nor is it really seriously discussed or even permitted to be discussed with outsiders, even Templars, there does exist a means to 'cure' an individual of this affliction. They do not discuss this option openly, nor utilize it often, because of what it truly entails. Called the rite of Silence, it is a complex, dangerous and lengthy ritual requiring no less than two Diamond Magisters of great skill, as well as a Onyx Magister and a Magister of the appropriate order given the exact nature of the Touch of the individual going through this ordeal (so which manna flow their touch leans to). The reason this option is not discussed and is used so sparingly and is taboo is because it doesn't just take away a person's ability to manipulate manna. It takes away their ability to dream entirely. It damages, irrevokably, at least whilst they are alive, the very soul. The worst part is it does not deaden their emotions or their ability to be creative...in some ways, consciously. It simply robs them of their subconscious, of that far less quantifiable, but some might argue far more painful to lose, ability to dream, to have fantasies of any substance or complexity. Yet there are a select few throughout the near 1000 year history of the Magisterium, whom do willingly choose this path, in spite of the cost.

Hosts & Carriers

Anyone born with the Touch of Arcanis.

Prevention

This comes down to training, vigiliance and techniques. Mastery of one's arcane craft. There is a reason the Magisterium tries so hard to inform, to advertise, spends considerable effort and resources always seeking out anyone with the Touch, even those whom are still children. The older one gets, the more likely they have begun to lose bits and pieces of their sanity and perspective to the Maddening Whispers. This does not mean adults are without the chance to stave off the lethal potential of this condition, however it is a lot harder the older one gets before they finally begin recieving proper education. However the truth of the matter is that it is proper education, proper training are the best methods of prevention.

This truth is also in part because of an interesting snag in regards to the Aethyr and the protection that layer, the dream realm, offers reality, the shielding it provides from the Void beyond. As those untrained and without discipline or the proper technical know how wielding arcane power can weaken the Aethyr whenever they wield arcane magick, those trained properly, with the many years upon years of schooling required? They actively strengthen the Aethyr with their skills and wielding arcane magick, able to inherently filter and forcibly disrupt and otherwise scrub the taint of the Void from the manna they are shaping and cycling, and thus when it manifests in the Material Realm, releasing its potential energies, and returns to the weave of the Aethyr, it returns clean and untainted. Of course this is merely a balance, there is little to no chance of ever removing the Corruption of the Void from the energies of creation entirely. However it is necessary to maintain a balance to stave off the continual growth of that corruption to the point of making the Aethyr unstable and risking another Sundering.