Psyguard
No more nightmares, no more fears, no more terror, no more leers...Psyguards are a Vexuan invention that hook into an individual's brain through their ears, allowing the psyguard access to their thoughts. They are considered a protective item, as they connect with the wearer's psyche and block unwanted thoughts from reaching the conscious mind.
Powered by of psychic energy and a connection to Vexua's integrated maginetworks, psyguards are functional only within Vexua's areas of influence. This is somewhat intentional; Vexua, as a nation, is highly isolationist. Knowing that one's fears and hatreds will return outside of the country's borders is a strong motivator for inhabitants to remain within their home, within Vexua's strict rules and endless bounty of joys.
Not enough news travels beyond Vexua's towering walls to explain details of the inner workings of the psyguards, nor the full details of their invention; the details listed within this document are largely educated assumptions based on second-hand accounts, and rare fragments of showboating from Vexua's ambassadors and androids.
Only one psyguard has been discovered outside of Vexua's exclusion zone when it washed into a town in Laminaeles, in the Luari Ocean. Its damaged, rusting state did not prevent researchers from determining some of its functions, and it is now displayed in Arcayah's Museum of Vexuan Artifacts.
Construction
I'd love to be able to speak to the people who invented these - it's quite fascinating, but extremely ethically doubtful...
Creating the psyguards alone would have been a major challenge, but as they are allegedly worn throughout Vexua, configurability and adaptability would be a major challenge in their construction. Anatomy can differ strongly between species; though elves, humans, and dwarves look similar in many ways, these three species are from very different origins and don't share as much anatomy as one might expect - brains are especially different.
The fragmented psyguard stored in Arcayah seems to have been made for human ears, with indications of parts able to be swapped out for other species - such as to adapt to pointed elven ears, or to deal with webbed undine gills.
To configure them to an individual, an external tool seems to be needed. A small hole present on the psyguard's underside indicates an area where some form of connection can be made with another machine, presumably allowing the upload of different configurations to target specific thoughts, feelings, or memories, as the individual wishes.
History
I heard some of them choose to erase entire chapters of their life. Someone dies? They get erased, save for a vague concept of what was once there. It's so bizarre.Psyguards are a relatively new development in Vexua's technological repertoire. Prior to their existence, inhabitants with extreme mental challenges presenting thoughts that could not be quelled would often instead opt for surgeries or intense regimens of drug therapy to suppress their traitorous, harmful thoughts, according to current understanding of Vexua's society. As far as is currently known, the past millennia of Vexua has not tolerated mental illness: unlike other nations, it has always been considered a flaw to be fixed.
The invention of psyguards is likely tied to the recent appearance of psychic magic in mortals. Attempting something similar with arcane or divine was more than likely impossible; other nations had attempted similar, albeit less advanced, magics in spellcraft, and seen no strong progress outside of spells that suppressed wills entirely.
Like those spells, psyguards seem to be a form of enchantment magic that likely adopts abjuration principles in order to block thoughts. Veilmynde, as mentioned in the sidebar, is similar.
Their use allows Vexuan society to erase negative events and to manage their own resistance to the Vexuan regime, if any exists. Psyguards are entirely voluntary in use according to the nation's ambassadors, and only the wearer can appropriately set their configurations. Given the questionable ethics of psyguards - if it is even possible for an item that alters mental functionality to this degree to be considered ethical at all - this statement's truth is questioned often.
Item type
Electronic / Cybernetic
Creation Date
Mid-5000s
Related Technologies
Owning Organization
Weight
2 grams
Base Price
Unknown
Noooo thank you. Nope. Stay out of my brain.
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