Old magic

At the heart of your world’s magic lies an inherent balance; you’ve seen it in the duality between night and day, between the halves of your own souls, even between the gods Helena and Oordeel. But one entity has stood apart from the rest, unbalanced and unchecked. He told you that he was the universe, that in the beginning, there was only him, and that through the eons that pass, he will be all that remains.

He was wrong.

There cannot be chaos without balance, destruction without creation. You’ve traveled across a changed land, seen what it is like when one world consumes another. And as your world splits at the seams, an ancient power, just as desperate as you to make right what is wrong, reveals itself. You’ve always felt it, in some small way: in little miracles, when a cat who should have died makes a miraculous recovery, or when a mother knows, instinctively, no matter how far away she is, that her kitten is in danger. Perhaps, through the years, you’ve heard rumors of cats who saved lost travelers from deadly predators with only their words, or who spoke with the spirits of long-dead loved ones. These were no mere rumors.

In Kaulu’s all-encompassing endlessness, how could could he have noticed a power so small, so subtle? A life saved here, a spirit spoken to there–what does it matter? What difference does it make, in the grandness of all time and space? It is not a god, like him. And yet it has existed since the beginning, ebbing and flowing alongside mortalkind, connecting souls to one another. What happens now, when it bubbles to the surface? When it is wielded not by an isolated few, but by a tide of many, yearning for change?

This is the power that flows through the roots of the universe. This is Old Magic.

Pathfinding

Over the course of your travels, through your hardships and joys, you each have found something that you truly, deeply care about. Whether it be the plants and animals that surround you, the stars that have reached down to touch your soul, those you have lost, or those you still walk beside, something has kept you going.

And finally, your soul has rewarded you for your values. This is Pathfinding, where you get to choose for your character which ability your soul grants your character.

There are a few details you must know before choosing your character's Path.

ONCE CHOSEN, YOU CANNOT CHANGE. Pathfinding is a permanent decision; once you pick an ability, you will not have a chance to change your path.

GAINED THROUGH HARDSHIPS. As of right now, Pathfinding is exclusive to the players of Paradise Rising. Your characters have gone through more turmoil than even the Legendaries can imagine. This is a power you found and earned yourselves.

LIMITED POWER. For now. Since your characters are still adjusting to these new abilities, they may only use them twice before the end of Trial 5. After that, there will be no restrictions on how often that may use them. If you would like a checkpoint response to your Old Magic power use, be sure to indicate this in your post.

Your character has a choice of one among five minor individual powers. Old Magic is the magic of mortalkind, and each of these powers is intended to reflect an idea that may connect to your character’s growth through the Trials. How have they changed since that first day in the Valley? What are they rooted to? The blurbs below give a few ideas on how a character might typically connect to each power, but you do not have to stick with them if you do not want to!

The paths

BONDROOTED. Your character is rooted to the bonds they have formed with others, and therefore has the ability to telepathically connect with other cats. The hearts and souls of Bondrooted cats beat for their loved ones; these cats often consider their connections to be the most important things in their life. Unlike soul partner telepathy, Bondrooted cats may only share words, up to 50 words per power use. This power only works with cats the player has met before. The range of the ability is one mile or 1.6 km, and your character may only speak to one cat per use. This power lasts only three minutes.

WORLDROOTED. Your character is rooted to the living beings of the worlds that surround them, and therefore has the ability to communicate limitedly with non-cat creatures, including those of Helena’s world. Worldrooted cats often feel a deep connection with other living beings and may feel a deep sense of importance in bridging rifts between souls. For the duration of the power use, your character can understand and speak the language of another living being. Each power use lasts three minutes.

STRINGROOTED. Your character is rooted to their physical surroundings and the unseen links between worlds, and therefore has the ability to temporarily manifest small physical objects and pocket spaces. Stringrooted cats might feel deeply connected to a certain place or object; alternatively, instead of a connection to what already exists, they may feel a desire to create something new. Only one can be created per use. The same space or object can be re-summoned in a future use. Objects need not be realistic, but must be nonliving and no larger than an average cat. Cats cannot manipulate the objects they create, unless telekinetically by a purple soul. Stringrooted cats can also create small “pockets” in space, no larger than two cats, much like the pocket worlds Oordeel and Helena sometimes make. Scenes can be larger but are more limited with how much they can be interacted with (for example, you cannot create a room full of books that can each be picked up and read). These spaces cease to exist when the time is up. Objects manifested in a pocket space will cease to exist until the space is re-summoned. Spaces created by Stringrooted cats vanish after one minute. Simple single objects can last up to three minutes.

GROWTHROOTED. Your character is rooted to the growth experienced by themselves, their loved ones, and the world, and therefore has the ability to communicate limitedly with plants and help them grow. Growthrooted cats may have experienced a great deal of growth themselves and/or want to create a world where growth can flourish–or perhaps they simply want to retreat to a place that is safe. Growthrooted cats do not have an ability to control plant growth at their own whim. Rather, they can sense what nearby plants experience, such as the need for more water or sun, or threats they may consider dangerous. Plants hear many secrets, and Growthrooted cats can share their own and send messages to others across plants (up to 1 mile away). Messages are one-way and may be up to 10 words long. To a recipient, this message would sound otherworldly and ancient– like the rustling of leaves has grown a voice. The duration of a power use is three minutes.

DEATHROOTED. Your character is rooted to the souls that now only exist in memory, and therefore has the ability to hear the echoes of the dead. Deathrooted cats often feel a deep connection to the past—to what has been lost, and what can still be remembered. Death exists all around us, and a Deathrooted cat may activate their powers in order to hear the last living thoughts or words of souls who died in that particular location. If they want, they can also conjure up the image of the cat who has passed– this image cannot be controlled and cannot speak except to echo their last living thoughts/words. Deathrooted cats do not need to have known the deceased cat in life to hear their echoes, and the deceased cat can have passed away anytime in history-- from moments earlier all the way back to when humans still roamed, though the longer they have been dead, the less clear the connection is. Deathrooted cats can also conjure the image of a dead cat they knew at any moment, but it is a static image. They do not have to be standing in the place where the cat died to conjure this image. The ghost cannot speak or be interacted with. Note that Deathrooted cats can only listen to a departed soul’s final living moments and will never be heard in return. The duration of a power use is three minutes.

The soul tether

For the first time, we have discovered a five-way alignment ability: the Soul Tether.

The power

When a minimum of 5 characters of every soul class align using their old magic powers, they have the power to form temporary soul link between themself and one other character who is not part of the alignment. This other character does not have to be a half-soul; they may be a whole soul, a wisp–or even a god.
- It is a temporary soul link; think of it as a deep meditation or projection.
- It can be thought of as a less dangerous and invasive form of the Plague. The target character's soul is pulled from their body and into the starry tree realm.
- In this state, players still have access to their soul powers, including tertiary abilities and newfound Old Magic powers. A blue soul can conjure water and a red soul can create a flame. This is true for every class. Cats can speak with one another, both physically and telepathically, and can interact with each other, but they cannot do any lasting damage (for example, a scratch a cat gets in this state does not reflect on their physical body).
  - Be careful! While these rules are true for mortal cats and even full-powered souls, a more powerful being's abilities are more unpredictable.
- This is an exhausting ability! When the players return to their bodies, each involved character (the five characters and the tether) loses -d10 HP. Each player takes the same amount of HP hit.

Tread with caution. Old Magic has only just fallen into the paws of mortals...who knows how an ability this powerful might behave? But it also means there is room for creativity here; see what you can do with the application of a power like this.