Once upon a time, in a faraway land, you did something horrible. Something terrible. Something you wanted to hide from everyone else in the world. Guess what? I just found out what it was. Oh, I'm sorry; didn't you feel like sharing? Mnemosynis can be either a powerful cathartic tool or the most inhumnaly potent source of pain imaginable for a wraith. Students of this Arcanos learn the arts of tracing memories, and, should the individual worker reach more difficult levels of achievement, of bringing those memories into the present. Obviously, Mnemosynis is a powerful tool for obtaining information or ascertaining guilt, and it was a widely held belief that the Mnemoi are incapable of pulling anything save the absolute truth from the psyches of those they work with. This, unfortunately, was not the case. An early synthesis of the arts of Puppetry and Castigate, Mnemosynis also focused on the control of others. Mnemoi are workers with the stuff of rememberance and the patterns of thought, and only the most skilled have the ability to shape it, rather than merely read or recall it. However, those with the talent to perceive memory as a physical stuff may shape it to their staisfaction, thus in essence modifying or creating memories. Those watching the Mnemoi do not see this reshaping of the material of memory as anything beyond the usual visual effects associated with the Arcanos.
Mnemoi -- Mnemosynis
Once closely affiliated with the Pardoners, the Mnemoi served the judiciary of Stygia as questioners and sleuths. Questions of truth and falsehood, responsibility and fault were easily answered as the Mnemoi could call up memories of the incidents in question and simply know not only the whats, but also the wherefores. The honesty of their guild was unquestioned, in part because of the rigorousness of Mnemoi training was widely noised about and in part because were the Mnemoi corruptible, it would be too disturbing to contemplate. Needless to say, the Mnemoi were in fact corrupt. Not all betrayed their trust, certainly, but the elders of the guild sold their talents at reshaping memory to the highest bidder. When Charon himself finally unmasked the deception practiced upon Stygia, those elders were disgraced and their followers, particularly those who had not yet been intiated into the true ways of the guild, were crushed. Pallonus, the head of the order, was cast into the Sunless Sea and the Mnemoi's Guild itself was broken. Its members, despised and occasionally hunted, were exiled to the hinterlands and it is there, in a thousand places far from the capital of the dead, that the ways of reading and shaping memories are still taught. There are those who claim that the exiled Mnemoi are hard at work erasing the memories of those who recall their disgrace, and are plotting to return in triumph. Others scoff at this, but a great many of those scoffers have also been known to be less than clear on what precisely the Mnemoi's crime was. The guild's symbol before the exile was an evenly balanced scale weighing one eye in each pan, but since the breaking of the Mnemoi, those who most keenly feel the guild's disgrace have recast it so that the scales are no longer balanced. Mnemoi are notable for never, ever blinking (save by conscious effort), and it is by this and only this that they may be detected.
Basic Abilities
Rewind: With a minimum effort, a Mnemos is capable of seeing the last one minute of another being's existence through their eyes. Humans, Spectres, even animals are affected by this power. The clock is constantly ticking on this ability and the time limit is precise, but nothing can be omitted or glossed over when Rewind is employed. The Mnemos using Rewind, sees, instead of the world around her, the last one minute of her target's experience in the first person format. The Rewind starts from the moment precisely one minute before the Arcanos is employed. At the end of that minute, reality reasserts itself. Sense Intellect: In order to affect another's mind, one must first learn to sense and make contact with other minds. The user of this power is able to detect the presence of other minds in her near vicinity, even if they are out of sight. The user must actively concentrate to use this ability. Once contact is made with such a mind, the wraith may then choose to use other powers of Mnemosynis of that individual. It is only possible to detect the presence of other minds within ten feet of the user; the wraith cannot ascertain the identity of those minds. Note that this Arcanos may only be used to sense conscious minds. Drones show up only faintly to those searching with this art.
1 - In Memoriam In Memoriam brings back a specific memory so that the Mnemos can experience it herself. The memory in question must be specified precisely (i.e., "Let me see your memory of the last time you spoke to your friend Aristophanes," or "Show me what happened just after sundown last Thursday"), and must refer to an event that the questioner knows occurred. "Show me what happened when you dumped Chretien into the Nihil," is not a valid question, unless the Mnemos knows that her target did in fact dump someone named Chretien into a Nihil. The memory is presented in the same manner as one recalled through Rewind. This power is only good for the past year; each additional five years of range requires the expenditure of a Willpower point. 2 - Mnemotechics Mnemotechics brings a moment of the past back for the wraith upon whom it is exercised. When this art is used, the target is instantaneously transported (in their mind) back to a time specified by the Mnemos responsible. The character will perceive herself to be in that past time and will act accordingly. This power can either be a magnificent release or the cruelest of inflicted delusions, and it is used sparingly by those who are aware of its consequences. Using Mnemotechics requires the expenditure of 2 Pathos and 1 Willpower point. In addition, the Mnemos gains as many Angst points as his subject if the power is used malevolently.
3 - Mindspeak This art allows the wraith to communicate short phrases to an individual, and to receive his responses. Like a kind of limited telepathy, this art may only be used to communicate with someone within the user's line of sight. Because the thoughts are conveyed by a means that is beyond language, it is difficult to express fine shades of meaning through this art. On the other hand, it is possible to communicate with someone who speaks an unfamiliar language, due to the nonverbal nature of Mindspeak. For each additional person the Mnemos wishes to communicate with beyond the first, one Pathos must be expended.
4 - Casting the Scene Casting the Scene recalls a moment of the target's past for everyone within a 10' radius. An expense of additional Pathos expands the range of those included in the effect. The request for a memory must be carefully phrased; queries in the "When did you stop beating your wife?" mold will produce precisely zero in the way of effect. Everyone in the range experiences the memory through the eyes of the target of the Arcanos. This power is only good for the past year; each additional five years of range requires the expense of an additional Willpower point.
5 - Onslaught This is the ultimate power of the Mnemoi, the ability to amplify and transfer a memory wholly from one person to another. While this may not seem a fearsome power, a compressed and intensified emotional experience can in some cases cause actual damage to the recipient. The person the memory is being transferred from will still recall what the memory concerned, but will become more detached from the experience. While this art was initially developed to heal painful memories, it has been adapted to inflict such intense emotional pain that the body actually begins to become physically weakened by the Onslaught. It is the abuse of this power that forced Charon to the break the Mnemoi, and the Onslaught is feared even to this day. The wraith attempting to use this art must first make eye contact with the subject, and must Embody if the intended target is in the Skinlands and has no means of seeing beyond the Shroud. The Mnemos may increase the intensity by spending Willpower on a one-for-one basis, but may not bring the intensity level above a maximum of 10. The wraith using this art will gain 4 Angst.
Note: Mnemosynis is exceedingly powerful, and should be carefully controlled. It allows for the recall, replay, and modification of character memories, and as such is susceptible to abuse. Most wraiths will be offended by having their memories dredged up by an outsider, and will react accordingly.
