The Psionic Arts of Communion

Traditional Keleni Healing Arts (Jalteran) 5 points

King Kashekim Nedakh by DrMistyTang

Jalteran refers to a specific guild of healers within the Keleni culture, thus referring to their preferred style of healing would be like calling Western medicine “Doctoring,” but nonetheless the word has stuck around. Jalteran is the unique practice of “folk healing” that the Keleni have been practicing for centuries and has become virtually synonymous with True Communion, to the point that those who practice the art might even call the location of practice a “temple,” and those who regularly attend for treatments might refer to themselves as “Followers of Communion.” Some healers embrace this, and also hold religious services on the side or act as mentors, while genuine Communion temples will also learn Jalteran to fulfill the dual expectations of those who come to their temple.

The Keleni healing arts derive their premise from the core principle that the physical is just a manifestation of the mental; this means that the health of the body is ultimately a reflection of the health of the mind. To purge someone of an illness requires that person to at least calm their mind and find harmony between their conscious mind and the subconscious id that rules their physical manifestation.

The most common forms of treatment are meditative. The healer first diagnosis the illness and what might be causing it; such diagnoses are often abstract, but some Keleni healers are astute psychologists and can find genuine psychological issues that the patient currently suffers from. Next, the healer guides the patient through meditative exercises, teaching them to turn their eye inward and calm whatever inner turmoil they have to better improve their physical state. To facilitate this, some healers learn the art of massage and interior decoration (creating a calm space will help create a calm mind). What effects this has tends to be questionable and ultimately depend on what the GM will allow Esoteric Medicine to do: it will certainly helps heal psychic issues (such as psychic crippling) and curing diseases that are psychic in origin as well as physician would cure the physical equivalent; for physical ailments, it generally does little more than provide a +1 to HT rolls to naturally recover.

While not required to learn the Keleni healing arts, most Keleni who practice them also study the Psychic Healing power, something Keleni naturally excel at. By putting the patient in a meditative state, they have a far easier time practicing their craft and their study of esoteric, psychic principles prevent them from ruining their target’s psyche or body during delicate procedures. Their near miraculous ability to heal nearly any problem via psychic healing contributes to the belief that anyone who engages in the trappings of the Jalteran will be as effective, which has led to a reputation of quackery. Rumors also persist of Jalteran sages who can cure aging and are thus both immortal and capable of granting that immortality to others. At the GM’s discretion, this can be true! But even if it is not, the perception of its truth drives many a wealthy or powerful man to seek out the finest Jalteran physician.

Keleni practitioners of Jalteran often have the honorific suffix -alta added to their name.

Required Skills: Diagnosis, Esoteric Medicine, Meditation, Philosophy (True Communion).

Additional Psionic Skills: Aura Reading, Cure, Disease Shield

Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength, Pressure Points

Secret Psionic Skills: Life Extension

Techniques: Introspective Ceremony

Perks: Auric Squint, Healing Bond, Healing Massage, Healthy Decoration, Meditative Massage, Secret Power (Life Extension, up to level 2), Sacred Healing, Soothing Touch, Stabilizing Skill (Psychic Healing, Esoteric Medicine), Wishful Medicine,

Optional Advantages: Psychic Healing Talent, Sensitive or Empathy

Optional Disadvantages: Charitable, Disciplines of Faith (Asceticism or Mysticism), Delusion (“Holistic medicine can cure anything”), Reputation (Quack)

Optional Skills: Artist (Interior Decorating), Exorcism, Expert Skill (Psionic), Teaching, Professional Skill (Massage), Psychology

True Communion as Esoteric Skill

A True Communion disciple first learns to meditate. True Communion teaches that, through introspection, self-knowledge and self-discipline, one can begin to understand the world around him. They learn to listen to their own inner voice, then to their instincts, then to Communion itself. Through obedience to Communion, they can learn who they truly are, how they connect to the world, and what their true purpose is. Once one has mastered this art, the next step is to teach others. Teaching methods vary, but True Communion strongly favors teaching through example, riddles and challenges. It seeks to get the student to discover a principle for himself, rather than to simply be told something that they will soon forget, or learn only superficially. By teaching others, the student masters Communion more deeply and, more importantly, learns to connect with his own students and thus finds himself in an unbroken chain of masters and pupils extending back to the birth of True Communion.

True masters of Communion have deeply powerful meditative techniques that allow them to reach a trance-like, to empower their connection with Communion, and to even regain their psychic energy more quickly. They learn to discard their own selfish needs and, as they become more attuned to Communion, to become more attuned to their community around them and to being to understand the deepest secrets of spirituality. Those who masters the art of teaching, according to legend, have the ability to unlock the psionic potential of anyone, and can even teach those forever locked away from Communion to overcome their limitations and join the greater galactic gestalt.

The galaxy will forever associate True Communion with the Templars, and so many monasteries and temples also teach the force sword as part of True Communion. Most also teach the history of the faith, or give insight into the holy places and relics of the faith. Communion often holds that inner knowledge can come from dreams, and those who believe this teach their students to interpret their dreams.

This form of Communion is the Communion of the Templars and the one most commonly practiced across the galaxy. It is assumed to be the “default” form of True Communion.

Psionic Disciplines of the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant

The Cult of the Mystic Tyrant concerns itself with more than just warfare. Beyond its mastery of Dark Communion, It requires the subtlety and majesty of Telepathy to enforce its dominion and secrecy and thus teaches many of its members in the arts of hiding their own thoughts, in controlling the thoughts of others and in ferreting out traitors and destroying them.

Anti-Psi Styles

In a world full of psionic powers, characters will seek to protect themselves from that power.  Mundane countermeasures (like Mind Block) exist and mundane characters will certainly seek to train themselves in its intricacies.  Anti-Psi characters will also seek to improve their talents, studying the art of anti-psi as deeply as psions study the arts of psi.

I originally designed the following styles with non-psions in mind.  They focus mostly on Expert Skill (Psion), Meditation and Mind Block.  However, given that Anti-Psi characters need something to counterbalance powers like True Communion or Psionic Witchcraft, I've added some Anti-Psi and Broken Communion powers as well.  Treat these as examples.  There might be simpler, smaller mundane styles, or more baroque and sinister anti-psi styles.

Communion Styles

Divine Favor can absolutely have its own traditions and cultures and techniques, and should!  Just as Catholicism has a different body of supernatural lore and power than Appalachian folk-religion, so too should Communion have a rich variety of worship and empowerment.

Communion Style Familiarity

Communion styles are just psionic styles with a greater focus on communion.  Treat them as the same, except they gain the following, should it be relevant:

• You may acquire any non-secret learned prayer with earned points in play without having to seek instruction.

Communion styles have a greater focus on skills and perks than on powers, as miracles rarely require skills outside of Meditation, Philosophy and Religious Ritual.  Even so, we gain "Learned Prayers" as style abilities, which characters may purchase the same way they could purchase "style skills and techniques."

Psionic Styles

Psionic Styles focus primarily on exploring a few specific or interrelated concepts within the world of psionic powers.  Most should offer some kind of secret power or technique, or at least a few interesting perks, but their most important aspect is adding in cultural context.  Psionic styles say something about a setting.

For building a psionic style, follow the guidelines in Thaumatological Styles:

• Styles have Required Skills to learn, and might have Required Psionic Skills to learn.  Don't bother to list a power as a prerequisite: it's assumed when you include the skill.
• Styles may have Additional Skills and Techniques which represent psionic skills and techniques that the character can learn as they wish.
• Styles may have Perks.  A character may learn 1 perk for every 20 points invested into style-related skills and techniques but not powers.
• Styles may have Secret Skills and Secret Techniques which represent lore available only to that school. Each has a perk associated with them, and must be learned at the feat of one of the style's masters.
• Styles may have Optional Traits, which represent advantages, skills or techniques that a specific school of a style may or may not teach.