Day 16: You remind me of the babe
Finally, finally, FINALLY I get to talk about the magic of Creation: Cathurgy.
Cathurgy is the practice of utilizing a specific set of emotions to affect the world around the user. The power of the magical effect is proportional to how strongly the user feels the relevant emotion at the time of casting, and while greatly reduced effects can be caused unintentionally by strong emotions, the full effect requires the conscious act of tapping into the emotion in a process called “tapping”.
Once an emotion has been tapped, the associated magical effect continues until either stopped by the user, or the emotion is “drained” completely. In either case, the user feels the effect of being drained, leaving the user incapable of feeling that particular emotion, as well as deadening similar emotions, for some time. The effect of draining is lessened if the user willingly stopped tapping the emotion, but is still strong enough to prevent the user from tapping that emotion again for several minutes.
The first Cathurgical emotion, and the easiest to recall, is Anger. The effect of tapping Anger happens immediately: causing touched objects to break down as if by entropy. Wood rots, stone weakens, and metal rust. Tapping Anger on living creatures causes intense burns where touched, starting at the skin and eventually working down to the bone. Once drained of Anger, the user experiences a paradoxical sense of peace and calm, to the point of indifference.
Contempt is the second Cathurgical emotion, and can be maintained for a few seconds. When tapped, Contempt pulls on one or more objects the user focuses on. If the object is lighter than the user then it is pulled directly towards them, while heavier objects pull the user towards it instead. Tapping Contempt only works on things the user can see, including living creatures. After Contempt is drained, the user is overwhelmed by a feeling of melancholy or ennui, as if the user has lost their place in life.
Tapping Disgust is difficult to do over long periods, but the effects are both subtle and dramatic. Once tapped, the user can dull the emotions of a touched living creature, making it more difficult for them to use Cathurgy themselves. While under this effect, the user can also influence the emotions of the target, making them more susceptible to manipulation. When drained, the user becomes unable to determine positive or negative aspects of objects and people.
Fear is probably the most useful Cathurgical emotion to use in the moments one would be feeling it. Tapping Fear creates a protective barrier around the user, protecting them from physical objects and living creatures that they can see, and continuing this protection for as long as they are aware of its position. For example, someone tapping Fear could hold a red-hot iron without any harm because they can feel the metal in their hand. If the user is not aware of something, it can pass through the barrier unimpeded. As a trade-off, being drained of Fear causes the user to become apathetic towards all things, to the point of losing any self-preservation instincts.
One of the rare positive Cathurgical emotions, Joy has an immediate effect when tapped. When touching a single living creature, including themselves, tapping Joy heals their physical wounds. This effect starts with the most recent wounds, and works backwards through time. Tapping Joy is a particularly draining experience, and leaves the user physically and mentally exhausted once drained; an experience often likened to experiencing heartbreak.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Sorrow is also one of the easiest emotions to tap, and can be maintained easily. While tapped, Sorrow makes the user immune to Cathurgy, while also preventing them from using it themselves. Objects, but not living creatures, touched by the user are also immune to the effects of Cathurgy during this time. When finally drained, the user suffers face blindness, as well as inability to read/understand emotion in others.
The last of the known Cathurgical emotions, Surprise is by far the hardest to tap. When it is tapped, the user can immediately identify all sources and targets of Cathurgy around them, with each emotion having its own unique “feel”. The user can innately tell which source of Cathurgy matches with which target as well, and this awareness is not limited by sight. Being drained of Surprise makes the user unable to orient themselves in space, or recognize where they are.
Although it is not an emotion, Pain is also a source of Cathurgical power. While for other emotions the memory can be used as a source, only current pain can be used for Cathurgy. Tapping Pain sends the user into a state similar to hysterical strength, granting them increased physical strength, stamina, and reaction speed. While the user is not immune to harm, they are incapable of feeling any pain except the one currently being tapped. Once their Pain is drained, the user experiences physical numbness and weakness, like they’ve just jumped into freezing water, as well as a mental fogginess similar to being drunk.
The actual mechanics of tapping an emotion are still relatively unknown, but there is one undeniable rule: in order to become a Cathurgist—that is, someone with the capability to use Cathurgy—you must have experienced a substantial emotional trauma, usually linked with one of the 7 emotions associated with Cathurgy.
One last note on this: Cathurgy appears to be unique to Humans. Based on historical records, it appears that the ancient races Humans sprang from (Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and so on) were unable to use Cathurgy, instead using forms of magic that have since been lost to the ages. Shapechangers, meanwhile, are incapable of tapping emotions, and immune to the effects of tapping Disgust or Joy. It’s believed that both of these are due to a fundamental difference in both Shapechanger physiology, and in how they process emotions in the first place.
