A familiar Ghost Appears

[Ivy]

Purple: visible to psychics
Time: After September game

Hugo's astral form strolls through the forest along Holdfast's perimeter, his image phasing through the foliage which he would otherwise be brushing aside.

He seems to be on the lookout for something

[Rudi]

Rudi is laying in the woods and she looks up in time to see Hugo's astral form. "Hugo!" She smiles and heads over to him. "You're a powerful psychic, right? Could you teach me to resist psychic effects? Sorry to bother you from another plane if you can't or don't want to!"

[Ivy]

Hugo stopped, and turned to face Rudi, watching them approach and speak at him

*rematerialize*

"Sorry what was that? I couldn't hear you."

[Rudi]

".. I may have forgotten about that." She laughs. "I asked if you could teach me to resist stuff that messes with the mind! I've heard psychics can do it, and i'd love to be able to. Z seems to be having fun with Mesmerizing and, as much as I like him, i'd also like to avoid being stuck in it." And Val's new power, she adds silently to herself.

"If you don't want to teach me you don't have to though!"

[Ivy]

"I can teach you a thing, sure." Something to be remembered by, he figured.

Hugo looked around for a moment, and spied a cozy looking pair of rocks nearby.

"have a seat?" he gestured to the rocks. "I don't know everything about resisting mind control, but I can teach you how to focus your mind, at least."

[Rudi]

"Thanks so much! I'd really appreciate it." She smiled at him and sat herself down on one of the rocks he gestured to. "My mind isn't what you'd call a focused place."

[Ivy]

"Sounds like we'll have some work to do, then." Hugo sat down across from Rudi, setting down his polearm and bag beside him.

"First things first: You've learned enough to be able to see the astral plane. What else have you learned? It's helpful if I can make comparisons to stuff you might already be familiar with."

[Rudi]

"That we do!" She laughed "Not much, honestly. I just recently learned from Theo how to give my states to others.. or take them away. Oh! And I can go into a trance and, of course, I can meditate but I can do it pretty fast."

[Ivy]

"Good! we're studying many of the fundamentals first, I love to hear it."

"Alright then, focused mind... It's the ability to use one of your states of power to overcome effects which might beset your mind. Mind control, altered memories, mesmerize, and even potions like sleep can be nullified by this ability."

"To get started, take these"

Hugo leans forward and pokes Rudi in the knee

Impart State, Focus Mind. Impart State, Focus Mind

[Rudi]

"Oh! Yes, that's exactly what I want to be able to do."

Feeling the poke on her knee and the states following that poke, she speaks up again. "Ooh, I see, thank you! Do I use these now?"

[Ivy]

"That is the plan, yes."

"In a second, I'm going to try to project an emotion on you, and you're going to use that state to resist it. When you do, let the feeling of that power wash through you, and try your best to memorise the feeling"

Hugo paused a moment to let that last bit sink in, then tapped Rudi on the knee again

*Project Emotion: Unease*

((The moment Hugo pokes Rudi, she feels a great deal of anxiety and discontentment, being here in the woods alone with Hugo. Certainly not enough to flee in terror, but enough to be supernaturally present in one's mind))

[Rudi]

Rudi nodded along as he spoke, obviously listening intently. When he tapped her again, she jumped and hesitated before remembering the power Hugo loaned her. She focused on it, letting herself calm again and trying to hold onto how it felt to tap into it.

[Ivy]

Hugo watched the feeling of surprise and dread come and go, and figured that She'd used the imparted state to dispel his simple manipulation.

"Good work, you felt how that projected emotion overwrote your true mind, then."

"With the imparted state, this... inner focus, it becomes possible to recognize such manipulations and drive them out."

"We'll do one more of this fashion, but this time, a more... Significant manipulation"

Hugo pauses again, to give Rudi a chance to steel themselves for the occasion, then once again poked Rudi

*Project Emotion: Adulation*

((Rudi's mind is flooded with desire to.. Praise Hugo? he deserves it, you should tell him all about how cool you think he is, how truly grateful and honoured you are to be receiving teaching from him! yeah, he's the best! the best! the best! the best! the best! the best! the best! the best! the best! the best! the best!))

[Rudi]

She steeled herself for the second emotion, expecting some kind of negative wave of emotion. So, when it was adulation, she was caught off guard. Unprepared, she opened her mouth to speak "Hugo, i'm so honored you would teach me you're the best psychic I know an-" She cut herself off, realizing that this was probably something he was doing to her.

Taking a breath, she focused on clearing her mind. A few moments later, and she found the all-consuming need to praise Hugo fading. "I do like you, but not quite that much."

[Ivy]

"Yea I didn't think so", Hugo chuckled and smiled a bit.

"That's the insidious bit: Not everyone is out to inflict night-terrors or whatever on you, or trying to mind-control you into fighting to the death over pumpkins."

"Some people will try to manipulate you in subtler ways: Using water magic to alter you memories, harmonize or avoid to bind people together or drive them apart. These sorts of illusions try to overwrite your mind, and distort your reality in a way where you can't tell it's all trickery. This is what we really need to be vigilant of, for we only get a limited window to drive certain illusions out before they take hold."

he continues monologuing:

"Take sleep potions for instance. You can resist them at the time of ingestion, but obviously you can't focus your mind to overcome it once you're asleep. My advice is that, if you don't know what an effect will do to you, overcome it via your focused mind technique immediately. If it's some sort of Gloin situation you can always pretend to be mind-controlled afterwards if it'll keep you safer than otherwise."

"Actually I take back that last bit, if you see Gloin, hide."

He took a moment to stop and think, as though pausing mid-thought.

"...Right, learning Focused Mind. You've felt how, using the imparted ones, you can clear outsiders from your mind? I find it's a lot like meditation, relying on finding your center, and ignoring outside influence is the key to success with this one."

Impart State, Focus Mind. Impart State, Focus Mind

"Here's two more. Next time you meditate I want you to use one of these first, so you get the chance to sus out the differences and similarities."

[Rudi]

Rudi listened to Hugo's monologue patiently, intent on learning. "I have no idea what a Gloin is, but if I see one, i'll be sure to do that. But it seems to be a lot like trance: go into it immediately or face whatever someone else is trying to do to you... except you're not helpless on the ground."

She nodded when he gave her his states. "Alright! Thank you."

[Ivy]

"I mean, in terms of when to use it, Focused Mind and Trance are pretty similar in that regard."

"Unless you have questions, I think we're good to go. So long as you take the time to practice your inner focus before each meditation, I think you'll be able to overpower Zee's Mesmerize in a few short weeks."

((If you have any questions about how Focused Mind works, other requests, etc. It'd be a good time to ask.))
((Elsewise, this is Hugo signing off on Focused Mind for Rudi!))

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