Greenwater

So far the science aspect of the setting is still very fuzzy. That’s one part “intentionally” and two parts “because I haven’t gotten very far with it”. The tech level is somewhat undefined and inconsistent by design, as what you can or can’t do depends more on your Willpower and general competency as an inventor than on what’s otherwise available. Just because the average pistol is a single shot affair doesn’t mean you can’t build yourself a machinegun. It probably won’t look like any machinegun you’ve seen though, it might not be all that reliable, and it might not even work in the hands of someone else, but still. Most of the technology and science is intended to be like that - a great doctor can perform miracles of medicine, including ones that might not actually make all that much sense (in the same way that a spring-loaded clockwork grenade launcher might not make sense). It will be more defined later, but there won’t be any strict rules for “this exists” and “this doesn’t”.

One area that needs to be more clearly defined, however, is Paramentalism, since it’s much more setting specific and thus less intuitive in what is or isn’t possible. Like everything else it’s a work in progress, but here’s a rough summary on the current state of the “techno-mages”.

Paramentalism
The field of Paramentalism covers the most ‘immediately’ supernatural sciences. It is well worth noting, however, that within the setting this is in no way seen as supernatural. It’s science of the cold hard variety, utilizing brain implants to provide a more direct ‘interface’ to the world. Or something that sounds equally fancy - what it comes down to is that a Paramentalist can generally enforce their Willpower directly upon reality - but the explanation you would get from a Paramentalist about how it works depends on who you ask. It’s a new field of science by Greenwater standards, and there is no fixed doctrine. The Convocation Mentalis has an effective monopoly on Paramentalism research, making any independent research illegal. Rogue Paramentalists exist, however, and tend to be both very dangerous and highly unstable.

Like with the other sciences, it’s a techy bit that ‘connects’ the creator’s Willpower with the world: namely the implants. For this to work properly, each Paramentalist (“Param” in short) has to design their own implants, meaning that all Params have at least some knowledge of Electricism (which I won’t go into detail about here). The implants are grafted into the brain, and invariably involves wires and circuitry on the outside as well. In order not to interfere with this, most Params shave their head and cannot wear any kind of headgear while their implants are ‘online’. This means that Paramentalists are immediately recognizable as such, making life that much more difficult for rogue ones, and Mentalis ones tend to wear large hoods when not actively using their powers.

These implants are permanent and can never be removed without killing the Paramentalist. Four distinct types of implants exist, each enabling a ’sub-field’ of Paramentalism. The types are fundamentally different to the point where they can never be combined in any way, nor can one person survive having more than one Paramental implant. The four varieties are provisionally labeled Extrovert, Introvert, Duovert, and Pseudovert.

Extrovert Paramentalists are the oldest type, but the least politically significant. Their implants are effectively one-way and directed outward. This means that they have the greatest ability to affect the world around them, and also keeps them safe from unwanted inbound feedback. They have a number of different sub-fields specializing in things like telekinesis and thermokinesis. While their abilities are useful, they have failed to gain any political importance because of them. With no inbound connections, they are much less prone to insanity than other types, and as a direct consequence of this most high-ranking Paramentalists within the Mentalis are Extroverts.

Introvert Paramentalists are something of a mystery, and the whole field is considered a scientific failure by many within the Mentalis. Having exclusively inbound implant connections, they gain no influence on the outside world. The strength of the inbound mental noise quickly overwhelms the human mind, and without fail all Introverts lose touch with the world around them within minutes of first activating their implants. Because of this, Introverts are very rare, but the few that exist are almost revered. They gain superhuman cognitive powers as a result of their implants, but lack the presence of mind to effectively communicate what they perceive, appearing instead like mysterious prophets speaking only in riddles or fragments. When their implants are inactive they simply turn catatonic.

Duovert Paramentalists have both inbound and outbound connections. These interfere with each other, and this interference somehow connects them with the minds of others around them, without any perception of the world between. Exactly why this happens is unknown, but it appears to be an unavoidable side effect of Duovert implants. Duoverts themselves refer to this alternate mental perception of reality as the “World of Emotion”, and through it they can reach out and sense or affect the minds of others. The effective range is limited, but they can read the minds of those around them and, with practice, implant thoughts and suggestions into the minds of other sentient beings. Their powers are entirely limited to the World of Emotion, and they have none of the abilities of other types of Params, but in a city where information is the most valuable commodity of all, telepaths are extremely valuable. Known as Parapsychers, most work within the Oculus or the Corps Morbid, acting as interrogators and investigators. The exposure to the thoughts and emotions of others tends to blur their perception of self, however, and extended visits to the World of Emotion has one unfortunate side effect - insanity.

Pseudovert Paramentalists are something of an anomaly, and are the youngest of the four. Believed to have been initially conceived by accident, their implant connections simply route back on themselves in ways not fully understood by non-Pseudoverts. In fact, the creation of a Pseudovert implants requires the aid of a Pseudovert; an exception from the traditions of otherwise entirely self-manufactured implants. Because of this, there are very few rogue Pseudoverts, and as each one has a sponsor within the order they have a unique sense of brotherhood. Their implants allows them to perceive what they call “Machine Spirits”, effectively sensing the lingering Willpower within man-made things. Popularly known as Machiners, they have the ability to repair or improve engines and devices through a form of ‘machine empathy’ and have successfully managed to perfectly replicate a number of Legacy Machines without needing to understand the theory behind the devices, claiming that the Machine Spirits know their own purpose and speak to them. Secretive and denounced as ‘unscientific’ by many outsiders, they spend most of their time within the walls of the Machiner Collegium.