Fathom

To become a Deep One is to immerse oneself in the deepest, darkest depths of the mind. Fathom requires a Minor Merit to pursue.

Fathom

History

Fathom is the Pact of Triton, a Godhead associated with water, secrets and predation. They are an entity as mysterious as They are fascinating, with remarkably little information about Them available to anyone beyond the most ambitious of scholars– but perhaps given Their association with secrets, this is by design. Even still, all Godheads wish to spread their influence one way or another, and Their Pacts serve as a vehicle to do exactly that.

Fathom itself is as respected and revered as it is feared and reviled. Many who may hear of it have sought it over the years for both its power and, perhaps, out of a desire to achieve the enlightenment it may bring them. Many more find it pernicious and terrifying, hunting those who bear Triton's Pact. For this reason, most Deep Ones are largely reclusive, bending the world around them to their wills from the murky depths of their hiding places.

Acquisition

The mind is a sea of information, its true depths and power impossible for the mundane to understand on their own. There are those that are capable of not only understanding the mind, but also going as far as to force their will upon it. Such a feat is simply impossible for the mortal brain – it is physically incapable of doing so even at the highest levels of intellect. No, to touch the minds of others requires an enhanced brain, one modified through a Pact with the Godhead Triton.

To form such a Pact, one must realize how vast the mind is and acknowledge how truly limited one’s mortal capabilities are. Sometimes this comes from an intellectual epiphany, other times it’s experienced during existential crises. Some have even formed a Pact when taking psychedelic drugs.

In any case, when the right conditions are met, one would feel as if their mind was touched. It’s as if their mind was latched onto by some otherworldly power, becoming altered both Metaphorically and physically at once. If one welcomes the transformation and allows it without resistance, they will find their mind permanently altered and will thus be able to reach out to others in turn.

Living as a Deep One

Those with the ability to touch minds often find that they are cursed by knowledge. It takes great discipline to resist using one’s powers when the act of reading emotions comes so naturally, even to beginners. Many relationships have been ruined as the Fathom starts to manipulate the emotions and memories of their friends and family. This typically leads to Fathom feeling a sense of loneliness and isolation as they begin to question if any of their relationships remain genuine.

Some Fathom create strict rules for themselves and build habits to avoid using it on certain people or in certain locations. Some have difficulty with even this much and choose to live in solitude, away from other people entirely. Some lose themselves in their quest for information, even resorting to murder just to pry knowledge from a deceased’s mind.

As one might expect, keeping one’s identity as a Fathom hidden is incredibly important if one intends to live with any semblance of normalcy. Most will avoid conversing, helping, or even trading with a Fathom entirely, assuming that any interaction would have been manipulated. Once discovered, a Fathom is usually faced with the choice of spending a great deal of time and effort altering memories to cover their tracks or simply moving to a new location lest they are hunted down and killed.

That is not to say that being a Fathom is all bad. There are those who are able to take full advantage of the abilities they have been granted, adeptly rising up the social ladder or dedicating their entire lives to research. Some even become so powerful that they don’t care if they’re discovered as few would dare challenge them.

Mageburn Symptoms

• Lesser: Headaches, Eye Pain, Accidental Influence Upon Others
• Moderate: Temporary Loss of Select Emotions, Memory Rot, Brain Fog
• Greater: Paralysis of Varying Degrees, Mind Link
• Memory Rot: An unfortunate side effect of trying to manipulate memories. The Fathom focuses so intently on creating too many details or creating too long of a memory that their own memory starts to get distorted. This is incredibly jarring and can cause extreme paranoia, believing that they themselves have been manipulated.
• Mind Link: A rare consequence of trying to manipulate emotions on too many people at once. The Fathom’s mind becomes overwhelmed and is violently torn to shreds as it tries to process too much information.

Spells

As a Pact forged with the Godhead Triton, Fathom utilizes the Metaphor of Imber for casting.

Link

Links are the instrument with which Deep Ones wield all of their other spells. They are invisible and pass through solids, making them impossible to spot or disrupt through mundane means. Once connected, the Link is maintained indefinitely until severed or the mage and target are separated by enough distance.

Psychic Link

The Deep One Links their mind to another sentient mind, allowing them to cast Empath, Memory Sculpting, and Hallucinate on living targets.

Psychokinetic Link

The Deep One Links their mind to a target, allowing them to enact Psychokinesis, whether their target is a living thing or an object.

The Athame of a Mystic can block or momentarily disrupt Links by cutting them; they can sense Links through
Divination.

A Deep One may learn to Syphon through a Link by Journeyman.

Empath

Once Linked, Fathom can read and even control the emotions of others. There is nuance to this ability that goes beyond simply making someone happy or sad. Only surface level emotions are easy to manipulate and doing so must be done with care if one is to avoid arousing suspicion. Manipulating dormant or complex emotions are difficult and will be very jarring to the target if there is no reasonable explanation for them to experience said emotions.

A Deep One by Expert may learn to Apparate into Imber, resembling an aberrant version of how they perceive themselves at lower Frequencies, and diminishing down to whispers of murmuring thought towards higher ones. They may also learn to possess others this way.

Memory Sculpting

Contrary to popular belief, even the powerful minds of a Fathom cannot actually read the minds of others - not without physical access to their brains, that is. That being said, they can still affect the mind beyond controlling emotions. Fathom can also alter the memories of those they’ve Linked to, although the process is mentally taxing. Even the strongest Fathom must be touching their target and they can only work on one memory at a time.

The only way for a Fathom to truly read a mind is to consume it, literally. Upon both Linking to and making physical contact with a deceased’s brain, the Fathom can get a sense for where the information they want is located. They can proceed to tear out that section of the brain and eat it to gain the information they seek. Alternatively, the entire brain could be consumed in order to gain all of the victim’s memories.

If they have a way into Avernus, a Deep One may learn Remnant utilizing the Metaphor of Imber once they have mastered Fathom, but this may only be conducted within a body of water such as a lake, or the depths of Lacon overlain with Avernus.

Hallucinate

Hallucinate allows the Deep One to mesmerize their Linked victim with one of five specific hallucinations. Each of them draw upon a target’s relevant memories and warp their perception of the world in turn, though reality is completely unaffected. A target may only be under the effect of one hallucination at a time.

• Dread: Memories of dread bubble to the surface, painting the perception of the afflicted in colors that might make them panic or leave them frozen in fear.
• Woe: The afflicted will see echoes of their most tragic moments, pushing the afflicted towards hopelessness, depression, or melancholy.
• Malice: That which makes the blood boil will be reflected upon the world ‘round the afflicted, drawing out their temper.
• Frolic: Even the most mundane of things will be perceived as joyous and exciting to those under the influence of Frolic.
• Serenity: All is as it should be, or so it seems to those afflicted.

Examples: somebody under no threat at all afflicted with Dread might perceive their body covered with insects should they fear them; a soldier on a war torn battlefield afflicted with Serenity might perceive instead an idyllic landscape upon which nobody dies– they simply fall asleep; an otherwise happy individual given Woe might see phantoms of dead loved ones at every turn; somebody with depression given Frolic might become an instant optimist, seeing the world as exciting and bright for potentially the first time in their lives; a peaceful soul afflicted by Malice might hallucinate hateful whispers then attribute them to those around them and snap.

Psychokinesis

Once the Deep One has established a Psychokinetic Link, they may manipulate their target with their mind– they may push, pull, lift, suspend, crush, and expand.

Only whole objects may be targeted; this means that if something is a part of a system or larger structure, like a living organism or a machine, the Link will target the entire structure, not individual components thereof.

Mechanics

No Additional Cast

• In the case of lifting or suspending a target, it will travel or float in the air obeying the laws of physics as if it were flying on its own accord.

Efficient Cast

• In the case of pushing or pulling, external forces are exerted upon the target to move them in a specific direction (or to a specific location) and with a specific amount of force.

Standard Cast

• In the case of crushing, the target will be afflicted by an omnidirectional external force.
• In the case of expansion, the target will be afflicted by an omnidirectional internal force expanding outward from their center of gravity.

Tiers of Mastery

Novice

At Novice, a Deep One is just starting to learn how to use Links.

• Link:
  • A novice has a range of 10’ and eye contact must be established to Link to someone.
  • They may only manipulate one Link at a time.
• Empath:
  • A novice can read surface level emotions without eye contact.
  • They may amplify or dampen emotions, but their influence is like a hammer to the psyche and is quite jarring for the victim.
• Memory Sculpting:
  • Unavailable at this tier.
• Hallucinate:
  • Unavailable at this tier.
• Psychokinesis:
  • Unavailable at this tier.

Apprentice

Having become comfortable with the process of forming and maintaining Links, an apprentice will usually be shifting their focus onto figuring out Memory Sculpting and finer uses of Empath.

• Link:
  • An apprentice has a range of 20’ and eye contact must be established to Link to someone.
  • They may maintain three Links concurrently, though they may only actively manipulate one Link at a time.
• Empath:
  • An apprentice can discern prominent emotions clearly at a distance and even without eye contact.
  • Manipulating emotions feels less jarring, but is still fairly obvious.
• Memory Sculpting:
  • Performed at a range of touch.
  • An apprentice may overwrite very recent memories (up to 5 minutes in the past).
  • Generally, they may only get away with altering details about events they know happened or witnessed themselves.
  • The memories they add are often hazy and it’s difficult for the subject to recall much of anything.
• Hallucinate:
  • Unavailable at this tier.
• Psychokinesis:
  • Unavailable at this tier.

Journeyman

A Journeyman Deep One begins to foster their Psionic Field beyond just a Link, establishing a useful weapon.

• Link:
  • A journeyman has a range of 25’. Eye contact is not required, but they must see their target’s body to some degree.
  • They may maintain three Links concurrently, though when doing so they are prone to distraction.
  • Psychokinetic Links may only be cast on mundane, non-living objects at Journeyman.
• Empath:
  • Finally, the journeyman is able to manipulate prominent emotions without having to worry too much about getting caught.
  • They may seamlessly make emotions come and go as they converse, meaning most won’t even think they’re being manipulated.
• Memory Sculpting:
  • Performed at a range of touch.
  • Memories up to an hour in the past can be overwritten.
  • The journeyman has become skilled enough to make clear memories that include dialogue and fine details, though more complicated memories are cumbersome.
• Hallucinate:
  • Unavailable at this tier.
• Psychokinesis:
  • Psychokinesis shares the range of the Link required to cast it.
  • They may lift, suspend, or drop up to 100 lbs total.
  • They may push or pull with a force of up to 150 newtons, about the force exerted by a short bow or roughly 33 lbs thereof.
  • Cannot crush or expand.

Expert

With full access to their repertoire of spells, an expert Deep One is a force to be reckoned with.

• Link:
  • An expert has a range of 100’ provided they can see their target.
  • Within 10’, they may passively detect sapient, intelligent minds and Link even without line of sight.
  • They may maintain five Links concurrently.
  • Psychokinetic Links may be cast on any mundane, non-living object as well as magic items with a potency of up to Expert.
• Empath:
  • The expert can insert emotions at will and are no longer restricted to only dealing in prominent emotions. This can cause drastic changes in someone’s mood, though this is tiresome to do.
• Memory Sculpting:
  • Performed at a range of touch.
  • Memories up to a day in the past can be overwritten.
  • The expert has become skilled enough to be able to sculpt a memory beforehand and hold it in their own minds until they can make contact with a target; then, once they touch their target they can overwrite their memories in an instant.
  • Memories modified are as clear or hazy as the Fathom wants them to be.
  • Moderately complex memories are no longer draining to construct.
  • It is now possible for the expert to consume a mind to gain its memories, though they must consume the whole brain to do so.
• Hallucinate:
  • Unavailable at this tier.
• Psychokinesis:
  • Psychokinesis shares the range of the Link required to cast it.
  • They may lift, suspend, or drop up to 250 lbs total.
  • They may push or pull with a force of up to 400 newtons, about the force exerted by a war bow or about 88 lbs thereof.
  • Cannot crush or expand.
  • It is now possible to utilize the ranged spells of a mage’s other Arcana (up to Expert) through the Link, such as melting people into gas with Apparation’s Resonate.

Master

The master Deep One strikes a delicate balance between being something to be in awe of versus something one should fear. They can be benevolent forces or somebody’s worst nightmare.

• Link:
  • A master’s range is as far as they can see for line of sight based targets.
  • Within 25’, they may passively detect sapient, intelligent minds and Link even without line of sight.
  • They may maintain fifteen Links concurrently, but may only manipulate five at a time before feeling diminishing returns on their influence.
  • Psychokinetic Links may be cast on mundane, non-living objects, magic items up to Master, and living things.
• Empath:
  • The master may insert such powerful emotions that it can cause a happy man to instantly break down into tears without a clue as to why.
• Memory Sculpting:
  • Performed at a range of touch.
  • A master is only limited by their own energy reserves; they can construct an incredibly vivid and clear memory and use it to overwrite their target’s memory without much issue.
  • They have become skilled enough to where the victim’s brain will naturally fill in gaps to make the memory seem incredibly believable.
  • They can push back multiple days, even weeks if the memory is not very complicated.
  • They no longer need to consume the entire brain to gain memories, they gain a sense for where the information they desire is located and only need to eat that portion of it.
  • They may now learn Remnant if they have a way into Avernus.
• Hallucinate:
  • All five hallucinations are fully available.
  • Hallucinations last 2 days.
• Psychokinesis:
  • Psychokinesis shares the range of the Link required to cast it.
  • They may lift, suspend, or drop up to 1000 lbs total.
  • They may push or pull with a force of up to 1500 newtons, the force of a mantis shrimp’s punch, or about 337 lbs thereof.
  • They may crush or expand objects with a UTS up to half again that of steel, or 600 MPa.
  • It is possible to utilize the ranged spells of a mage’s other Arcana (up to Master) through the Link, such as melting people into gas with Apparation’s Resonate.

Mindstitcher

The Mindstitchers are enigmas; creatures so advanced that it is rare for them to willfully interact with others in any capacity beyond treating them as lesser.

• Link:
  • A Mindstitcher’s range is as far as they can see for line of sight based targets.
  • Within 50’, they may passively detect sapient, intelligent minds and Link even without line of sight.
  • They may maintain fifteen Links concurrently, but may only manipulate five at a time before feeling diminishing returns on their influence.
  • Psychokinetic Links may be cast on anything.
• Empath:
  • The Mindstitcher may insert such powerful emotions that it can cause a happy man to instantly break down into tears without a clue as to why.
  • They may make targets go into catatonic states of shock.
  • They may block the target’s train of thought.
  • They may use this ability to kill through sheer shock, if the victim does not have at least Apprentice Meditation.
• Memory Sculpting:
  • Performed within the Psionic Field.
  • A Mindstitcher is only limited by their own energy reserves; they can construct an incredibly vivid and clear memory and use it to overwrite their target’s memory without much issue.
  • They have become skilled enough to where the victim’s brain will naturally fill in gaps to make the memory seem incredibly believable.
  • Memories may extend as far back as they would like them to.
  • They no longer need to consume the entire brain to gain memories, they gain a sense for where the information they desire is located and only need to eat that portion of it.
  • They may learn Remnant if they have a way into Avernus.
• Hallucinate:
  • All five hallucinations are fully available.
  • Hallucinations last 28 days.
• Psychokinesis:
  • Psychokinesis shares the range of the Link required to cast it.
  • They may lift, suspend, or drop up to 1 ton total.
  • They may push or pull with a force of up to 3000 newtons, the force required to move a grand piano through the air at an acceleration of 5 mph, or about 674 lbs thereof.
  • They may crush or expand objects with a UTS up to twice that of steel, or 800 MPa.
  • It is possible to utilize the ranged spells of a mage’s other Arcana through the Link, such as melting people into gas with Apparation’s Resonate.

Contrivances

Some examples of creations capable of being produced through Practices and Theorems will be listed below. This list is not exhaustive. Otherwise, Contrivances may be crafted from the Deep One's Sundered Imberite directly.

Ensorcelling

Fathom can help with the creation of conjurations that may help deal with mental problems by altering and/or fading traumatic memories, or perhaps instilling the user with calming emotions.

”My Aqua mentor moves things with his mind, almost like some sort of telekinesis– I'm not sure how he does it, and I'm inclined not to question it because, well…being around him seems to bring my anxious mind peace, and I'd rather not upset him.” - An Aquari Student

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