Mental InvasionUsing magic to interact or directly manipulate the human mind and thoughts is considered mental invasion. While the use of mental invasion can prove to be extremely useful, it can also be very dangerous. Even when done with good intentions on a willing victim, mental invasions can cause tremendous anguish and lasting damage to both the victim and the aggressor, if not done by an extremely well practiced and skilled mentalist.
Mental invasions can range from simple telepathic communications, to a full take over a person’s mind and will. Generally considered an infringement on free will and privacy, mental invasion by magic is illegal in most countries, except for in a very few and official circumstances. Some laws will allow for telepathic communications between willing parties, but such allowances are controversial due to the risks involved and the possibility of one party pushing the spell too far.
Swinging Door Principle
Once a mental connection has been made the connection runs both ways and can be used by either party. The swinging door principle is one of the reasons mental invasion can be so dangerous. It only takes magic to establish the invasion, once two or more minds are connected, the invasion becomes an interaction of wills. Either side may become to aggressor or the victim, depending on who has the stronger will power, even if the initial victim is incapable of magic.
Levels of InvasionThere are five levels of mental invasion. The higher the level of invasion the deeper into a person the attack strikes and generally the more dangerous and/or painful the attack will be. It requires magic to invade and to advance an invasion. So, while the victim may use will power to perform a counter attack at the same level, they cannot push into a higher level, without using some magical attack of their own.
Level One: Projective Telepathy. At this level one mind interacts with another by projecting thoughts and ideas to the surface level, or into the flow of a mind’s stream of thought. Because the aggressor cannot access any of the victim’s thoughts or ideas, the victim’s privacy is preserved. Essentially, level one opens a connection by which two people may communicate without speaking. This level of an attack is usually easy to shield, but may also be hard to detect, which can in fact make it the most dangerous attack of all. Mentalist have been known to drive victims crazy, or else manipulate their senses and thoughts, so as to deceive and subtly control them. For this reason, even a level one mental invasion is considered dangerous and is usually illegal. However, some nations will allow train deviations of the army to use level one invasion, in order to keep the unit in constant contact and communication.
Level Two: Invasive Telepathy. At a level two invasion the attack lays bare the victim’s stream of thought. Level two is the first level of penetration and the initial attack can usually be felt and, if done poorly, cause pain or even psych damage. With level two, whatever the person is thinking about at the moment the aggressor is aware of. However the aggressor will not have access to any memories, thoughts or ideas, which are not currently on the surface of the victim’s mind. There are two sublevels of Invasive Telepathy:
Aggressive Invasion combines levels one and two, allowing to aggressor to not only sense the stream of thought, but also to project their own thoughts into it. It is harder for the aggressor to keep their presence unknown, but stronger and more vivid ideas and images can be impressed upon the victim, so much so that it is possible to almost completely overwhelm the victim own thought stream and force an alien stream onto them.
Passive Invasion does not allow for the projection of thoughts. The aggressor may be able sense the stream of thoughts, but cannot control it or manipulate it. While this level of mental invasion takes away the victim’s privacy, it does not in anyway exert control on their free will and thought processes, making it the least dangerous form of mental invasion, that is assuming to initial attack is done by a skilled and careful mentalist. For this reason, Level Two Passive Invasion is often allowed in lawful interrogations, run by trained professionals.
Level Three: Mind Reading (Also know as mind rape). Level three penetrates through the surface of the mind an gives access to a all of a person’s, memories, imagination and ideas. A level three invasion is very dangerous, not only because of the psychic force required to attack so deep, but also because of the huge amounts and sheer complexities of the information and mind exposed. Both the aggressor and the victim are thrown into the infinite and treacherous landscape if the human mind. Open one door that should never have been opened, reawaken one memory, which should never have been reawaken push to deep into the unconscious and one or both parties could be overwhelmed, lost or traumatized forever. It takes a trained and practiced mentalist who know what they are doing, to manage an invasion of this level. Like level two the level three spells can be passive or aggressive.
Passive Mind Reading: The aggressor simply explores, reviews and searches though the victim’s mind, gathering information, but not forcing any information upon the victim.
Aggressive Mind Reading: The aggressor forces the victim to relive their own memories, dreams, imagination, fears or desires, or else projects forging memories imaginations, fears, or desires upon them. An aggressive penetration at this level will also allow the aggressor to suppress memories and/or information.
Level Four: Mind Control (Also know as Brainwashing). At level four the aggressor can not only control the victim’s thoughts, but also force/brainwash the victim into saying or doing whatever the aggressor wants, effectively taking over control of the vicim’s body as well as dominating the victim’s mind. This is an extremely difficult level of penetration and requires a lot of power to initiation and a huge amount of practice and skill to do so without effectively tearing the victim’s mind apart. Even if a mentalist is powerful enough and skilled enough to penetrate this deeply into a person’s mind, without breaking it, the longer they maintain a presence the more likely they inflict damage, which will never be undone.
Level Five: Possession (Also know as Mental take over). At level five, one mind has the ability to absorb or consume the other. If the two will are close to evenly matched this level of mental battle could last for years. Eventually, however, the two minds become one. The aggressor takes control of the victim’s mind and body, consumes all the victim’s memories/information and kills the victim’s will and consciousness. This level of mental invasion hasn’t been scenically observed or recorded, but has been referred by historical texts and by rumors. It is considered to be very rare and not humanely possible.
“Such a hostile domination of one will over another would require a superhuman monster,” says Wizard theorist, Benjamin Sherman, a researcher from Shelby University.
Initiating a Attack: To make an attack it requires magic, concentration and usually a good level of knowledge about the intended victim. Distance is often a factor, the further away the two parties are the more magical power it will take to make and maintain a connection. Many mentalists require physical contact, usually placing hands upon the victim’s head. The deeper the level of attack the more power it requires and the harder it is to break in undetected.
Because mental invasion is a battle of wills, the most effective mentalists are the ones who can get into a person’s mind without detection. By doing so the mentalist avoids a facing a battle at all and doesn’t risk a counter invasion. The skill of mental invasion is in stealth and preparation, rather magical force and brute will power. Though obviously strength of will is important, if only so as to hold off a counter invasion long enough to escape and break the connection.
Fighting a Psychic Battle: There are usually five determining factors in a battle of wills; Identity, Stubbornness, Endurance, Discipline and Creativity.
Identity: The most important aspect in a psychic battle is a strong identity. The better a person knows themselves, who they are, what they believe and why and what it is they want, the stronger their will is going to be and the harder it is for another will to dominate it. For this reason children and young adults are much more vulnerable to mental attacks than older people, who have more maturity and life experience in which to root their identity.
Stubbornness: Wanting your way no matter what, or conversely refusing to give in no matter what is key to winning a mental battle. The more independent and contrary a person is the less likely they are to fall victim to a mental invasion.
Endurance: It is both painful and exhausting to maintain a connection and fight a psychic battle and it takes not only a great deal of strength, but also endurance. Pressing on, or holding out become key, once a battle in under way.
Discipline: A person who isn’t used to holding out against temptation, or in controlling their emotions will not have the discipline or organization required to hold out in a psychic battle.
Creativity: Anything is possible when the battlefield is only in someone’s head. Often creative imagery and innovation can help make up for the lack of brute strength. For example it’s easier to concentrate on making an attack if you imagine yourself stabbing with a sword, or charging forward on a horse. Conversely, imagining a wall is the easiest way to build a defense. The more innovative one’s imagination and creativity, the more tools will be available.
Defending from an Attack: Awareness is the key to protecting oneself from mental attack. When it comes to battles of will, the victim or defender has the advantage, because not only are they instinctively boosted by self-preservation, but they also do not need to maintain the connection. The aggressor (be in the initial or counter attack) is the one who must maintain the concentration, which will drain both strength and concentration. Therefore, once one is aware of the invader, defending one’s mind usually isn’t too hard. However, against a skilled and practiced mentalist detecting an invasion is not always easy. Sometimes it takes magic to really protect from stealth invasions. While all other mental magic is illegal in most countries, the ability to mentally guard one’s own mind is encouraged and usually one of the first things any magical practitioner will learn to do.
Born Telepaths: There have been some people and even some races, which have natural born telepathy. The strength and level of their ability varies and sometimes not all the normal rules will apply. In non-telepathic societies, such people are often feared and treated with suspicion, if not out right persecuted. Usually governments will required telepaths to come forward and submit to certain rules, amulets or markers that will keep them from using their powers against other people, or at least identify them as a telepath.
Subject: Mental Invasion 
Tue Sep 06, 2011 8:27 pm
