Biopsychics

'' 'Some of you...many of you...have confided your doubts in me, your fears about what we're doing and what we're trying to do. I cannot dispel your fears, nor offer you solace. Faith demands more than certainty and calm, faith demands vision. Some of you will say "But look at Fatho, look what it did to him!" Some of you would hurl his broken body at my feet, demand that I atone for his loss. I will not. Fatho died the way any of us should; pushing the limits of our understanding, breaking through the Real and brushing his mind against Them. Who among you can say they didn't believe when they saw him, when the air itself grew heavy in his presence, when the generator exploded at his touch, but he remained unharmed. Who among you can claim their shots found their mark, when he moved so quickly among us, like a shadow fleeing the dawn. We all wept when we found him in the snow, his mind shattered, his brain obliterated by the loose Ember. We carried his great body back to us, buried him in the Klinvol way, as was his right. ''

''Fatho tested our resolve but rewarded our Faith. We stand on the brink of the next step, the next evolutionary leap forward, one that can be shared by all species, all races and peoples. Ember is the key to enlightenment, to unlocking the fundamentals of the universe, and to escaping their tyranny. The first test was implantation. Safe, healthy doses. We prevailed where no other has. We all wear the implants, all our minds are illuminated by Ember's brilliance.''

''The second test is harder however, for the second test is fear. Fear, not physics, not chemistry or biology is the greatest threat to our progress. I see fear in your minds now, dispel it. We must march onwards, we must subvert the Real. We must meet Them.'''

- Dr. Gannir Rosov, an Orvaq scientist and cult leader, prior to the siege of his laboratory on Ilyos and the death of the Ember Cultists in 903 AP

The Gifted Few
'''Biopsycher, the word should put you on edge. Everything you know, or you think you know, about the battlefield, the capabilities of the enemy, should change if you hear that word over comms. Gravity manipulation, telekinesis, hallucinations, superhuman awareness, even temporal distortions, these and many more have been documented by those who have fought against Biopsychers. They're dangerous, unpredictable, but they're still organic, they still bleed.' - ''Recording of lecture given at Echo training facility.

Biopsychers are those organics who have had Ember implanted into their neural network in order to achieve paranormal abilities. The exact abilities that can be manifested, and the power or efficacy of those abilities vary wildly between individuals, but by 1000 AP some broad similarities have emerged.

Through force of will and the often dangerous fusion of Ember and brain tissue, Biopsychers have been known to achieve the following paranormal feats:
 * Gravity Manipulation: From crushing objects with localised gravitational fields to leaping or moving in ways that present Gravity shouldn't allow, many Biopsychers seem to have some tentative grasp on this fundamental physical force, and some of the most powerful Biopsychers can bend it totally to their will.
 * Telekinesis: Whether a subset of Gravity Manipulation or not, this is arguably the most famous ability that Biopsychers can wield. Hurling objects with a thought, ripping weapons from opponent's hands, stopping projectiles mid-flight, these are the feats that the public of Rasalum often associated with Biopsychers. Through Vids, shows, demonstrations and even performance art, Telekinesis has become the acceptable, knowable facet of Biopsychers.
 * Superhuman Awareness: Just as Ember is seemingly acted upon by distant and unknowable forces, so too is the Biopsychers mind often aware of things their senses do not detect. Sometimes this leads to sensory overload and insanity, but sometimes a Biospycher has an unnerving intuition, or second-sight on their surroundings. From anticipation of events to simply knowing what is happening somewhere else, Biospychers often find themselves subjected to uncontrollable, but very real, flashes of paranormal insight.
 * Mind-Altering Effect: The least understood facet of Biopsycher abilities, mind-alteration is often the source of hate campaigns, horror stories and a general mistrust of Biopsychers. For those few who have been subjected to it, hallucinations, voices, mood swings and even illusions have been described, though it is often difficult to separate these reports from the expected psychological trauma of battle with a paranormal force.
 * Temporal Distortion: Seldom ever documented and rarely released for public digestions, sightings of Temportal Distortions being manifested by Biopsychers occur often enough to make denying this ability an unforgivable error. Whether speeding up their own perception of time or slowing the impact of time around them, Biopsychers who master this ability are often a living nightmare to face in battle, moving inhumanly quickly around enemies, obstacles, and sometimes even bullets.