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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MacConnell" data-source="post: 7313887" data-attributes="member: 6855223">Y 0: D 190: Doldrums 40: The River, part 2[ooc]GM NOTE:I altered the Day to reflect the day of the year instead of the number of days the party has been on their own.[/ooc]Sheldon sees Saemund walk away from the group a bit and can tell that he is frustrated over something. He watches the big man work with his axe until he begins to show signs of fatigue before approaching him to speak."I have watched you working with the others to harness your skill with the Compulsion task, and I have observed that you are successful from time to time, yet you are still frustrated; therefor, it must be in the application of that compulsion rather than its success that is bothering you.This is perhaps a good thing, for with this kind of power comes the temptation to abuse it. My skill with this task is not much greater than yours, but I, also, have more time to its exposure. Perhaps I can lend some clarity to its application.When you are able to take control of another person's mind, whether they were an idiot or a genius, they might as well have both been idiots when it comes to what they can be made to do. They can be commanded to do anything that a simpleton could do:Pick up that rock.Follow me.Go over there.Lay face down in the river.That last is particularly mean, since the person will, of course, drown. We could not, however, tell a gate guard at Asylim to go stab Saucy Drip. That is too complicated for a simpleton, and even if Saucy were standing directly in front of the compelled person, their ability to use a sword would be as effective as a toddler's.This is not the real power though. When successful, you have control of another's mind. Here is where the potential for true cruelty lies and where we must be careful how far we are willing to push it. Like you were able to do with that Medderin we encountered, you can make a person face their greatest fear without having to know anything about it. To me this is a win, win. The person runs away in sheer terror until they pass out from exhaustion. We are no longer in danger and we did not have to kill anyone.In a more cruel manner, you could convince a person that they are falling to their death, even though they are not moving. They will lay on the ground, flailing their arms, and screaming until they pass out from fear. Or even more cruelly, you could  convince them that they are boiling in oil or being roasted alive. There is a limit. Once their imagined pain reaches a certain level, their mind will shut down rendering them unconscious.I hope this has helped, some. Come back and join us for supper when you are ready."As Sheldon turns to walk back toward the rest of the group, he pauses suddenly having an idea."I just realized something with that coin trick that you did. You may have hit upon a way for us to get into Asylim. Instead of taking full control of another person's mind, we could use this same task to push a suggestion upon them.We could walk to the guard at the gate, show him our bare arm, and say, 'I am a Regular Soldier.' If we are successful, he sees the mark even though it is not there and passes us through the gate."</blockquote>

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