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A Gift is a supernatural or superhuman ability, ranging from the ability to wield magic to the ability to manipulate emotions through music. Many Heraldic Gifts fall into the category of "Mind Magic." Some Gifts are common among the Gifted, but others are unique, only seen in one person. These are usually called Wild Talents.

Mind Magic[]

Mind Magic includes many different psychic abilities that are inherently mental. These abilities are encouraged and trained in Valdemar, but were held to be charlatan's tricks in the Empire, "witchcraft" in Karse, and old wives' tales in Predain. A person's Gift may be weak or strong or somewhere in between. Instructors at the Collegia help people learn to use and strengthen their Gift(s). Using Gifts can physically drain a person, frequently causing a reaction headache, but in extreme cases causing a person to pass out.

Empathy[]

Main article: Empathy

Empathy is the Gift that allows its owner the ability to detect, and sometimes influence, the emotions of others. It is normally seen combined with the Healing Gift. Powerful cases of Empathy can assist the power of others: the ability to link with a FarSeer to find some location that had a strong emotion present, for instance, or the ability to boost a healer's stamina and aid in the healing process. Those with Empathy often become MindHealers, and help to restore mental stability to patients, whereas normal Healers only Heal their body. Herald Talia (current Queen's Own Herald) is the only Herald known to have Empathy as her sole gift. Gifts of Empathy are present in other cultures, such as the Tayledras and the Kaled'a'in.

FarSight[]

Main article: FarSight

FarSight is, quite literally, the ability to see things that are far away as if they were close.

Fetching[]

Main article: Fetching

The Gift of Fetching is used to teleport objects, either from their location to another or from another location to theirs. The Gifted person must be able to see the object, either in person or using FarSight over long distances. If they do not also have Farsight, they may partner with someone who does. Herald Dirk (Fetching) and Herald Kris (FarSight) had great success. The amount of energy required is directly proportional to the size of the object and the distance. Fetching is dangerous to use on living creatures and should only be employed in extreme circumstances, by those with an exceptionally strong Gift (e.g. Heralds Dirk and Christa).[1]

FireStarting[]

Main article: FireStarting

FireStarting is the Valdemaran term for pyrokinesis: the ability to set fire to any object, including objects and materials that would not normally burn. This Gift usually manifests itself about once in a generation. It is a difficult Gift to control because the users have to have confidence in themselves and their ability to control the Gift. Because of this, its' users are generally feared. The Gift can be extremely useful in war, as the Herald Lavan Firestorm single-handedly wiped out a Karsite army. Herald Griffon is a powerful firestarter of the current generation.

ForeSight[]

Main article: ForeSight

ForeSight allows those who possess it to see visions of future events. ForeSight is particularly variable, as the future can change depending on people's current actions. The length, strength and relevance of these visions vary from person to person, sometimes giving visions of things minutes ahead, and sometimes years. The accuracy of the visions also varies from Herald to Herald. For example, Herald-Mage Vanyel had a recurring dream throughout his life, although the details changed over the years. When the events of the dream finally came to pass, the details were slightly inaccurate, but the main warning was still valid. Herald Alberich, on the other hand, has notably short-range Foresight that is useful in immediate situations. His visions were of the type he could personally prevent if he chose the correct course of action. (He sometimes experienced a "flash of blue" before his visions, along with a sudden physical weakness.) A ForeSight vision can be misconstrued without context; when Mags was foreseen with King Kiril, covered with blood, seers assumed he had attacked the King. Events fulfilling the vision proved the opposite: the King was trying to assist Mags, who was heavily injured.

Mindspeech[]

Main article: Mindspeech

Mindspeech allows those who possess it (and the companion Gift of Thought-sensing) to send words and images to each other silently and across long distances. Mindspeech and Thought-sensing are almost always partnered together and rarely does a person have one without the other. Companions, kyree and Firecats communicate in this fashion. Heralds can usually Mindspeak with their Companion, if no others. Very few Heralds cannot. Companions can mindspeak each other, and the Monarch's Own Companion can mindspeak any Companion, which dramatically augments the Heralds' ability to communicate.

The use of Thought-Sensing must be hedged with ethical considerations and courtesy. Mindreading someone without their consent is frowned upon.

Animal Mindspeech[]

Main article: Animal Mindspeech

Animal Mindspeech allows a human to communicate with all types of animals. This usefulness of this gift is often underestimated by those who don't realize its' true potential. An Animal Mindspeaker is the ultimate spy.

Bardic Gift[]

Main article: Bardic Gift

Bardic Magic in Velgarth seems to be related to other Gifts, especially Empathy. The Gift allows Bards to directly influence the emotions of their audience. Learning when to use the Gift, and what constitutes misuse, are important parts of Bardic education.

Earthsense[]

Main article: Earthsense

A rare form of additional perception, Earthsense is the ability that allows one to "see" or "feel" the condition of the land around him. Individual examples of this are Herald-Prince Daren,[2] King Tremane,[3] and Squire Lesley.[4] Traditionally, the monarch of Hardorn is required to possess Earthsense in potential, which can then be awakened by ritual. It is a common Gift in the royal family of Rethwellan. All Tayledras Healing-Mage Adepts (such as Firesong k'Treva[5]) have Earthsense, which allows them to sense hurts in the land and use their mage gifts to help heal them.

Healing[]

Main article: Healing

Healers use "healing energy" on a small scale to "encourage a person's body to do quickly what it would do anyway." For the recipient, this results in the near-instantaneous healing of minor injuries. Major injuries, such as those received by Queen's Own Herald Talia[6], may take months of Healing sessions, depending on the power of the Healer.

Healing energy can repair damages due to injury or illness, but cannot replace a missing limb or reverse birth defects. Healing energy only speeds natural recovery. Scarring may be reduced by the use of magical Healing but not eliminated.

Mind-Healing[]

Main article: Mindhealing

Mind-Healing focuses on mental trauma and maladies of the mind and emotions, rather than the physical well-being of the patient. Empathy is an important part of the skill. One feat performed with Mind Healing is extraction and implantation of memories (as performed by Healer Crathach in Exile's Honor), though this presents potential moral dilemmas for some Healers. Healers with Mind Healing gifts often specialize in psychology as well.

Mage-Gift[]

Main article: Mage-Gift

Mage-Gift utilizes a type of life-energy to perform various types of magic, such as teleportation, lightning manipulation, combat magic, and the ability to create shields. A Mage-Gift can be weak or strong, limiting the amount of magic the person can do.

Unique gifts[]

In the Collegium and Herald Spy books, and in the anthology stories, other unique gifts are introduced, such as speaking with the dead, the ability to create illusions,[7] or Abi's ability to sense structural stress.[8] Collegia instructors have to be creative to help people with unique Gifts find the best ways to use them. Mindhealer Sanje helped Abi learn to convert the physical sensations of her gift into visual ones, allowing her to fully employ her gift to pinpoint information. Herald Arville's Gift of Luck was outside anyone's experience or ability to train.[9]

Gift of Tongues[]

The ability to understand any language. Rare among humans, Companions have this Gift.[10]

Pathfinding[]

An unusual Gift, it allows a person to orient on a target, either a person or location, then follow the 'path' to get there, avoiding dangers along the way. The hertasi Sherra, who guides travelers through Gripping Mire Swamp has this Gift. She uses it in conjunction with a danger-sensing Gift to keep her charges safe.[10]

TouchReading[]

The ability to experience the previous holder or owner of an object's emotions or thoughts while holding said item. Used by Herald Trainee Mical in an attempt to learn the identity of a potential traitor.[11]

References[]

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