The mind is a complicated thing. What counts as a mind? What counts as sapience? How did the mind come to be? Can the mind go even further? Psions, sometimes called psychics, are masters of their own minds. They are capable of making use of a strange form of magic not channeled through the elements or the gods, but through one's own self. As such, rather than being tied to one’s innate magical power, these abilities are tied to one’s willpower. Unlike elemental or divine magic, which requires spoken words and physical hand movements to provide power, psionic abilities require intense concentration. No spoken words or hand motions are needed.

The first psions on Jaern were the Onivero. Many other creatures below the sea have similarly begun to grasp psionics. On Jaern’s surface and on Cahyali, psionics are still a bit of a mystery, only appearing in select members of the population. Despite this, many adventurers have their minds shaped to be able to access psionic abilities.

There are six psionic disciplines covering different aspects and abilities of the mind. Some can see the future, others bring the imagination to life, and some can tap into the minds of others. One thing is for certain, the mind is a powerful tool. One that acts as the key to a multitude of supernatural abilities. Through intense study of a discipline, a psion may make full use of their own internal power.

Psions who have studied the Clairsentience discipline have the preternatural abilities in their senses. They can enhance their own vision and hearing, sense dangerous situations before they happen, even gain visions from across space and time. Some can even call forth those visions from across the multiverse and use them to plague their opponents. Psions with the power of clairsentience are not to be trifled with. They likely know what you’re going to do before you do. They can sense all.

Psions who follow the Metacreativity discipline can shape the world around them. These psions may create fire, shape walls and cocoons out of ectoplasm, shape raw materials into useful tools, or even make food, water, and light. For Metacreativity psions, the only limit to what they can bring about to the world is, quite literally, just their imagination.

Psions who study the discipline of Psychokinesis use their abilities to manipulate matter, similar to those studying Metacreativity. However, those studying Psychokinesis don’t create objects with their powers. Instead, they control them. This doesn’t just include throwing swords or other objects at opponents. It includes creating barriers from thin air, countering the psionic abilities of others, sending waves of force towards opponents, even destabilizing molecules. The Psychokinesis discipline, above all else, represents control, control of matter and of magic.

The Psychometabolism discipline is a bit unusual. When most think of psychic abilities, they usually do not associate control over one’s body to be included. However, those who have studied the Psychometabolism discipline are keenly aware that the mind controls all that the body does, whether it intends to or not. Those with this discipline have a hyper level of control over not just their body, but over individual cells. They can reshape their DNA to fit their needs, increase their natural heartiness, even shape their own flesh and bone into weapons and armor of strong metal. Psions who know Psychometabolism have viewed into the inner workings of life itself.

Psions who know the Psychoportation discipline have found ways to breach across the space-time continuum and have mastered mobility. They can use their psionic abilities to float, open rifts to other dimensions, jump through time, and even teleport themselves and others far away. The Psychoportation discipline is all about movement and positioning. It is about using one’s mobility to get to places commonly unreachable and see places not usually intended for the eye to see.

The Telepathy discipline allows a psion’s mind to alter the minds of others. A telepath may alter someone’s memories, or gift them new ones. They may read minds, or send their own messages and thoughts to others’ minds. They may even use their psionic abilities to completely control the minds of others, if they’re powerful enough. In short, Telepathy psions can shape both their own minds and the minds of others for the psions own benefit. In some cases, you may not even remember they cast a spell on you.

In most creatures, psionic abilities are quite a rarity, while in others they’re common. The biological origin behind psionic abilities is heavily debated, as is how to obtain them. Most surface dwelling creatures find psionic abilities to be extremely rare, with only a small percentage of people having psionic capabilities and even fewer still able to nurture and grow these abilities. Some have proposed that the ability to access psionics is a sort of genetic mutation that affects a creature’s brain. This could explain why some creatures who lack any sentience can develop psionic abilities independent of whether or not they are fully sapient. There is one strange counter to this. Some Telepathy psions can tap into the minds of others and shape their minds in order to be able to access psionics. Telepathy psions are not normally capable of shaping DNA, meaning it is more likely that all creatures have some form of latent psionic ability locked in their brains, and Telepathy psions simply have the key to unlocking those abilities in others. It should be noted, psionics is infinitely more common in species that live underwater, from the Onivero, to Jaern’s Leviathans, to technically the people on the frozen planet of Kleemudor. The ties between living underneath the water and a species developing psionic abilities is unknown, though it likely has to do with an attempt to improve one’s senses whilst others are completely useless.