“Even heroes tremble.”
The Vidient are the descendants not of Pandora herself, but of the shards of her Mirror, which shattered when she looked upon its forbidden reflection. Each shard carried with it a single, pure emotion untouched by mortal complexity. No Vidient perceives the entirety of human emotion; each carries only a fragment, as incomplete as the mirror itself. Yet in that fragment lies clarity beyond mortal ken.
The Black Mask reveals the interior tremors of the soul. Fear forms as a thin, quivering veil over one’s face — dark, translucent, and shifting with unspoken dread. Courage glows beneath as amber fire, seeping through cracks in the shadow. Terror thickens the Mask until it hides all features, becoming a living silhouette. Bravery shatters it, leaving only the golden radiance of a steadfast heart.
Vidients of this Shard walk battlefields and palaces alike, reading the trembling and the bold with equal clarity.
III. The Black Mask
“Fear / Courage”
Formal Name: Fractura Fortitudinis
Spectrum: Terror ↔ Bravery
Vidient Gift:
- Reads the unseen source of another’s fear
- May dispel dread or conjure courage in its place, can induce panic or calm
- Powerful in moments of crisis
- Instinctive hazard sense
A Mask-Vidient can:
- Suppress panic, terror, or dread
- Encourage bravery in measured, temporary bursts
- Identify unseen anxieties or hidden threats within a group
They cannot:
- Eliminate trauma or phobias
- Force reckless bravery
- Guarantee success in fearful situations
Visual Manifestation: The Black Mask reveals itself as shadows clinging to the face. Fear condenses into dense, trembling silhouettes, while courage burns through it like wind through smoke, revealing the features beneath. Vidients can “read” a person as clearly as if they wore a literal mask of shadow or light, and the most skilled may see shapes in the shadows which represent the source of the fear. They may strip away terror or shroud a mind in darkness, granting bravery or bending the will with dread. In addition the Vidient often sees their surroundings waver when terror is near, like walking through a nightmare.
Overall Vision: Every person wears a superimposed mask of darkness — and the brave burn through it. When someone feels neither fear or courage, this mask fades from sight, or is not visible to the Vidient at all.
Possible Additional Senses: Fear in others brings a tightening around their throat, as if the mask they see is also forming on their own skin. Courage, in contrast, feels like a rush of warm breath expanding their lungs.
Perception Risks, Internalised Terror: Fear suppressed too long can result in reckless bravery in those they manipulate, and courage amplified too far becomes suicidal resolve. An unskilled or overwhelmed Vidient cannot easily separate their own fears from those of others, and can become paranoid and unstable.
Commonly Observed Behaviours: Cautious, perceptive, and intensely protective. They gravitate toward leadership in crisis or shadowy, investigative roles. They cannot ignore fear — it rings like a bell inside them.
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