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.

The shards dispersed throughout Pattern — in time, memory, and the living world. Some fell as a physical presence, later forged into objects of power. Others pierced bloodlines, allowing Vidient traits to surface through hereditary means. And some came to rest in specific human souls, the ability following them in every reborn life. Individuals touched by a shard are imbued with the power to see the spectrum of a single emotion in others, and to bend that feeling: intensifying it, quieting it, or reflecting it back with crystalline force.

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.

“They see not the face, but the soul reflected therein. In them, the mirror endures.”

The Eight Shards

“Emotion is not singular. It is a spectrum, and each shard holds both of its faces.”

Each shard comes with its own unique visual manifestation which the Vidient can perceive, interpret, and influence along the spectrum of its associated emotion. Since Vidients are Mirror abnormalities, they are beholden to their own perceptions. They do not sense actual emotion, like Sentients. They see reflections. And a reflection is always shaped by the one who looks.

Each Vidient must find their own way of guarding against corruption, or from becoming overwhelmed by their emotional affinity. When a Vidient breaks, they cease to see reflections clearly. Instead, they only see themselves in others — their fears, biases, wounds, desires — projected endlessly like a warped mirror-world.

When this happens, they are said to be “Lost to Their Reflection.”

Some recover. Many do not.

I. The Luminous Thread: Attraction ↔ Repulsion

II. The Crimson Falls: Compassion ↔ Cruelty

III. The Black Mask: Fear ↔ Courage

IV. The Scorching Halo: Justice ↔ Rage

V. The Golden Glimmer: Desire ↔ Ambition

VI. The Silver Drift: Peace ↔ Apathy

VII. The Prism: Truth ↔ Deceit

VIII. The Flame: Hope ↔ Despair

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Powers & Abilities

I. PERCEPTION – The Mirror’s Sight

A Vidient perceives the emotional spectrum of their Shard as a reflection, not as a feeling. For them the world is layered by a visual manifestation of their assigned emotion — not overriding normal vision, but appearing like overlays on glass.

Seeing is:

• Constant, unless consciously softened (some learn this, some do not).
• Interpretive, shaped by their own biases and history.
• Non-intrusive to reality; it reveals nothing of what emotion “truly is,” only how the shard refracts it.

Vidients do not read thoughts. They read mirrored impressions — patterns of light, colour, or motion unique to their Shard. Their eyes often seem to “go distant” when they’re reading someone

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II. SHAPING – Bending the Reflection

Vidients may interact with the emotional reflections they perceive, influencing the emotional spectrum of another person to:

• Amplify an emotion, so it is felt more intensely
• Dampen or “cool” it, so it is felt less intensely
• Slide it across its spectrum

Shaping is subtle and a person may not realise they were influenced; they simply “feel different.”

In young Vidients yet to understand their gift, Shaping may be unintentional and instinctive, often tied to the whim of their own emotions. They may not even realise they are doing it, and mistake their gift as a perception only. As they grow more self-aware and competent, it is something they can actively control. Shaping does not create new emotion. It only adjusts what is already present, since a mirror cannot forge its own light. It also only alters perception and intensity, not truth. The influence fades after the Vidient leaves, leaving only the consequences of actions taken while under altered intensity.

Most Vidients exert a mild amplification or dampening effect simply by existing. Many learn to mask their “radiance”; some never do. This makes Vidients magnetic, intimidating, soothing, or unsettling to ordinary people.

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III. ILLUMINATION – The Reflective Gift

Within their shard-spectrum, a Vidient can reflect an existing emotion back on a person. This does not manipulate the emotion, like Shaping; instead, illumination is the act of offering someone a clearer view of their own emotional state — as though briefly holding up a mirror polished by the shard. This is an intentional act, and requires focus. It can be dangerous for the Vidient. To illuminate someone fully, the Vidient must look more deeply into the reflection — increasing the risk of absorption or over-identification.

Reflection only offers clarity, not truth. The Vidient cannot control how this is received or interpreted. For some people, illumination is grounding — a moment of startling self-recognition. For others, it is unbearable, because clarity forces confrontation.

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IV. ABSORPTION – Taking the Reflection Within

Absorption occurs when a Vidient takes in the reflection of their shard’s emotion from someone else.
It is not the emotion itself but the mirrored imprint, and therefore only affects the Vidient themselves — the other person feels nothing out of the ordinary. It can occur unintentionally, usually when the Vidient is feeling an emotion in their spectrum while in close proximity to someone already feeling the same emotion intensely.

Some are able to learn to do it intentionally, particularly those Vidients whose affinity may find it an asset (for example, a Black Mask absorbing courage to embolden themselves, or a Flame absorbing hope for comfort). For others it proves extremely dangerous, especially if the consequences unbalance the Vidient’s emotional equilibrium. A reflection is not the truth — it is always shaped by the lens. So whatever the Vidient absorbs is a warped version of the other person’s emotion. This can make absorption addicting, confusing, intoxicating, or destabilising to the Vidient.

All Vidients risk corruption if too much is taken too quickly, but most absorbed emotions fade in time. Skilled Vidients practised techniques which help them maintain self-identity to negate these risks. Over-accumulation or taking in particularly strong emotions remain the most common way for a Vidient to break themselves.

Most Vidients learn ways to protect themselves from accidental absorption.

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V. SUPPRESSION — When the Mirror Dims

Suppression is not a technique, nor a talent. It is the involuntary self-protective response of a Vidient when emotional input becomes too intense, too conflicting, or too dangerous for them to safely process. All Vidients are capable of suppression, though few learn to recognise it and even fewer learn to enter it deliberately.

When suppression occurs, the shard’s reflection dims, muting both perception and influence.

To the Vidient this feels like the world’s emotional reflections dull or blur, shaping becomes difficult or impossible, and a hollowness or emotional mutedness may follow.

To those around the Vidient, the ambient amplification or dampening they emit subsides, making them seem less magnetic, less unsettling, more ordinary.

Suppression can be triggered by:

• emotional overload (too many strong reflections at once)
• fear of harming someone through shaping
• shard saturation from accidental absorption
• internal conflict within the Vidient’s own emotional landscape
• trauma, especially involving their shard’s spectrum
• prolonged restraint or over-discipline of their gift

Suppression protects the Vidient from breaking — but at a cost. Afterwards, a Vidient may experience exhaustion, delayed perception “flicker” as clarity returns, temporary loss of Shaping control, and difficulty trusting their readings. Prolonged or repeated suppression weakens the shard’s stability, which can lead the Vidient towards becoming Lost in the Reflection.

Though suppression begins as an involuntary response, some Vidients — especially those who fear harming others — eventually learn how to induce a muted state intentionally. This is extremely rare. The Mirror was not meant to be darkened, and the longer it stays dim, the harder it is to bring back to full clarity. Vidients who stray too far down this path rarely recover.

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The Mirror Principle

“When the mirror looks away, the reflection ends—but what it showed cannot be unseen.”

It is important to note the shards don’t change the Pattern; they refract it. Each bearer projects a temporary distortion, like a ripple on still water or a mirage in heat. When the influence stops, the reflection dissolves — but the world may still act on what it saw while the ripple lasted. The Pattern corrects, but not before choices are made and consequences unfold.

This is the governing rule of a Vident’s ability: a mirror doesn’t forge new light; it only reflects what already exists. They cannot invent emotion ex nihilo. They cannot fundamentally or permanently change a person.

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What Vidients see in one another

Vidients do not see each other the way they see ordinary people. A shard-born soul carries its own signature mark in the Mirror’s light, and when one Vidient meets another, each perceives a unique “Vidient Aura.” It is mirror-sheen, like a translucent layer of silvered glass over their emotions. It can appear like a distorted reflection overlaying the other person, a subtle shimmer, or a sense of something resisting the gaze. As a result, their perceptions of other Vidients are more like dim echoes, not full manifestations. Vidients never see each other as vividly as they see non-Vidients.

Can Vidients affect one another?

Yes — but with heavy resistance. It feels like trying to move water through stone. Persistence also generally leads to backlash, causing effects like migraines or nosebleeds. A Vidient will always be aware when another Vidient tries to influence them.

Same shard interactions

When two Vidients of the same Shard meet, the experience is both more intimate and more dangerous. Their shard echo becomes stronger, and they will experience a feedback resonance.

This can feel: soothing, intimidating, exposing, or strangely magnetic.

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Vidient Souls and Bloodlines

Vidient Souls

Individuals for whom the shard directly affects the soul, and for whom the Vidient gift surfaces in every reborn life.

• Constantine Harroway (Luminous Thread)
• Seren Meredydd (Golden Glimmer)

Vidient Bloodlines

Bloodlines affected by the mirror’s shattering. True Vidients among them are rare, but families often have associated traits.

• The Völsung Line (Scorching Halo)
• The Meredydd Line (Golden Glimmer)

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Other Mirror Anomalies

“When the Mirror shattered, not every piece cut clean. Some embedded too deeply; others left dust in the Pattern. Those grains refract light in strange directions, birthing seers, dreamers, and the blind.”

The unpredictable effects of the mirror’s shattering sometimes produce usual, novel effects in individuals throughout the Ages. Little is known about them, even by the Atharim. Possibilities include:

The Witness
Can perceive the reflections of others but can’t affect them. Feels like living in a hall of mirrors. Sees emotional light around people, knows when someone else is using Vidient powers, but has zero agency. Useful, tragic, voyeuristic. Sees the glow of connections, fears, and lies but is condemned never to touch them. People accuse them of coldness because they can only observe emotion as light, not feel it.

The Cross-Reflected
Vision splits across alternate outcomes — every choice produces a visible “ghost” of what might have been. Perceives overlapping timelines, lives slightly out of phase; sanity and identity erode over time. Their eyes catch alternate versions of events a heartbeat before or after they occur. In conversation they sometimes answer questions no one asked yet. Vidients find their presence disorienting because they collapse their reflections back onto them.

• PC: Matias Amengual

The Echoed
Inherits after-images of strong reflections. Their own emotions can replay scenes that never happened or bleed into dreams. Often artists, prophets, addicts who can’t tell memory from mirage.

The Regulator
Immune to reflection effects. The Pattern refuses to bend near them. Serves as foil or stabiliser; Vidients find them calming or frustrating, a person whose soul resonates at perfect equilibrium. Around them, reflections flatten. The gods once used Regulators to stabilise the Mirror; now they appear unpredictably, often as ordinary humans who unknowingly suppress shard phenomena. When Pandora became human, she also became the first Regulator — immune to the very mirror she had shattered.

• PC: Faith Devere

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Atharim Lore

Atharim scholars group Vidients in with the Sentic Orders, those with supernatural gifts related to the human senses. Vidients are vanishingly rare, and most hunters do not distinguish them from Sentients, who present similarly in the field.