Star Ocean 2 IRC RPG :: Magic and Technology

Heraldic Magic and Technology

When Claude stumbled his way to the world of Expel, he experienced firsthand their traditional uses of Heraldry in spellcasting and swordplay. He even learned to combine it with his own prior hand-to-hand combat training. But even though this was all very new to him, the existance of Heraldry had been known to the Federation for some time now. There is even currently a well-established branch of the Federation's research initiative dedicated to creating heraldic weapons, based on their findings involving heraldry. The Federation's interpretation and use of Heraldry, however, is where they differ.

What is Heraldry, and what makes the Expellians' use of it unique, and different from the Federation's? Well, perhaps we should start with Earth's meaning of the word. Heraldry was first discovered on Earth when scientists detected a form of energy emitted exclusively from the mind, which was previously thought non-existant. People who had strong mental powers had been called Psychics up until that point, and were well-known for their frequently-doubted ability to do mind tricks such as moving small objects and reading cards without actually seeing the faces.

Scientists eventually learned how to harness this energy and use it to power various special devices, but it was a very unpredictable energy which had to be used carefully. One example of a race who created a weapon powered from Heraldic energy would be the Tetragenes. Opera wields her huge mental-powered Kaleidoscope and supplies the Heraldic energy it needs through an oddly shaped Heraldic Amplifier headpiece. It may sometimes have unpredictable effects, but it is an all-purpose weapon that grows with its user and never runs out of ammo. When Earth's research originally discovered ways to put this type of energy use, some believed it was their tool for heralding a new age, and thus called it Heraldry.

The raw abilities of a "psychic," however, are miniscule compared to the techniques of a trained Heraldic Wizard. Expellian Heraldry uses a variety of different methods to let the mind's power embody itself into actual form: crests, tattoos, writings, battle cries, and verbal litanies. Why it works is virtually unknown... but through constant study of ancient Expellian spells and artistry, an Expellian or Fellpool can learn to make fireballs shoot from their hands and stars fall from the sky.

Because of its closeness to both scholarly knowledge and the arts, they named it something that, in the Expellian language, translates as roughly the same as "Heraldry"... These powers can be found elsewhere in the universe, but they are rare, and often glossed over completely due to the Federation's policy on leaving "undeveloped" planets undisturbed.