Wayfinder

Wayfinders are those who wield the paradoxical energy of momentum, energy creating by the rapid waves of paradoxical energies that push conflicting realities away from one another. This energy is not to be confused with the product of the mass and velocity of an object which shares the same name, though the two are related. The energy of momentum is controlled through synchrononous movements.

Powers

Wayfinders have six main powers:

Wayfinding

The most basic skill of a wayfinder is, appropriately, wayfinding. Wayfinding is the ability to know direction at any given time, to know where one's destination is in relation to oneself no matter how improbable. Skilled wayfinders can do this even for abstract or metaphorical destinations.

Wayfinding is done via a combination of meditation and ritual movements. One must meditate on their destination and achieve not stillness but a consciousness of all parts of themselves and the area around them that are in movement. Once this is achieved, the wayfinder must then move in synchrony with the movements of the world around them. This takes the form of a fluid, elegant dance that matches the rotation of the world, the beating of the heart, the movement of wind and water, the movement of beast and plant, of anything that is around them through symbolic movements. If their movement is flawless and their awareness attuned, they will be feel in their bones a vibration that tells them where their destination is.

Farseeing

To farsee is to cast one's visual awareness over great distances. To do this, wayfinders meditate on either their intended target or, if they don't have that much detail, the distance they wish to cast their awareness. Their meditation must focus on their own location and the movements around them, and then follow the movements around them and the chain reaction of movement that would connect them to their intended target. For instance, they could focus on the movement of wind flowing in that direction, or on the movement of flower that drops a seed that plants that grows roots that touches water that flow toward their target. Anything that connects the two locations via movement and change. Once they attain a connection to this awareness, they must breathe out every bit of air within them and push their mind into it, then let it flow away so that they may see.

Swifting

Swifting is the art of making things move faster. This is done by the breath of a wayfinder. They empower their breath through breathing exercises done during meditation, which they practice for seven hours in order to gain seven days' worth of breath.

Passages

The most potent form of wayfinding is the opening of passages. A passage is a shortcut between two places, one that involves special tunnels through time and space, similar but not identical to plication. Wayfinders create these passages by containing momentum, holding it still, and then allowing it to erupt.

They do this by first creating a magical circle with a seven-pointed star within it. This circle must be made on uneven ground or floor and drawn with something movable, like water, salt, or blood. They must then enter the circle and meditate, achieving an awareness of all the movements around them. Next, they must inhale deeply, drawing in as much air as possible, and hold it for seven minutes. During this time, they must perform seven intricate movements, each more difficult than the last, without breaking the circle, losing their breath, or going over seven minutes.

Finally, they must unleash their breath and break the edge of the circle at the same time. If they have succeeded, a ripple of paradoxical momentum will flow out, tearing at space-time and opening a passage.

The catch is that the exact same thing must be happening at the place where one wishes the passage to end in order to create a completed passage in a singular ceremony. If not, the wayfinder must enter the unfinished passage (at great risk), wayfind their way to the place they wish to get to, and then perform the ceremony, but reverse the order of movements within the circle, to open the other side.

Waygates

Waygates are portals that connect networks of passages and allow a permanent doorway between distant points. To create a waygate, a group of wayfinders (between seven and seven to the seventh, always a multiple of seven), must perform the ceremony of passaging, with seven wayfinders at each intended endpoint of the passage. Following the creation of these passages, they must then work to contain the momentum of the passages in special forms. A typical waygate is a large ring of muto mutsvuku (a form of esoteric cinnabar) with seven special jewels evenly spaced around it. Within the ring is a thin veil of quicksilver, suspended on thin wires in order to create a flowing wall when the waygate is stood upright. Usually, when the waygate is on the ground, a thin sheet of maer-stan is used to hold the mercury in place. This is washed and removed afterward.

Once the gate is upright, the wayfinders at the location must perform a continual dance around it while chanting, synchronous to those at the other locations, Once the dance is complete, the quicksilver will be permanently flowing within the ring, the wires will vanish, and the portal will open to allow near-instant travel between points. Wayfinders can shift which location it points to by peforming the part of the dance that empowered that connection (this is possible even by a solo wayfinder). They can also create a special stick (using their swifting breath) that will allow a mundane person to shift the destination of the gate. Users can tell the destination by which of the seven gems is glowing.

Those who specialize in making Waygates are called waymakers.

Collective Movement

Collective movement is the art of moving a great number of people or things between places. This is done by a group of seven wayfinders using their meditative ability and a magical circle with a seven-pointed star to capture momentum, as in the passaging ceremony, but instead of the dance of seven movements, they perform a synchronized dance of 49 movements, taking place over 49 minutes, that ends with a great push that moves all of their intended targets if done right. Instead of holding their breath for this, they contain the momentum by focusing deeply and stopping their own hearts. As such, this art is rarely performed except by the most skilled wayfinders.

Variations

Other variations include

• Dynamacist: a wayfinder who uses dynamics science to improve their arts, or vice versa.
• Muroye: a wandering witch who uses wayfinding as her primary skill.
• Tsoka gadzira: those who use their powers to make boots that allow for long-distance travel quickly and steadily.
• Whiri gadzira: those who use their powers to make wheels that allow for long-distance travel quickly and steadily.

Societal Role

Wayfinders are much sought out and often highly paid but still exploited by the powerful. The original nation of the mutumwa that produced them is extremely oppressed.

Skills

Some common skills include

• Direction sense
• Cartography/map reading
• Travel survival
• Physics
• Piloting, driving, riding, or sailing
• Wheelwrighting
• Cobbling
• Dancing

Stats

The average wayfinder has these variations on the base stats of their nation/species:

PRO +1
ATH +6
STR +1
AWA +4
WIL +3
STH +1
PRS /