Lore

History and Lore of the Will-Shaper - by T.A. Saunders ©2010 v1.5

The Mind Unchained: The Gift of the Will-Shaper

To become a will-shaper is not a matter of training, conditioning or desire; indeed, most will-shapers never realize their potential or the fact that they are will-shapers. Most merely excel at a particular craft and do so with surprising ease. The weapons they might smith are exceedingly strong for their kind, or the clay pottery they craft is superlative in its durability, while remaining elegant, or perhaps a will-shaper who has taken a career as a singer has this strange ability to move people who listen to his or her songs in such a way that they are often brought to tears or find themselves singing along. Most are ordinary people, with a desire for an ordinary life, but through incident or accident, it is discovered that they are will-shapers.

The ability to will-shape is a rare and unexplained gift that can happen in any race. These individuals are born with an ability to use their own will ‘shape' reality to create feats based on whatever affinity they are naturally attuned to. In the aforementioned example of the blacksmith, such a will-shaper could have an Elemental affinity and be able to alter metals and stone for greater strength, or perhaps alter their state all together. While this ability does not require Mana to accomplish it does require a great deal of focus. The possibility of mental exhaustion and if pushed too far, coma are great with extended or overuse of their power.

The skills of a will-shaper are not taught at a school or a particular guild hall that a gifted individual could go to in order to hone their skills. Those seeking a mentor in the art of will-shaping must find a master through research, rumor and myth. Many of these masters hide in plain sight, having no desire to draw attention to themselves. More than one will-shaper has been captured by an enterprising mage wishing to discover the secrets to their powers through experiments that aren't always humane in the application. There are whispers about the Hazjid of Tashran having an elite sect of will-shapers trained as assassins; if these rumors are true, this is the closest anybody has come to remotely making a concerted effort in training and capitalizing on the talents of will-shapers. If such an institution actually exists within the Hazjid, those most informed within the family are tight-lipped about it.