Chapter 9 - Magic Control

On the topic of things that could potentially block or hampen a Paralogos' Magic- as indeed, we as Linguans do sometimes cower and fear from a Wicked's misdeeds.

As established, humanity cannot wield magical abilities. Paralogos themselves usually can only be bested by one with a stronger ability than their own, hence the scaling of such abilities within the species regarding Wisdom limitations specifically.

Natural and naturally occurring elements also do not affect magic, as magic is effectively released via a sort of radiation (light) as established regarding the phenomenon of a Paralogos' lights as well. The sort of synthetic elements that humanity could make are also mostly or entirely unstable, and so that is not an avenue for us feasibly.

What does work, we've found in experimentation, is a sort of "black hole", human-made. Something that removes radiation (light) from the equation, therefore nullifying (in a perfect scenario) or hampering the effect of a Paralogos' Magical abilities.

Certain companies in Sermos have of course marketed this pigment with fancier names, but it is the most popular type of magic hampering technique- to apply a void black pigmentation to anything you'd wish for a Paralogos not to be able to affect magically. A common goer's name for it may be Void Tint, or Black Ink, most generally.

There are legitimate uses for the coating, in particular for protection from a Rogue or Wicked's unfortunate desires. Sometimes one may also need to be contained, unfortunately. There are also some nefarious uses for it, however, as there always is a negative to a positive use. Those using it for a good will only tend to use it as a last resort against a Paralogos, preferring to reason with it if possible. After all, to contain a Paralogos' light would often severely injure it even, as nothing escapes the dark void.

To describe it from a Paralogos' point of view, to our understanding, the Tint pains them terribly. It is not even about seeing the darkness as much as their essence shrinking from it, and it is the epitome of "pain" in a Paralogos' experience. Almost more so than the forgetting or lack of usage of a term. If a Paralogos needs to be contained, the inner walls of a "cage" wouldn't be coated in this, but a secondary barrier beyond those walls would be covered to deter the Paralogos from trying to break free. Paralogos can dampen their light output which aids against the pain and helps as a survival strategy, but cannot be done forever as it is akin to holding one's breath.

More study is necessary, as always, but that is our best measure at this time for such needs.

On the note of this however, there is an odd item, know as a De-Maginator, for sale in some markets which is known to cause a Paralogos to "lose" progress in developing their magical abilities. It seems to cause a type of mild amnesia.

There is rumor that it contains a very minute amount of Void Tint in its flasher, which doesn't harm a Paralogos, but does cause it to in that way "reset". These are not found for sale in any proper markets, but some Paralogos seek them out deliberately if they feel they need different magic for their own goals… It is a very uncommon action to take, and hotly debated amongst the members of the Paralogos species if it is truly unharmful or not.

Some Paralogos may be coerced into using such a device by a Caretaker, but there have been legitimate uses when a Paralogos has experienced an un-bonding that was rather traumatic. It can help soothe a pain and help the Paralogos in question to "start anew".