Edge Sight

Edge sight is a mental condition that is characterised by an augmented perception of reality, including hallucinations, delusions, and strange speech patterns. It is common in mundane kin with no immediate magical ancestry, and while it is not contagious it can be hereditary. Symptoms start in the late teens, and progress gradually, and while there is no cure it can be eased with treatment.

It is called edge sight because the gnomes think of it as walking on the edge of this world and the world of spirits, where you can see and hear things none can perceive, but your lack of magical talent means you cannot touch them. It is different from dreaming because you are awake, and different from magic because you are unable to weave mana into spells.

Some kin with this condition are able to live with it without any problems, or mask the condition to appear as though they do not possess it. Others have a much stronger time, and may become dangerous to themselves or others is drastic control is taken.

Perceptions of the Condition among the Races

The below information is based on a community with a race majority and does not factor in multiculturalism.

Gnomes were the first to give the condition a name via observation, and offer the widest variety of treatments and classifications. Behavioural therapy and magic induced treatment are currently the most effective methods used by the gnomes to manage symptoms, but research into other methods is ongoing and unlikely to end any time soon.

Kobolds, always suspicious, do not take hearing voices as a good sign. Kobolds that can mask it do, and never tell anyone, for those who cannot mask it are branded and cast out to fend for themselves. The kobolds call those of their kind with edge sight gawocz. Without the support of the community, and no longer able to rely on settlements that may be frequented by kobolds without the condition, many gawocz lose their minds to edge sight and turn into animals.

Orcs and the garror treat the condition no differently to that of something like a limp. The only difference is the orcs acknowledge members of their kind as having edge sight and often give them roles that complement the condition, whereas the aggressive garror treat those with the condition no differently and still expect them to perform all necessary tasks of the garror culture.

The fae treat the condition as a weaker form of magic, because even though they cannot interact with mana, those with edge sight can still hear the voices, and are encouraged to act as clairvoyants. The gnomes think this makes light of the condition and look down upon it.

Among the kjeri, edge sighted are designated a special role in the community, which stems from the treatment style of their former masters, the fae. Edge sighted kjeri are called syerid, they act as alchemists and storytellers that convene with the spirits and heal the minds of those who are lost or grief-stricken. So respected is their role that The Wanderer, an important figure in kjeri beliefs, is a syerid himself who guides souls to the afterlife through the space between the mortal realm and the realm of spirits.

Titans can freely step between the spirit world and the mortal plane, and are often gone for decades at a time, so it is unknown if they suffer from the condition. Many assume however that being able to walk through the planes makes the titans immune or desensitised to it among their kind.

Type

Mental