Psychometry

Psychometry allows a mage to experience the emotional echoes of the past or the present emotions of am individual. Skilled Empaths can also use these emotions to elicit a memory from or pertaining to their target. Psychometry does not include the Psychomorphation skills of altering those emotions.

Utility

The magic of Psychometry centers around the reading of emotions. These skills cannot directly alter emotions, but do assist the caster in better understanding the present emotional state of an individual or the history of an object or space. Professional Psychometers are known as Empaths.

Emotional Echoes

Items and locations exposed to strong emotions tend to carry those emotions with them. Psychometry allows an Empaths to experience the emotions related to that space or object to gain an idea of the emotional side of its history. Was a historical artifact treasured or hated? Did the individuals at a mass burial site experience collective fear, anticipation, jubilation, or surprise before their deaths?
This skill also allows the caster to share those emotions those around them, if desired. This will also amplify their own experience of that emotion, requiring care when choosing what to share with others. This is not a targeted ability, but will rather share the feelings with anyone within range.

Read People

Once a student has mastered the ability to read emotional echoes they can begin to learn the skills of reading people. Most people have some level of natural defense against these readings, but a skilled Empath can bypass these without harming the individual. Only someone trained in Psychometric Readings can magically block emotional readings, although wearing a hat containing tyrellium shielding of sufficient coverage can also help. Just as with emotional echoes, Empaths can also learn to share these emotions with those around them, although again this will also amplify their own experience of the emotions.

Empathic Intuition

As a more advanced variance on reading people, Psychometry can also be used to sense the intent of an individual. Basic uses of this skill key off of the emotions of the targeted individual, while more advanced casting can even identify the target's next intended action in great detail.

Remember

Many memories are tied to strong emotions. A skilled Empath can use this to recall a memory or memory echo from the target of their Psychometry and choose to either experience it themselves or share with those around them. When reading an individual this can also be directed towards just that individual, causing the mage and their target to experience the memories and its emotions together.
The memory cannot be chosen by the mage, but is rather the one most strongly tied to the present circumstances and the emotion being experienced. For objects and places the memory will typically be tied to a major event leading to the emotional echo. For people, however, these memories can be influenced by other memory triggers such as smell, taste, sound, the present location and company, and even a statements made curing conversation.

Parent Technologies

• Psychic Magic

Children Technologies

• Psychomorphation

Access & Availability

Empaths tend to live reclusive lives in an effort to reduce external emotional confusion. Many choose to work as archeologists and other professions where they can focus on objects and histories. It is not uncommon to find an empath working as a therapist, although most Psychic Therapists prefer to focus on the emotional-changing abilities of Psychomorphation.

Complexity

Once a mage masters Psychometry the magic itself remains fairly intuitive unless faced with strong resistance. Most Empaths put great effort into keeping unintended readings out of their minds, to ensure their personal emotions are truly their own when not working. Aural candles remain a particularly popular method.

Further Reading