It's a weird thing most people don't understand. Sure, you can Command someone to do something, but it means more when they do it because you ask them to.— Breydon Canmore
Power of Persuasion is the ability to manipulate the sound waves of spoken words on a level that causes the listener to subconsciously accept whatever is said.
Persuasion Terminology
| Term |
Meaning |
| imperant |
n. a person who possesses the power of persuasion
- When the imperant spoke, we felt compelled to do as she said.
|
| golden tongue |
n. slang term for Power of Persuasion or someone who possesses said power
- Don't listen to her, she has a golden tongue.
|
| Persuade |
v. to use Power of Persuasion on someone else
- She decided to Persuade the bad guys instead of trying to reason with them.
|
| Command |
n. a direct order using Power of Persuasion
- She gave the Command and he obeyed.
v. to use Power of Persuasion to force another person to do something
- "Give me all your chocolate bars," she Commanded the children.
|
| Influence |
n. a convincing statement using Power of Persuasion
- He listened to her Influence, and now he thinks the sky is green with purple polkadots.
v. to use Power of Persuasion to convince someone that something is true
- "The sky is very clearly green with purple polkadots," she Influenced.
|
Use of Persuasion
Language
While any language the target understands can be used to control them, Commands spoken in the target's mother tongue will always have the strongest effect. An imperant must know the meaning of the words they are saying, otherwise the target's knowledge of the words will conflict with the intent behind them and the dissonance will result in confusion of the target.
Targeted vs Widespread Persuasion
An imperant must have a target in mind in order to use Persuasion, and it will affect only that person. To Persuade more than one person with a single Command requires more strength and focus than normal Persuasion. The ability to Command large numbers of people at one time hasn't been seen in a milenia.
Immunity to Persuasion
Power of Persuasion cannot be used on another imperant, no matter the relative strength of either individual. It is also not able to be used on visaurants. The exact reason for this is unknown, but the current theory is that a visaurant's aura has unique properties because of their enmanity that interferes with the power behind a Command.
Consent to be Commanded
The legal use of Persuasion has a very limited scope and usually requires another's consent. There are situations where verbal consent is considered enough, but often there are contracts in place to protect the imperant from false accusations of impropriety. Some of these situations include psychiatric therapy settings and sexual fantasy.
Other Traits Associated With Persuasion
Imperants may be introverted or extroverted, but are known to be excessively chatty when around others. Imperants are also able to grasp new languages more quickly than other people.
Persuasion: Always a Threat
Power of Persuasion is often categorized with
Power of Aura and
Power of Melody as an enmanity that directly affects other people and is considered the most dangerous of the three. This is because of the potential threat of controlling others against their will and using them as puppets to either achieve a goal or take over the world. Throughout history, different approaches have been taken to deal with this threat.
Birth of the Linguasta
During Leland's tribal era, imperants were often either ostracized or cast out from their tribes after being physically marked as a threat. Banished imperants and those who were tired of being mistreated were able to find a home with the
Linguasta, a tribe in the Gildare Highlands that was primarily made up of other cast out imperants. Because imperants are not susceptible to Persuasion, those in the Linguasta lived normal lives without fear of each other. Those born into the tribe did not often leave, even those without Persuasion as they still carried the threat of spawning a new generation of imperants. Their settlements were watched from afar by neighboring tribes out of fear they might use their combined power to take over more territory. It wasn't until
The Great Invasion and the events involving
Carina Ahyen that the Linguasta were seen in a different light.
A Golden Era
After the crowning of Queen Carina, the Linguasta were seen as saviors and they were quickly placed at the top of society. Imperants were treated with respect out of both awe and fear. Though Carina and several hundred years of her successors ruled by the strength of their character rather than the strength of their golden tongue, stories of the dangers the Linguasta had once posed to other people continued to be spread behind closed doors.
The Fall
In the late years of the queendom, imprerants became their own worst enemies. Nobles surrounded themselves with private armies to protect themselves from the private armies of other imperants who might attempt to take over their holdings. Anyone born with the Power of Persuasion in the royal bloodline became a threat to the throne and was a target for assassinations from anyone else with any claim to the throne. This kind of cut-throat behavior was feared by the common folk who often were often used as pawns in this dangerous game. With the upper class of imperants eradicating each other and the lower class of imperants a target of violence from the common folk, the number of imperants in the world greatly decreased during this period. Once news of the fall of
Elena Ahyen spread, imperant nobles and their children were executed in all corners of Leland.
The Hawthorne Act
Following the fall of the queendom and subsequent creation of the
Leland Confederacy, fears still remained that a powerful imperant would return to take back control of the peninsula. In 753 SU the Hawthorne Act went into effect, which placed harsh restrictions on the use of Persuasion as well as banned imperants from holding any kind of confederate-level office. Every province would go on to follow the confederacy's example and implement similar laws. The Hawthorne Act also required every crime involving Persuasion, no matter how petty, to be reported to officials in
Deamei City for tracking purposes.
Modern Panic
Imperants are very rare in modern times because of their mass eradication during the end of the queendom, usually appearing randomly in bloodlines that stem from a bastard of the royal line. They are often the target of hate crimes and false accusations. Every decade or so there is a high-profile case involving an imperant facing criminal charges that fans the flames of fear despite the fact that many people go their whole lives without knowing if they've encountered an imperant.
Notable Golden Tongues
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