Mandamus

Mandamus means “to command” something. Whereas mentus manipulates the adimus energy in oneself, mandamus uses adimus voice to manipulate the energy in other objects, including living things. Not only does this use far less of one’s own adimus energy, but it can result in larger and more complex effects.
Like some types of mentus, only certain people can use mandamus and though it is possible to identify the difference in a person’s adimus energy that signifies their ability to use mandamus, it’s not completely clear how or why some people are born with the ability while the vast majority aren’t. The ability to use mandamus manifests when the adimus becomes active at age seven, however it usually takes a few years before someone can use it. Just like mentus, mandamus takes study and practice to use effectively.
Mandamus is largely considered to be a spiritual gift. There are several reasons for this. First, mandamus did not come into existence until the first Fantasma was appointed by the epouranal council. Before that, there was no such thing. Secondly, mandamus is largely dependent on one’s own will. The more you believe in and visualize what you want, the stronger the result. For most mandamus users, this is tied to their spiritual beliefs since, according to epouranal teachings, mandamus was a gift granted by God as tangible evidence that the people could and should exercise dominion over the world. Also, mandamus can only be triggered using ‘Mition’, a branch of the ancient Mendalian language known as ‘Heaven’s tongue’.
Mandamus is extremely difficult to learn and use and is highly dependent on the will of the individual speaking it combined with their intentions. For this reason, different mandamus may work for different people or may work in different ways depending on the user. The more skilled a person is in mandamus, the more unrestrained their use of it is, and the less of their own adimus energy they need to accomplish it.
Mandamus can be used to manipulate objects, animals and in some cases, other people. Only strong mandamus can be used directly on another person when they are resisting. Typically, the only mandamus you can easily use on another person is healing based mandamus. Mandamus can also be used on oneself with the exception of healing mandamus because of how it works.

Origins

The first Fantasma was given the knowledge of mandamus and how it worked. He was told by the epouranals to teach it to "all who were ready to learn." It became apparent who these people would be when it was discovered that people who could use mandamus had a distinctly different adimus signature that showed as a purple aura in the mentant realm. These people became known as mandants, those who could use the powerful mandamus skill.
As Fantasma taught more and more mandants, he soon singled out a select few people to become teachers and leaders under him.  They swore a lifelong allegiance to the Fantasma and in exchange, he used an ability unique to him to unlock the full potential of their adimus, giving them extraordinary power. These people became the first guardians.
Over time, mandants started being born. It was never understood why some people were born with the unique trait while the majority weren't. Mandamus was soon regarded as a spiritual gift, granted to a select few who were destined to be great or serve the Fantasma in some way. Though it was never a requirement, almost all mandants went to Fantasmal Mountain to study, a practice that has continued for thousands of years. Any skilled mandant is allowed to apply to be a guardian, but the process is rigorous, usually taking twelve years as only those who meet the highest standards can hope to be promoted.

Mechanics

Mandamus is extremely complex and depends on many factors including a person’s will, understanding, imagination, spirituality, and prowess. Though mandants have larger adimus energy pools than most other adimus classifications, mandamus can cost a significant amount of adimus energy depending on the user.
Mandamus uses adimus voice, the ability to infuse one’s words with adimus energy, to manipulate the energy in other objects. Scientifically, this is possible because mandants, unlike other adimus classifications, have the ability to adjust the energy frequency in their adimus voice which allows it to manipulate the energy in other things. This is frequency adjustment is done mostly subconsciously, though it does take significantly more time to learn how to use adimus voice correctly for mandamus unlike how it is used for things like quickener calls, which is far easier to learn.
In addition to adimus voice, mandamus requires an understanding of the object or principle in question. If a mandant doesn’t understand how something works or the principles of how it can be used, then they can’t command it effectively. This is especially true for unseen energies, and intangible forces such as gravity. The more a person understands the fundamental principles of the world around them, the more powerful their mandamus. For this reason, mandants and guardians study science intensely, though natural sciences are far behind mentus and adimus based sciences.
The less control a person can exert over the object in question, the more of their own adimus energy they need to make up the difference. If a person has no knowledge of how something works, then they cannot control it at all. In some cases, a mandant cant discover how something works using mandamus but only if they already have an understanding of the principles that makeup the phenomenon they are trying to exert control over. In other words, if they don’t directly understand something, they can use mandamus to gain the information and as long as it’s a principle they already knew, then they will be able to control it.
Despite having a heavy scientific foundation, mandamus is also considered deeply spiritual by most practitioners, especially guardians. A strong will is required for mandamus, and deep spiritual beliefs and understanding of spiritual dominion form the foundation of that will. Almost all mandants are taught the spiritual principles behind mandamus and how it came to be part of the world and in addition, guardians spend a great deal of time studying the teachings of the epouranals to further understand the spiritual roots of mandamus.
Almost all mandants and guardians use “Mittius” as part of all of their mandamus commands as this is supposed to evoke even more power from the heavens, if done correctly, and result in much greater results with far less of ones own adimus energy. As with everything in mandamus, results vary based on the person. However, since will and belief factor so greatly in mandamus, most mandants and guardians are highly spiritual, though this is not a requirement to use the skill.

Mandamus Language

Mition, or ‘Heaven’s Tongue’ is the primary language used to trigger a mandamus command, although the object or person being manipulated is spoken in a person’s primary language. Some adimus energy must be put into the spoken words using adimus voice. How much is dependent on many factors and can affect the results of the mandamus. It is the careful balance between one’s will and one’s own adimus energy that is extremely difficult to master in using mandamus. An unskilled mandant could end up overextending their adimus energy on just a few commands while a highly skilled mandamus user could use dozens of commands with nominal use of their adimus energy.
Mandamus commands have three parts: [Sanction] [Trigger] [Target]

Sancton

The sanction or ‘statement of authority’ is not used by all mandamus users and is technically optional since mandamus will trigger without it. This is a word or statement whereby the user calls upon the authority of God or the heavens in order to evoke their will. Most people who use mandamus are highly spiritual, but this is not always the case. Though unable to be scientifically measured, anecdotal evidence suggests that use of a sanction results in more potent mandamus at less of a cost to a person’s own adimus energy.
Though there are many Mition phrases that could be used as the sanction, only one is used primarily: Mittius, which loosely translates to “by God’s authority” or “by the will of the Heavens”.

Trigger

The Mition trigger is required to affect mandamus. The person’s intent is as important as the trigger. Both work together to produce the desired result, which is why two different people could use the exact same mandamus command and produce completely different results depending on intent, will, adimus energy, skill, and what they envision.

• Mandamus – a generic and the most widely used trigger that is the adimus skill’s namesake. It translates to “to command” or “I command” depending on context. It can be used to manipulate an object in many different ways depending on the will of the user
• Resepco – a trigger typically used on people to restore adimus energy and heal. It loosely translates to “Be Restored”. It can also be used on plants, wild life, animals, and anything living. Since this type of mandamus requires transferring adimus energy from the user to the target, it cannot be used to trigger faster healing on oneself since one’s own adimus energy can’t be used to hyper-stimulate their own adimus immune system. Only external or “foreign” adimus energy can do this.
• Mentenus – loosely meaning “Use the energy of”, this trigger allows one to command nontangible things such as light, gases, gravity, unseen forces, and the latent energy in the surroundings. It is a very difficult and complex trigger to use because what the person is commanding is not something they can actively see or envision. Used incorrectly causes one to drain their own adimus energy.
• Summonous – a trigger meaning “I summon” and is used to either call an object to a person, regardless of whether they can see it or not. This is reliant on the will of the user, the distance of the object and whether they know where it is, and the resistance of the object in question, especially if it’s a person or something with its own will. This also uses a person’s own adimus energy to trigger the effect and can be extremely draining.
• Maximus – a brute force trigger, not often used as it can have unexpected results. It translates to “use the full power of.” It’s sometimes used when the generic “mandamus” trigger does not create the expected results, but misuse can extensively drain a person’s adimus energy even with one command.
• Converto – a more explicit trigger used to transform an object into another object. Normally this can be done with the mandamus trigger if it is a simple transformation such as taking stone and creating something from it like a table or tool. Complex transformations requiring the breakdown of an object into its component parts and then using those parts to create something different can only be accomplished with the converto trigger which translates roughly to “transform by my will.” This can also use a great deal of a person’s own adimus energy if not used correctly.

Target

The last word or phrase in a mandamus command is always the target. This is the person or object the mandamus can be directed at. It is used to direct the command and as long as the user is clearly envisioning their target, the word choice is incidental.
For example, if someone were to use the resepco trigger on a person whose name they did not know, they could use any name for their target such as “child,” “man,” “store owner,” or basically however they would describe that person. Similarly, someone could use the mandamus trigger on one specific tree in a forest full of trees by simply using the word “tree” for the target as long as they have in mind what tree they intended.

Page Contents

Understanding The Adimus

Terminology & Abilities

Adimus Classifications (Main Article)