Projective Magic

"Show me." Kneeling next to the soldier, others forming a tentative circle around them, Triste pressed one hand to her forehead. Head bowed, he fell silent: the hall held in a hush.
The outside fog seeped in: wisps of discussion, and then silence washing over as a wave; from the top of the fortress, stone blocks uncompromising―a flash, and something tainted iron and copper―a figure descended, unfurling and dinged black―yelling, and then, nothing.
The hall returned again: Triste stood once more.

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The soul and body are bound to each other ineffably; within a normal life, only death separates them in full. There are situations, however, when the link is loosened, those well-trained may take advantage of that break and so project themselves beyond material body.
(Though true for all forms of magic it takes passing through death, almost always Elemental Transformation, in order to practice Projective magic. Nothing weaker can begin to show the flaws in the bond between soul and body. However, it is ultimately based on some of the practices of astral projection, hallucinogens and dissociation turned into a proper divorce.)
Most often, Projective magic manifests as Dreamwalking . However, it is also used to:

• review or clarify memories (see Memories;)
• moderate one's own dreams;
• meditate;
• or (solely by Life or Death) to project into a vessel.

While using any forms of projective magic, the user becomes fully unaware of their physical body and surroundings. In cases where one is projecting into a vessel, this acts as taking on the senses of the vessel; in viewing or reviewing memories, this becomes taking on the senses from the memory; in dreams, this involves a myriad of senses dependent on the specific dream-related magics. In any case, awareness of the body will only be restored when the magic is ended, and only the most extreme conditions1 can force the soul to re-merge with the body. Time as experienced in the physical world is morphed, and a large part of training for projective magics involves the ability to monitor real-time. If not careful, the projector could spend days or longer away from their body; even more have gone astray by projecting too far, and facing adverse side effects when re-merging with their body.
These effects may only linger for a short spell, often leaving a sense of lightheadness or muted senses, but they may also begin to worsen bodily coordination, the kinesthetic senses atrophying with lengthened stays. If the individual spends a day or more away from their body, they will likely suffer from sleep paralysis upon reawakening; if repeated, they may develop narcolepsy wherein the periods of brief sleep are caused by the soul separating from the body at random and uncontrollable intervals. There are no known cures outside of Life's handiwork to end this, and if the more advanced effects occur, the individual will likely lose any level of magical ability. When necessary, it is possible for Life to stitch the soul back to the body, but the level of difficulty means that she only does this on the rare occasion, and even this is hardly a perfect fix.
Regardless of levels of sensory decay, projective magic used in excess will lead to the slow decay of the body. Within Elemental Transformation, the soul alone is responsible for maintaining the body's state, and while divorced from the body, will not maintain this health. While this is hardly a problem for those who only use projective magics for therapeutic or brief instances, it begins to wear on those who use Projective magic, particularly Dreamwalking , for extended periods of time. While this will not lead to death, it may lead to physical atrophy that paired with other side-effects may resemble physical aging.
Ultimately, sensory or physical atrophy can be easily mediated by only practicing projective magics in short amounts of time. It is hardly a problem for the majority, but the consequences should be mentioned so as to explain why it is limited in practice. For many, the labors of learning the magic combined with potential side-effects are too great compared to potential benefits.

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1 "the most extreme conditions": Soul Magic may cause the soul to rebound, but even the death of the body may occur, simply with the soul losing its tie to the physical plane and departing to Death without recognition of what happened to the body.