Instructor: Rainsong
Date: July 26, 2008 (Saturday)
Rainsong Good evening, ladies and gentlemen
Jael Good evening
Aphanas Good evening, Rain.
Raven eveningness
Rainsong Tonight’s seminar is a Basic Refresher on the topic of Psionic Shielding
Rainsong Unless Chan is looking for a game, my usual disclaimer about this not being a role-playing game is probably not necessary….
Rainsong However, just for the record, this is not a role-playing room, and we are discussing real-world psionics, rather than, for example, GURPS
Rainsong So far so froody?
Jael yep
Raven all shiny
Aphanas *nods*
Rainsong Is there anyone who wants a review of basic energy movement and/or what the Guild folks call “charging”, before we get into Shielding per se?
Rainsong (That had been my original plan, if we’d had any newbies tonight)
Raven No need here.
Aphanas Not here.
Jael I’m fine without it.
Rainsong And since Chan doesn’t care, right into Shielding it is
Jael nifty
Jael _really_ needs this in just under a month.
Rainsong As usual, we’ll start by defining our terms.
Rainsong Can anyone tell me what “Psionic Shielding” is?
Raven Energy barrier to keep out generic stuff, depending on what it’s “set” to.
Aphanas Blocking or muting psionic input through a variety of construct(s) or energy barriers.
Jael Blocking out “noise” by use of a construct – either incoming or outgoing
Rainsong Very good. The term also includes a small assortment of non-construct defences
Rainsong However, constructs are the most common and the most versatile
Rainsong …and can be the most amusing
Jael heh…
Rainsong The Barney “Get the (insert expletive of choice here) out of my head” Shield is an example of the latter
Rainsong Tonight, we will be focusing mostly on the kinds of shields useful for blocking out noise in large crowded areas, such as certain large towns/cities to which certain attendees might be travelling in the near future
Jael hehe
Rainsong As you know, other purposes include defence and offence in combat, practical jokes, keeping one’s thoughts private, trip wires, avoiding being schmooshed in crashes, and so on. For the moment, those can wait
Rainsong Generally speaking, the simplest anti-noise Shield is a Bubble or a Marshmallow Shield, or one of their many variants
Rainsong Depending on whom you ask, the marshmallow types might or might not be variants of the basic bubble
Rainsong Marshmallows tend to be full of “stuff”, and Bubbles might or might not be hollow
Rainsong The shapes is widely variable, with the most common choices being spheres, bells, ellipses, and approximately humanoid
Rainsong Each of these has its advantages. They are similar enough in terms of difficulty and effectiveness, that it really comes down to personal choice. Or, perhaps, whatever you happened to learn first.
Rainsong Start by deciding on what you want it to do, as with any construct: duration, shape, direction (does it just keep noise in, or does it keep your thoughts from going out, too?), thickness, size, etc
Rainsong It’s not a bad plan to clean your field at this stage, if you have the time to do so. If not, no worries.
Rainsong Then, gather/move/generate/charge/whatever your psi-stuff and move it into the appropriate shape around you.
Rainsong I find it helpful to send it out either through my hands or through my belly. It is not necessary to do this, though.
Rainsong If you prefer, you can basically call the Shield into being around you, without a “streaming” location at all.
Rainsong Using some sort of visualization can also be helpful for directing the construction
Rainsong The constuction itself can be seen as wrapping around, or a gel-like goo sliding down the shape and congealing, or the shape starting out tiny (in your hand, for example) and expanding…
Rainsong And the bubble might be actually soap-bubble like, or glass like a Christmas ornament, or platemail, or a cloak of feathers….
Rainsong The options are endless (or close enough as makes no difference)
Rainsong Don’t forget to indicate in the construct program that the shield is to continue to hold together when you are not paying attention to it.
Rainsong Also, planning a way to dismantle it is a good idea….I advise including this in the initial programming. It can be as simple as “stay functional for the next six hours or until I want to take it down”
Rainsong Questions or commentary on Bubbles?
Raven none here
Aphanas *shakes head*
Jael No questions here either
Rainsong There is commentary happening here suggesting the “terminator” (movie) type of liquid metal. It has the bonus of being self-repairing.
Rainsong Next Shield on the agenda is the Stone Tower Shield. This requires more concentration than oomph, which in itself makes it a useful part of one’s repertoire
Rainsong Visualize constructing a wall around you, one stone or brick at a time.
Rainsong Making a few glass bricks for windows can be helpful.
Rainsong These are time-consuming, and often heavy, but they are generally effective
Rainsong Questions/comments?
Raven *shakes head*
Aphanas None here at the moment.
Jael Nope, not yet
Rainsong Some people like to install gun turrets
Rainsong A third option, for anti-noise Shielding is related to the Bubble, but more concentration than oomph. Take a nice deep breath and breathe outward while visualizing the breath forming the shield, each exhalation adding to the construction. This tends to end up looking like a radioactive marshmallow.
Jael hehe
Rainsong Some people like to make a construct cloak (with or without feathers), and wrap it around themselves when things get noisy. Standard construct stuff, there, too, with the construct gaining strength with practice
Rainsong Or, for the politically incorrect, you could replace the feathers with harp-seal pup pelts
Rainsong For short-term anti-noise purposes, there are also options other than constructs. The most common is to turn inward, and concentrate on an internal fantasy. It doesn’t keep the noise out, as such, but helps you to ignore it
Rainsong For long-term purposes (for example, moving to the city, or school-term dormitories at university), anti-noise wards placed on the room can help bolster your defences. Static shields can be a little easier to maintain, especially if they are anchored in a physical locus (i.e. Ward Cubes)
Rainsong Regular maintenance of checking for cracks (and repairing same) and adding oomph to extant shields is required regardless of the format
Rainsong And remember, orange juice and chocolate are your friends
Rainsong Any questions?
Aphanas None here.
Raven wooden boards/rubber flooring/etc any good for anchoring?
Rainsong Wood holds it well. I have no experience anchoring to rubber.
Jael I’ve sometimes just rebuilt the shield rather than ‘fix’ it. Am I wasting energy or time on this? I’m just nervous about missing spots that need fixing.
Rainsong It can be just as easy to start over, as to repair a Shield. It’s mostly a matter of convenience and personal preference. Repairing just saves you the effort of figuring out what you want it to do. Not much else.
Jael Thanks