The Mindmeddlers

Name: The Mindmeddlers (Var. Mindmanglers, Dark Mindsmoothers, Troubling Souls)

Overview: The Mindmeddlers as some call them, are rogue Eyashenes, or those that do no realise their origin. Eyashenes, or Mindsmoothers, are gifted individuals who have the ability to affect emotions. They use these gifts to soothe others, calm them, and to help cure maladies of the mind. While Mindsmoothers use their gift only for the benefit of others, these despicable creatures use them for their own selfish reasons, or even with malevolent intent. They have the abilities to affect the emotions of others and their states of mind. They can cause one to feel anger, confusion, jealousy, detachment, and any other emotions. They've also learned to harness and control Mindlashes, but only a few very powerful ones can cause permanent damage. Mindlashes are an involuntary reaction when a Mindsmoother becomes scared, upset, or angry, the reason that they avoid such emotions. They cause the mind to become temporarily or permanently mangled, and may cause headaches, blindness, and temporary insanity.

Appearance: Mindmeddlers do not have a particular dress code. Some of them, mostly the former Eyashenes, tend toward dark colours, such as indigo, dark grey, and sometimes even black. Some tend to be honourable Eyashenes, seemingly intent to help others sensing and soothing their emotions, while in fact they act like Macanti in the derogatory sense, being swinders and charlatans. This way, they can go undetected and cause harm and destruction in their wake. The members of the Mentalist organization wear black robes bearing the symbol of an eye, usually coloured red. They can come from any race and tribe, though greedy humans and the occasional orc tend to hold the majority of their ranks. Very few elves have been recorded to exist within their ranks, and the majority of those are Dark Elves. There haven't been recorded to be any dwarves among these beings, but it is possible.

Personality: Most of these Black Eyashenes are those who had a poor childhood, usually with abuse, and feel that they must repay the world for what has been done to them. Some are rogue Eyashenes that have different ideals and beliefs, and choose to separate themselves from their order to pursue a darker path. Very few are young Mindsmoothers who have been found by a Mindmeddler, and have been taught to hate the world.

In fact, most Mindmeddlers are loners, preferring to isolate themselves from the world, and cause havoc in their own little corners. There has only been one recorded order, and that is the Mentalists. They are no longer very active, and most of them are in hiding. Most of the loners tend to live in large cities where they stand a slim chance of being detected by a group of Eyashenes, and they can cause a little harm at a time.

Origin: It is believed that, as is the case with all Mindsmoothers, these beings were given their gifts by Eyasha, Godess of Peace. Most Eyashenes believe that these Mindmeddlers were originally meant to do good, but their hearts were corrupted by the evil that slumbered within their gift.

Myth/Lore: There have been a few sightings of them over the years, but not many. Only one recorded story of an organized group of Mindmeddlers exists, the recount of the Mentalists. It is said that they set up residence in a small village outside of Marcogg, and enslaved the people there. It is believed that they possessed a few very powerful Mindmeddlers in their group, called Mindmanglers. They were able to keep them in a lull, in which they had no coherent thought and did basically as they were told. Only did their tyranny come to an end when they were stopped by a group of brave Eyashenes, who were willing to sacrifice everything, even their morals to save these people, and possibly others, from the tyranny of these evil beings. The story is accounted for by word of mouth from the people of Marcogg. Because of this, many rumours have sprung up among the elite. Whenever an official or someone in office acts strange or out of turn, it is common superstition that a Mindmeddler has infiltrated their ranks. Because of this, many an adviser has been executed unjustly (or not) on accusations of playing with a most personal possession of most: their mind. One can never be sure of meeting a Mindmeddler when they are in a position of power. The Thane of Manthria now keeps tabs on every underling and adviser in his court. If even the slightest suspicion is raised, they are immediately ordered to trial, which usually results in an execution. An Eyashene is usually called upon to monitor the emotions, and to counter-act any attempted Meddling. Here is an account from an old woman who saw this happen approximately fifty years ago at the time this was written:

Years ago, a hooded figure came an' visited that village yonder, 'bout four hundred peds away. Wherever he passed, people got real dizzy-like, and they just dropped what they was doin' an' followed him. A good many more hooded figures followed behind the people. Pretty soon, they was all at the centre of the village, and he started talkin' all dark-like, in a deep voice. He done told ev'ryone what to do, gave 'em jobs, like cleanin' and tended the cattle, an' things. He also had 'em workin' on some big house he claimed, made it look nice enough ta be a castle. It wasn't very big-like, but it was still big enough to be a castle. Took 'em darn near a year ta finish. All them figures started livin' in that buildin', makin' them people do whatever the hell they pleased. For years them people worked, an' occasionally one of 'em would come to 'is senses, and try ta run. One o' them hoodies would stop 'im, an' he'd start fussin' on the ground, an' rollin' around like an old fool. Then 'e'd get real still-like, and they'd take 'im away.

One day, some o' them pointy-eared folk started askin' questions around this ol' city of Marcogg. There was a couple o' human folk with 'em, but not many. After a few days, them folks done set off toward that village. We tried to warn 'em, but they wouldn't listen worth a San. Someone followed 'em, an' watched 'em enter that castle. There was a darn many screams comin' from that there castle that night. In the mornin' only a few o' them folks came out. By that time, all them folks that were slaves was comin' back ta normal, an' didn't remember a thang. Them robed folks just went on their way, back ta where they came from. The one who'd followed 'em in the first place saw some o' 'em hoodies escape that castle, and run as fast as 'ier bastard legs 'ould carry 'em. I was the one who done seen it all. It turns out that the Thane had gone an' called 'em on account of 'im worryin' 'bout those hoodies tryin' ta take over Marcogg.