- Range
- Touch
- Duration
- Permanent
- Difficulty
- Expert / Veteran
This spell forms a complex and unbreakable link between two parties souls. The connection between souls is permanent and cannot be dispelled, though a sufficiently advanced practitioner could mask the bond it cannot be removed. Once bonded the people have access to each other's surface thoughts though the access does not bleed over between each party unless the feelings / sensations are sufficiently extreme. The feeling is often described as having a mental door or gateway of sorts where a person can open and seek out their bonded partner and their feelings.
Casting
The caster can either form a bond between themselves and another party or they may form a bond between two external parties who are physically touching each other. The spell is designed to be willing, though with a sufficiently powerful mind at work the caster may force a bond against someones will. This process will require using ones own mental willpower to subdue or dominate another's in order to complete the spell.
The spell is easier to cast for psionics than it is for magic users, as the psionic already uses their own innate Aether to produce the spell effect. It will be more draining but the ability to bond another person to oneself will be amplified.
Extreme Need Casting
An unskilled user of magic or psionic energy can cast this spell almost by accident in extremely rare cases between two willing parties. There are individual cases which
Granted Abilities
- Lend / Draw Strength
- Share Thoughts
- Share Memories
- Telepathic Communication
- Telepathic Awareness
- Empathic Awareness
- Location Sense
Power Dynamic
During the bonding process the souls will naturally form a hierarchy of some kind. In many bonded pairs the hierarchy follows that of the emotional / physical relationship between the two parties and the difference between the two is not very pronounced. In some cases the difference in power through the bond is palpable and presents itself in a controller and subordinate kind of way.
Sometimes this latter effect is formed because the two people share a power dynamic which lends itself well to such a hierarchy while other times one mind has sufficiently more power than the other. Two minds can also battle over which will be more in control, this is most common in forced bonding where it is very likely that the one forcing the bond will retain the upper hand within the link.
When a strongly supernatural entity uses the bond on a mortal or sufficiently less powerful entity they will often be felt to be of some additional authority too. The bond does not actually force such a commanding power structure on anyone when cast, but when the mind either accept another mind to be more powerful or when the mind is dominated enough to be forced into a bond, it leaves it open to find this more natural. Thus there is no true magical commanding to do as one says but it none-the-less can feel as if one has to follow the commands of the other, creating a feeling similar to very strong cognitive dissonance when disobeying.
If neither party accepts such a strong hierarchy a more even power dynamic will naturally form.
Strength / Energy
There is no limit to the distance from which one person can give or take strength / energy from their partner(s). The effect is greatly diminished though with distance, especially between planes or time.
Thoughts, Memories, and Awareness
Sharing thoughts or communicating via the bond occurs in feelings and sensations. It is possible to communicate with just words but more difficult. Most often people communicating share entire thoughts, which can include words, but also include the feelings and sensations associated with those thoughts. This is especially true when sharing memories between bonded parties. Bonded parties can also sense the general direction and a rough idea of distance between themselves and others they are bonded with. This is not precise but it work even across infinite distances of space, time, and realities. The feeling gets more and more vague depending on how distant one party is from another, though physical distance causes only a little vagueness, spanning across times or realities has a much more pronounced effect.
Bonded parties will be automatically aware if the other(s) die, it will be pronounced and unmistakable.
Side Effects
There are known cases where a bond between a strongly supernatural creature (such as an immortal) and a more normal creature (such as a mortal person) creates an effect that the soul remains bonded and is unable to depart the plane their partner is on. In such cases it does happen that the soul of a bonded party can transform into different forms or even join with the soul of their more powerful partner over time.
Couples, Triads, and Quartets
When bonded in a pair, the spell creates the unbreakable link between two people. When someone in a bonded pair willingly submits to another bond, there is a significant chance that the new bond will create a full triad or if repeated again a quartet and so on. The bonds are similar magic and while an unwilling bond will usually not create a triad or any such mutual bonding, a willing bond will usually do just that. In such cases each person in the group is bonded to each other person in the group.