Pirate Prince
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: Worldbuilding on Lao-mon.
- Image Credit: Magnolia East Bank
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: The Cytherai | Tammuz Hoole's holocron
- Tradition Name: The Benandanti (Shi'idese: "Dreamwalkers")
- Tradition Type: Shi’ido Force Order
- Tradition Focus: Intellectual/Spiritual/Psychological
- Influence: Minor
- Orientation: Balanced
- Influence Area: Lao-mon
- Symbol: Stylized depiction of a zenobia flower.
- Description: The Benandanti are a Shi'ido cultural group (or "clan"). They focus on honing their mental capabilities, elevating their natural telepathy to an art form. They can hypnotize others with their gazes, read thoughts, communicate without speaking, induce catatonic or comatose states, astral project, and even enter the minds of others while they are dreaming, experiencing and influencing the dream as they see fit.
- Membership: Most Benandanti are born into the clan, but they also recruit members from among the most exceptionally strong and talented Force Sensitive Shi'ido.
- Motives: The majority of Benandanti are devoted to using their powers to heal, acting in a manner similar to psychologists or therapists, but their powers can also be highly dangerous, allowing them to manipulate and control the minds of others. The Cytherai are a special unit of Benandanti who are trained to use their telepathy in combat; other Benandanti mainly function as healers and diplomats.
- Rules and Teachings: One of the main criticisms leveled at this clan is that, while they train themselves to be very skilled and powerful, they have no official code of honor or rule system with regards to how individual members use the knowledge they gain. It is expected that practitioners will not use their abilities to break the law, but beyond that an individual’s own set of principles, whether informed by religion, morals, or any other personal beliefs, are the only guidelines. It is because of this that they are willing to teach anyone who shows an aptitude for telepathy, regardless of other affiliations, but it can also make matters complicated when it comes to leadership or internal disputes.
- Reputation: Benandanti are not much liked in polite Shi'ido society, where they are alternately feared for their powers or loathed for the bad apples among them who abuse their abilities. While it is possible for a Benandanti to achieve a high social status among their own people, many of them choose to leave Lao-mon behind and apply their abilities elsewhere. There have been several cases of Benandanti who went on to join the Jedi or the Sith Orders.
- Openness: Provided you are strong enough in the Force, anyone can become a Benandanti through training and induction into the clan. This is quite different from other clans, which tend to be more closed-off and exclusive, often limited to blood relations. The process of becoming a Benandanti is not an easy one, and it takes many years to master, but all that is typically required is a strong drive and a willingness to complete the rigorous training.
- Characteristic Equipment: The only tool a Benadanti truly needs is their mind.
- Notable Force Skills: Benandanti, or dreamwalkers, are skilled telepaths, though they are most commonly associated with their ability to enter, influence and alter an individual's dreams. This can be done for a variety of reasons, ranging from gifting an individual with an idea that seems to emerge from their own subconscious, to tormenting them with nightmares based on their deepest fears. Benandanti must be very well-trained to withstand the psychic forces at play in dreamwalking, lest they become lost in the dream.
- Notable Force Limitations: The Benandanti are exclusively mentalists, at the expense of all other aspects of the Force. With the exception of the Cytherai, they are typically not even trained to use their abilities in combat. If a Benandanti invades a mind by force, and the victim fights back, Benandanti can be psychically wounded in the ensuing battle of wills - and physical wounds may also appear on their body as a result. It is even possible to win against a Benandanti in this sort of fight, reducing them to a catatonic or comatose state, perhaps even permanently, but you have to have a very strong mind of your own.
MEMBERS
- The Cytherai
- Tammuz Hoole (deceased)
- Errik Nimdok (as Arimanes Bosch)
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Little is known of the history of the Benandanti, who did not keep records, preferring to instead pass down memories directly through a mental link with another individual. They do, however, feature in a variety of legends, especially those of the province of Cythera. Ancient Benandanti apparently convinced the people who lived in the surrounding mountains and hills that it was necessary for them to dreamwalk together, fighting a spiritual war against a group of "witches". They were in fact fooling the locals into fighting their mental war against a rival faction for them.
The Benandanti have often been seen as influencers and manipulators, slithering their way into power by twisting the minds of others. In the most severe cases, they have usurped power entirely, using a ruler as a mere figurehead. The clandestine nature of their powers means that a highly skilled Benandanti may hold absolute power, yet none around him are aware of it.
Of course, they aren't all bad. The ranks of the Benandanti have included many great men and women who used their powers for good. Several went on to become Jedi, or employed their abilities in therapeutic ways, treating the mentally ill and disturbed. But for the most part, they are ordinary, easily corruptible people given extraordinary powers over the very minds of others, and so they are feared and loathed.
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