Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1999 00:34:23 EDT
note: this is from Mark (ponz@hotmail), and is his contribution to the
Rending history. ^_^

Naradan Psionics

        It had been known that living beings are made up of three parts and
live in
three planes.  These three parts is the body, the mind or psyche and the
spirit.  The body dwells in the physical plane and is where people live in
absolute consciousness.  The exact opposite of this side is the spirit,
which is of course, in the spiritual or astral plane.  Beings do not fully
understand the spirit, much less even know about it, and it is the plane
where they are unconscious.  Only the psyche(mind) provides the connection
between these two opposite poles, but is not immediately possible because
the mind dwells in his subconscious and people are only capable of using it
within a certain level of extent, for thinking, dreaming etc.  If persons
were to exceed the limitations of his mind, the possibilities of what he can
do are endless if he were to understand the three planes of his existence.
        Psionics are individuals who are masters of the mind and thus, master
of
the remaining two planes.  Their measure for their power are psi, or mind
energy which is abundant in the human psyche, with only the exhaustion of
the will being the limitation.  The present psionic is able to draw energy
from his spirit and create physical objects composed of psi.  This is one of
the most difficult to use in the art of psi and perhaps the only ability to
be used in combat.  The psionic is also gifted with a certain skill of
clairvoyance; he is able to sense spiritual energies, the future and what
goes on in the minds of others.  It can be called the third eye, intuition,
sixth sense, ESP, but with psionics, this ability is rather subtle and weak
in them, only the gifted could develop this power.  The last one would be
the ability to walk across the spiritual plane by projecting his spirit to
that plane, without the body dying because of this.  They are able to
commune with the spirits of living, or dead with a certain amount of psi,
where they can virtually interact with them, even in the physical plane.
        Present psionics may not have equal skill in all abilities discussed
above,
some may vary, or specific abilities may be stronger than others etc.  It
counts as one of the lost Talents, and psionic potential is indeed very rare
in Naradans.  One requires much training to be able to master the talent and
develop their gifts, or else it may deteriorate.

History:        The Merging

        Many years before the Rending, the word 'psionic' was a very general
thing.
  Many Talents used psi as energy and trained their Gifted in many
specialized schools.  However, a group of intellectuals named the Spirituals
who could draw energy from their spirits sought to meet with other psi users
and if possible, merge their abilities.  And so, a Council took place, named
the Merging at Nox, located in a city situated in the central mountains
named, Nox(destroyed during the Rending).  Many schools sent delegates to
the Council, the Projectionists, gifted in astral projection, Necroscopes*,
gifted in communing with spirits, Leyists, those who study geographical
spiritual paths or ley lines, Seers, Psychics, Visionaries and other psi
users.
        After the Merging of psi abilities at Nox, a new group was formed
named the
Psionics.  This group of people(then very few) were able to develop new
techniques it inherited from the other psi users, and were able to form
another school at Nox.  Although the group assimilated many abilities and
combined them to form a new one, only a few abilities were prominent, with
little of other abilities used. The Psionics prospered for many years in
developing their abilities, and always kept in touch with the schools which
participated in the Council.
        A very peaceful group, they never used their talents as weapons;
actually
there was no need to do so, for Narada was relatively peaceful at that time.
  What the group dedicated themselves with was the search for the truth,
unraveling mysteries not only of the mind, but of the world of Narada as
well.  They were in constant search for the true religion, the Supreme
Being, and although they were able to learn many things during their search,
they were never really able to find God.  In a few decades the school
progressed in terms of number, techniques, and posses many secrets as well
as they study their Arts.  One of these secrets were the Dark or Forbidden
Arts.  These Dark Arts were found out when a few psionics explored the dark
Regions of the Spirit world, where black, evil spirits thrive.  It required
psionics to bargain with these banished spirits and use their spiritual
energies.  This kind of technique was truly more powerful than any other
technique developed by the Psionics, but it is very dangerous as well.  Many
a psionic failed to control the powers that dark spirits gave them, which
corrupted their souls and led them to their own insanity and death.  The
Psionic leaders immediately forbade the use of this kind of technique and
buried this secret and never reported it to the members of the Elder
Council.

The Banishing

        Many years later, a youth named Zara, who possessed great psionic
abilities
foresaw the Rending that was about to happen about a decade later.  She did
not know the exact details of the Rending, like what caused it and when
exactly it would happen, but she knew for sure that it eventually would.
The Elders of the School of Psionics did not believe her when she related
her visions to them, and they did not take a course of action to prevent it.
        And so,  Zara took the matter to her own hands.  She along with a few
other
psionics who wished to extend their abilities, secretly ventured into the
Dark Realms of the spirit world to gain the dark Spirit technique and use it
as weapons to prepare for the war that was about to come.  They were able to
control the black spirits, unlike their predecessors, mainly because their
psi were even stronger and their techniques perfected.  But not all secrets
are kept hidden  The Psionics eventually discovered the forbidden crimes of
Zara and her group and, with the Elder Council's decision, banished them
from the school.
        The Banished accepted their fate and went away to form their own
school.
They had been dishonored, but at least they were alive and still had their
Talents.  The only thing that the Psionics asked from them were to keep
their Secrets and mystic Arts concealed, nothing else.  As years went by,
the Banished had developed resented feelings for their former school.  They
could not stop it.  Only then had they realized that the dark spirits were
already taking their toll on their new powers.  As the Rending neared they
could feel their psi barriers weakening and the dark spirits gaining even
more strength.
        In an act which they could never control themselves from doing, the
Banished attacked the school of Psionics.  The dark faction was defeated,
with the Elder Council's aid, by the Psionics, who however, let them live.
The Banished, then turned to the Mages to help them, who were then preparing
for the Wars.
        The Seers of Narada were only able to sense the Rending days before
the
war, which was useless, because the mages had already made their move
against the Empaths(and the others).  A small part of the Psionics went into
hiding while the many others fought the wars and allied themselves to the
Empaths.  Sadly, there wasn't much of a fight for the Psionics, for the
Mages knew their secrets from the Banished and used it against them.  They
were easily wiped out.
        The remaining survivors of the school of Psionics(only about 20 of
them)
formed a secret society named the IRIS who isolated themselves from the
outside world. The Banished had probably died from the wars or the cursed
spirits that were eating them.  Nothing else were known of what had happened
to the two factions, for they had disappeared and never heard from again.

*Necroscope is the title of Brian Lumley's series.  Just a copyright thing.