- username: lysander
name: mephis
images: headshot / outfit sketch
job: geomancy; divination by interpreting lines or textures on the ground or in rock formations; magic involving earth.
vignette:
to trace the contours of a geode with the tips of his fingers meant to read the very emotions of the earth beneath him. each curvature, formation, etching, and crack in the stone was a word in the ancient scripture carved by mother nature herself. entire mountain ranges were mere pages in her history. tectonic plates melting, shifting, bending underneath the weight of the ocean— all of them were like books unread to mephis, each with countless chapters waiting to unfold before his eyes.
or, perhaps, his hands. mephis could not see much, though it mattered little in his line of work. reading the moods of the earth merely required years of training and a sense of touch attuned to the different textures of asphalt, marble, quartz— what have you. he'd been able to see once before— the light of ancient crystals drew him in like a moth to a flame —but that was many, many moons ago, in a time where his fascination was endless and daring and unafraid. there were lines in geomancy one should never cross, he learned a little too late.
yet now, he could feel the light deep in his chest, like a precious memory. it drove him forward into the unknown, as if he were a spelunker traversing a vast cave with endless passages, some meandering into dead-ends and others leading to fates yet unknown. and mephis had front-row seats to it all. each client brought him a little further, a little deeper into the cave, and every stone, rock, shard they carried was a glimmer of something undiscovered— and he, with his insatiable thirst for knowledge, would edge on into the future where anything was possible.
god. he loved his job.
technical notes:
mephis can tell the future by reading the earth, whether it's by sensing tectonic activity, analyzing the structure/makeup of a stone, studying the textures and contours of rock samples, observing rock formations, etc. he cannot see— but his sense of touch is so refined he can tell the composite of a rock sample using inference (common minerals for a location, for example) and memorized facts (like mineral density.) divination is his primary occupation, but he also practices earth-based white magic, involving benediction, charming, healing, things of that nature. he can also read the history of a specific location using rock samples and performing a specialized ritual.
in order to read fortunes, clients may either choose a general reading, or go for a more customized option. general readings will involve the use of mephis' own geode collection, which he uses as a conduit for his magic. a more customized reading may involve the client bringing their own sample (i.e., the first stone they see on the way home from work) or by having the client throw, break, or otherwise disfigure another stone to see how it shatters. much like tea leaves, the way a stone breaks may hold clues about the client's future.
mephis' blindness was caused by a geomancy-related mishap in his younger years involving a forbidden artifact— the philosopher's stone. what happened exactly, no one knows. he's changed his name and moved away since then, keeping his past largely a secret.
ooc: vignette + technical notes: 533 words
