Sound
Try not to burst your eardrums with this one!
Sound's a magic that's often sought after in the music or film industry, you have no idea how much easier it is to get nice audio when you've got a skilled sound user on deck.
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Now as the name states, this Scientific Magic is all based on the manipulation of sound waves, blocking out unwanted sounds to listen better to a certain sound or learning how to throw your voice are prime examples of the skills you'll learn by taking the time to study up in Sound.
BASIC SKILLS
Detect Sound
Desc: Now, you may be wondering why Detect Sound is even a skill - isn’t that just hearing? That is a valid question, but this skill goes further than just hearing. A dopaline with this skill can eventually sense even the most hushed of sounds, things that no normal dop can hear. For this reason, a few Nature proficient dops may dip into Sound magic just for the ability to further improve their senses, while many professions also recommend taking this ability as a quality of life improvement more than anything.
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Learning: The easiest way to learn this skill, contrary to popular belief, is to sit in a quiet location. Not completely silent, but quiet enough that you’d need to listen closely to make anything out. Then, you just focus on trying to hear the tiniest sounds, the quietest things you can think of.
Limits/Risks: The range of this skill isn’t the largest, and may be overwhelming in crowded or otherwise loud environments. Also, using it for too long can lead to you hearing a persistent ringing in your ears for a short while.
Manipulate Sound
Desc: This skill allows you to manipulate how loud or quiet the sound around you is! Often used by teachers, parents, any dopaline that works with loud things can find this skill useful, but it can also be used by dopals on the other end of the spectrum - for example, increasing the volume of a cave system so you can hear oncoming danger when you otherwise wouldn’t!
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Learning: Once again, a quiet room is recommended for this skill, though whether you want to amplify or quieten a sound is up to you. Some like to use a crowded town for this skill, actually, as silencing the hustle and bustle, at least for yourself, can be quite cathartic once you succeed! Just try not to accidentally amplify it.
Limits/Risks: This tends to only affect you, however, more proficient dopalines may be able to use it on others. It can also be difficult to toggle between amplifying and reducing the sound, and you can’t completely negate sound with this ability.
Sonic Burst
Desc: Sonic Burst is a skill often utilised by teachers and other professionals that may work with rowdy dopals or otherwise loud equipment, as one loud noise tends to be quite effective as quietening the rest. This skill is also good for venting out frustrations, as rather than screaming into a pillow, why not just amplify your scream for the world to hear, and possibly push some things away from you in the process?
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Learning: As you may have picked up, one of the better ways to learn is to go into a quiet area and focus on creating and strengthening a sound until it “bursts”.
Limits/Risks: Things can get a bit confusing if there are a lot of sounds distracting you, but over time you’ll be able to do it anywhere. It can also cause minor structural damage, but it’s nowhere near as dangerous as some other skills.
Sound Shield
Desc: Dopalines with this skill are able to take the sound around them to create a hard shield around themselves. It’s barely visible and slightly wavy, as it’s just a bunch of sound waves barely held together! It’s mostly used by those who find themselves in trouble in crowded cities often, so more often than not, dopalines involved in crime. Not every dopal who uses this is a criminal, however, as some may find it useful protecting themselves and loved ones in general, even as a ‘what if’ kinda thing!
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Learning: In stark contrast to most other skills so far, it’s actually recommended to pick a loud environment for learning this skill. A busy town, a populated forest, as long as there’s plenty of noise to go around it’s perfect! Then, bring all the sound towards yourself - it’s best to think of it as what it is, waves in the air. Then, focus on gathering the sound in front of you, until they form a sort of semi-spherical shield over yourself!
Limits/Risks: This skill requires a lot of concentration and can be difficult when experiencing a lot of sensory input, if not careful the shield can easily break or even create a small sonic blast if it backfires.
ADVANCED SKILLS
Limits/Risks: After a certain distance from the caster, things tend to fizzle out and become less and less comprehensible. Using this skill in a particularly loud area may cause headaches.
Soundwave Radar
PREREQUISITE: Detect Sound
Desc: The ability to send a wave of sound outwards that identifies everything around is what this entails, perfect for a dopaline really trying to enhance their senses. Generally, professions that request this skill may involve bounty hunting, or finding a spot for a new civilisation - though in the latter category, you can assume the employers are either paranoid or couldn’t find a dopaline with Nature magic.
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Learning: The best way to learn this skill is to stand in an area with a lot going on, but also not quite as busy as a town or city - a park will often do. Then, think of what you can hear, possibly using the Detect Sound skill as you do, and imagine that spreading outwards around you. Some may start off with more of a half-wave, but the end result should eventually be the ability to hear everything in a circular radius around you!
Create & Dispel Sound
PREREQUISITE: Manipulate Sound
Desc: This skill is a teacher or parent or annoyed teenager’s dream, as rather than simply quietening an area around them, they can just, well, dispel the sound completely! Lonely dopalines may also use this to give themselves something to talk to, as they can create a sound that responds to what they say. It’s also quite useful for scholars who may talk to themselves, as hearing it said back to them can help them develop their ideas better!
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Learning: Learning this skill can be easy or difficult depending on which route you decide to go with learning it, though both sides of the skill are required for true mastery. Some dopalines like to partner up and silence each other, while others like to simply use a pet or object that achieves the same goal. Creating sound is a bit harder, as it isn’t as simple as just using your vocal cords - you need to imagine a source for the sound, then make it come from there. Many like to compare the creating part to thinking aloud, but without actually talking!.
Limits/Risks: This ability’s radius tends to vary a bit depending on the user, but overall can’t go much further than Manipulate Sound. Creating louder sounds can sometimes cause hearing damage and quieting can cause some annoying ringing if done without care and discipline.
Sonic Boom
PREREQUISITE: Sonic Burst
Desc: So if a simple burst wasn’t enough, now you can really make a sound nobody’ll forget! Some dopalines may use this to prank and scare friends and relatives, while others may simply use it for the same reasons one might use the burst.
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Learning: To learn this skill is as simple as using Sonic Burst but with more sound charged into it. Some like to find a louder area for this, while others prefer to stick to the quiet, but wherever you do it, the result should be the same..
Limits/Risks: While stronger than Sonic Burst, Sonic Boom still won’t be bursting anyone’s eardrums any time soon. That said, if you’re not careful you could certainly leave a few dops’ ears ringing! It can also be a bit…unstable in cases of extreme emotion, most notably anger.
Sound Barrier
PREREQUISITE: Sound Shield
Desc: You’ve heard of breaking the sound barrier, but have you heard of making the sound barrier? That’s what this ability’s all about, blocking incoming attacks with a big wall of sound! Used most of all by adventuring dopalines and also in some sports, this skill can make an appearance just about anywhere.
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Learning: A good trick for learning this skill is to find a loud place yet again, and concentrate of pulling all the sound towards you, except this time try to shape it into more a grounded, wall-esc shape in front of you - it doesn’t have to be rectangular, but just shaped enough that it works better as a large wall than a simple one-person shield.
Limits/Risks: This barrier can only take a few large hits before shattering in a shockwave of noise, which can leave all dopals around with a ringing in their ears. Additionally, it’s tiring to keep the barrier for longer than a few minutes, so it’s advised to be used sparingly in fairly dire situations.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
Deaf Zone
PREREQUISITES: Create & Dispel Sound & Sonic Burst
Desc: The ability to completely dispel sound is already rather powerful, however when you pair that with a Sonic Burst you get yourself widespread silence! This skill is often used impulsively by frustrated dopalines that just want some peace and quiet, and it’s definitely the ultimate way to tell that your teacher is tired of being spoken over.
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Learning: To learn this skill, it’s advised you find somewhere either alone or with a select few dopalines around. There, you want to silence as far as you can, right to the edges of the radius Create & Dispel Sound can go. Once you’ve done this, use the Sonic Burst ability to send that even further, and the result should be a shockwave of silence rather than sound.
Limits/Risks: This ability can cause some lasting physical damage on dopalines affected, such as ringing in the ears and a general hesitancy to speak in case they can’t hear it. It also has a chance of being used without the user’s intention, as an impulsive reaction to being overwhelmed by noise. For this reason, it’s advised that dopalines with this skill keep their emotions under control.
Musical Mayhem
PREREQUISITES: Sonic Boom & Detect Sound
Desc: This skill is a daring musician’s best friend, as well as a good trick for any combative dopals wanting to really wreck their opponent’s ears. Musical Mayhem is pretty much the opposite of Deaf Zone, as it’s all about taking the sound around you and using it to your advantage in a flurry of noisy destruction.
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Learning: This one’s a fun one to learn, though it’s another where you may be advised to try tackling it alone, and rather than finding a loud location, simply create some sound yourself, either through screaming or remotely with magic! From there, you can detect all of the sound in the area - it should be the one you just made - and pull it towards you, though this time instead of making a shield with it, you’re charging it up and pushing it away! You should hear an extremely amplified version of the noise if you succeed.
Limits/Risks: Hearing loss is a real possibility with this one, as making a sound deafening is no risk-free feat! Dopalines in the blast radius of this skill may end up with lasting issues caused by both the sheer volume and the vibrations reverberating throughout their body, though generally the effects are worse the closer you are - as it gets further away, the worst you might get is a nasty startle. The user may also end up exhausted afterwards.
Weaponised Waves
PREREQUISITES: Sound Barrier & Manipulate Sound
Desc: This is the skill a dopaline must have if they want some formidable weapons for a really dire situation, as it allows you to take the sound waves around you and, rather than shaping them into a shield, use them as blades!
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Learning: A dopaline learning this skill can use the same method as they did for Sound Barrier, except instead of pulling the sound into a vague wall shape, they should manipulate and condense the waves into a sharper, vaguely bladelike form! These blades can then be thrown at a target with potentially devastating effects!
Limits/Risks: This skill can be extremely difficult to control, as sound waves want to travel through the air and don’t quite appreciate being manipulated to fight for you. A dopaline with enough control can do some serious damage with this thought, as a soundwave thrown with enough force can possibly cut someone in half, or at least leave a deep enough gash to scar pretty horrifically!