Malum and Crafts for Beginners!

In order to understand Malum, it is important to understand Crafts and vice-verse. This guide may aid in your understanding of the two.

First things first, it is important to understand that Malum are beings that were created as a result of Lowry-particles released from Project F.I.N.A.L and are not to be confused with mutants formed from other sources or espers, who are considered to acquire their abilities naturally. The term 'Malum' is Latin for monster. This term was coined by select Malum to describe abnormal humans, which others may refer to as witches or demons. Please note that there are very few differences between the anatomy of Malum and normal humans, excluding some unique cases.

Malum are not magicians or superheroes, in the sense that they draw their powers from their own genetic code as opposed to some sort of external entity. Each Malum has the capacity to master a single ability, though many sub-level techniques may be used to accomplish this task. This can be compared to the way various different tissues function together to form a single functioning organ.

A Malum’s power is known as their Craft. Most Malum will only have a single Craft; however, there are unique cases in which a Malum has been able to learn more Crafts through intensive training or exposure to certain types of radiation or chemicals. Crafts are divided into levels. The level of a Craft is not proportional to the power of that Craft, but rather the amount of individual sub-level techniques that may be needed to accomplish it. An example of this is how a Malum that is able to alter the memories of a target must also possess the ability to telepathically communicate with that target. This is not to say that a Malum using a higher level Craft can use lower level Crafts as well. These lower level Crafts function on a primarily autonomic basis and are similar to reflexes in that respect.

The basis of all Crafts can be divided into a few select groups and sub-groups (most of which are not mentioned here):

Extra Sensory Perception (Level 1)

• Astral Projection
  
• Mental Projection
  
• Empathy
  
• Mediumship
  
• Precognition
  
• Psychometry
  
• Telepathy
  

Domination and/or Mind Control (Level 2)

• Astral Trapping
  
• Memory Manipulation
  
• Possession
  
• Psionic Blast(s)
  
• Psychic Weapon(s)
  
• Illusion(s)
  
• Sensory Manipulation
  

Telekinetic Manipulation (Level 3)

• Animation
  
• Alchemy
  
• Force Manipulation
  
• Radiation Manipulation
  
• Energy Manipulation
  
• Classic Element(s) Manipulation
  
  Note: That these powers are based on the idea of telekinesis (i.e. one is using their mind to manipulate an object or its parts, so don't expect to create matter or energy or destroy anything completely).
  

The reason that a Malum is highly unlikely to control more than one Craft is because the learning capacity of the brain would not allow for the expense in energy and nerve responses. This would otherwise result in lesions, strokes, or seizures, as it is similar to any other situation where the brain is overly functioning, since the physical limitations of the organism’s anatomy is compromised. There is a stage in Malum development where the control of one or more Crafts results in the growth of a single Craft via a change in the structure of the Malum’s body. This stage is known as hyper-evolution and it usually occurs during fetal development. In this case, in order to prevent brain damage, the body begins to shutdown the portion of the brain that is responsible for using Crafts. This process also causes unusual changes in the physical body of the Malum, which are suspected to occur as the body’s means of compensating through adaptation. The body compensates by engineering superhuman abilities through mutation. These can be abilities shown in animals that do not occur in humans (e.g. flight, gills, venom) or completely knew biological developments. These mutations are then classified as a new type of Craft known as Mutagenic Crafts or Lvl. Four Crafts.


If you have any questions or comments, please post them or PM your neighborhood Admin or Mod. Thanks!

Note: Props to TF for coming up with the idea for Lvl. 4 Malums. ^^