Memoriate

Origin - Memoriate

(Applicants of this theme should speak to: Tori Morte on game first!)

Human beings are defined by their memories. Everything that they have experienced has moulded them into the person they are today, and whatever happens them today will affect who they are tomorrow. Thus, to lose memories is considered almost as bad as death, or sometimes even worse. If nobody remembers what you did, does it matter that you did it? If nobody remembers that you were alive, were you truly alive to begin with?

Fortunately for them, humans also cherish memories of other people. They hold each other in their hearts and, through their bonds, offer a sort of immortality. Indeed, the dead who are remembered often remain in the world as ghosts.

Some other beings, who despise humans, find this fact distasteful. They do all that they can to nurture traumatic memories and push people apart. These beings are known by the guardians of memories as Cthonians. By their machinations, traumatic and otherwise negative emotions are twisted and embodied in monsters known as Tristes to wreak havoc on the lives and sanity of their hosts. Not just content to torture living humans, the Cthonians are also known to twist the memories from which ghosts arise, transforming them bodily into Tristes. Luckily, when a Tristis is destroyed, the victim experiences a moment of catharsis and purification, helping them deal with their memories - although it's not usually a true replacement for therapy.

The guardians of memories, Memoriates, are those chosen by the divine being Mneme. They are granted various seemingly psychic powers they can use to detect and protect memories. They are also granted a gemstone, usually worn as a pendant or ring, which allows them to tap into the power of memories to transform into magical guardians with the strength to fight the Cthonians and their creations. Their own memories won't do, though - they must find strength in other people, either by channelling the power of memories of the departed by fusing with a ghost, or channelling their memories of deep bonds represented by a cherished keepsake.

Even when untransformed, Mmeme's divine favour grants Memoriates the power to sense places and objects invested with strong memories, a limited ability to sense the emotional state of people, and the power to see and interact with the lingering memories of the dead, ghosts. This includes the ability to see, hear and touch them, as well as understanding them. This understanding is psychic in nature and somewhat transcends language barriers and physical impairments, so a Memoariatrix could theoretically talk with a headless ghost that doesn't share a language with them with some effort.

With the words "Memento Mori", a Memoriatrix (or Memoriator, if they happen to be a boy) can fuse their body with a ghost, gaining a frilly outfit and three powers. The first power is related to how ghosts hide from the living, often intangibility or invisibility. The second power relates to how ghosts move from place to place, usually levitation or teleportation. The third power relates to how ghosts interact with the world of the living, which usually manifests as psychokinesis or some offensive ability. The powers a Memoriatrix gets depend on themselves, rather than the ghost they partner with - a Memoriator who gets teleportation as their travel power always gets teleportation, even if he bonds with ten or twenty individual ghosts.

With the words "Memento Vivere", a Memoriatrix can instead draw power from a precious keepsake given to them by someone they have a strong bond with. They get the same frilly outfit, and one or two powers that relate to their bond. If their friend has powers of their own, the powers the Memoriator gains usually echo them in some way. If not, they're often symbolic of their friend and their bond in some other way. A Memoriatrix almost always gains the same powers from a friend, even if they have multiple keepsakes, or if they fall out and then make up again. It takes a very dramatic alteration in the context of their bond and serious character growth to change or add powers.

Most Memoriates can only sustain four or five such bonds, and they don't really get to choose them. Trying to 'game' your relationships makes them hollow and results in the power simply not working. Ghosts, meanwhile, are essentially 'free' - they simply need to consent to the bond. Otherwise, they could be a complete stranger.

In either 'mode', Memoriates also have their physical abilities increased, making them stronger, faster and tougher than regular people. Most Memoriates cannot use both 'modes' at once, although some especially powerful and skilled Memoriates can use both - with ther activation phrase "Memento Mori Vivere". As well as granting the powers of a ghost and a keepsake, this also provides an even more powerful physical boost.

Memoriates tend to fight unarmed or with their powers, but if a keepsake happens to be a weapon, it will be empowered along with the Memoriate's body. Additionally, some Memoriates are able to create ghostly weapons with their 'interaction power' when fusing with ghosts.