Mnemonomancy

Mnemonomancy is the magical practice of reading a person's memories and thoughts and recording them in the form of a Tolgethic script that can be replayed through Arcane Meditation. It is considered one of the most advanced facets of the school of Divination.

Process

The creation of a memory script requires a subject that is either willing to participate in the process, or has been rendered unconscious or forced to submit to the process by mind-control magic.

During the recording process, the caster sits or stands directly in front of the subject with a pen and a blank sheet of paper within reach. The caster then performs a complex Divination spell while the subject visualizes a scene or series of thoughts in their mind. It is recommended, though not required, that the subject be semi-conscious during the process. As the caster reads the subject's thoughts, they subconsciously write a long series of Tolgethic runes onto the paper which becomes a recording similar to a spell script. This process takes minutes to hours depending on the length and complexity of the memory. Any interruptions in the process that break either person's concentration result in an incomplete recording.

Once the record has been created, it can be "played back" by any magic user who enters the semi-conscious state while reading it, similarly to the process of learning spells. Instead of discovering a new spell, however, the reader will experience a replay of the events the subject was visualizing in their mind.

Trivia

• Like spell scripts, memory scripts can't be read from digital images on screens, as the part of the human brain that assembles digital pixels into images is shut down when in the semi-conscious state. However, the image of the script can be printed onto a physical medium to be replayed.
• The accuracy of the memories captured on mnemonomancy scripts is generally impeccable, sometimes exceeding the subject's own conscious memories of the events in question. Poor-quality recordings are more often the result of physical brain damage or an inexperienced caster.
• It is possible, although very difficult, to doctor the images shown in mnemonomancy scripts by altering the subject's memories, as James March did to Gemma Bateman.
• A study undertaken by the Torchlight School of Divination in 339 attempted to create mnemonomancy scripts using animals as subjects. Most of the results produced only garbled images and sounds. The only test subjects whose memories seemed able to preserve the sounds of human speech were dolphins, parrots, and other primates.