Grulmar was sitting in a chair down in Subterrarium, listening to the sound of hissing Dwemer pipes were making around him as they were doing their...whatever. He understood only half of the things Arniel Gane said to him about it, but his understanding was that the pipes were warming up and creating enough water in the air for the greenhouses on the surface, as well as creating the right conditions for the Subterrarium with all its exotic ingredients.
He was waiting for Drevis Neloren and as always, the Dunmer was late. More than late. Luckily, I took a book down here with me. Otherwise I would chew my leg off with boredom waitin' for Vanish. He looked at the title and sighed. Journal of Bravam Lythandas. Broody said it has some information on Illusion. So let's see.
12th First Seed
The experiments continue to progress. I have imposed several persistent illusions on the subject's mind, though he must still wear the amulet. It was simple to convince him that his own soul was tied to it and that its removal would mean immediate death.
Simple to convince him, huh?
I do not have complete control of the illusions yet; when I tried to convince him the shed was made of stone instead of wood, he saw it as made of sweetmeats and I had to prevent him from attempting to eat it. The individual's own predispositions still have some undesired influence.
Well, this sounds funny. I guess it had to be quite a surprise tryin' to eat that.
17th Second Seed
Finally! I solved two problems that have been stalling my work with one elegant solution. With the exact combination of domination spells I have created, I now have total control over the hallucinations (along with persistence) without the need for costly enchantments.
This is a timely find, as the subject recently indicated that removal of the amulet might be preferable to the current stages of the experiment. I can now begin looking for additional subjects.
5th Mid Year
The three that inhabit my basement are convinced that they live in a palace. They have begun to take on the aspect of nobles, which is their own conceit—I have not attempted to alter their perceptions of themselves. This shared illusion has held for two weeks and shows no sign of breaking down under prolonged scrutiny, as the others had.
I remain hesitant to subject myself to these illusions yet, though I am fairly confident I'd be able to extract myself. Testing has not revealed any of the distortions I'd hoped to observe in the nature of local reality. Perhaps more subjects are needed.
Wait. What in Hircine's furry arse he was tryin' to accomplish? Warp the reality through permanent illusion? Illusion becomes reality...wouldn't it be more simple to use Alteration for that? Hmm, maybe not. Reality is always pushin' back, and it would definitely be more Magicka dependent. What does this tell me then? That Illusion is purely a magic of the mind?
Lythandas was trying to warp reality by exposing his subjects to prolonged exposure of collective illusion. So if enough people believe it is reality, can it become reality? Is that the trick of the School of Illusion?
10th Sun's Height
Another interesting development occurred today. I introduced the notion that a werewolf would rampage through the palace to just one of the subjects, out of range of the others. When I returned him and he awoke, it was not he who first spotted the werewolf at all, but another subject!
Each seemed to perceive the beast. I shall have to test this further—is the illusion becoming its own reality, or have I accidentally connected them in some way? Could the false world bleed through? How exciting!
Indeed!
23rd Sun's Height
I am losing control. It is almost as if some outside force is interfering; I can feel a strange undercurrent in the spells I have woven, resistance in the minds of the subjects. They are becoming unintelligible and difficult to work with.
One sits in the corner, rocking back and forth and muttering prayers to Dibella, of all things. Another has injured herself horribly and will need to be removed. Thus far, I had not been concerned for the soundness of their minds. What could be causing this?
2nd Last Seed
To my great surprise, everything in the basement was gone this morning—the simple furnishings, supplies, and, most upsettingly, the subjects. The basement walls, ceiling, and floor are now completely covered with a mural depicting the grand chamber of a palace.
The subjects are nowhere to be seen, and strangest of all are the set of paints and single brush found lying in the corner. Some trickery and tampering has clearly taken place. I shall have to investigate further.
Grulmar was staring at the page, where last sentence ended, completely absorbed by the text he just read. So he managed it? Illusion turned into reality? The paintin'...Reality inside reality? The implications...If I make someone believe in somethin' really bad, can it turn into reality then? If I go out and convince whole city of Winterhold they are Horkers, will they really become Horkers?
It all comes down to how authentic this journal is, right? I find it hard to believe that good ol’ Dibella slut would come down from Aetherius to save a few poor tuskers. But who knows?
He then heard footsteps and turned his head, looking into the hall, where he saw Drevis coming towards him. Grulmar got up from his chair and bared his broken tusks at the Dunmer.
“‘Bout time ya showed up. I need to know, I need answers otherwise I’ll go nuts. Is Illusion magic of the mind or light and shadow?”
Drevis’s eyes went wide when Grulmar spoke in his direction. “Wait. You...you can see me?”
Grulmar blinked several times and then sighed. “Of course I can bloody see you.”
“Confound it all!” the Dunmer cursed. “I was quite sure I was invisible, or at least transparent.”
Grulmar bared his tusks and growled in frustration: “Vanish!”
“I wish,” Drevis sighed, deep in thought.
“What?”
“What what?” Drevis looked at him, confused by the exchange and to be honest, Grulmar wasn’t confused any less. He was starting to regret he signed up for lessons with that neurotic Dunmer. How can he teach someone at all?
“We were supposed to meet here for lessons,” Grulmar explained. “Hours ago.”
“Really? Lessons? And who is going to teach us?”
“Ya!” Grulmar shouted in frustration. “Lessons in Illusion for Vivec’s bipolar cock!”
“Hey!” Drevis snapped at him. “Don’t take Vivec’s bipolar cock into your mouth in my presence.”
Grulmar just opened his mouth to reply, but he found he couldn’t. “I...don’t know what to say to that, Vanish.” This is just whole new level of crazy. And I want to learn from this guy...Too many mushrooms and self cast Illusions. Clearly. Grulmar just waved his hand and turned to walk away. This ain't worth it.
“Anyway,” Drevis murmured and Grulmar looked back, expecting more bullshit from that crazy Dunmer. “I was supposed to hold a lesson here. Don't you happen to know where's the student?”
The Orc hit his forehead with his palm and sighed. Ya surely goin' to regret it very soon, Grulmar. “Yep. The student's me.”
“Splendid,” Drevis clapped. “Shall we begin then?” He then headed down the hall, and Grulmar followed him, clenching his jaw.
“So is Illusion magic of the mind or manipulation of light and such?” he tried to finally get an answer.
The Dunmer shrugged. “Both. Neither. The goal is to fool perception. How do you achieve that doesn't matter. You can dampen sound in certain area, you can create noise, you can bend light to create optic illusion. Or you can go right to the source and made people believe what they see is real, while it really isn't there.”
Grulmar frowned and took a heavy breath. Right. That did explain it a little bit. Or none at all. “Fooling perception. Whose?”
“People's. Reality's,” the Dunmer replied and stopped before a cage with skeevers roaming in the dark.
“How do ya fool reality?” the Orc scratched his neck, but then his eyes went open. Reality and Other Falsehoods. Alteration is about subtly convincing higher forces it would be easier to change reality than leave it alone. Illusion is then about fooling higher forces' perception of reality? “Alright, don't answer that. Just tell me how.”
“What is easier? Fool people or reality?” Drevis asked and pointed at the skeevers. “The skeevers are afraid of eagles, so would it be easier to bend the light and shadows into the form of an eagle, or make them believe they hear, smell and see the eagle?” Red light appeared in his hand, then it flew through between the bars and spread across the room as a cloud, hitting the skeevers. They all began squeaking and scattered into deepest shadows of the room.
“I don't see anythin',” Grulmar murmured.
“Because I made them believe there is an eagle in the room,” the Dunmer explained. “I haven't created an eagle made of light or something of course. You have any idea how difficult is to create that kind of illusion? Manipulation of light has to be precise.”
“Alright, alright,” Grulmar frowned. “Whatever. Just tell me how it works, Vanish. How did ya do that?”
“And don't even get me started on the invisibility spell. Making yourself completely invisible is nearly impossible, and I mean real invisible. There are chameleon spells, that make you transparent and that is as close as you can get to real invisibility, but it is much easier to convince someone you are not there, than to pretend you are not there-”
“Vanish!” Grulmar growled. “How do I do that? How do I reach into someone’s mind?”
“Oh,” Drevis pursed his lips and then scratched his nose. “Well, it doesn't exactly work that way. You can't start digging in someone's head, you know? The spells of Illusion focus on emotions. Calm, fear, frenzy, courage and such. Though I heard about mages who managed to achieve complete domination over creatures' minds. There are also Charm spells, that make people like you more. It is a simple charm, not the sort of spell that could turn a raging daedroth into a love-struck puppy. If you do or say anything that would normally anger or offend your target, the power will weaken. It will temporarily alter his perception of you, as spells of the school of illusion do, but his feelings of respect and admiration for you must be supported by means of a charm of a less magickal nature.”
And I'm such a charming Orc...“Just tell me, damn it!” Grulmar snapped at him, losing his patience. He was tired, hungry and he had to wait in a damn basement for hours for this clown to show up. He didn't feel like messing around. I swear that I'm goin' to strangle the little Dunmer.
“Oh, well. If you insist,” Drevis smiled, completely oblivious to Grulmar's angry tone. “You have to imagine the emotion you want to instill in others. You have to grasp the emotion and turn it into magicka, casting it at your target. Once the spell connects, you will...see images, emotions of your victim. Things that scare them, that make them angry. You can use those images to create an illusion in their mind, or you can create your own. But it has to be believable one. Being chased by pair of knickers isn't exactly believable.”
Grulmar felt his mouth go wide open in surprise. Ridiculous surprise. “Pair of knickers?” he asked and then shook his head. “Nevermind. Don't want to know. Alright, so the spells I'm usin' to get into their heads basically serve as...searchin' spells? So can I use an universal spell to get inside?”
“Yes, but you will have to sift through every emotion and image to find the right one. But it's possible if you want to improvise.”
“So how do I do that?”
“Just as you reach out with your mind to Magicka, reach out to their minds, to their Magicka.”
Grulmar closed his eyes and extended his arm. He felt the magicka surging through his body, pumping through his veins, flowing through his soul. And he felt the magicka outside, in everything around, and he felt the magicka in skeevers too, though very weak. He reached out, towards them and he felt an energy surging through his hand, out of his body, towards one of the skeevers.
His mind was suddenly flooded with images, primal instincts. He saw the eagle, he felt the fear of the skeever and he would swear even he was terrified by the eagle there. He clenched his jaws and pushed the images away, halting the stream for a second and tilted his head to the side. “Alright. The stinker is scared to death. What I do now?”
“Calm him. Find something that would calm him. But first make that eagle disappear,” he heard Neloren's voice. It was strange, it was almost like if the voice was coming from far away, almost like an echo in a cave or something.
“Huh. So I can fight illusion with another illusion,” Grulmar murmured and focused on the eagle. Specifically on the image of the eagle, because the eagle wasn't really there. It was the most prominent image in the skeever's mind and Grulmar used his will to push the image away, making the eagle disappear in puff of smoke. Then he imagined himself being calm, docile, like when he was reading, grasping the emotion and using it to find images of what makes the skeever calm. He saw a big pile of rubble and garbage and snorted. People's trash. That's yer thin', ya overgrown rat? Alright. “I have the image. What now?”
“Make it more prominent. Repeat it over and over in the skeever's mind. Bring out the details. Try to imagine the smell. The sounds.”
And Grulmar did that, his nose twitching when he smelled that stench of sewers again, the sound of water drops falling on the floor. He was projecting the image into the skeever's mind, pushing against some sort of wall blocking him, his imaginable hands clenched in fists hitting it over and over again and then it began to crack. And suddenly the skeever calmed down.
Grulmar opened his eyes and saw the skeever slowly walking towards the middle of the room and then it began moving its paws in the air, almost like digging through the rubble. There was nothing there, Grulmar's eyes weren't able to see that, but his mind...he saw the skeever going through the trash, not even noticing it wasn't really there.
He looked at Drevis and grinned. “Not bad, huh?” It was strange, to feel a mind of another creature, but...the tingling of magicka all over his body, the control he was able to achieve over his own mind...and over something’s mind. It was almost like drinking whole bottle of Sujamma, that point where he was drunk as shit, feeling good, with no side effects yet. “I felt some kind of wall while I was projecting the image.”
“That was the skeever resisting your spell. Not intentionally, because it doesn't have enough intelligence for that. But even animals have certain sense for reality, their instincts are better than ours. You have to fool an animal's instincts. With people...you have to fool their instincts and intelligence.”
“So people resist more,” Grulmar murmured.
“Yes. Illusions in people's minds have to be more detailed, more real, because sentient races have the ability to deny. Deny reality, it is in our nature. So the illusion has to be believable.”
“No knickers,” the Orc chuckled.
“No knickers,” Drevis nodded and then frowned. “Why are we talking about knickers? Well, nevermind. Before you start influencing people's minds, you'll have to learn something first. People can see your magic, your spell tapping into their minds. So first you have to learn how to make them forget it, or mask it as something else in their minds.”
Grulmar nodded. Yeah, that makes sense. Seeing a spell with no effect, and then suddenly seeing all kinds of crazy shit would make me doubt too. And when it comes to illusion, there can be no doubt for it to work properly. He looked at Drevis and frowned. “Show me.”
Sources used in this Lesson: Journal of Bravam Lythandas
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