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help > materia
Shaman Prima Materia
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     Shamans are Native masters of things occult.  Long before
the civilized men and women of Tsunami began to philosophize about
the very nature of existence, the natives had already come into
direct contact with this ground of being itself.  Native Shamans
had developed a primitive art of touching the spirit-realm, and
manipulating what philosophers came to call "prima materia", the
first cause or first substance.

     To empower their skills and song rituals, Shamans rely on 
prima materia.  To gather this primal substance of the spiritual
realm, the channel song ritual is employed on fallen foes.  Please
read "help song channel" for information on how the song is used.
Additionally, materia can be acquired through the power leak
ritual, and the destruct skill (see "help song power leak" and
"help skill destruct").

     Prima materia is categorized into twelve natures, each of
which fall into one of five different degrees or frequencies:  
                                                        
    COMMON - pilkitar, sokhun, yolondu
  UNCOMMON - azletu, caldur, roagmo
      RARE - dhucra, langir, vachopo
 VERY RARE - efantig, hargalla
ULTRA RARE - omatim
        
     The rarer a materia nature is, the more powerful it is in
general.  However, this power goes both ways: power to enhance a
ritual and power to dampen it!  Furthermore, just because a given
materia is rarer than another does not mean it will be better when
paired with a given ritual.  Certain rituals work better with 
certain materia.  Period.

     NOTE: Omatim materia can only be acquired through using the
"fuse" option of the channel song (see "help song channel").  Omatim
materia is extremely powerful, but also incredibly chaotic.  Using
omatim is perhaps the biggest gamble a Shaman can take.  Omatim
materia cannot be used during wars.

     Natives seeking to become a Shaman must be cautious before
they choose to set off on this path.  Prima materia is not like the
energies that those who use so-called "magic" manipulate.  Rather,
it is a living force with a will of its own.  Sometimes materia
will modify how it affects a ritual according to its own wishes.
Truly sagacious Shamans will take heed of the fact that materia
takes time to master.  Much experimentation is often required for
the Shaman to gain a sound understanding of which materia is the
most beneficial when coupled with a given ritual.

SEE ALSO:
help skill destruct
help skill talisman
help skill totem pole
help skill trance
help song channel
help song dissipate
help song overwhelm
help song power leak
help song power link
help song rebirth
help song season's fury
help song temporal boon
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