DISHONORED occultism and magics of the Void headcanon
The Void – realm of The Outsider, beginning and the end of all things, “cradle songs of comfort and bones gnawed by teeth” – is the source of all eldritch and otherworldly. Abbey of The Everyman teaches that all witchcraft originates from The Outsider, bent on corrupting righteous into heretics, cultists, witches and those who succumb to his allure all bear his damnable, despicable Mark. They are right... in a way. All Marked are, nominally, witches. But not all witches, sorcerers and occultists have a Mark in the first place or are granted lesser powers via so-called “Arcane Bond”. Most survive thanks to the very absence of a Mark.
While such witches cannot instantly flare with otherworldly, reality-bending powers and use them on the fly, witches and sorcerers aren’t completely defenseless: even if their powers are of a slower kind that requires preparations, ingredients and special conditions, nevertheless they can be of use and, most importantly, are subtle. Lacking a proper channel to the Void, which grants access to magical energies, occultists gather bits and pieces of “mana” from themselves and surrounding world. They gather it through drawing mystical mandalas and diagrams and meditating upon their imagery, through entering extensive hypnotic trances and, of course, by gathering unusual or unique substances and ingredients that, supposedly, are touched by the Outsider or have a certain symbolic “weight”. Albino animals and their body parts are often considered mysterious, “Void-touched” on the expanses of Empire of the Isles, as much as those creatures with deformities and strange markings – sometimes occultists needs not the specific parts of it, but a whole living specimen. Those are mere examples of materials such individuals need, but they never stop searching for more. Number of ingredients that can be used more than once is painfully rare: for the most part they become either magically inert, evaporate, shatter, suffer other irreparable damage or even outright turn to ashes when magical energies confined within material shells are drawn outwards. Parts of leviathans, particularly their bones, are prized by practitioners of occult – the latter become perfect conduits for powers and in preparations of (in)famous bonecharms. Some practitioners (and, sadly, cultists, akin to Eyeless), obsessed by the Void and the Outsider, maniacally collect people who were touched by such – either living, or their remains. Some forcefully recruit such individuals, while other cold-heartedly sacrifice their lives in exchange for occult insights and power.
Bone carving and creation of bonecharms is a heavily spread practice among such witches and common folk. But both the former and the latter (although experienced with the powers of the Void have higher chances of success) aren’t always able to create proper bonecharms at all, or make an uncorrupted charm. Occasionally the Outsider wanders into dreams of some, granting them inspiration to create either proper charms, or mystical, unique items. What drives him to help – or, more likely, nudge in some direction – is a mystery of its own; it is commonly thought that he does such either for his own amusement or out of inhuman interest. Even that relatively simple (though many crafters will vehemently disagree) practice is a ritual; it requires serious dedication and intent, will and focus during every second of carving. Failing to do so may destroy a charm, render the bone useless or even outright corrupt a charm-to-be. Force of intent is a primary drive behind all magics and rites. Precious few have such willpower and dedication bordering on obsession.
Rites and rituals of such occultists vary wildly and have multiple applications – from dream walking and summoning of unquiet dead and/or spirits from the Void, to creation of effigies that influence the living, storm-brewing, etc. – but are in no way easy. It’s not only the matter of resources and focus, but of the sheer intricacy of most rites. Such may require from a witch to place bone charms and prepared ingredients in specific places and positions; to draw precise symbols and diagrams (maybe with special paints); calculation of time and positions of stars; meditations and chanting, etc. Such complexity sometimes drives witches and occultists – those who can afford such methods – to use "human resources" in order to help setting preparations and calculations. But most often they are used as background participants: their additional willpower and focus can give more power to any ritual and make it more lasting, more potent. For the most complicated rites witches may require dozens of people to help them or even larger numbers.
Of course there are other ways to imbue rites and practices with a greater power, but the most stable and powerful (and all so rare) is a helping hand of the Marked. Their very bodies are filled with the Void energies, constantly channel them through via the Mark – even an inexperienced Marked is more than able to channel Void energies to fuel sorceries and rites, strengthening such practices immensely, even the most complicated ones. And while those bearing Arcane Bonds can provide less power to fuel magics, they too have an easily replenished well of otherworldly powers. While both Marked and Bonded, aspiring to be witches, can “cut corners” – either requiring less time and/or ingredients – thanks to a replenishing well of energy, they aren’t given an instant insight in workings of subtler magical arts and occult rituals. Such matters require extreme dedication, studying metaphysics, practice, but most importantly, they require focus. An experienced witch has such qualities in spades far more often, than your average Marked and Bonded, but exceptions exist.
A Rune too can charge a rite with mana, and quite considerably! Sadly, they are non-renewable and crumble to dust shortly after one powerful rite or several lesser sorceries. Fresh Runes are rare to come by and most were carved by the people of previous eras. Rare is a witch that can carve such a reliable repository of Void power. Even while predisposed to it, rare are the Marked capable of carving a Rune successfully. Runes are very prized possessions and Marked, Bonded and witches of all kinds hunt those priceless objects down. Equally, if not more desirable, are unique items often left from long gone times – things like mummified hand of the Marked might have less energies in them, but such items persist. Most often than not relics have far more uses and hidden, unique powers of their own.
But the most common way (usually co-used with the latter) is using a place that resonates with the Void: those that suffered from incursions of it, anomalies or mysterious events that thinned the Veil between realms. Even finding such a place is no way an easy feat. Still, such “loci” can make sorceries fare more stable and reliable. Worth noting is the fact that even the most ordinary place, even a boring and mundane attic, that’d become a frequently used place for an occultist, will slowly become more “attuned” to the Void on the other side. It is said in hushed and nonbelieving whispers that those locations, which housed a direct physical passage to the Void before – a feat almost mystical, extremely hard even for the Marked occultist to replicate – have an extremely thin Veil, so thin and stretched, that it can be felt by all. Its not-so-distant wind can chill the skin, nostrils can feel the sudden otherworldly smell of salt, iron and moondust, and flickering shadows and hushed hypnotizing hum are a common occurrence in such loci. The Void is so close, that people can disappear entirely, stepping through invisible threshold of time and space by sheer accident.
In the occult underground, among witches and practitioners, rumors of relics and ways to magnify one’s power are common. They say that in Dunwall was a man who had a mysterious knife, who carved a Mark on his own hand and utilized the same relic on his followers, who (briefly and in the name only) took the name of legendary Whalers.
Others believe that grafting a relic – or a physical part from the Void itself! – in their own flesh will grand them an access to eldritch power, even hypothetically.
Some occultists consider the Ancient Music of the Abbey. Yes, their “mathematically pure sequence of notes” is more than able to suppress magics, runes and bonecharms, and brings suffering to the Marked, Bonded and, in some cases, to witches, but... what if there is a sequence of notes that draws the Void closer, they muse, that will fill us with power?
Witches of more practical mindset constantly search other ways: they ingest psychotropic potions to bolster their connection to the Void, tattoo their flesh with mixtures of raw whale oil and kraken ink, modify their flesh with piercings of whalebone or bonecharms. Some of them even work, even if for a short time. Alas, a lot of such methods do not bring any power to wielder and all can bring some harm to mind and/or body. Obsessive drive and frequent contact with hazardous materials not even mentioning the strain that magics inflicts on flesh – raw energies of the Void aren’t kind to minds and/or bodies of the Unmarked – often than not inflicts various kinds of mind distortions and untreatable physical illnesses. A thorny and certainly dangerous path. But such is the way that doesn’t rely on attention of the fickle, distant Outsider.
