Channel

From LSWiki

help channel [ Command ] channel <level> [pure] [element] [type] [polarity] <season> [into <targets>]

The ability to channel chaos (as well as the other discordian seasons) is by far the most flexible of the powers at your command. It can be used to heal or to harm in a great variety of ways.

The 'level' of the channeling is how much raw energy is involved. 'help channel levels' gives more information on this.

Energy channeled via the divinity of Eris includes a small fraction of the goetic power granted to Her worshippers by default; to exclue this power and channel pure chaotic energies only, add the word 'pure' to the command.

The 'element' of the channeling is the specification for which, if any, of the Discordian Elements the power is aligned with. 'help channel elements' gives more information on this.

The 'type' is the "spin control"; it has an effect on precisely what the energy does to the target. 'help channel types' has more info.

The 'polarity' is either positive or negative; positive chaos helps, negative chaos harms. If no polarity is specified, it defaults to negative.

The 'season' of the channeling is the Discordian Season from which the power is drawn. 'help channel seasons' specifies these seasons.

Polarity, element, purity, and type specifications are optional; level and season are not. Target specification is optional and defaults to your current opponent if in combat.

Channeling behaves differently when one's target is an inanimate object; type 'help channel objects' for details.

You may substitute 'me' or 'myself' as a target designation if you wish to channel energy into yourself.

> help channel levels There are a number of different channeling power levels; type 'channel levels' to list them. You must specify a level from that list any time you are using the channel power. You may type 'channel max' in order to find out what the highest level you can use is, or substitute the word 'max' for the level of the channeling in order to use your maximum potential.

The higher the level, the more spiritually draining the channeling, and the more effective. > help channel elements The different channeling elements are boom, orange, prickle, sweet, and pungent. 'channel elements' will list them for you if you forget. If no element is specified for a channeling, none will be added.

The meanings, such as they are, of each element are as follows:

   [ Boom ]
       The Discordian element of Boom represents the sense of hearing.
       Adding Boom to an offensive channel will infuse the channeled
       energy with the power of thunder.
   [ Orange ]
       The Discordian element of Orange represents the sense of sight.
       Adding Orange to an offensive channel will infuse the channeled
       energy with the power of fire.
   [ Prickle ]
       The Discordian element of Prickle represents the sense of touch.
       Adding Prickle to an offensive channel will infuse the channeled
       energy with the power of explosive disintegration.
   [ Sweet ]
       The Discordian element of Sweet represents the sense of taste.
       Adding Sweet to an offensive channel will infuse the channeled
       energy with a panopoly of delightful flavors.
   [ Pungent ]
       The Discordian element of Pungent represents the sense of smell
       Adding Pungent to an offensive channel will infuse the channeled
       energy with the power of offensive smells.

Including an element in a non-offensive channel may have other effects beyond those listed here. Unless you aren't cool enough, obviously. > help channel types The different channeling types are mental, spiritual, physical, vital, sensory, hematic, and adrenal. 'channel types' will list them for you if you forget. If no type is specified for a channeling, it defaults to a 'general' variety with some effects in all of these areas. If a type is specified, that one area experiences better results at the expense of all the others.

The meanings of the various types are:

   [ Mental ]
       This has to do with the coherence and robustness of one's mental
       processes.  A common manifestation of disrupted mental processes
       is stunning.
   [ Spiritual ]
       This is your personal spiritual energy, the reserves of power
       one uses to perform magick.
   [ Physical ]
       Your physical aspect is the general health and performance level
       of your body; largely how tired you are.  For objects, it is
       their overall structural integrity.
   [ Vital ]
       This is your lifeforce; how much you can take before dying.
       Negative chaos of this aspect withers limbs and drains life;
       positive chaos restores health and fitness.
   [ Sensory ]
       Simply the condition of your sense systems, especially your sense
       of sight.
   [ Hematic ]
       The condition of your blood, whether it contains poisons or not.
   [ Adrenal ]
       The level of adrenalin in your body.  Creatures with very high
       adrenalin levels move very fast, and the corresponding effect for
       low levels.
   [ Humorous ]
       The state of the humors in your body, determining whether or not
       you are diseased.

If the channeling has a positive polarity, it will have positive effects in the various areas; restoring endurance for physical, healing for vital, curing blindness for sensory, and so on. Opposite effects for negative polarity; damaging for vital, poisoning for hematic, stunning for mental, slowing for adrenal, etcetera.

Some known interesting applications of channeling:

Negative mental chaos has been known to cause strange, sometimes crippling mental disorders, and positive chaos likewise can cure them.

Negative humorous chaos can cause a bizarre disease known as grimlyosis.

Large fluxes of positive physical chaos can infuse objects with a chaotic essence, generally improving their strength and making them lighter.

Reports have it that, by channeling sufficiently extreme fluxes of positive physical chaos while holding at least five warpstones, one can sometimes reverse the mutative effects of exposure to teratogenic chaos energy from warpstones. > help channel seasons The primary component of one's ability to channel energy is the aspect, known to some as the 'season', of the energy being channeled. The seasons of the Discordian calendar are Chaos, Discord, Confusion, Bureaucracy, and Aftermath; 'channel seasons' will list them for you if you forget. Unlike most other components of energy channeling, supplying a season is not optional; if you're not sure which one you feel like using, Chaos is the most straightforward.

A brief summary, questionably informative, of each season is as follows:

   [ Chaos ]
       The first season of the Discordian Calendar represents the renewal
       of free-spirited shenaniganization, a time for the forgetting of
       mistakes past and the commencement of mistakes future.  When used
       as part of an offensive channel, inflicts primarily raw chaos damage.
   [ Discord ]
       The second season of the Discordian Calendar represents the
       strengthening of chaotic forces, a period typically characterized by
       delusions of ability and the commencement of creative endeavour
       typically accompanied by the disagreements produced thereby.  When
       used as part of an offensive channel, inflicts primarily disruptive
       air damage.
   [ Confusion ]
       The third season of the Discordian Calendar represents the escalating
       intensity of time's progression, as poor ideas are translated into
       poorer decisions and differences of opinion progress into differences of
       spatial inertia.  When used as part of an offensive channel, inflicts
       fundamental disorganization of both one's mind and one's body.
   [ Bureaucracy ]
       The fourth season of the Discordian Calendar represents the inevitable
       slide into structured stasis as the year grinds onward towards its
       eventual end.  As the frenetic house-party of the previous seasons
       comes to a close, someone must inescapably clean up the shattered
       remnants of lamps and teapots while trying to figure out whose goat
       this is eating the curtains.  When used as part of an offensive
       channel, inflicts extreme boredom.
   [ Aftermath ]
       The fifth and final season of the Discordian Calendar represents the
       eventual decay of all things, including the carefully-constructed
       order of the previous season.  Generally a time for reflection,
       excuses, and strategic withdrawals to climes less densely populated
       with unwelcome repercussions.  When used as part of an offensive
       channel, inflicts primarily physical aging.

Most seasons have similar (if not outright identical) effects when used in a non-offensive manner, but surprises may await those with negative correlations between curiosity and common sense. > help channel objects If one channels any amount of positive chaos into a corpse, the body will be returned to the Primal Chaos from which it came, and Eris will reward you with a small gift of spiritual energy.

Channeling positive chaos into objects seeks to improve their condition and worth; results in this area are inconsistent and usually require large amounts of energy, however. Channeling positive physical chaos explicitly attempts to infuse the object with chaotic energy, which may have unpredictable results. Channeling negative chaos into them attempts to break down and destroy them. Sturdier objects resist this better, of course.