| Aliases |
|
| Species | |
| Status |
Deceased
|
| Affiliation | |
| Occupation |
|
| Residence |
Gathering Citadel |
| First Appearance |
The Second Mind, referred to as Contradiction, is one of the leaders of the Selphids, and is geared towards creativity and innovation.
Appearance[edit | edit source]
As a Mind, it looks like a vaguely rotund mass of bodyless Selphids.
Personality[edit | edit source]
The Second Mind is much more genial than its peers. It is more animated and speaks more like an individual than a collective, and does so purposefully. It tries to be polite when conversing with another.
It does not approve of the Third Mind's actions of abducting Geneva and manipulating her thoughts as it sees fit. It thinks this is a poor way to make allies of another world, and that they should've supported Geneva until she came to them willingly. It thinks that these are the same mistakes that led to the infamous Selphid Empire. It is displeased that the Third Mind thinks itself a leader of the Selphid people.
It is frustrated that the other Minds do not think the individual can surpass the collective. It sees this line of thinking as flawed, and understands that the majority is not always correct.[1]
Background[edit | edit source]
The Second Mind's main focus is on arts and innovation. Two-thirds of the Selphids it accepts into itself are those that had left Baleros. It does this in order to gain an outside perspective as to how other races see Selphids.[1]
It reached the rank of Second Mind by proving its wisdom. It supported Niers and trusted Velan, but also foresaw the Goblin King's madness and saved countless Selphid lives. It hired [Bards] such as Barelle the Bard to influence people's opinion of Selphids, and its decisions are the reason Selphid adventurers can travel to other continents without being hunted on sight.[2]
Chronology[edit | edit source]
The Second Mind met met with Geneva while she was in captivity at the Gathering Citadel, after a recent failure with the Third Mind swayed a majority of Minds to let them meet. It taught her how to resist the intrusions of the Third Mind, so she could negotiate her cooperation with them instead of being exploited.[1]
It continued to train Geneva in telepathy, and worked to have her released. It voted to have her released to Niers, but was outvoted in favour of stalling, which made it suspicious as to what Dictum planned. It's suspicions were confirmed when it discovered that Geneva's memories had been tempered with. It tried to rally the other Minds at the Citadel, but they already sided with Dictum. After 9 hours of fighting, Contradiction was forced into compliance.
Even in its weakened state, it tried to aid Geneva. It allowed her to see Okasha again, having punished her for her transgressions. It stopped Geneva from eating meat from A'ctelios Salash during a break-out attempt by the [Psychic Guardians], and took the meat away.
When Niers arrived to free Geneva, it asked Idis to help her escape, killed her when she tried to alert the other Minds, and freed Okasha. Then it confronted the other Minds, urging them one last time to turn away from their current course. They refused and forced a merge, which is when Contradiction revealed its plan. It had eaten the meat of A'ctelios Salash, just enough to turn all of its constituent Selphids but not enough to satiate, and destroyed the rest before fasting. The hunger spread to the other Minds, rendering them insane. What remained of Contradiction used its telekinesis to unearth the Gathering Citadel, and called on the world powers to destroy it. It perished when the nations struck.[3]
Powers and Abilities[edit | edit source]
As a Mind, it can use telepathy and telekinesis. It can create a mindscape to visualise information, and call upon the experiences and memories of its component individuals. It can presumably manipulate the thoughts of those it connects with like the Third Mind, but chooses not to.