The five initial senses we can take as read, though Jarik has been augmented in each of them. His hearing is sharper (the most noticeable improvement) and his eyesight is vastly improved.

Historically this has been called ESP or even, in some cases, advanced Haragei. In truth it is neither. The sixth universal sense is Telepathy. The Marraq race have mastered this over the years, their brains have developed in such a way as to open themselves to the secret places in the mind that most individuals never use. In Jarik’s case all the doors are now open. He is a telepath (this also applies to Hoqar as well), able to reach out his mind and communicate with any mind on the same plane, as well as place protections against mental attacks (power vs power roll applies) or even use his telepathic strength as a weapon. This will take practise but all the tools are there.

Long ago man lost this ability (though many elves still retain it). It is known as Spirituality or Spirit Lore. The undying part of human or elven achievement is the spirit – the Path that influences others either profoundly or slightly. Its study is one of the nine arts of magic but there are those who are naturally gifted in this area (or in Jarik’s case have had their senses awakened).

In practical terms Jarik (and Hoqar) can get the measure of a being by simply observing him (or just being in their presence). An invisible aura is given off by all creatures (the Path) and Jarik is tuned into this sense, able to discern motive, power and, in some cases, distinct abilities.

As said all creatures have a Path. Sometimes Jarik will have to concentrate; sometimes not…it very much depends on situational factors. For instance the path of a god will be easier to discern than that of a thief.

The final frontier of the senses is that of Magic, and this ability is not always reserved for great sorcerers. Sometimes individuals will grow that will never be able to cast a spell yet have the innate, inbuilt talent to recognise and discern sorcery on many levels. By the same token there are sorcerers who have not developed this sense whatsoever, they tend to rely on the sheer mechanics of casting – cause and effect.

For Jarik this sense works thus: he will be able to sense magic around him, sometimes (roll dependent) he will be able to identify the specific spell, the time or date it was cast, and even the relative power of the caster. The sorcerous footprint is something that affects the universe, a ripple in the layers. Jarik will be able to pick out the minutiae of that ripple with forensic precision.

Most creatures have the basic five senses (unless they are blind, deaf etc). Some even perfect one of the other three – a Marraq, for instance, has a highly developed Telepathy whilst a sorcerer may well have tuned his Magic sense to decent levels. Where Jarik and Hoqar are different is that they have mastered all the senses, the effect of this will give them a complete picture. Each sense augments the other, rather than working independently the master of the Eight will use each and every sense where necessary to build a picture of an individual, event, location etc. Think of it as Haragei on a much grander scale. The idea of Haragei is that the exponent uses all his five senses to come up with a result…Jarik is the same, the only difference is that he has eight senses to go at.

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