What
would you do if you could Deceive
other people that you were someone else?
Deception is one of the
universal Atlan powers in my world, meaning that all Atlans can do it to some
degree. Some Atlans can walk into a
large city fully armed - two swords, bow & arrow, several knives - and
everyone in that city will see her as a half-grown boy, or a one-legged beggar,
whatever she wants them to see. This is
a useful skill to have, for an Atlan scout can mingle with other groups and
learn what’s going on.
The
one thing about this power that the Atlans don’t want to admit is that it’s not
perfect. In a group of 100 people, one
of them might not be fully convinced by what they see. Ever had the feeling that someone you just
met or who you saw across the street was ... off? That’s what this person would feel.
Whether that person would say anything to
anybody or would simply turn back to what they were doing ... that’s another
thing entirely.
Other
Atlans don’t have this power so strongly.
They can change their appearance, so long as they remain female. Or perhaps they can only change their hair
color, not their entire appearance.
Korla
has scars on one side of her face from a childhood accident. She isn’t sure she can erase those scars, even
using Deception. But then, she’s never tried. Atlans use whatever they can to appear fierce
to their enemies, and until a particular person proves they are not an enemy,
Atlans assume they are.
A
soldier might not think an army of women would be anything to worry about. But if he is facing a well-armed woman
who has been disfigured, whose mouth is pulled upward on one side into a
blood-lust grin, he just might have second thoughts. Some of Korla’s sisters use Deception to disfigure their face, too,
when facing a potential threat.
Just
one of the ways Atlans can be tricky.
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