Conduit Severance

Effect

Touch a Psionic target (melee attack roll if unwilling). You temporarily destroy their connection to the Current. For 24 hours:

• The target cannot Channel any Talents (of any Rank)
• The target cannot sense the Current in any way
• The target’s ECHO is effectively 0 for all purposes (Erosion Cap drops to 5, mental defense bonuses are lost)
• Any bonded Focus items lose their bond (must be re-bonded after the effect ends)

Resist

ECHO + Focus vs. your Channeling Sum negates the effect. A Psionic who has been severed before gains +2 to resist (they know what it feels like and fight harder).

Steps

+24 hours duration per Step.

Special

This is the Bastion Soul as Inquisitor. The Redeemers dream of this Talent — a way to strip Psionics of their power without killing them. The experience of severance is described as deafening silence, cosmic loneliness, and the sudden awareness of how cold the world is without the Current’s warmth.