Resisting the Magic

NOTE: As of the Reboot, this article is strictly non-cannon in terms of the extradimensional shenanigans. Technically, though, I suppose the same rules would apply.

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I have always said that the moment something appears which starts allowing men to resist the power of Sex Magic is the moment the setting stops being the Sex Mage World for me. But that mainly refers to an easy, wide-spread shift in the power that effects the whole world at once. There is something to be said for exploring creative, even powerful, yet limited and potentially dangerous, means of resistance, to drive up the drama. Sex Magic’s only real advantage on Earth is that it is specifically designed to circumvent mundane means of stopping it, and as this Earth has no other supernatural powers to counter balance it, the Magic seems unbeatable.

In actually, the Magic has numerous weaknesses that could be taken advantage of by other magical, super powered, and weird science means. In fact, all things considered, Sex Magic is distinctly weak against most other forms of supernatural powers that aren’t specifically keyed to the aspects they influence. Following the Cult Wars, the barriers between Earth and other worlds have weakened, just enough that other strange phenomenon are now starting to bleed into the world. It’s only a little bit here and there, but gradually, means of overthrowing the Magic are appearing. Only the Queendom’s isolationist policies are preventing news of these breaches from spreading, but there are some resources and information that have made their way across the world regardless of attempts to shut them down.

Sex Magic Shielding

Mentioned more for completion’s sake, Sex Mages are able to create mystical shields around men they are particularly attuned to, which can protect them from the spells of other Sex Mages. These can last for several days to several months, depending on the strength of the woman who casts them, how attuned she is to the man and vice versa, and how much other women try to break through it. By and large, the Shield should be re-applied at least once a week to keep it in top shape.

Temaelean Magic

For a time, it seemed that members of the various Cults had begun to access strange powers of their own. While rare, certain reports told of the bizarre effects of blood rituals, necromancy, bestial transformations, spirit summoning, and psychic powers which were at first assumed to derive from a myriad of sources. The Paranormal Investigations Bureau, before it was compromised by Cult involvement, managed to gather data that was later examined and cross referenced by researchers in the Special Task Force. The conclusion was that these seemingly separate magical abilities were all enabled by the power of Temael.

It was not until the Cult Wars that Temael’s true nature was uncovered, for many of the Cults professed to worship and follow the word of different gods. In actuality, all were doing Temael’s work, as revealed by his acolyte, the Archangel Zane, who almost tore open a gateway to Temael’s Realm at the height of the Cult Wars.

The STF and some Queens are aware of Temael’s nature, though it is poorly understood. The being is a living dimension or possibly a god of that dimension that collects planets. However, it cannot access the Material Realm on its own, and must send forth servants to gather its desired targets. This servant will empower natives to a world with some of their master’s own mystical essence.

Temaelean Magic currently bathes the former area of North Korea, now known as the Terror Zone, infusing the local flora and fauna with monstrous powers, and limiting the effectiveness of Sex Magic within the region. Although the Terror Zone cannot seem to spread any further than its current borders, its presence seems to allow at least some small degree of Temaelean magic to be used elsewhere in the world.

Runic Tattoos – Etching one of several emblems of “The Eye of Temael”, used by various Cults, and saying the proper incantations, will create a shield on the user. This shield will block all Sex Magic effects, be they active commands or set conditions. These tattoos will eventually fade over time, making it necessary to replenish them. However, it is worth noting that no amount of magic use will cause any “wear and tear” on the tattoo. Note as well that the Tattoo will not protect from indirect magical effects; the bearer can still be injured by a punch from a super strong woman or struck with electricity from an energy-casting Archmage. Runic Tattoos were used by several Cults, making them considerably tougher to defeat during the Wars than others. Knowledge of the tattoos is extremely rare, but once in a while, someone, somewhere figures out how to use one, leading the STF to believe that no matter how thoroughly they have searched, scattered agents of the Cults still dwell among the populace, spreading their influence bit by bit.

Monster Morph – The chosen few have been granted the power to transform into monstrous bodies, shape-shifting at will. This not only imbues their body with raw Temaelean power that shields against general magic, but also alters the genetic code of the chosen, enough to make them incompatible with other humans. This, naturally, renders them immune to the magic. Only three Cults were known to employ Monster Morph soldiers, and all known at the time were eradicated. Yet, occasionally, another reveals themselves. How this power is spread is unknown, but is likely far more complicated than other methods, as the number of Monster Morphs still around could be counted on one hand, and all were original members of their Cults.

Spirit Fusion – In this instance, the person acts as the physical vessel for a magical entity, granting them both mystical powers, while allowing themselves to be controlled by the spirit, either permanently or under certain conditions. The spirit protects their hosts from Sex Magic, while the host enables the spirit to maintain itself in the physical world. As with Monster Morphs, this gift of power was limited to only a few Cults, and the few practitioners that still exist were among the original number.

Blood Magic – As Sex Magic is ultimately a derivative of Life-aligned magic, so it is in opposition to Death-aligned magic. Blood Magic uses the sacrifice of living energy and matter to perform feats of nercomany, such as the ability to raise the dead as zombies and ghosts, unleash horrific plagues and pain, and twist existing life forms into hideous, insane mutations. Cults with access to the power of Blood Magic have proven to be the most dangerous and destructive of Temael’s forces. Worse, the magic is usable by anyone in the world willing to study and use the runes, circle arrays, incantations, and proper bloodletting rituals. Queendoms and the Special Task Force have worked to eradicate all known users of this power, but in some remote Queendoms, the art is still taught in hidden locations.

Dr. Genesis’ Anti-Magic “GeneTech” Jewelry

The supervillain Doctor Genesis, “Queen” of Hawaii, has used his weird science technology to easily detect, manipulate, and block Sex Magic. He has mass produced a whole series of simple blocking devices, most of which take the form of jewelry such as rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and piercings. Referred to as “GeneTech,” any man who wears one of these devices is rendered immune to Sex Magic, and any woman who wears them as her powers shut off. Only the Megami, or a joint effort of several Archmages, have proven capable of overpowering these devices with a concerted effort, but by and large, anyone wearing one of these devices no longer need fear the Magic.

The process of creating these devices is unique to the mad Doctor’s super science disciplines, meaning no one else in the world is capable of replicating them. However, “somehow”, these devices have been discovered in black markets in over a hundred Queendoms. Most are unaware of their true nature or origin, with sellers always being vague on the details. While it is possible that opportunistic spies and underlings are sneaking them out of Hawaii without the mad Doctor knowing, those that know the true origins of GeneTech suspect that Dr. Genesis is deliberately allowing it to happen, in a long-game to undermine the power of Sex Magic for an eventual attempt at global conquest.

The irony is, had he been present in the early years of Sex Magic, he could have made a mint selling these devices to stem the tide of its spread and prevented much of the devastation that followed, which would have made him a hero to the world. Instead, the longer Sex Magic exists, and the more people get used to the Queendoms, the harder it will be for his methods to be accepted by anyone other than the desperate.

Zero Metal

Zero Metal is a power-neutralizing element that eliminates all forms of supernatural energy upon direct contact. Chi, psychic, magic, elemental, mad science, even lesser forms of cosmic power, are rendered inert upon contact with the metal. The origins of this element are unclear, but are known to have arrived on various worlds in the form of meteors. Zero Metal has been found in both the Centurions Universe and on the planet Civero, and exists in several other worlds in the greater multiverse.

Touching Zero Metal will result in a Sex Mage not only being unable to use her magic, but it will also wipe out all of her lust energy reserves and natural power. A woman who has been exposed to the Metal must re-empower herself before she can get her abilities back, although they will be none the worse for wear from their absence. Likewise, if she attempts to cast any spells on someone behind a Zero Metal barrier, or even just wearing a piece of Zero Metal accessory, that person will be unaffected.

On its own, Zero Metal is slightly less strong than titanium, but it can be melted down and mixed with other metals to form crude alloys. The best metal for this is iron, resulting in a mixture that’s weaker than steel, but has an even greater benefit: by running an electrical current through the iron-zm material, the magnetic field that forms will carry some of the Zero Metal’s power-neutralizing properties. While it won’t get rid of the supernatural power in range, it will drastically interfere with it. In the case of Sex Mages, their powers will not work at all until they leave the field, with only Megami being able to use their powers, at a greatly reduced capacity.

Currently, a single chunk of Zero Metal weighing about 5 lbs. (2.27 kilos) exists on Sex Mage Earth, and is held by the Special Task Force. The chuck was discovered in the possession of one of the Cults, but how and from where they acquired it isn’t known. With such a small sample, only a tiny collection of prototype Zero Metal weapons have been formed, but they rarely see field use due to their extreme rarity.

Fae Magic

The Fae are a plague of mischief on the world of Civero, and there are some hints that they may have had some activity on Earth in the very distant past. Some suspect their existence even in the modern day, and there are scant superstitious theories that the likes of fairies, djinn, youkai, and other such supernatural creates have been responsible for strange disappearances throughout history. They’re not entirely wrong, but Earth has seen virtually no contact from the Fae in so long, they may as well just be myth.

That is until Sex Magic spread across an entire planet, and its constant use sent ripples across the formless dimension of the Fae Ream. The Fae have become quite aware of Earth, but the powerful dimensional barriers have prevented them from reaching through the veil. After the Cult Wars and the failed first attempt to summon Temael, however, the barrier has weakened, and Fae have been to slip through. They cannot last for long in Earth’s environment, and they are often dismissed as Sex Magic spawned illusions, but they are showing up.

As beings of living magical power, the Fae are naturally adapt at manipulating supernatural forces, and can casually affect Sex Magic, including blocking it. Those who appeal to a Fae to be protected from the Magic should be very careful, however. The Fae take the form of creatures of myth, many of whom are not to be fully trusted. Making a deal with a Fae is very much a double-edged sword. Sure, you may be able to protect yourself from Sex Magic, but the cost could be your life, your sanity, or your form, or you may just end up getting stolen away to a Fae Lord Realm, never to return.

Civeron Magic

The various powers of Civeron mages have all found ways to block one another with the proper training. These shielding techniques, such as psychomancer shields, shadowmancer cloaks, biomancer blocks, and geomancer fields, can easily deflect Sex Magic if given the chance to adapt to it.

Civero does not have Sex Magic on its world, but the Fae Lord Dellissa has created a Realm with a similar set-up. Civero mages trapped there have been able to block the Sex Magic, and presumably, could do the same for the Sex Magic found on Earth.

Genetic Engineering Treatment

Truly altering someone’s genetic code is tricky, but through the use of weird science, it can be done, usually through gene-splicing two different creatures. Often this is used to combine humans with animals, creating a physically powerful hybdrid. If the result is genetically divergent enough to no longer be reproductively compatible with other humans, they then become untouchable by Sex Magic. Dr. Genesis has used this treatment on his personal guard, also armed, armored, and further modified with supertech devices, creating a small army of cyborg humanoid animals.

Alien Slime Things

Strange alien creatures that look like near-formless jellyfish underwater, but like goopy slime molds when in air, these creatures will attach to a person’s head and hi-jack their nervous system. It’s not certain how this is done, but the effect is that they are able to override the commands a Sex Mage has over another person’s body. Where these creatures come from is unknown, but they are distinctly non-terrestrial, as genetic testing shows them to be unrelated to any Earthly lifeform. They were discovered in a deep trench in the Sea of Japan by the Lemuria Nomads. Some suspect they are actually lost monsters from the Terror Zone or may be misplaced experiments of Dr. Genesis.

They thankfully seem to have a low reproductive cycle and are easily preyed upon by other aquatic animals; while these creatures do offer protection of a sort from Sex Magic, the cure is worse than the disease, as the creature then takes over the body. The result is usually to reduce the human into a simple forager, using the body to catch food and defend itself from predators. Unfortunately, it does so with no regard to the health of its host, resulting in the human being quickly abused through wear and tear until they die. Getting rid of the slime is as simple as burning them off with salt and cleaning chemicals, but care must be taken to thorough scrub away all traces, lest the slime retain some level of control. Humans under the influence of the slime mold and rescued report being lost in psychedelic, but very pleasant and relaxing dreams, unaware of what the creature has been making them do.