More world-building time, but I want some opinions. What is Inspiration? What does it DO to a person?
Given M Fnord’s opening, my initial thoughts are along the lines of a combination of telluric energy awareness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telluric_current]telluric currents being a real thing) and a Spark.
Basically, when Inspiration hits the persons awareness of telluric energies kicks in. This triggers changes in the brain, causing a Spark of Genius focused on a concept/subject. That’s the standard package, so to speak. Those changes are how people can find out if they’re Inspired, taking a 10 min test with a helmet EEG and a telluric energy source. As said in the opener, more than a few people are Inspired. Most of them don’t even know they are Inspired, the effects of their Inspiration being subtle (in difference to someone like Deidre Griest, who’s Inspiration wasn’t at all subtle). An Inspired can push their limits far farther than other people through force of will and focus, much like champion athletes. They’ll pay for it, but during the period of focus they can keep going until they collapse.
It’s the other side effects, what TvTropes calls Required Secondary Powers, where things get interesting. Let’s call them Tricks and Talents. Tricks are the really low-key, sort of useful, abilities. Talents are out and out Powers. These tend to be useful in the context of the Spark’s focus, and can sometimes be learnt if both the Spark’s focus and the existing tricks and talents the Inspired have are in the same ‘cluster’. E.g. the ‘Oracle’ cluster has pre, present, boosted, and post cognitive abilities.
The changes to the brain during the First Flash of Inspiration give the person something of an inbuilt understanding of their subject. It’s not like other people can’t understand the Inspired’s subject as well as them, but the Inspired have a leg up. This DOES also mean that the Inspired’s thought processes are not quite human-normal anymore, but they can fake it fairly successfully. This tends to lead to the easiest Trick for the Inspired to learn, which is boosted cognition. Redistributing the focused intelligence of the Spark into a more general form, the Inspired normally get about ten points on their IQ score.
The main limit is every trick and talent granted by Inspiration is a mental one, and not really an active one either. No super speed or strength, flight, healing, magery, etc… However, if you had the potential for such things you’d be extremely likely to awaken it.
Given M Fnord’s opening, my initial thoughts are along the lines of a combination of telluric energy awareness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telluric_current]telluric currents being a real thing) and a Spark.
Basically, when Inspiration hits the persons awareness of telluric energies kicks in. This triggers changes in the brain, causing a Spark of Genius focused on a concept/subject. That’s the standard package, so to speak. Those changes are how people can find out if they’re Inspired, taking a 10 min test with a helmet EEG and a telluric energy source. As said in the opener, more than a few people are Inspired. Most of them don’t even know they are Inspired, the effects of their Inspiration being subtle (in difference to someone like Deidre Griest, who’s Inspiration wasn’t at all subtle). An Inspired can push their limits far farther than other people through force of will and focus, much like champion athletes. They’ll pay for it, but during the period of focus they can keep going until they collapse.
It’s the other side effects, what TvTropes calls Required Secondary Powers, where things get interesting. Let’s call them Tricks and Talents. Tricks are the really low-key, sort of useful, abilities. Talents are out and out Powers. These tend to be useful in the context of the Spark’s focus, and can sometimes be learnt if both the Spark’s focus and the existing tricks and talents the Inspired have are in the same ‘cluster’. E.g. the ‘Oracle’ cluster has pre, present, boosted, and post cognitive abilities.
The changes to the brain during the First Flash of Inspiration give the person something of an inbuilt understanding of their subject. It’s not like other people can’t understand the Inspired’s subject as well as them, but the Inspired have a leg up. This DOES also mean that the Inspired’s thought processes are not quite human-normal anymore, but they can fake it fairly successfully. This tends to lead to the easiest Trick for the Inspired to learn, which is boosted cognition. Redistributing the focused intelligence of the Spark into a more general form, the Inspired normally get about ten points on their IQ score.
The main limit is every trick and talent granted by Inspiration is a mental one, and not really an active one either. No super speed or strength, flight, healing, magery, etc… However, if you had the potential for such things you’d be extremely likely to awaken it.