Dementia Summoner

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Dementia Summoners or Dementists are a fictional order of specialized mages in the storyline of the popular trading card game, Magic: the Gathering. Dementists often work for the Cabal as elite warriors (in the pits and in combat), to create monsters, or as servants to the patriarch.

Ranks

Almost all Dementists start out as cabalists, the worshippers of Kuberr who formed the Cabal. Once chosen by a Dementia Master, they ascend to the rank of Dementia Apprentice. Once they have mastered the art of summoning, they are ready for the Pit fights, and become Dementia Casters, or Summoners, the most common rank that most Dementists stop at. Finally, if they are truly worthy, they become Masters, serving the Cabal by creating its most fearsome beasts. An unofficial Dementia rank is Attendant to the First. These are failed students whose minds have been broken. They attend the first by touching physical objects for him (he will destroy anything he touches).

Art

Dementists are trained to bring their memories and thoughts to life. A typical Dementia caster has a Dementia Space, a metaphysical realm where everything he or she has ever fought or imagined ends up. As soon as a physical object (unprotected by the caster) enters the Dementia Space, it is converted into a Nightmare and must remain there until summoned. Dementists use many techniques to enter their Dementia Spaces, including meditation, hypnosis or a strong incense known as Dragon's Blood (not really blood from a dragon but named so because it has a crimson hue and a terrible odor). Once within their Dementia Spaces, casters can summon any of the menagerie of Nightmare creatures within to battle for them. Nightmares appear in the form that the caster remembers or imagined them as and evaporate back into the Dementia Space when killed or unattended.

Appearance in cards

While there is no card specifically named 'Dementia Caster,' they do appear indirectly in the cards. Dementists often feature several devices, intended to aid them in controlling the creatures they summon. One such device is a pair of iron goggles with several slits in them, to make the caster unrecognizable to the creatures he or she summons. Another common trait is plumes of smoke around the caster, indicating Dragon's Blood. Almost all cards featuring Dementists have the character surrounded by plumes of smoke. Finally, Dementia casters often where gothic-style clothing and carry incense canisters attached to chains as weapons. Looking for these visual cues will almost always help players recognize Dementia Casters.