Looking Iphi in the eyes for 5 seconds uninterrupted, one could begin to get a correct sense for her general mood (good, bad, neutral), and she for theirs. Over continued or repeated exposure, this connection strengthens, allowing more precise feelings, then thoughts, then precise thoughts, and eventually memories and sensations to be communicated, until she and her partner are entirely in each other’s head.

This can be exercised subtly, as brief exposure can still nudge her and her partner into thinking at common ground, or not subtly at all, as the intimate experience of staring at one another for hours can leave both Iphi and her partner momentarily confused about who they are.

The connection shuts down immediately if eye contact is broken, but its strength decays much more slowly. Resuming contact right away, she and her partner could pick up right where they left off. Days later, they’d have to start from square one.

Iphi can visualize her connections and their strengths, and keep herself aware of what is being shared and what will be shared next. She has always broken off short of memories, and rarely goes beyond surface-level emotions, out of respect for privacy.

Empathic Connection is always-on at some level, but in a way that’s much weaker and much more difficult to recognize as magic as opposed to mundane connection. If either Iphi or her partner cannot see the other’s eyes, as through tinted glass, sunglasses, or a one-way mirror, Empathic Connection is impossible.

Iphi conjures up an exact sensation in her mind, and may then, selectively or not, share it with others who are, on some level, aware of her presence – whether they’ve only heard a sound she made, or can see her outright. Electronic observation does not count.

The “accuracy” of this sensation to what she is trying to create is not perfect – she cannot always micromanage what other people experience, but can always give their subjectivity a push in a given direction. A completely inaccurate attempt to create music, for instance, could cause someone to hear whatever song is in their head at the moment coming from somewhere far away, while an accurate attempt would allow Iphi to orchestrate a precise melody at a particular volume from a pinpointed apparent source. Iphi doesn’t know what other people actually experience, only what she means for them to.

The accuracy of the illusion is dependent on these factors, from greatest to least significance:

• Iphi’s mental grasp on the sensation. She can’t reliably make anyone experience something she hasn’t before, and the better she knows it, the more likely it is that someone else will feel it convincingly. She cannot, for instance, simulate childbirth, but can easily make someone feel like they have to sneeze, especially if she’s feeling that at the moment. Distractions, or split attention – as when she tries to sustain multiple illusory sensations – also weaken mental grasp, so that acting with even two different senses at a time is very delicate.
• The expectedness of the sensation. Minds are less likely to cooperate with an attempt to create taste if there’s nothing in their mouth, and if people can’t believe what she wants them to see, they’ll see something that makes more sense instead. There’s a loophole here: Iphi could prime someone to experience anything, just by informing them that illusion magic will be at play.
• The breadth of Iphi’s illusory “broadcast.” The more people are affected by the illusion, the more similar that illusion is to what Iphi intended, and the more likely everyone is to agree that they’re seeing/hearing/feeling/smelling/tasting the same thing. Phantom Sensations are difficult, but not impossible, to precisely direct with single targets. She couldn’t manage it on an off day.