What I have identified from this class of mind control spells is that they all eponymously target the victim’s mental processing. Pusuadere affects judgment, Cogeria affects self-reflection, and Fiducia Compelus affects subconscious thought. While this naive approach to mind control is somewhat effective, I do not believe they are the direction in which I would like to further explore. To run an effective state that will be waging war against armies that will doubtless be larger than my own, I will require useful slaves. I have used this term prior, but a proper clarification is long overdue.

For a slave to be useful, it must be able to act independently. I cannot manage a battlefield with a front line a thousand miles long if I have to control each soldier directly. I can also only be in so many places at once and process so much sensory information at once. While a healthy system of scrying pools could be useful in gaining the relevant contextual data, I cannot run the entirety of the army, industry, research, and civil service at once.

Another important factor is magical upkeep. While I have the power of the Machine and the reactor now, neither source is infinite. More annoyingly, the limiting factor may not be the amount of power I can draw on, but the amount of power my very mortal body can handle. I have used more magic in these last few days than in the last year of my life, and while I am adapting, I can foresee that there are limits to deer biology. My slaves must require only a one-time investment of magical energy or have an upkeep maintainable by industry. Barrad does fortuitously have a healthy supply of crystals.

Creativity and adaptability are crucial. War is an ever-changing landscape, and recent innovations have already drastically changed how it is fought. The Storm King’s airships were defeated by Hippogriffian airplanes and the Changeling Lands are using their tanks to conduct their so-called lightning war across Equestria at this very moment. Research and development of new ideas will be paramount, and I cannot have a population of drones who can’t even multiply 2-digit numbers. Viirad requires scientists and engineers capable of fighting the next war. Unfortunately, the science base of Viirad currently half consists of members of the Pentarchy, and I am aware of how each of our egos and idiosyncrasies make us incapable of functioning as a proper research team. I will have to create an education system and pluck out the best. Kasa and Austurland will also likely have a better educated populace than these Wittenlandian farmers. In any case, this is all useless unless I can control them.

I have pondered some other aspects that I have not yet decided as to whether they are good or bad. For personality, it matters little if it is lost, but there are some implications for intelligence gathering and social adjustment with the uncontrolled. Another hypothetical question remains that I have yet been unable to form a full opinion on. If I ask a slave to commit suicide, is the desired outcome that they do so without hesitation, or that they refuse as to serve me better? In a similar vein, if I am wrong about a subject in which the slave is an expert, should they contradict or refuse me? On the one hoof, allowing for dissent may allow for better ideas to be used, but on the other hoof, there is no guarantee they are better. Ideology runs rampant these days and most believe out of loyalty than any objective measure. Furthermore, I do not wish to have to handle dissenting factions within my perfect order. Time will reveal the answer.

With this in mind, I have looked over my history texts for potential examples of how mind-controlled states have worked in the past. One ancient example I have found is Sirenalia. 3 sirens using the power of an enchanted song to sow discord successfully ruled a nation by focusing discontent amongst the populace towards each other such that they barely minded the nation being run by these strange beasts. I found clashing accounts of whether they were defeated by Grogar’s ancient empire of Tambelon or none other than Star Swirl the Bearded. Honestly, I cannot ascertain the veracity of either of these accounts. I have found no evidence for the existence of Tambelon and this account of Star Swirl seems heavily literary rather than historiographical. It involves strange genres of music and a mirror to another world, which I would posit are dreams of an author’s overactive imagination. Perhaps Sirenalia is an allegory for the dangers of disharmony and this whole thing is bunk. The idea of the low-level mind control they used is interesting, but I’d rather explore more confirmed ideas first.

The more real example I found I would have dismissed as a young and studied Olenian deer a mere 10 years prior - and for good reason. The Crystal Empire’s return is perhaps the strangest event to occur in the last 100 years. A crystalline city lost for a thousand years suddenly returning without warning is the stuff of fairy tales and yet it happened before our very eyes. What is more interesting though is Sombra. I was originally highly suspect of the supposed history of the Crystal Empire that made its way to our libraries from Equestria. I thought it was propaganda to justify their convenient placement of their own princess on the throne, but that was proven incorrect when Sombra did return. While information is slow to reach me here in Viirad, I do know that he successfully took over and is currently at war with both the Changeling Lands and Equestria for control over historical land claims. Bold to fight Equestria while they share a common enemy, but I digress.

The important part of Sombra’s return is that it means that his use of mind control to run the Crystal Empire was real in the past and is currently happening now. I don’t have much information as to how he is doing it, but I can speculate based on the information I do have. One concrete fact that is known is that he uses soldiers mind controlled via helmets. Helpfully, this means that there is a good solution to mind control that allows for the range of thinking required for conducting warfare. However, I understand that his staff is composed of imperially minded free-thinking individuals as they are never described or photographed with the same helmets. Perhaps this is a sign of their hierarchy or it’s the only reasonable outcome if the mind control tampers with higher processing.

The other interesting thing is the helmets. I like the idea of the spell being maintained by equipment as that means I only need to invest magic in the helmets once, and then industry can keep the helmets powered with crystals. There is some concern for durability of course, but it is one way to keep magic upkeep low. It could be that the spell is contained in the helm, but I have another idea. I have no evidence for this, but the mad king has been described as an “umbrum”, some kind of spirit from the Crystal Empire’s vast wastelands. Theoretically, the helms may not maintain any mind control at all, but instead house an umbrum that takes control of the wearer. A fascinating proposition.

Upon first thought this method may not be applicable to me as I have no experience in summoning or controlling spirits. However, Asinti summons demons regularly. An army of demons, if controllable, solves many of my issues. Demons can think, don’t require magical upkeep once possessing a victim, and there seems to be a bottomless supply of them. It seems I have a Zebrican occultist to visit.

Author's Note

If you haven't played the secret route for Azir in EaW, Grogar claims the Sirens as his ancient enemies, but I don't remember if it was clear he defeated them in the past. I also wanted to pay homage to the Star Swirl and Sirens comic from show canon but I couldn't use it directly because EaW canon has the Sirens banished to an abyss at the bottom of the ocean. (Play Hippogriffia)

Fun fact, the 3-way war with the Changeling Lands, Sombra, and Equestria did happen in my Viirad playthrough that I did for research.