Amati

Amati is a natural force that exists throughout the universe, particularly concentrated in living things. Most beings are not consciously aware of its existence and cannot directly interact with it; the dalar are unique in that every dalar can do both. The origins and function of amati are obscure to even the dalar, who have studied it extensively, in much the same way that gravity remains mysterious despite the amount of study devoted to it. However, when manipulated, it can warp reality in various ways. Typically this manipulation takes one of two forms: altering perceptions (in a way that appears very similar to telepathy) and affecting the space-time continuum. As might be imagined, anything aside from small, temporary effects is extremely difficult to do. Two of the most obvious and visible uses of amati are the creation and maintenance of enclaves and portals.

Natural amati
Amati exists naturally throughout the physical world, typically in amounts too low to have a noticeable impact on its surroundings. This "natural" amati is not static, but is more of an energy field that is impacted by living things (which have concentrated amati), electromagnetic energy, etc. These small forces cause amati to ebb and flow, shifting from area to area and becoming more and less concentrated. Usually, these fluctuations are too minor to have an impact on anything. However, much like how huge rogue waves can be formed by normal-sized waves combining, more intense areas of amati concentration can occur when multiple small fluctuations build into something larger. These larger concentrations, called confluences, are what can have an impact on the physical or natural world--e.g. causing biological or physical changes. Most confluences are short-lived and only have an impact on a small area (e.g. altering the position of one rock, giving one animal a headache, causing one minor incident of prescience), but when multiple confluences pile up, an intense and wide-reaching confluence called an amati storm can occur. Such a storm is theorized to have created the dalar initially.

Biological impact
Amati is concentrated in living things. The more intelligent/sentient a being is, the more amati is concentrated in their body--while rocks or water have very little, a plant would have a slightly larger amount, animals would have more, and humans and dalar have the most. Humans and dalar actually have roughly the same amount of amati on average; the distinction is that all dalar can consciously sense and manipulate theirs, while only a very small number of humans can. Thus, while a human may internally have the same amount of amati as a dalar, their external "presence" is much more subdued.

While the mechanics are not entirely understood, exposure to high concentrations of amati significantly lengthens lifespan by causing the body to be more resistant to disease and heal faster. It also has mental impacts, presumably causing the characteristic dual mind structure of dalar. This is seen in both dalar themselves (who often naturally live to over four hundred years old) and in kadeda, humans who live among the dalar. While most kadeda live normal human lifespans, kadeda families that have lived among the dalar for several generation live significantly longer lifespans than humans living elsewhere (the record is 192 years), and even second- or third-generation families have much higher rates of amati-sensitive individuals than ordinary humans do. Furthermore, a dalar who loses all of their amati will have a significantly shortened lifespan and usually will suffer severe mental effects, thus demonstrating the process can be reversed.

It is widely believed that a child's sensitivity to amati is significantly shaped by their mother's usage and exposure during pregnancy. Thus, a dalar mother who actively uses amati will imbue their child with amati, while a human mother who lives in an enclave will have a child with a high sensitivity to amati, while a human mother living in the human world will have a child with little to no sensitivity to amati. Furthermore, half-dalar born to human mothers in the human world typically have low (although not non-existent) amati sensitivity and humanlike lifespans, while half-dalar born to dalar mothers or to human mothers in enclaves will have much higher amati sensitivity and longer lifespans. Clearly there is a biological component, but the evidence does suggest environment plays a large role as well.

When manipulating amati, a person can only use the amati within themselves; it is not possible to consciously pull amati from their surroundings. (although there is a very small unconscious exchange ongoing at all times) Once used, amati will slowly return to its "owner", regardless of distance. This is because a person's amati is bound to them specifically, and is distinct from other amati--a very sensitive person can even tell the difference between an effect performed by two separate people, or identify a person familiar to them through their amati (for example, family members or a spouse). Like attracts like, basically.

However, if a person is totally drained of amati, it is no longer specifically associated with them and will not return. In fact, if this occurs, a person will never be able to manipulate or sense amati again. The only way to avoid this is to avoid using that much amati at once (usually not difficult--a person will become tired and sick before they're in danger of using all their amati) or if they receive an immediate amati transfusion. However, transfusions are a highly controversial topic, and many dalar voluntarily choose not to receive them (similar to a Do Not Resuscitate request).

Practical use and effects
Unlike unconscious effects of amati, which can have many odd impacts, direct manipulation of amati (by either a dalar or a sensitive human) generally extends only to minor alterations of perceptions. With practice and greater effort, small, temporary warping of the space-time continuum can be done as well. Multiple people can also combine their amati to perform larger acts, such as opening stable portals or creating large enclaves. The largest acts--creating very large enclaves such as Elten--require dozens or hundreds of dalar supplying amati, although it is shaped or guided by a small group (or even a single individual, such as one of the sarda).

Alteration of perceptions
Dalar are often incorrectly assumed to have a form of telepathy. In fact, their seeming telepathic abilities, and even the prescient ones, are really just based in their ability to perceive amati (which is used when people think, even humans) and to use it to manipulate perceptions. For example, communicating to someone through "telepathy" simply means altering their perceptions such that they perceive the emotions, images, etc. that you are thinking of. Reading someone's mind unawares essentially involves influencing someone's mind to think about certain things, then observing the result. However, on a practical level, even the dalar are not consciously aware of the mechanics; they, too, would be likely to describe it as simple "telepathy".

Another common use of amati's perception-altering properties is to draw attention to or away from something. This is an easy trick, and although it involves altering how someone thinks without their recognition or consent, it's not considered true mind control by virtually all dalar. At the most basic level, it can be used to highlight something important (e.g. a teacher could use it to get attention) or serve as a distraction (a sort of "look over there" thing), or to encourage the target to not pay attention to or remember something (e.g. to allow a person to walk through a crowd without anyone remembering they're there; a sort of "don't look over there" thing). This is effective on humans and inattentive dalar, somewhat effective on animals (who needs mosquito spray...?), and not very effective on a dalar who's paying attention.

"Actual" mind control, by dalar standards, is also possible. That is, causing a person to think or believe something, to act a specific way, or to alter their memories.

more stuff about using amati for mind control, or for reading ppls memories, and also prescience which is really just perceiving the way reality is going to go

Alteration of the space-time continuum
stuff about enclaves, temporary "folds", portals, and why time travel is theoretically possible but not practically so

Other effects
Theoretically, amati could be used to alter virtually any aspect of the universe, so long as the fundamental laws of the universe are not violated. (e.g. true faster-than-light travel or the creation/destruction of matter) In practical terms, however, any such uses would require such large amounts of amati and effort that they could not be performed. One common example is something like shapeshifting; while there's no specific reason why it would be impossible to alter one's body, it would likely require more amati than exists in the world, and would require more minds to shape the amati than the entire dalar population. Thus, it is impossible on a practical level.