For those of you who aren't familiar with the Music, look it up in my Eartea world sub-forum.

There are two primary interactions with the Music, sympathetic and apathetic. Every person has apathetic and sympathetic tendencies toward the music, but one tends to dominate the other. Those who are dominated by sympathetic tendencies become the true masters of the Music, but also true slaves of the Music.

Sympathetics are in a constant exchange of emotional “essence” with the Music. This allows them to control the music by sheer mental/emotional will power. This also means the Music is influenced not only by their will but by their unconscious hearts, the core essence which pervades their being.

Conversely, their hearts (and to a degree, the will) are affected by the essence of the Music. This means that places, objects, etc., can have a profound emotional effect on sympathetics, but likewise, that sympathetics can have a profound emotional impact on objects and others.

By contrast, apathetics are mostly shielded from this profound emotional/essential world. While occasional bleed through might allow them to intuitively guess another person’s thoughts or feelings, or allow a location to give them an eerie feeling or a bubbling stream to make them life, it is only when the outside Music harmonizes with their inner Music, unlike the exchange of emotion that takes place within sympathetics.

Apathetics can influence the Music, but with only a fraction of the results that sympathetics can produce, because they must bend the Music into harmony with their will.

Sympathetics are able to easily read another person’s thoughts or emotions, as well as share or impart thoughts and emotions, leading to legends about telepathy.

Sympathetics are also known for what is mistakenly called “intuition”, because they often “know” through the Music things they could not have known or guessed on their own.

Apathetics have a gift of their own: semi-invulnerability. Whether used for emotional impact or physical effect, the Music is weakened by the very presence of an apathetic. This protects them from the subtle emotional powers of the Music, and allows a musically trained apathetic to minimize or negate physical consequences.

Adepts have often been astonished when a witty retort by an apathetic destroys an emotional “spell” they have been weaving for two hours of impassioned harangue. Likewise, well trained apathetics can easily protect themselves from the simpler forms of Musical violence, such as fireballs or Musically induced lightning strikes.

This is really interesting, Neil.

Is it possible to only be slightly sympathetic or apathetic dominant, or does how dominant one side is not matter as much as which one is dominant?

It runs in degrees. Those who demonstrate strong sympathetic tendencies are referred to as "adepts".

I was once told you can't steal an idea. You can, however, make it your own, if you want.

Originally, I was concerned that it would seem like apathetics received the proverbial "short-end-of-the-stick", and then I realized that giving them semi-invulnerability would kind of even things out.

Sympathetics also have one particularly dangerous weakness.

Long ago, the second son of Man's third son (so, one of the ancestors of the Elvish race), who happened to be a sympathetic, gave himself to the teaching and dominion of Baan, a demon.

This Elf exhibited strong musical influence, so strong that he was surrounded by an invisible aura of power and emotion. This aura effected everyone, even apathetics. Some would feel a strange foreboding, and moments later notice his presence. Some were caught by his "spell" and unconsciously fell under the influence of the aura.

Whatever he felt, or thought, even in his sub-conscience, poured out into his surroundings. For a while, he was unaware of this power, but when he discovered it, he used in to manipulate everyone who surrounded him.

Those who opposed him he could intimidate, repulse, or overcome, by his mere presence. Others quickly succumbed to him, becoming like smaller, weaker, dependent versions of himself.

But the Elf forgot that all beings are really a self-knowing piece of Music. As he embraced evil and manipulation, he gave those evils dominion over himself. Eventually, his own personal music was stifled, complete replaced by the Music of evil. Though his spirit and body were eventually parted, his emotional essence and Baan's emotional essence were melded by the power of evil. So, Baan lingered in the body, and it became the physical embodiment of his particular breed of corruption.

Those who succumbed to the aura were quickly stifled, their music drowned out by this new, infectious dis-harmony. Their essence was melded with and dominated by Baan.

As the Music has faded, so has the influence of this dark strain of Music, but there are always a few who surrender, and Baan always takes them. They become, not him, but like him. Pawns doing his will.

And, perhaps worst of all, Baan himself lives through each of these, taking each life for his own. He not only bends wills to his own, he takes the pleasures of others for himself. They do not find pleasure in any of life, good or bad, but he consumes all their pleasure, and leaves them, finally, with only broken dreams and pain.

Any sympathetic could be taken by this dark music, if, aware or otherwise, they surrender to the thoughts that enter their heart.

Apathetics, on the other hand, cannot be "seized", only indirectly (and usually minimally) influenced by the aura.