Culpuum

By David Gallo (gallo@connectnet.com) for the Sluaghan kith.

Attribute

Perception

Description

Culpuum is the lost Art of guilt. Many Sluaghan also received a form of nourishment from it, and at the time of the geasa, Arcadian sorcerors were trying to find a more general way to use this art other than connected to guilt. They thought it could be the key to surviving the waves of banality from the mortal world. It should be noted that Culpuum is not merely an Art -- it is a method. By going through each level of Culpuum, a Sluaghan could slowly bring justice upon his subject. The highest level is the most powerful, of course: turning the subject into a Sluaghan. Often, victims of murders or people that have been wronged would also ally themselves with the Sluaghan. Wraiths form very strong bonds with the Sluaghan for the purpose of resolving their fetters and fulfilling their passions.

Note that it is not necessary for the subject to actually be guilty.

These powers can be used in their raw form, but it is much more satisfying to use it against those truly guilty. This power will not work against the purely innocent -- young children.

* Curtain

This allows the fae to hide secrets, thoughts, even things or people. Realm determines the subject affected (the Sluaghan can determine whether they are secreting thoughts or the realm itself. If thoughts are chosen, the realm decides what the thoughts concern. Also, see the Net.Realms of Mystery for further ideas.)

Realms:

Actor:	Describes who is hidden/whose secrets; a secret about this person.
Fae:	Describes who is hidden/whose secrets; a secret about this person.
Nature:	Describes what/where is hidden; a secret about this Realm.
Prop:	Describes what is hidden; a secret about a thing.
Scene:	Describes an area that is hidden; a secret about the area.

Successes: Each success gained increases the difficulty of Perception rolls to find the target, or to lower difficulty of Stealth or Subterfuge rolls. Successes also dictate the amount hidden. The caster can choose to divide the successes between difficulty and size. If a caster was willing to lower the difficulty to affect something of larger size (or vice versa) then the successes would be split appropriately.

One Success	+1 difficulty/Simple thought; one word; size of a hand-carried object.
Two Successes	+2 difficulty/Average thought; one sentence; size of a person.
Three Successes	+3 difficulty/Complex thought; one paragraph; size of a small room.
Four Successes	+4 difficulty/Several thoughts or partial memory; a story; size of a large room.
Five Successes	+5 difficulty/Whole memory; an epic story; size of a building.

** Acumen

This art is used to discern hidden facts or to find that which is hidden. Note that this will not work on things that are lost -- that would call for Soothsay. This power deals with that which is deliberately hidden. This power can be used to counter Stealth, Subterfuge, the powers of Curtain -- even Obfuscate or other supernatural hiding methods.

Realms:

Actor:	Describes who is hidden (or who is hiding something); describes a secret about the subject.
Fae:	Describes who is hidden (or who is hiding something); describes a secret about the subject.
Nature:	Describes what is hidden; a secret involving the subject.
Prop:	Describes what is hidden; a secret involving the subject.
Scene:	Describes a hidden place; a secret involving that place; where a thing/person is hiding.

Successes: The number of successes add to Perception rolls (but not to those involving this Art). Consult the chart for Curtain to find out the type of secret. Each success adds one success to Perception rolls.

*** Ordeal

The Sluaghan would use Ordeal to determine the guilt of a subject. The Ordeal would involve different methods. Some Sluaghan would gently insinuate details of a secret into the subject's life, while others would take the form of the one wronged to evoke a response. Depending on how the subject would act towards this information, the Sluaghan could determine whether they were guilty or not. Sometimes, even those who were not guilty would feel guilt after being the subject of an Ordeal.

With this power, a Sluaghan can do many things. He can choose to take the form of a murdered victim around the murderer, or he could cause secrets to leak repercussions into the subject's life. The most important thing to remember is that this use of the Art should be used to continually bombard the subject, so that he eventually dwells on the object of guilt. This drains him of his Willpower so that the Final Justice can begin.

Realms: Realms determine how the ordeal manifests itself.

Actor:	People in the subject's life seem to know more than they should, or behave strangely toward him; the Sluaghan can take the form of a mortal involved in some way.
Fae:	Same as Actor, except can involve creatures of the Dreaming.
Nature:	An element that has significance to the subject and situation.
Prop:	An object that has significance will pop up more often; perhaps items will take on symbolic meanings.
Scene:	A place of significance will be brought up often or certain things will happen in a place to remind the subject of the object of guilt.

Successes: Successes determine how effective the Ordeal is. One success will be extremely subtle, whereas five successes would be a continual bombardment. At three successes the Sluaghan can manipulate appearance of things to speed the process along -- even herself! Though it would take more than five successes to warp the subject's senses enough to feel guilty all the time... consult the following chart to determine how much Willpower is drained and how long the Ordeal lasts. For instance, with three successes, the subject could immeditately lose 3 pts of Willpower, or two points per turn for five turns.

One Success	Lose 1 pt of Willpower; effect lasts five turns.
Two Successes	Lose 2 pts of Willpower; effect lasts one scene.
Three Successes	Lose 3 pts of Willpower; effect lasts one game session/one week (whichever is of lesser duration).
Four Successes	Lose 4 pts of Willpower; effect lasts one story/one month (whichever is of lesser duration).
Five Successes	Lose 5 pts of Willpower; effect lasts one chronicle.

**** Censure

Censure is the power to blame someone. With this power, a Sluaghan can blame someone and put behind it the full furore of the Dreaming. When the subject is blamed, he suffers a personal attack. How he deals with the attack is another matter. Many people lie to escape blame, or they may shift the blame to another. When this power is in use, the subject must bear the brunt of the blame.

Censure will turn the Dreaming against the subject (and most other supernatural influences as well).

Realms:

Actor:	Describes who is Censured.
Fae:	Describes who is Censured.
Nature:	Describes the object of Censure (or what delivers the Censure)
Prop:	Describes the object of Censure (or what delivers the Censure)
Scene:	Describes the area of Censure (or the area that delivers Censure)

Successes: The number of successes describe the degree of Censure. Greater success will cause the Dreaming itself to turn against the subject whereas lesser success will cause personal trauma. Note that Censure can cause harm to supernatural creatures in different ways -- a Garou could lose favor with his Totem, his gifts could turn against him, or Gaia herself could forsake him...

Each success will raise the difficulty to interact with others (or to use supernatural powers). Alternatively, the Sluaghan can use this power to directly harm the subject, thereby exacting vengeance. This power could take form in physical injury or misfortune that befalls the subject.

One Success	The subject trips or is set back in some way; Effect is immediate; difficulty +1.
Two Successes	The subject suffers one Health level; effect lasts three turns; difficulty +2.
Three Successes	The subject suffers two Health levels; effect lasts one scene; +3 difficulty; simple, learned powers abandon the subject (lower level Arts, Arcanoi, Spheres, Gifts, Disciplines, Numina/rituals).
Four Successes	The subject suffers three Health levels; effect lasts one day/game session; complex, learned powers abandon the subject (higher levels of powers -- also Realms and mystic items).
Five Successes	The subject suffers four Health levels; effect lasts one story; intrinsic powers abandon the subject (Faith, Glamour, Rage, Gnosis, Avatar, etc).

***** Obloquy

The power of disgrace -- known as the Final Justice amongst the Sluaghan, this power can draw out feelings of self-loathing and truly ruin a person's life. It also has the terrible effect of overcoming Sovereign. Not even the Sidhe are immune to their own disgrace.

This power basically makes life hell for the subject. It also can potentially nullify Sovereign and the Sidhe birthright of Noble Bearing. Sluaghan are able to gain Glamour from such effects because they consider vengeance an artform. They are now able to convert the subject into a Sluaghan, if they so desire (with the help of the Art of Naming -- every success gained on disgrace lowers the difficulty to Renaming).

Sidhe and Trolls suffer even greater disgrace. When subjected to it's power, Sidhe and Trolls lose their birthrights. In any case, any fae subjected to this power will be considered oathbroken, even if they are not. It is rumored that a version of this power was used on the founder of House Liam long ago. Strangely enough, members of House Liam do not suffer from this power like others. They gain an extra two dice to resist the effects of Obloquy. This power can cause Garou to lose Renown.

Realms: The realms affected dictate who or what carries disgrace. Effectively, people lose Willpower and objects or places are cursed -- making them carry the same fate to whomever associates with them. Also, the Soothsay power of Boil and Bubble is usually attached...

Actor:	Who suffers Disgrace.
Fae:	Who suffers Disgrace.
Nature:	What the source of Disgrace is; what the Disgrace is attributed with (sometimes chimerical storms or worse follow those who suffer this Art).
Prop:	What the source of Disgrace is; what carries the Disgrace. (Objects usually fall into disrepair when Disgraced. For some reason, Nocker creations tend to be slightly more susceptible due to their already flawed nature.)
Scene:	The area of Disgrace (places tend to run derelict when Disgraced... after all, no one wants to take care of the slum lord's apartment building....)

Successes: Each success increases the level of Disgrace and the results that attend it. It also determines how long the disgrace lasts and how much Glamour is gained from the subject. Once again, the successes can be split for desired results.

For the purposes of countering Sovereign and Noble Bearing, each success counters a success gained for Sovereign (or adds to the roll to resist). Noble Bearing requires three successes to be overcome, and it will stay suppressed for as long as the Sluaghan succeeds at using this power.

One Success	Gain one point of Glamour; Suffer minor indignity.
Two Successes	Gain Kenning in Glamour (if Kenning is only rated at one, then gain two points); suffer great indignity.
Three Successes	Gain Kenning + 3 in Glamour (at least 4 points); suffer shame.
Four Successes	Replenish the Glamour pool; subject is scorned.
Five Successes	Gain a Permanent point of Glamour; the subject suffers a great curse (a bit lesser in power than the Mark of Caine or the fate attributed to the Wandering Jew, but close in magnitude).

Bunks

The bunks for Culpuum require pain or a grotesque act of some sort. Some Sluaghan used fearful sounds as well. Blood can count as grotesque and pain if it is particularly creative (ST discretion). Self-mutilation, torture, bondage, etc are all acceptable for this Art.

Diff.	Mod.	Requirement	Examples
-1	One health level/minor pain (Small cut/bruise)	Disgusting action	(Picking your nose)
-2	Two health levels (Deep cut/minor fracture)	Nauseating action	(Vomiting)
-3	Three health levels (Minor wound or burn/broken bone)	Gross action	(Eating roadkill)
-4	Four health levels (Major wound or burn/shattered bones protruding from skin)	Vile action	(Beating something living into a bloody pulp)
-5	Five health levels (Visceral agony)	Depraved action	(Necrophilia; eating feces)