Book of Bone and Ebony

world or a shadowland until such time as he is forgiven for
his transgression. This forgiveness can only come from
the use of Accept Amercement (above) by a ghost with
equal to or higher Essence than the ghost who uses this
Arcanos. This Arcanos has no effect on ghosts, nor even
on Ghost-Blooded.
HIDE THE LIVING NAME
Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant (see below)
Type: Simple
Minimum Temperance: 4
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: House Arrest
Hide the Living Name turns a living transgressor into
a ghost for all intents and purposes until his crime is
forgiven by a ghostly magistrate with equal or higher
Essence than the user of this Arcanos. The Charm strips
away the subject’s physical form and life-essence, imprisoning
it in an unknown location (many suspect the
Labyrinth — which might have dire consequences in the
long run, see below). What’s left, the target’s higher soul
(or hun), persists as any other ghost might. The subject of
the Charm can leave the Underworld through a shadowland
and even enter Creation, but no matter where he goes, he
remains a ghost (and is incorporeal in Creation, etc.). His
physical body does, apparently, age — a few centuries ago,
in a rare case, a mortal was stricken to ghosthood by a
vengeful magistrate and left in that state for several years.
When he returned to a living state, he found that his hair
had grayed and that lines had crept across his face.
Living targets of this Charm with particularly high
scores in any Virtue and low Willpower may find that their
bodies become possessed by spectres while they are under
the influence of this Arcanos. Spectres are attracted to the
bodies of the particularly virtuous (regardless of the Virtue),
but are repelled by the leftover Willpower that
anchors the living body’s mind. If the sum of the character’s
two highest Virtues exceed his Willpower, that character’s
body is a potential possession target. A possessing spectre
takes a living body back into Creation and wreaks havoc
as it sees fit. It cannot read the victim’s mind, so it cannot
necessarily destroy the character’s life, but it can certainly
break laws and cause trouble no matter where it goes. If a
possessed body is killed in Creation, it returns to the
Labyrinth and slowly regenerates, and the spectre that
took it to Creation is ejected.
If the character’s body is possessed at the time that his
sentence ends, he cannot return to it until the spectre
residing in it is somehow ejected. It is the Storyteller’s call
as to whether the target’s body has been possessed at all and
particularly whether the body is “out” at the time that the
target is ready to return to it.
45
CHAPTER TWO • THE ARTS OF THE DEAD
IMPOSE STRICTURE
Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Three days per success
Type: Simple
Minimum Temperance: 4
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Levy Fine
The ghost using Impose Stricture can create a shortterm
taboo in his local area — within one mile per point
of permanent Essence (or the size of a small village). This
taboo should be relatively simple — nearly all taboos
either preclude a single simple behavior (such as eating
pomegranates) or require a single behavior (such as wearing
a particular garment at all times). No taboo can be
impossible to adhere to — even taboos that are logical
impossibilities (“Everyone in this area must be male and
female at the same time”) has to have a possible symbolic
solution (ritual transvestitism, for instance). Taboos created
by Impose Stricture only apply within the Underworld.
Impose Stricture implies only a single, relatively minor
penalty — violators of a taboo suffer a one-die penalty to
all dice pools until one hour past the time that they stop
violating the taboo. That is, if the taboo is a single action,
violators suffer a one-hour penalty. If it is a continuous
action (“Wear no leather”), the penalty applies as long as
the criminal violates the taboo and then an additional
hour after that. The one-hour duration can be cut short if
the violator receives the use of Accept Amercement by a
ghost magistrate.
CURSE OF THE DAMNED
Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Special
Minimum Temperance: 4
Minimum Essence: 4
Prerequisite Charms: Impose Stricture
A magistrate-ghost uses Curse of the Damned to
apply a permanent taboo to another being — be it a spirit,
a ghost or a living being. The target of this Arcanos must
have an Essence lower than the ghost using it, and it is
difficult to apply — the ghost’s player makes a Manipulation
+ Lore roll, while the target’s player resists with
Willpower. If the ghost achieves more successes, the
target suffers from a taboo for the rest of its existence. As
with Impose Stricture, above, violation of the taboo
results in a one-die penalty to all dice pools for at least
one hour after the violation. The taboo should be straightforward,
as described in Impose Stricture (with examples
given in the boxed text on p. 43). The Curse of the
Damned can be removed if the ghost who inflicted it uses
Accept Amercement or if any other entity with an
Essence higher than the ghostly magistrate who invoked
the taboo uses Accept Amercement.