Celenia D10 System CD10: Traits and Skills: Shadow Corruption

This is your level of corruption from either voluntary or accidental exposure to shadow energies. Common among mystics and occultists, and even sought after by them. The level of this trait can be used for a lot of things by the Keeper, but is primarily a measure of how strong you are at using mystic abilities. The stronger this trait, the stronger your mystic abilities can be.

However, it also affects your morality and at higher levels; appearance. A person corrupted by shadow is turned cold, callous and selfish. A person who is corrupted slowly grows darker, lose their empathy for others and turns more genuinely evil. The eyes become hollow and darken, the skin pales, hair darkens, the posture gangly, claws grow longer and sharper as do the teeth. The outside reflects the inside.

-1: You have been exposed to shadow energies and can feel it tickle in the back of your head, like a voice you can barely hear but also not ignore. Some nights you are plagued by horrifying nightmares. Aside from some dark bags under your eyes, there is no cosmetic corruption.

-2: You can sense the presence of the Shadow at all times and your nightmares are so frequent you've almost become accustomed to them, impossible as it is to endure their horror. At the same time that the whispering voice taunts you, it also lures you with the taste of infinite power. You have trouble resisting it in some moments. Without warning, it's luring whisper can suddenly shift to showing you horrifying visions of your loved ones being murdered, maimed and mutilated. There is still very slight changes to your appearance. Your eyes have hollowed somewhat and you may have dark, stained skin around them.

-3: The Shadow has claimed you almost fully at this point. You have trouble mustering up any kind of compassion for others, even if you try. At this point, the shadow has festered so long in your body that it has started to change. As an illim or kuna your teeth and claws have grown longer and become a lot more sharp. As a vindral your eyes have shifted from their usual ice blue color to a deep purple and your hair has drifted in color towards darker shades.

Your nightmares plague you every night and you have to fight to distinguish your horrifying visions from reality as it is, not as it is in your dark visions of death and carnage. Every night you must succeed a save against this trait. On anything less than a success, you are left sleepless as your nightmares keep you from sleeping.

-4: At this point you are nearly claimed by the Shadow. Your eyes have lost almost all detail to them, and have become dark, purple voids. Your voice is sharp and raspy, as is your breathing. Occasionally you get thrown into fits of violent coughing and you cough a black, pus-like substance. It is completely impossible to miss the fact that you are fully corrupted by Shadow, unless you fully hide your appearance under hoods or behind masks.

You find is almost impossible to sleep, and you must succeed a mental save against this trait and on anything less than a success you fail to get any sleep.

-5: The corruption is so complete that you either turn into a savage shadow beast, fully under the will of the shadow realm, or your body fails to resist the power any longer, and it disintigrates into purple flame and turns to ash.

Recovery

In order to be cleansed of the shadow, you may visit any holy place, be it a religious structure or a shrine, and pray to the gods. If you spend at least an hour in service of the gods, the trait reduces one step (from -3 to -2, for instance). You may also refrain from exposing yourself to shadow, in which case the trait reduces on its own every other session and/or fifth day, whichever comes first. Should you expose yourself to shadow (fail a spell), this timer is reset, regardless of if you succeed or fail the save from the spell.