Our Little Secret
Cost: 4m
Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Compulsion, Emotion, Sorcerous, Stackable, Touch
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Witness to Darkness
The surest way for Creation to fall into the state of wicked depravity that is most pleasing to the Ebon Dragon is for good men to do nothing, and the Shadow of All Things is more than ready to promote such inaction. To use this Charm, the warlock must touch a witness to an act of depravity, or to evidence of such an act. Henceforth, the target's mind is filled with paralyzing shame and horror when she considers relating what she has seen to any other character, either through speech or writing, forcing her to ultimately remain silent. This unnatural mental influence costs 3 Willpower to resist. The warlock must be aware that the witness has beheld a specific depravity, and may not blindly 'guess' when activating Our Little Secret. Multiple activations of this Charm may be placed on the same witness, to force silence on the subject of multiple valid acts.
An act of depravity is defined as any act which would cause shock, outrage, or scandal according to the common mores of Creation's dominant culture (currently the Realm) or the dominant culture in which the act occurs. Murder, adultery, rape, incest, theft, violent assault and disrespect toward the Terrestrial Exalted on the part of mortals are all examples of acts of depravity within the Realm, and are thus applicable wherever the Charm is used. More specific acts of depravity might include rudeness to an Essence 6+ divinity (if the Charm were used in Yu-Shan), enslavement of citizens of Nexus (if used in Nexus), or disobeying a superior officer (if used in Lookshy).
At Essence 3+, the Infernal may touch a piece of evidence related to an act of depravity rather than a witness, for a cost of 8m rather than 4m. This causes all individuals who subsequently witness the evidence so marked to be forced into silence as though they had been targeted with the 4m activation of Our Little Secret, as a Sorcerous effect. With Essence 4+, the Charm's Compulsion is enhanced to also include a prohibition against moving or disturbing evidence of an act of depravity. For example, a character who found a mutilated body deep in the woods would not only be powerless to speak of his discovery, but also could not bring himself to give the corpse a proper burial or even to drag it back to town to be anonymously discovered and properly disposed of by others.
