Obscurantism

Gallû

In philosophy, the terms obscurantism and obscurationism identify and describe the anti-intellectual practices of deliberately presenting information in an abstruse and imprecise manner that limits further inquiry and understanding of a subject. The two historical and intellectual denotations of obscurantism are: (1) the deliberate restriction of knowledge — opposition to the dissemination of knowledge; and (2) deliberate obscurity — a recondite style of writing characterized by deliberate vagueness.

In the 18th century, Enlightenment philosophers applied the term obscurantist to any enemy of intellectual enlightenment and the liberal diffusion of knowledge.[4] In the 19th century, in distinguishing the varieties of obscurantism found in metaphysics and theology, from the "more subtle" obscurantism of the critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant and of modern philosophical skepticism, Friedrich Nietzsche said that: "The essential element in the black art of obscurantism is not that it wants to darken individual understanding, but that it wants to blacken our picture of the world, and darken our idea of existence."

+: Shadow of the Grave: The Gallu uses it's connection to it's grave to impart the silence and darkness of the grave to become hidden from the world. A Gallu who moves from a hidden area and uses stealth and shadow to cover it's movements is virtually invisible. The corruption of the Gallu will push most mortals to look away and ignore the dead in their presence as long as the Gallu doesn't make itself plain. Moving into bright light or blatantly touching or announcing themselves removes this cover. Most who become of the Gallu in this way will have to roll Wits + Courage, difficulty 8 or be startled and scared. Failure means that on a roll of a d10, 1-6 they turn and run, 7-9 they pass out, and on a 10 begin to mindlessly attack. Those with awareness can detect the shadow of the grave moving nearby.

System: No roll is required as long as the character acts as described. An observer with an Auspex or awareness rating greater than the Gallus Obscurantism rating is not fooled by Shadow of the Grave.

+: Invisibility of the Dead: The corruption of the Gallu repels humans and make their minds refuse to see a Gallu unless the Gallu makes itself blatant to those in the area. The Curse placed on the Gallu separates them, and the Gallu draw on the disbelief of humanity in general to hide in plain sight. Their predatory nature makes humanity want to deny their existence, and they will be ignored as long as they are not blatant with their presence.
System: As with Shadow of the Grave, no roll is immediately necessary to activate this power as long as the character starts off in a concealed place. Using the power while moving stealthily and subtly requires no roll either, but circumstances may arise that require particular stealth. In such a case, the player rolls Wits + Intimidation against a difficulty assigned by the Storyteller (typically 7). Success allows the character to remain concealed. Those around the Gallu don't want to acknowledge the presence of their corruption. Examples of such circumstances include walking through a noisy area (a squeaky wooden floor or leaf-covered forest floor) or speaking quietly to someone nearby without being noticed by others.

Taking drastic or showy action immediately draws the attention of bystanders, who snap out of the minor trance this power puts them in. Their players make a Wits + Alertness roll (difficulty 7) to recall the character's actions while the trance lasted.

+: Camoglage of the Innocuous: The Gallu uses it's corrupt nature to divert the minds of others as it moves from place to place, becoming innocuous to those who see it. The Gallu uses it's peversion to appear as something enticing, using it's predatory nature as camoflage, drawing on the sub-conscious of the person seeing it to generate a harmless visage.

System: The Gallu invokes a disruptive It's a roll of Manipulation + Empathy of the Gallu, to feel the ambient sin in the area. Each success gives the Gallu protection from the awareness of those around him, hiding them from any heightened senses of those around them, blinding those who are pious or Aware to the corruption of the Gallu.