Blekking

Jotunn

Blekking means deception, illusion, fraud, or delusion. It is a feminine noun commonly used to describe the act of misleading someone or a false belief, often translated in context as a "trick" or "deception"

Introduction to Chimerstry

The Jotunn is a Thanllian one with a facility for Blekking and it is from them that all tales of its origins come. Most believe that it originated with the Formorians, creatures who delight in capriciously torturing mortals by twisting their perceptions of reality. The Nightmare dreamers Other suggest that they learned this power from Loki, father of their kind.

Blekking allows its user to create realistic illusions with which to flatter to torment others. Blekking works best when its victims do not know that its possessors are using it. Therefore, the Nightmare Fae don't confess to using it. Those who understand the Lore of the Nightmares are aware of it's use, and warn those who interact with them to be aware of it.

Blekking is a versatile Art available to the Nightmare Fae. With appropriate levels of it, an additional staging where necessary, nearly anyone can be made to believe almost anything, and it isn't necessary to resort to blunt-instrument powers to make it so. The Discipline is useful for anything from reaping to ousting the fae of a desirable city.

Most of the Arts abilities require the expenditure of Dark Glamour, representing the fraction of the beings tie to the Nightmare lands that must go into creating the illusion. At the moment of creation, the illusion is very real to the Blekking user; for just an instant, her power fools her, too. In addition, a botch on any Blekking causes the character to be haunted by the illusion she creates, as described under each power. The fabric separating perception from reality is a tenuous one, and the character toys with it at her own risk.

Blekking does not allow its user to create an illusion that she cannot sense in some fashion. She cannot create a purely auditory illusion somewhere she can't hear it, or the image of a crown if she is blinded. However, if she can sense the illusion in any fashion, she can create the other sensory components of it. That is to say, if she has , she can create an illusory bowl of stew and it will taste right, even if it were across the room from her. She could create that crown if it were to rest on her head, so that she could feel it.

A victim of Blekking cannot generally dismiss them, even if the victim is doubtful of their reality. Just because you don't believe that the window in front of you is actually bricked shut doesn't mean you can suddenly see through it. However, Blekkings cannot support weight or impede movement past a quick sensation of resistance. So, assuming that the bricks on a window were created with Blekkingarvefur, you would feel their surface if you reached out to touch them, but you would pass through if you tried to push them over. If they were created with Blekkja, your had would sail right through. Therefore, Nightmare Fae can dazzle a crowd with shining lights and dancing spirits even if the crowd suspects that the lights are the work of illusion, and it is very difficult to be absolutely sure that an illusion really is illusory.

There are a few exceptions to these guidelines. Characters who experience damage from sources created with Horrid Reality or Mass Horror and then become convinced of its illusory nature can be relieved of the pain they have suffered. In addition, vampires with Auspex and others with forms of supernatural perception have chances to both detect and learn to "filter out" the illusion, hence seeing through illusory darkness or hearing past an illusory scream. Detecting an illusion in this manner is automatic if the watcher's Auspex or similar power level is higher than the caster's Blekking level. If it is equal to or less than the Blekking level, she must convince herself of the illusory nature of the apparition through mundane means (such as plunging her hand into illusory fire). To filter out an illusion once the vampire knows it is false, the player rolls Perception + Alertness against a difficulty equal to 6 + caster's Blekking - observer's Auspex. A single success filters it out of all her senses.

Note: As a provisional house rule, in order to "disbelieve" Blekking illusions, the observer must either have enough Auspex or similar power to see through it, or roll Perception + an appropriate knowledge (medicine, occult, science and crafts are moderately common) at a difficulty of the illusionist's Manipulation + Subterfuge. One success is all that is required, but the attempt can only be made once per round. Once the illusion has been detected, it may be "cleared from the senses" as above, as a free action, again, one attempt per round.

• Blekkja
• Blekkingarandi