Editing Karma (section)

== Rules ==
Sources of good karma:
* Keeping to a code.<ref name=":0" />
* Being generous and giving more than you take.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5">The old man continued, “I’ll explain, then, so there are no mistaken 
assumptions.  The world seeks balance in all respects.  Whenever a practitioner works, they pay a price.  Sometimes the price is overt.  A soul for someone’s love.  An eye for the service of a powerful spirit.  The life of a companion to triumph over one’s enemies.  Sometimes the 
price is less of a direct transaction.  A favor to be paid later.  Conversely, an oath given, with nothing expected.”<br><br>“Which raises problems, hm?” the young man said.<br><br>The old man met my eyes.  “What happens when a debt isn’t paid?  If you take, then die before you can give?  Or the inverse?”<br><br>“You pass it on to your kids?”<br><br>“In some cases, yes.  But those children might incur more of a debt. Over time, the debt accumulates.  Perhaps two generations improve 
matters, working it off, and then the third undoes their hard work and adds more to the burden.”
- [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/01/28 Excerpt] from [[Damages 2.4]]</ref>
* When the universe inflicts a punishment on someone with bad karma, some of the debt is discharged.<ref name=":0" /><ref>“I’m not lucky, though,” I said.  “And Molly wasn’t lucky either…  She…”<br><br>I trailed off.  They waited, apparently content to wait while the gears fit together in my head and started turning.<br><br>
I finished my sentence, along a different line. “''…'' Eats a bit of the karmic backlash, pays a bit of the price for the universe not getting what it was supposed to, and the baton gets passed to me.  If I 
die, the same thing happens.  Each of us absorbs a bit of the brunt of it, until one of us finds our footing and carries on.”
- [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/01/28 Excerpt] from [[Damages 2.4]]</ref>
* Making and keeping oaths<ref name=":0" /> or other declarations.<ref>“I want to do <em>more</em> good.  I gotta act my most awesome, and the spirits can recognize it and make me <em>more</em> awesome.  I’ve already worked it out.  I gotta be honest and true to myself and I have a game plan that I’ve declared a ''lot'' of times.  I gotta stick to the plan and the spirits will reward me with sweet, sweet karma." - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/10/25 Excerpt] from [[Duress 12.7]]</ref><ref>That deck.  It was his implement, I was almost positive.  It was at 
least part of how he professed to know everything that was about to 
happen, or at least narrow things down enough to make a good guess.  So 
long as he could, he could make confident statements, the spirits would 
be happier with him, and they’d help the statements come true out of 
goodwill, just like bad karma had been dragging me down and introducing 
problem after problem for the entire time I’d been human.<br><br>
That deck was at the center of his ability to perpetuate an ''upward'' spiral.<br>
It dawned on me that I’d been walking into trouble this whole time.<br><br>Not walking into his prophecy, but something else entirely.<br><br>By giving him chances to show off the cards and make predictions, I was letting him score points.  Every spirit that was nearby, maybe excepting the spirits inhabiting me, was getting to be very pleased with this young man who made it all simple for them. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/09/13 Excerpt] from [[Malfeasance 11.4]]
</ref>
* Punishing someone who has done you or your community unprovoked harm.<ref name=":6">“Okay,” I said, thinking.  “And… if it has to do with right and wrong… then can you get ''bad'' mojo for, say, going after a local practitioner’s livelihood?”<br><br>“How?” the young man asked.<br><br>I started to reach for the note, then realized I couldn’t without 
moving the hatchet.  I did it awkwardly with my other hand, handing it to them.<br><br>While he read, the woman asked, “Has he acted against you?  Done unprovoked harm to you?”<br><br>“Directly?  No.  Indirectly?  He tricked me and left me for the 
monsters to eat.  We’d only just met.  Unless the whole history of my family counts as a provocation.”<br><br>“You’d be secure.  It would even benefit you.  You should be able to find all of this information in the textbooks of the library.”- [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/01/28 Excerpt] from [[Damages 2.4]]</ref>
* Being honest, the more honest and forthright the better.<ref name=":7">“I promised it I’d keep it warm,” I said.<br>
“Not exactly true, is that?” she asked me.<br><br>I frowned.<br><br>“I’m fairly well versed in seeing the nuances of karma at work.  You’ve come very close to lying a few times in a short span of time, and
 you’ve each outright ''lied'' at least once in the half hour prior to our arrival.”<br><br>“Oh hell,” I said.<br><br>
“It’s easy to slip, at first,” she said.  “In this case, you’re bordering on a lie, but you’re still telling the truth.  ''Rose'' here promised you’d keep it warm.  Your promise was implicit, and because Rose is an extension of you…”<br><br>“It’s borderline,” I said.<br><br>“Being more honest means you stock up more goodwill with the universe and any others you meet.  Borderline dishonesty is useful, lying by 
omission is better yet, and unvarnished honesty is better still.  I can’t quite interpret it, but perhaps you were joking?  Sarcasm?”<br><br>I thought back.<br><br>“''Shit'',” I said.  “So… what?  I lose my power?”<br><br>“You lose ''some''.  And a mere ghost gains more influence over you, even through a circle, or when bound into an object.  It’ll take at least a week to wear off.  Luckily, there aren’t many things in this house to hear, hm?”<br><br>
“And me?” Rose asked.<br><br>“It matters for you too,” Ms. Lewis said.  “For the time being, you are connected to Blake.  Tell me, Blake, did you feel weaker?  More 
vulnerable?”<br><br>“I felt tired,” I said.  “I wondered for a moment if Rose had done something.”<br><br>“A vestige is fragile.  Defy the natural order, and the vestige suffers.”<br><br>“And a damaged vestige drains energy,” I said, glancing at Rose.<br><br>“Just so.”<br><br>“I’d kind of expected a… clap of thunder?” I said.<br><br>“Barring the ''exceptional'' moments of idiocy, such as the breaking of an oath, you typically only discover what you’ve done when you reach for power and find it gone.”- [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/01/28 Excerpt] from [[Damages 2.4]]</ref>
* Maintaining a [[Demesne]].<ref name=":8">''She notes, in a matter of fact way, that simply holding a demesne 
generates good karma, bettering her position in the world so long as she
 tends to the space.'' - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/02/06 Excerpt] from [[List of Books#Demesne|Demesne]], quoted in [[Gathered Pages: 2]]</ref>
* Providing for guests, in accordance with [[Hospitality]].<ref name=":2" />
* Announcing your intentions and "playing fair" by warning, and explaining your actions to, your enemies.<ref>Ms. Lewis said, “Individuals like him, typically, have effectively stocked up on good karma, so they might spend it in times of crisis.  I have a good idea about what’s happened, even if my information is 
incomplete, and I think he may have been holding back.  Acting upfront, 
informing you as to ''why'' he’s attacking you, being honest and helpful.  Inviting compromise.  Tempering himself.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/02/04
amages-2-6/ excerpt] from [[Damages 2.6]]</ref><ref>“I’m not trying to reap any extra karma by sharing details with you,” 
Andy said.  “Those other guys are doing the whole ‘play fair’, ‘see the whites of your enemy’s eyes before you doom them forever’, and that ‘announce your intentions before seeing them through’ garbage.  If and when I come after you, Thorburn, I’m not doing any of that.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/02/25 Excerpt] from [[Breach 3.5]]</ref>
* Some [[Others]] like [[Isadora]] are able to endow excess good karma onto others.<ref>“Sphinx is old, and maybe it’s more personal for old things.  Teaches at the University.  Periodically goes for the kids who can’t hack it.  Once every decade or so, maybe.  Failing grades, depression, panic, a downward spiral everyone recognizes, and then their rooms are cleared out one night and they’ve up and disappeared.”<br><br>“Didn’t know that last part,” I said.<br><br>“She is what she is.  She occasionally takes a student under her 
not-so-proverbial wing.  We’ve talked it over, and the general consensus is she finds the stragglers and tests them.  Winners get mentored.  Get a natural glow about ’em, you know what I mean?”<br><br>“No, not so much.”<br><br>“Stuff starts going their way.  Lucky.  The right people start gravitating towards them.  Things falling into place.”<br><br>“Good karma,” I said.<br><br>“Yeah.  That.  Girls stick around for two or three years and then take their leave, wiser, talented, brimming with confidence.  We’ve seen, what, two?”<br><br>“One left a few weeks after we first joined the council,” the woman sitting under the window said.  “Another one wrapped up earlier this year.  Left before Summer.”<br><br>“I could do with some of that good karma,” I said.  “But I don’t think even the Sphinx’s ministrations are about to help me with the massive debt my family’s incurred.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/03/29 Excerpt] from [[Collateral 4.10]]</ref>
Sources of karmic debt:
* Lying. This even affects Innocents to an extent.<ref name=":3">The Bane turned on Peter.<br><br>“Why ''me''?” Peter asked.  “Third fucking time.  The ''fuck''?” “Karma,” I said.  “Apparently you’ve racked up more bad karma than any of us, except maybe me, and I’m inside a mirror.”<br><br>
“Karma?” Kathryn asked.<br><br>
“Lies,” I said.  “Lies are one.  Even if you’re not a part of all this, it adds up.  Wronging people, breaking your word…”<br>
“I’m ''fuuuuucked'',” Peter said, backing away from the Bane. “Fuck me.  Kicking myself for ever thinking this stuff was cool.  Even with the scary stuff… if there’s karma, I’m so completely and utterly ''fucked''.”<br><br>"More than you know,” I said.  “You inherit the house, you inherit all the bad karma dating back ''generations''.  We weren’t good wizards, in case you weren’t aware.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/10/14 Excerpt] from [[Duress 12.3]]</ref> Karma will also drain a Practitioner or Other of some of their power and structural integrity for lying.<ref name=":7" />
* Some [[Others]] like [[Isadora]] are able to inflict bad karma onto others, while things like [[Demons]] incur a heavy debt because they poison the world with their very existence.
* When a person with an outstanding karmic debt dies, the debt can pass on to their heir(s).<ref name=":5" />
* Wronging someone without cause.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":3" /> This even affects Innocents to an extent.<ref name=":3"/>
* Recieving "free" magical power.<ref name=":5" />
* Punishing someone unjustly, i.e. if they're innocent and you gave them no chance to argue in their defence.<ref name=":9">“I looked,” I said.  “''We'' looked.  There was nothing about what justifies an execution.”<br><br>“Executions are a formalization of what we just talked about.  You’ll find more on them in books relating to karmic debt and the manipulation thereof.”<br><br>I groaned a bit.  ''Looking in the wrong place.''<br><br><br>“Damn it,” I heard Rose muttering.<br><br>“You offend the community, the community retaliates, and the balance is maintained.  If the community acts against you and it’s unjust, then there is imbalance, and this weighs heavier than matters between individuals.   Clever individuals with some knowledge on how to use and manipulate karma could theoretically survive and ride the backlash to a position at the top.”<br><br>I rubbed my chin.  “And if I contrived to get them to punish me for a crime I didn’t commit?  Get an order of execution against myself?”<br><br>“Blake!”  Rose said.<br><br>“''Theoretically'',” I said.<br><br>
“There are any number of factors to consider,” the older man said. “If they offer you a chance to speak for yourself and you don’t, they would face little backlash.  Are they brash?  Too stupid to do so?” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/01/28 Excerpt] from [[Damages 2.4]]</ref>
* Introducing an [[Innocent]] to the existence of magic,<ref>“Telling people about this stuff is a fast track to getting ''more'' bad karma.  Getting involved with the sort of things Grandmother got involved with is a ''faster'' track.  The lawyers are a part of that.  Those are the bullet points for what you need to know about ''why'' this is happening.  Rose is gone, and you guys are… like I said, nobody wants to be the one to tell you ‘hey, magic is ''real''‘, so you’re-” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/10/16 Excerpt] from [[Duress 12.4]]</ref> only for them to suffer harm.<ref name=":10">“And… I haven’t read anything explicit about the reason this is all secret.  There are rules Others follow, with stiff penalties, and they generally keep to hunting what they’re allowed to hunt… but what’s to keep me from appearing on TV tomorrow and showing off my magic?”<br><br>“Responsibility,” the old man said.  “It started as an ethic; you don’t initiate someone into this world without teaching them the proper way things are done.  That ethic became a rule, and the rule became a part of the fabric of things.  If you introduce someone to all of this and they make a mistake, then some of that karma weighs on you.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/01/28 Excerpt] from [[Damages 2.4]]
</ref><ref>“If it comes down to me, then that’s it,” I said.  “I’m responsible for ''you''.  I’m pretty sure that if you die, then I take on a bit of that misfortune.  I go too.”<br><br>“No,” she said.  “Your connections moved to Rose, right?  ''Rose'' is responsible for us.”<br><br>I frowned.<br><br>What did it say that that ''bothered'' me?  I wanted to be responsible for them.  I wanted to have that tie to people I cared about.<br><br>“I’ve been thinking about it.  If we die, or if something bad happens to us, Rose is probably going to suffer, because she adopted that responsibility.  The council members might have even figured it out,” Alexis said.  “It could be the advantage they need to get control over her, to defuse the dead man’s switch.  Or they call it a win and rely on the karma swing to screw up Rose’s plan.  The dead man’s switch might not wind up working at all.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/09/27 Excerpt] from [[Malfeasance 11.8]]</ref>
* Damaging things in the [[Spirit World]], forcing the universe to break their counterparts in the real world.<ref>“Your other friends are occupied or caught in traps by Duncan and his sons, Rose is bound indoors, and I’ve broken most of the available and useful reflective surfaces in the spirit world.  Things are going to find an excuse to break in the ''real'' world in the coming days and weeks, but we can cross that bridge when it comes.”<br><br>“Sounds like bad karma,” I said.  “Giving the universe a lot of menial work to do to keep everything coordinated.”<br><br>“Well,” Laird said, “I’m hoping to make it up to the universe.”<br><br>“Borrowing against the future for the sake of the present?” I asked. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/05/24 Excerpt] from [[Subordination 6.12]]</ref>
* Stealing,<ref>Theft was bad, karma-wise. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/11/18 Excerpt] from [[Execution 13.7]]</ref> unless it's balancing something they stole from you.<ref>I retrieved the little stonehenge charm bracelet and held it up.  “Credit goes to Evan, for collecting this.”<br><br>“You stole it?” Fell asked.<br><br>“Evan did.  So yeah, I guess we did?”<br><br>“Bad karma, depending on how you do it,” Fell told me.  “Especially if the possession has power.”<br><br>“We were fighting,” I said.  “Going head to head.”<br><br>“Even if you’re fighting, certain objects belong in certain hands.  The universe doesn’t like that kind of disruption.”<br>[...]<br>“Look.  If that’s the case, then how come Duncan didn’t get bitten by karma when he took June, my hatchet?”<br><br>“Ah,” Fell said.  “If he did, then it’s only fair if you took something of his in return.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/05/17 Excerpt] from [[Subordination 6.9]]
</ref> Worse karma if it's powerful, especially an [[Implement]]; less bad if you don't keep it.<ref>“Stealing is bad karma, right?”<br><br>“Yes.  Implements more than regular things,” Fell said.  “But even stealing a regular thing is bad.”<br><br>“What if I throw it away?  Still bad if I don’t have it?”<br><br>“You moved it from where it’s supposed to be.  A ''little'' bit of a problem.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/05/31 excerpt] from [[Void 7.2]]</ref>
* Violating [[Hospitality]], i.e. harming your guest/host, or refusing someone deperate entry.<ref name=":2" /><ref>What was S.O.P. for being a guest?  If I couldn’t poison them, what was I allowed to do when they were trying to fuck with me?<br><br>''I might have to bite the karma bullet,'' I thought.<br>[...]<br>“Destroy the books,” I said.  “Destroy the treasures.  Do it quietly, and you’ll manage more destruction.  Start with the oldest things, you’ll hurt them more.  Run if she takes notice.  Under no circumstances are you to harm anyone before returning to the flute,” I said.<br><br>Dickswizzle eyed me warily.<br><br>“Blake.  If you’re inside her house, because of hospitality-“<br><br>“I’m repaying their hospitality by sparing ''them''.  They were… not unkind,” I said.  “But their family attacked our house and possessions.  We can attack theirs.  Eye for an eye.”<br><br>“If we took some of it, we could ransom it back?”<br><br>“It’s not quite an eye for an eye, and I don’t want them using it to track me.”<br><br>“This feels wrong.”<br><br>“But it’s fucking ''right''.  Two very different things,” I said, my voice a harsh whisper. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/02/22 Excerpt] from [[Breach 3.4]]</ref><ref>“You’ll take nothing of ours unless you have express permission, and take nothing you learn inside these walls to our enemies?”<br><br>“Heck with those guys, your secrets are yours, and I’m not stupid enough to tank my karma by betraying hospitality and stealing.  No, if you need me to actually say it, I won’t steal and I won’t tell anyone.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/02/04 Excerpt] from [[Damages 2.6]]</ref>

=== Techniques for Karma Management ===
Executions, ordered by local councils and carried out by [[Witch Hunter]]s, are a common way to formalize karmic punishment. Those who aren't foolish generally include an opportunity for the accused to defend themselves; in which case they're unlikely to suffer karmic backlash for ordering the execution.<ref name=":9" />

Circuitous methods of murder, where the attacker isn't personally present or involved, can help evade karmic responsibility as the [[Spirits]] may not be bright enough to make the connection.<ref name=":2" /> Conversely, the more directly you are involved in a Right act, the better for your karma.<ref>“If you were to take it yourself,” the woman lawyer said, “Or have a more direct hand in it, you reap a greater reward.”<br><br>“Personally restoring balance to the grand scheme of things… I can’t help but feel like this is dangerous.  Karmic retribution.  Promoting eye-for-an eye thinking.  How do you know if things are balanced?” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/01/28 Excerpt] from [[Damages 2.4]]</ref>

Many [[Diabolist]]s will maintain an item which reflects their karma so they can track it.<ref name=":0" /> This can also occur naturally when Awakening, as it did for [[Blake Thorburn]]'s tattoos.

In addition to passively gathering karma for holding it,<ref name=":8" /> a [[Demesne]]'s reality-warping powers can be used to change karma for raw power or vice versa.<ref>''Whilst outside of her place of power, Fionna finds the connection to the location remains strong, wherever she is.  She can deposit power there and rest assured it is untouched.  She can also use the location to transmute power, turning personal power into karmic assets, draw from one kind of power to better influence a connection.''<br><br>As one can determine the rules within their realm, they can use the place as a form of esoteric moneychanger, changing one kind of power for another.  - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/02/06 Excerpt] from ''Demesnes Chapter Nine,'' quoted in [[Interlude 4]]</ref>