Curse

A curse, hex or deleterious practice refers to any abstract, harmful magic.<ref name=":1"/> In some cases even a sapient Other might be considered a curse.<ref>There's been theorizing that he was a curse bestowed on us from the First Nations, over some slight. - excerpt from Subordination 6.7</ref><ref>“I am Inomenos. I am a wrong, made by man, released against men. I have earned a name for myself.”
A curse, given life, I thought. - excerpt from Execution 13.7</ref>

Certain general laws of magic apply to curses. If rebuffed, they can bounce back stronger than before, either on the sender<ref>Barriers will serve their purpose, but hexes and deleterious magics will often glance off the Bane, rendering them a potent devise against the unwary. Without expecting their workings to go awry and come back to them, such a Magus might find themselves dealing with their own practises and the Bane both. - excerpt from Duress 12.3</ref><ref>“Sticking him with a label?” Lucy asked. “Nothing more?”
“Oh, aye, Lassie. If you wanted more, you cannae be lyin’ in little ways all the time. Makes it easy to shake, and they say a curse you can shake can go back to the sender, stronger than it was. You’re lucky he’s not much of a shakin’ sort.”
“Goblins neglected to mention that,” Lucy said, her eyebrow raised.
[...]
“You smell of goblins, and your lips taste like a curse,” Maricica told Lucy. “Be careful. Curses and lowly practices travel paths of least resistance, and the most common path of least resistance that draws lightning from the heavens, rain from the sky, and light from the sun is down. Sink too far, and you may find it all tumbling down on your head.” - excerpt from Stolen Away 2.5</ref> or on the original target if that's not possible.<ref>I noticed the doom and followed it to her. She was fending it off, but

the way a curse, an omen, or a sending works, if you can’t bounce it

back at the sender, or if there’s no sender, it can magnify. The doom had swelled, going away for a time, picking up strength, then returning. - excerpt from Out on a Limb 3.4</ref> Actively inviting a curse, such as giving verbal permission, will make a curse more effective.<ref name=":1">“If you’ll give her a moment, she should find a comfort zone with the body and the situation. She didn’t give her permission for the change, and deleterious practices are always more effective if the subject invites it.”
“Dele-what?” Avery asked.
“Harmful. Inflicted wrongs. Curses and unasked-for effects like a transformation,” Maricica explained. “If they ask for it, either by opening their mouths and saying the words, or by doing something in and of itself wrong and deserving of being wronged in turn, the deleterious effect will stick.”
“So this won’t stick?” Lucy asked.
“If she didn’t want it, it would be easy to shake off.” - excerpt from Stolen Away 2.3</ref> A karmically righteous curse, taking vengence for some wrong, will also be more likely to succeed.<ref name=":1"/>

Magic items which carry a curse are fairly common, especially "in the wild",<ref>A lot of devices and ‘found’ items tended to be… problematic. When an Other got into an item, it tended to be frustrated or angry, or else a

predator lying in wait, or a conniving thing trying to use the device

as a vector to hurt people. These items, from the scratch-a-sketch to the polaroid camera, were ones Zed had tended to. Curses removed, Others managed or pulled out, bound, and put back in again. In cases where those Others had been ones

who preyed on fear or negativity, the items unfortunately became things
that couldn’t recharge or sustain themselves. - excerpt from Out on a Limb 3.z</ref> and spreading such items to harvest the unwary is the specialty of Peddlars.

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