Editing Genius The Transgression/Chapter One: The Cosmos (section)

==Klagen==

'''The Catalyst of Loss'''

'''Nickname: Cassandras'''

'''Traditional Planet: Venus'''

''No, you fools! You'll doom us all!''

Mad scientists, like many other people in the World of Darkness, have often lost something dear to them: a loved one, a family, a childhood dream. This loss can result in a sorrow so deep that it transforms the scientist utterly, leading to a Breakthrough in pain and regret. Whether the genius then wants to reclaim what he has lost (resurrecting his dead wife, restoring the toppled government of his homeland) or merely works to prevent such tragedies from happening again, he has become a Klagen.

Creatures of sorrow and compassion, Klagens resemble Buddhas more than angels, walking through a world so defiled that the only answer is to weep. They are also harbingers and doom-sayers, seeking to avert whatever catastrophe drove them to catalyze. Different Klagens warn humanity about everything from global warming to the Malthusian population bomb to the shadow-stealing AIs from the future, with varying degrees of success. For this trait, other geniuses have referred to them as prophets, oracles, Jonahs, and harbingers, but today their most common nickname acknowledges the Klagen's often frightening prophetic accuracy, while recognizing the frequent failure of their warnings to be heeded. They are the Cassandras, moved by a godlike awareness to speak out against the common doom rushing toward humanity.

===Origins:===

Klagens are the least likely of all geniuses to bear seeds of their catalyst before the tragedy that defines them. They may be sad, thoughtful people, but others are equally likely to be exuberant, full of life, and passionate―though rarely is a pre-Klagen abstractly disinterested in human affairs. But despite this common thread of being connected to humanity, Klagens come from all walks of life. They don't start off angry like Grimms or cultivate jealousy like Neids.

Mad doctors are more often Klagens than any other catalyst, since there is so much potential for tragedy in the healing arts. Even Klagens who begin in other fields can experience a desire to study medicine after their Breakthrough. But people who will become Cassandras come from nearly any walk of life, since tragedy can strike anywhere. Some are construction workers and machinists who lose friends to accidents, mismanagement and plant closings (often caused by their own failures; catalyzing mortals who can blame someone else more often become Grimms or Neids). Others are researchers who watch friends grow obsessed with studies that eventually destroy them―some Klagens almost seem like echoes of another would-be genius, annihilated during their Breakthroughs―while others grow obsessed with their own studies, only to wake up one day and realize that everyone has left them, and all that remains is their work. Comparatively few Klagens come from outside the scientific community, however; most regular people faced with tragedy move on, or fall to despair; few see a solution or a way to stop those tragedies from happening again.

===Breakthrough:===

Cassandras are born in sorrow. This might be either a personal loss or general sorrow at the state of the world, but most often it is a combination of the two: a terrible loss that the burgeoning genius suffers that sheds light on one of the greater tragedies eating away at the World of Darkness. This loss is sometimes the genius' own fault. It is not often violent―violent tragedy leads more often to the creation of Grimms―but it is often sad, often pointless, a tragedy that reveals the underlying cruelty of the world.

Klagens are in fact slightly rarer than other catalysts, since the quiet contemplation necessary to catalyze as a Klagen matches poorly with the frantic Mania coursing through a new genius' brain. A Klagen's tragedy and her transformation must align just right: an aerospace engineer whose secret love gets dragged screaming into an air intake might instead catalyze as a Grimm (someone else is at fault), a Hoffnung (I can make sure this sort of thing never happens again), a Neid (someone planned this to ruin me), or, in all likelihood, not catalyze at all. The genius' tragedy must occur at the very cusp of a conceptual breakthrough. Perhaps the secret love feared the Klagen's growing obsession with the new technology, and foolishly snuck in to run her own tests. Betrayed, but not vengeful, the aerospace engineer catalyzes in sorrow and regret, but also sudden understanding: a way to perfect the engine, to give the tragedy meaning.

===Motivations:===

The nature of a Klagen's loss determines her subsequent behavior. Some work to reverse the tragedy that befell them, while others try to prevent their fate from befalling others―possibly against their will. Other Klagens begin their Inspired careers peculiarly directionless, even fatalistic. Faced with strange new abilities, many retreat into bewilderment, wondering what to do with their ruined lives.

But Mania doesn't let them rest. The visions always come: plans to undo the damage they've caused, dreams of how to take away pain and sorrow and despair, and most of all, an overwhelming urge to warn others about the doom that rushes toward them. This prophetic, often futile doom-saying―a Cassandra complex―defines Klagens, who are haunted by the failures of their past and nightmare images of the future. This constant dread and despair can drive a Klagen insane if she is not careful, goading her into irrational, hysterical behavior.

===Collaboration:===

A Klagen can provide grounding and stability for a collaborative. This isn't to say that the Klagen's job is always to say, "I don't think that's a very good idea," but once a room has three or more mad scientists in it, there are a lot of bad ideas that get thrown around. Someone whose sorrow grounds her Mania can be invaluable in preventing horrible ideas from turning into horrible misadventures. Klagens are also the most adept of any catalyst at analyzing the perspective of individual humans. Where a Hoffnung can focus on society, a Klagen can study the behavior of people in all their ugly uniqueness, giving a collaborative alienated 
from humanity a glimpse into the soul of the sane world. A collaborative, by contrast, keeps a Klagen active. Too many Klagens sink into despair and inactivity, drowning in regret or paralyzed by dreadful apocalyptic fantasies; a dynamic, energized collaborative can give a sorrowing genius purpose, direction, and motivation.

===Favored Axiom:===
Exelixi, the Axiom of Restoration. Many Cassandras work to prevent the horror that befell them from ever happening again, or if it does come, to reverse those effects.

===Derangement:===
Depression. Klagens are naturally prone to misery and all-consuming despair.

===Training:===

Klagens come from backgrounds that see great suffering. Many are ex-military or former doctors, with the Skills to back up those origins. They are often gifted, possessing high Intelligence or some other Attribute, but prone to moral failings that imply a feeble Resolve. Cassandras that come from technical or blue-collar positions, such as auto-mechanics and construction workers, often have excellent Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wits, while those who saw their political dreams destroyed can be highly influential speakers when they find the motivation.

With so many Klagens coming from the medical world, Medicine is a common Skill. Others see the world of the metanormal and supernatural as the quickest route to healing the damage they've caused, and become masters of the Occult, while others try to escape humanity entirely for a time, and learn self-sufficient Skills like Survival and Animal Ken. Those that fall out of society completely become the wandering mad, their street-level experiences reflected in Skills like Brawl, Larceny, and Streetwise―though few Klagens remain in this state for long.

===Concepts:===
Disgraced software engineer, geneticist who made a fatal error, unwitting creator of monsters, 
shack-dwelling crazy person, prophetic ecoterrorist, fallen trophy wife, nihilistic politico, scholar of genocide, hollowed-out social worker.

''When I was in high school my teacher told me that there are more people alive today than have ever lived. Don't worry: she lied, then got cancer. (Not my fault.) We live atop a mountain of corpses. The Earth is swimming in humans, above and below the ground, so when I see you trying to raise the dead, I'm torn. On the one hand, I recognize your despair. On the other hand, do you really want to spend the rest of the week fending off a zombie apocalypse as the Earth vomits up her dead? AGAIN? Come on, man, think this through: every time you try this, we end up fighting zombies. I hate zombies. Just put the syringe down.''

===Stereotypes:===
Grimm: Rage just makes more hurt. Reflect on what has hurt you; that will stop it from happening again.

Hoffnung: We can hope for small victories, maybe. Revolutionary change is beyond the reach even of Inspiration in this awful world.

Neid: The terrible truth is that no one cares about you enough to hate you.

Staunen: What childish whimsy, to pretend to see "beyond" the horrors of this world. In truth you just ignore them.