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

==Staunen==

'''The Catalyst of Curiosity'''

'''Nickname: Grigori'''

'''Traditional Planet: Mercury'''

''Oh, the things I have seen...''

There are rays of light even in the World of Darkness. The Staunens have found them and want to share them with the world. Their Breakthrough involved a moment of superlative wonder and near-religious awe at the cosmos or some aspect of it, and that starry-eyed amazement never truly left them. This does not make all Staunens decent people, of course―what fills a genius with wonder may fill a normal person with horror and disgust―but they nonetheless carry a spark of amazement with them wherever they go.

Quintessential explorers, Staunens work to tear down the veils that hide the truth from our eyes. This makes them both terrifying and magnificent: their curiosity itself is an affront to the established order, an enemy of tranquility and decorum. In their hunger to know, Staunens most epitomize the mad scientist, ripping away falsehoods to reveal the hideous truth behind the lies we tell ourselves.

Before the rise of modern psychology, popular conception linked geniuses of this cast with the Grigori, the watching-angels of Cabbalistic mythology. This mythological designation reflects an element of the Staunens that is not clear from the simple German term: psychologically, many Staunens seem fit only to watch, to analyze, and to record; their attempts to interact with the worlds they see can birth nightmares and chaos.

===Origins:===

The Staunens saw something before their Breakthrough and it consumed them. Most Staunens were 
hobbyists: not full scientists, but not rank amateurs either; they were explorers, tinkers, and investigators. Seeing something new and strange, whether in the flicker of a telescope or the scrolling lines of computer code, they grew hungry for more. Staunens not drawn from the breeding pool are often investigative journalists or private investigators who stumble upon something too weird to dismiss but not quite horrifying enough to bury behind fugues and night-terrors. They might never even see what they hunt, whether it's an immortal Ophidian who controls the town's mayor or a secret spawning-ground of electronic manes. Instead, the fascination itself is what drives these amateur sleuths and mystery-seekers.

===Breakthrough:===

Of all the catalysts, the Staunens often experience the least traumatic Breakthrough: any horror they experience is often postponed until they gain sufficient talent and insight to answer the questions they've unwisely raised. Proto-Staunens in the scientific community may operate on either the cutting edge of their fields or in the historical trenches, uncovering forgotten twists and turns that could have utterly transformed a field of knowledge. Whether forging ahead or digging into unexplored crevices, they fall deeper and deeper into mystification and bewilderment. Eventually the fascination reaches a critical mass, turns into obsession, and results in the genius' Breakthrough.

Not all Staunens drift leisurely into a broader world. Others are dragged there in a flash, exposed to things beyond their ken or comprehension, then left abandoned in the cold light of mundanity. Whether they're astronomers or farm hands, geneticists who watch secret words appear in DNA or kids who realize the neighbor's dog talks to Jupiter at night, they've seen too much and now they can't go back. Some just blunder into enlightenment, while a few get introduced by other geniuses, eager to crack open a fresh new mind, but for these Staunens, their breakthrough and the time afterward can be traumatic and confusing as they work to see again what opened their minds.

===Motivations:===

Consumed by curiosity, Staunens spend most of their time looking for new ways to sate it. They plunge from one project to the next, seeking answers at almost any cost. This can make them dangerous, but also useful: other geniuses can hitch their own work to a Staunen's frantic investigations. Some Grigori focus on a single question for years, or perhaps even their whole lives: What is the nature of death? What is the origin of the universe? Just what the hell is in this puzzle-box I got for my eighteenth birthday? Others leap from project to project, letting Inspiration push them along like a muse as they explore one mystery after the next, often leaving chaos and turmoil in their wake.

===Collaboration:===

Staunens are prone to obsession, which can be dangerous and isolating. A few have been found rotting in their seats beneath the observatory's telescope or dessicated and decayed in front of still-glowing computer screens. Collaboratives are a great way to avoid dying alone and forgotten, and they are also sources of new perspectives. Too many Staunens find themselves staring at the same patch of space or time, day after day; other points of view are vital to give the genius a new perspective and allow him to escape the doldrums of repetitive analysis.
The Grigori are also useful to the rest of the collaborative insofar as they provide a distraction from the mundane. Most other catalysts are focused on the human condition; Staunens, by contrast, focus entirely on the extraordinary. This can make them cold, strange, and alien, but it can also give other geniuses in the collaborative the lofty perspective they sometimes need. When a Hoffnung's plans to change the world fall apart or a Neid chokes on bitterness and spite, the collaborative's Staunen can help them escape the disappointment of the human world for a time.

===Favored Axiom:===
Apokalypsi, the Axiom of Discovery. The Staunens are often desperate to see more of what 
they first glimpsed, and Apokalypsi grants them that.

===Derangement:===
Fixation. Grigori are prone to minute obsession with things no reasonable person would find engrossing.

===Training:===
Staunens are often more like "pure scientists" than other catalysts, exploring the world for its own sake. They often study Computer and Science more than Crafts, and they are the most likely to study the Occult. Those that seek out the weird and extraordinary have a variety of Physical Skills like Larceny and Survival, while Staunens who began their careers as journalists or investigators usually possess Investigation, Politics, and Subterfuge.

Catalysts of curiosity often result in a more stable personality than with other mad scientists, granting higher Composure. Those Staunens able to articulate their amazement at the world often possess blazing Presence. Staunens without Social Attributes are also common, though; these often possess staggering Intelligence and Wits to record and make sense of observations, as well as high Resolve to survive weeks or months of repetitive study for little reward.

Many Staunens let their previous social engagements melt away upon their catalyst, meaning that Social Merits like Allies and Fame are comparatively rare. In contrast, Staunens often have excellent senses and memories, making Merits like Eidetic Memory common.

===Concepts:===
Forgotten stargazer, cryptid-hunter, bright-eyed theologian, cartographer of mysterious places, 
obsessed genealogist, manipulative social engineer, lucid dreamer

''I'm afraid I don't see things like you do. I mean it: I'm afraid. What if the things I find beautiful drive you mad? What if they hollow you out like clever little squirrels getting nuts for the winter, except the nuts are your eyes, and winter is, I don't know, maybe the Rapture or something? And I'm just smiling while your face gets ripped apart because I think it's beautiful? These things worry me sometimes, when I'm not not looking at the night sky. So I 
spend a lot of time looking at the night sky, and not looking at your face and thinking about squirrels.''

===Stereotypes:===
Grimm: Some people mistake blind fury for a sense of true justice. There is justice in the world, but beating up polluters like you're Captain fucking Planet isn't what it looks like.

Hoffnung: The world is magnificent as it is, not just as you want it to be.

Klagen: Sorrow is a local and ultimately futile feeling before the majesty of the cosmos.

Neid: There is more to Heaven and Earth than your endless, insufferable whining. I have heard the song of the universe, and it's telling you to shut up.