Olfactory Acuity (sage ability)

Olfactory Acuity is an amateur-status sage ability in the study of Mosses & Ferns, providing the ability to perceive and interpret odours with unusual sensitivity, so as to judge the condition of living bodies and the nature of substances by scent. Through this faculty, the character may detect changes not readily apparent to sight or touch, recognising the presence of corruption, imbalance or alteration in a patient, as well as the general character of preparations that act upon the body, such as poisons, salves and potions.

As the character advances from amateur to authority and beyond, this acuity becomes more refined, permitting the recognition of fainter odours and the distinction between conditions that would otherwise seem alike. What is first perceived as a general taint or quality comes to be understood in more exact terms, so that the character may judge not only the presence of a condition, but its nature, degree and likely course.

Olfactory Perception

Status	Corruptions	Creatures & Substances	Poisons & Venoms	Potions
amateur	wounds; diseases: blood, breathing, sinuses, skin, stomach & colon
authority	necrosis; gangrene; diseases: bladder, muscles, joints, heart, hormonal
expert	diseases: ears, eyes, skeletal
sage	diseases: brain & nerves