Empire - User contributions [en]

The Brass Coast culture and customs

2016-07-30T14:29:31Z

DomR:

{{CaptionedImage|file=FreebornFamily.jpg|align=left|width=350|align=left}}
==Family==
[[Family]] is important to the Freeborn. They live in extended family groups covering several generations with a strong emphasis on helping and supporting each other. Occasionally Freeborn will extend the privilege of family membership to valued friends, long-term employees or waifs and strays - these adoptees are whole-heartedly welcomed and are treated no different from blood relations. To the Freeborn, betraying your family is unforgivable.

The responsibility that the Freeborn feel for family members does not extend to others. The Freeborn make a point of disclaiming any responsibility for the wellbeing of others. They do not regard themselves as obliged to help the poor or the sick, the disposessed or the homeless. They may be as charitable as they please, but they refuse to accept that it is their responsibility to care for others.
{{CaptionedImage|file=BrassLounge.jpg|align=right|width=350}}
==Hospitality==
On the Coast, food and drink is only offered freely to family. Since most Freeborn habitually avoid favours and social debts but all Freeborn enjoy hospitality, both giving and receiving, the custom is always to offer to pay before receiving refreshments. A Freeborn approaching a tent of revelry might ask the price for a seat at the table. A token price of a ring or two indicates that they are very welcome to join, a price in crowns indicates that the meeting is private and the Freeborn should look elsewhere, but an exorbitant price in thrones is a deliberate insult.

Despite the ritualized nature of the exchange, actual payment is required. To the Freeborn mind, it is the payment that ensures that no further obligation exists on the part of either party. For close friends or clearly impoverished a Freeborn might offer a fine meal for help with the dishes or even an afternoon's work. It is easy to be itinerant in Freeborn society, so long as you don't mind working for your supper.

==Syrah==
Syrah is the ritualized drink of the Freeborn, habitually offered to guests, business associates and drunk during family affairs. Each family carefully guards their own recipe for syrah, and there is a common belief that to give away its secret is to give some of your good luck to another. Syrah can be almost anything, a brew of coffee or tea sweetened with honey or sugar, a fruit juice or a fine wine, but should be pleasant and appealing. It is not strongly alcoholic, since it is intended to be drunk as a family and when business is being discussed. Offering Syrah before the opening of trade negotiations is considered not only polite, but beneficial to the coming talks.
{{CaptionedImage|file=FreebornScrivener.jpg|caption=Freeborn scriveners are often cambions.|align=left|width=350}}
==Contracts==
Written contracts are exceptionally important in Freeborn culture. The best contracts are short and succinct but clearly identify the obligations of both parties. To the Freeborn mind, making an agreement commits the integrity of their soul to the deal. If they contract to do something their reputation is at stake if they cannot carry out the letter of the contract. For this reason, almost all enduring contracts include fiscal clauses for default. This is not meant as a lack of commitment, but simply to avoid being a hostage to fortune should circumstances change and make it impossible for the parties to complete the deal. The Freeborn see no shame in going back on contracts provided the default bonds are paid - since such defaults are, of course, a part of the letter of the contract.

A scrivener is often employed to help make sure that a contract is clear and that both sides understand their obligations. These professionals also serve as witnesses who can help confirm the validity of a contract. Many scriveners are [[cambion|cambions]], and there is a superstition that the blood of a cambion (usually a thumb print) upon a document of trade will bring good fortune to the signatories - or dire circumstance to one who breaks the contract.

Contracts are also a common [[The Brass Coast hearth magic|hearth magic]] on the Brass Coast.

==Art==
Calligraphy is highly valued along the Brass Coast. They value books but treasure those that are beautifully illuminated. To the Freeborn, every aspect of writing is an important artistic statement. The language used should be articulate and possess a lyrical quality; the letters and words should be written with bold ink strokes on beautiful paper or parchment that is then decorated and illuminated. Given their emphasis on deals, it is no surprise that the Freeborn prefer their contracts to be beautifully inked. They often display particularly fine examples on the walls of their homes, especially ones that have great sentimental or fiscal value.

Music and dance form the heart of nearly any Freeborn celebration. Passion and enthusiasm are valued over technical precision, and it is common for any musical performance to include well-known songs with which the entire audience can join in.
{{CaptionedImage|file=FreebornDancer.jpg|title=Dancing is also a common element in Freeborn ritual magic, as well as in the religious services of the sutannir|caption=Music and dance form the heart of any Freeborn celebration.|align=left|width=300}}
==Marriages and relationships==
Freeborn society does not favour men or women but tribal and familial lines are always matrilineal. Because of this while men may marry into a Freeborn family and tribe, women can not. If a Freeborn woman marries then her spouse joins her tribal family. On the rare occasion when two Freeborn women from different tribes marry, they live together but formally remain members of different tribes.

Marriage outside the tribe is relatively rare. Much more common is for Freeborn men and women to form temporary attachments. These attachments are romantic or physical in nature, but with no assumption that they will last for life. In fact with some pairings there is no assumption that they will last more than a night.

All marriages – and indeed most extended attachments – are formalised with a contract in which each participant lays down the parameters of the relationship. A marriage or relationship contract commonly covers matters such as the duration of the relationship, the rights and responsibilities of the participants, the expectation of fidelity and the options for marriage and relationship contracts with others, the division of shared wealth both during and after the relationship ends, and at least one clause covering how the relationship may be ended prematurely by either party. This rather cold-blooded practicality around matters of the heart is just another manifestation of the Freeborn's fiscal approach to life. These contracts ensure that both parties know the value the other places on the attachment. Not all attachments require a contract, but if a relationship is going to last for more than a few weeks, it is considered a sensible precaution against misunderstandings.
{{CaptionedImage|file=FreebornFuneral.jpg|title=Some mourners wear black cloaks over their brightest clothing, and shed the cloaks to symbolise the transition between the sorrow of mourning and the celebration of the life well-lived.|caption=Some mourners wear black cloaks over their brightest clothing|align=right|width=250}}
==Funerals==
Freeborn dead are wrapped in spice-infused wraps of black cloth and then burned. The resulting ashes are scattered on the sea, or on the winds of the plain, depending on the family's wishes.

A funeral is rarely a sombre affair. The Freeborn take joy in a life well-lived and they consider it an insult to mourn its passing. Attendees wear brightly coloured robes, and focus on celebrating the life of the deceased. It is normal for the will to be read by a Sutannir at the height of the party. The will is a last chance to share a joke with loved ones and it is traditional for it to be as humorous as possible, akin to a best man's speech at a wedding. On the rare occasion when grief is appropriate, such as with the death of a child, the grieving is much shorter but just as open and intense.

Old tradition says that those lost at sea take new form as dolphins who will guide and guard lost ships. While no-one really believes it these days, it is a stock element in many stories involving sea travel.

A personification of death sometimes appears in Freeborn stories, and is especially popular in plays and as a [[The Doctor#Death|dramaturgic archetype]]. As a character, Death is usually mocked as a figure of fun, a bumbling idiot and a clown who can easily be outwitted through courage and cunning. The counterpart of death is [[The Witch#Fortune|Fortune]], who personifies ideas of luck and chance as well as fate or destiny. These literary tropes have a deeper philosophical context; such stories often explore the idea that death may come suddenly and without warning, as a result of happenstance or bad luck. This is especially important to a people as dedicated to getting as much out of life as the Freeborn are.

[[Category:The Brass Coast]]
[[Category:Nations]]

The Brass Coast culture and customs

2016-07-30T14:25:27Z

DomR:

{{CaptionedImage|file=FreebornFamily.jpg|align=left|width=350|align=left}}
==Family==
[[Family]] is important to the Freeborn. They live in extended family groups covering several generations with a strong emphasis on helping and supporting each other. Occasionally Freeborn will extend the privilege of family membership to valued friends, long-term employees or waifs and strays - these adoptees are whole-heartedly welcomed and are treated no different from blood relations. To the Freeborn, betraying your family is unforgivable.

The responsibility that the Freeborn feel for family members does not extend to others. The Freeborn make a point of disclaiming any responsibility for the wellbeing of others. They do not regard themselves as obliged to help the poor or the sick, the disposessed or the homeless. They may be as charitable as they please, but they refuse to accept that it is their responsibility to care for others.
{{CaptionedImage|file=BrassLounge.jpg|align=right|width=350}}
==Hospitality==
On the Coast, food and drink is only offered freely to family. Since most Freeborn habitually avoid favours and social debts but all Freeborn enjoy hospitality, both giving and receiving, the custom is always to offer to pay before receiving refreshments. A Freeborn approaching a tent of revelry might ask the price for a seat at the table. A token price of a ring or two indicates that they are very welcome to join, a price in crowns indicates that the meeting is private and the Freeborn should look elsewhere, but an exorbitant price in thrones is a deliberate insult.

Despite the ritualized nature of the exchange, actual payment is required. To the Freeborn mind, it is the payment that ensures that no further obligation exists on the part of either party. For close friends or clearly impoverished a Freeborn might offer a fine meal for help with the dishes or even an afternoon's work. It is easy to be itinerant in Freeborn society, so long as you don't mind working for your supper.

==Syrah==
Syrah is the ritualized drink of the Freeborn, habitually offered to guests, business associates and drunk during family affairs. Each family carefully guards their own recipe for syrah, and there is a common belief that to give away its secret is to give some of your good luck to another. Syrah can be almost anything, a brew of coffee or tea sweetened with honey or sugar, a fruit juice or a fine wine, but should be pleasant and appealing. It is not strongly alcoholic, since it is intended to be drunk as a family and when business is being discussed. Offering Syrah before the opening of trade negotiations is considered not only polite, but beneficial to the coming talks.
{{CaptionedImage|file=FreebornScrivener.jpg|caption=Freeborn scriveners are often cambions.|align=left|width=350}}
==Contracts==
Written contracts are exceptionally important in Freeborn culture. The best contracts are short and succinct but clearly identify the obligations of both parties. To the Freeborn mind, making an agreement commits the integrity of their soul to the deal. If they contract to do something their reputation is at stake if they cannot carry out the letter of the contract. For this reason, almost all enduring contracts include fiscal clauses for default. This is not meant as a lack of commitment, but simply to avoid being a hostage to fortune should circumstances change and make it impossible for the parties to complete the deal. The Freeborn see no shame in going back on contracts provided the default bonds are paid - since such defaults are, of course, a part of the letter of the contract.

A scrivener is often employed to help make sure that a contract is clear and that both sides understand their obligations. These professionals also serve as witnesses who can help confirm the validity of a contract. Many scriveners are [[cambion|cambions]], and there is a superstition that the blood of a cambion (usually a thumb print) upon a document of trade will bring good fortune to the signatories - or dire circumstance to one who breaks the contract.

Contracts are also a common [[The Brass Coast hearth magic|hearth magic]] on the Brass Coast.

==Art==
Calligraphy is highly valued along the Brass Coast. They value books but treasure those that are beautifully illuminated. To the Freeborn, every aspect of writing is an important artistic statement. The language used should be articulate and possess a lyrical quality; the letters and words should be written with bold ink strokes on beautiful paper or parchment that is then decorated and illuminated. Given their emphasis on deals, it is no surprise that the Freeborn prefer their contracts to be beautifully inked. They often display particularly fine examples on the walls of their homes, especially ones that have great sentimental or fiscal value.

Music and dance form the heart of nearly any Freeborn celebration. Passion and enthusiasm are valued over technical precision, and it is common for any musical performance to include well-known songs with which the entire audience can join in.
{{CaptionedImage|file=FreebornDancer.jpg|title=Dancing is also a common element in Freeborn ritual magic, as well as in the religious services of the sutannir|caption=Music and dance form the heart of any Freeborn celebration.|align=left|width=300}}
==Marriages and relationships==
Freeborn society does not favour men or women but tribal and familial lines are always matrilineal. Because of this while men may marry into a Freeborn family and tribe, women can not. If a Freeborn woman marries then her spouse joins her tribal family. On the rare occasion when two Freeborn women from different tribes marry, they live together but formally remain members of different tribes.

Marriage outside the tribe is relatively rare. Much more common is for Freeborn men and women to form temporary attachments. These attachments are romantic or physical in nature, but with no assumption that they will last for life. In fact with some pairings there is no assumption that they will last more than a night.

All marriages – and indeed most extended attachments – are formalised with a contract in which each participant lays down the parameters of the relationship. A marriage or relationship contract commonly covers matters such as the duration of the relationship, the rights and responsibilities of the participants, the expectation of fidelity and the options for marriage and relationship contracts with others, the division of shared wealth both during and after the relationship ends, and at least one clause covering how the relationship may be ended prematurely by either party. This rather cold-blooded practicality around matters of the heart is just another manifestation of the Freeborn's fiscal approach to life. These contracts ensure that both parties know the value the other places on the attachment. Not all attachments require a contract, but if a relationship is going to last for more than a few weeks, it is considered a sensible precaution against misunderstandings.
{{CaptionedImage|file=FreebornFuneral.jpg|title=Some mourners wear black cloaks over their brightest clothing, and shed the cloaks to symbolise the transition between the sorrow of mourning and the celebration of the life well-lived.|caption=Some mourners wear black cloaks over their brightest clothing, and shed the cloaks to symbolise the transition between the sorrow of mourning and the celebration of the life well-lived.|align=right|width=250}}
==Funerals==
Freeborn dead are wrapped in spice-infused wraps of black cloth and then burned. The resulting ashes are scattered on the sea, or on the winds of the plain, depending on the family's wishes.

A funeral is rarely a sombre affair. The Freeborn take joy in a life well-lived and they consider it an insult to mourn its passing. Attendees wear brightly coloured robes, and focus on celebrating the life of the deceased. It is normal for the will to be read by a Sutannir at the height of the party. The will is a last chance to share a joke with loved ones and it is traditional for it to be as humorous as possible, akin to a best man's speech at a wedding. On the rare occasion when grief is appropriate, such as with the death of a child, the grieving is much shorter but just as open and intense.

Old tradition says that those lost at sea take new form as dolphins who will guide and guard lost ships. While no-one really believes it these days, it is a stock element in many stories involving sea travel.

A personification of death sometimes appears in Freeborn stories, and is especially popular in plays and as a [[The Doctor#Death|dramaturgic archetype]]. As a character, Death is usually mocked as a figure of fun, a bumbling idiot and a clown who can easily be outwitted through courage and cunning. The counterpart of death is [[The Witch#Fortune|Fortune]], who personifies ideas of luck and chance as well as fate or destiny. These literary tropes have a deeper philosophical context; such stories often explore the idea that death may come suddenly and without warning, as a result of happenstance or bad luck. This is especially important to a people as dedicated to getting as much out of life as the Freeborn are.

[[Category:The Brass Coast]]
[[Category:Nations]]

Zemress

2015-05-12T20:49:21Z

DomR: /* Signs */ SPAG

<quote-right by="attributed to Zemress, Blade of the Isles.">Every charitable act is a stepping stone towards enlightenment.</quote-right>
{{CaptionedImage|file=IconZemress.png |caption=Icon of Zemress|title=Icons such as these are popular with sailors who must travel through dangerous waters.|align=right|width=300}}
==Virtue==
Zemress, The Blade of the Isles was recognised as an [[Paragons and Exemplars|Exemplar]] of [[Prosperity]] by the [[Imperial Synod]] in 223 YE, three years after her disappearance and presumed death.

==Biography==
Zemress Ezmara was born into a poor family of merchant sailors and dockworkers who lived in [[Madruga#Calvos|Calvos]], along the western rim of the Bay of Catazar. There is little known about her early years other than testimonies that state she was a hard worker, dedicated to her community and the Imperial Way of Virtue. It is rumoured that she had the habit of stowing away on ships in search of adventure but as yet no evidence has been presented to support these claims.

What is confirmed is that by the age of just twenty she was granted the position of first mate on board The Old Peart, a merchantman that sailed The Jewelled Isles and Sarvos trade routes. Two years later she was granted captaincy of her own vessel and worked for the Saluga trade guild transporting shipments of fine wines destined for the cities of The League. It was here that she met and befriended the retired ship's captain and famous shipwright, Captain Massimo Belardinelli. For several years she split her time between sailing and studying under the tutelage of Belardinelli and proved to be a most gifted pupil.

The following years were infamous for the increased pirate activity in the Bay of Catazar. The Saluga guild suffered the loss of dozens of valuable shipments and several ships were seized or scuttled, resulting in the complete collapse of the trade guild and the bankruptcy of the investors. Zemress was outraged by the depredations of the pirates yet despite the fact she was now unemployed and destitute, she vowed to take action against these barbarian scum. The Civil Service were unable to supply any financial or military support due to the recent loss of Segura in 204 YE, all spare Imperial resources being directed to deal with this tragedy.

Undeterred by her misfortune, Zemress gathered her designs and embarked upon a journey to Anvil. Along the way she visited shrines erected to the Virtue of [[Prosperity]] and discussed her intentions with priests and pilgrims, pleading for advice and meditating upon the wisdom she was granted. Upon arriving in Anvil, she presented her design proposals to several affluent guilds who universally expressed interest in purchasing her drawings. Several of her proposed improvements to rigging, construction and hull design are stored in the Imperial Library and may still be viewed today. The ''Zemress Hull'' is still considered to be the standard of design for all Imperial Light Cutters and has even been adopted by some foreign nations.

With her newly acquired wealth, she returned to her home city of Calvos, setting up a business with her old friend and mentor Belardinelli who acted as chief overseer of operations. A newly discovered acumen for matters of business combined with her revolutions in ship design provided her with enough funds to start construction of her own sailing ships. ''The Kraken's Bane'', a ship designed with the lone intention of hunting and destroying pirate raiders, was the first ship launched from her new shipyards and remained her personal vessel and the flagship of the fleet for the duration of her life.

Over the following years, Zemress hunted and captured dozens of pirate raiders, paying for her crews and expenses out of her own pocket and without financial support from her impecunious homeland. After the devastation of Segura (204 YE), Barbarians were shown no mercy and were quickly put to the sword while foreigners were frequently taught Imperial values and the benefits of following The Way. Those who converted to The Way were often set free and returned safely to their homes, others were ransomed back to their people with strict warnings never to trespass upon Imperial waters again. She is one of the few Imperial Exemplars also recognised in [[The Sumaah Republic]]. It was during these Years of Trouble that Zemress gained the epithet ''The Blade of the Isles''.

It would be quite easy to simply dismiss her actions as those of a glorified pirate were it not for her actions following a successful patrol. Zemress would split the spoils of war between her sailors, each taking their due share. Upon docking in port, a service of thanks would be given. This was always led by a priest of Prosperity and all and sundry were invited to participate (It has been recorded that one such service was attended by over two thousand citizens). At the conclusion of the service, Zemress would take her share of righteous bounty and bestow it upon the poor and needy of the community, announcing her plans for how it would be spent. As far as can be discerned, this money was never simply given away to be squandered on cheap drink and whores. Instead, it was invested into projects that would benefit everyone in the community. Indeed, several housing projects were funded by this wealth, local business ventures were started, a widows and orphans fund was initiated and the greatest proportion was delivered into the hands of the Imperial Civil Service to benefit all citizens of the Empire.

In the year 220 YE, Zemress sailed out of port in her ship The Kraken's Bane, with the intention of hunting a notorious pirate vessel known as the [[Grendel]]. This led to one of the greatest mysteries of the Catazar. After leaving port, neither Zemress or her crew were ever seen or heard from again. Since The Grendel also vanished at the same time it is speculated by some that both ships were engaged in a momentous battle, so fierce that everyone on board was killed. All that is truly known is that a year after setting sail, The Kraken's Bane was spotted drifting at sea just off its home port of Calvos. There was no sign of the crew or any evidence of what happened to them. It was as though everyone had simply and peacefully abandoned the ship at exactly the same time. Many faithful proclaim this is testimony that everyone must have died in battle, with the exception of Zemress herself who ascended at the end of the fighting. Others have speculated that when Zemress ascended, her entire faithful crew were raised in the labyrinth with her. Most people have no explanation and to this day the events surrounding The Kraken's Bane, remain a mystery.

For many sailors, Zemress represents the epitome of the Imperial [[corsair]] - mercilessly hunting and destroying those who threaten the security and integrity of the Empire. Others remember her for her less martial actions - as a great and selfless benefactor of the Empire responsible for great acts of kindness and generosity.

Zemress has been attributed with the saying "It is not the pointless accumulation of money that makes one wealthy, but the responsible distribution of that money that provides true wealth.". During the year 223 YE the Imperial Synod recognised Zemress Ezmara, The Blade of the Isles, as an Exemplar of Prosperity.

==Signs==
The [[The_Assemblies_of_the_Synod#The_Virtue_Assemblies|Assembly]] of [[Prosperity]] cited the following signs of Zemress's exemplardom:
* Zemress's acts of charity were acts of ''benevolence'' that enriched thousands of Imperial Citizens.
* The Blade of the Isles is an ''inspiration'' to many who take up arms against those who threaten the Empire, from sailors to [[Dawn|Dawnish]] [[knight-errant|knights-errant]]. However, she is primarily recognised as an inspiration to those who work hard and invest that money for the benefit of others, knowing that the long-term rewards will be a benefit to every citizen - recognised as such by the [[The_League_leadership|Merchant Princes]] of the [[The League|League]] and members of the [[Imperial Bourse]].
* Her journey to Anvil is generally accepted as a ''pilgrimage'' and many faithful replicate her travels, culminating in a great service in the city of Anvil.
* The [[Imperial Synod]] have acknowledged the great contribution Zemress made in converting irreligious foreigners to The Way of Virtue and also in reaffirming the faith of many Imperial Citizens who had wandered from the true path. Her acts of ''salvation'' are frequently sermonized by Priests of Prosperity.
* The Kraken's Bane is considered an, albeit slightly unusual, ''legacy''. It is housed in a specially erected dry dock in the city of Calvos and is the destination of many pilgrims. Slivers of keel timber are mounted in medals with ribbon necklaces and ''The Honour of the Kraken'' is awarded as one of the highest honours to those heroes of the Empire who have performed charitable and/or valorous acts for the sake of others.

[[Category:Exemplars]]

Zemress

2015-05-12T20:47:47Z

DomR: /* Signs */ SPAG

<quote-right by="attributed to Zemress, Blade of the Isles.">Every charitable act is a stepping stone towards enlightenment.</quote-right>
{{CaptionedImage|file=IconZemress.png |caption=Icon of Zemress|title=Icons such as these are popular with sailors who must travel through dangerous waters.|align=right|width=300}}
==Virtue==
Zemress, The Blade of the Isles was recognised as an [[Paragons and Exemplars|Exemplar]] of [[Prosperity]] by the [[Imperial Synod]] in 223 YE, three years after her disappearance and presumed death.

==Biography==
Zemress Ezmara was born into a poor family of merchant sailors and dockworkers who lived in [[Madruga#Calvos|Calvos]], along the western rim of the Bay of Catazar. There is little known about her early years other than testimonies that state she was a hard worker, dedicated to her community and the Imperial Way of Virtue. It is rumoured that she had the habit of stowing away on ships in search of adventure but as yet no evidence has been presented to support these claims.

What is confirmed is that by the age of just twenty she was granted the position of first mate on board The Old Peart, a merchantman that sailed The Jewelled Isles and Sarvos trade routes. Two years later she was granted captaincy of her own vessel and worked for the Saluga trade guild transporting shipments of fine wines destined for the cities of The League. It was here that she met and befriended the retired ship's captain and famous shipwright, Captain Massimo Belardinelli. For several years she split her time between sailing and studying under the tutelage of Belardinelli and proved to be a most gifted pupil.

The following years were infamous for the increased pirate activity in the Bay of Catazar. The Saluga guild suffered the loss of dozens of valuable shipments and several ships were seized or scuttled, resulting in the complete collapse of the trade guild and the bankruptcy of the investors. Zemress was outraged by the depredations of the pirates yet despite the fact she was now unemployed and destitute, she vowed to take action against these barbarian scum. The Civil Service were unable to supply any financial or military support due to the recent loss of Segura in 204 YE, all spare Imperial resources being directed to deal with this tragedy.

Undeterred by her misfortune, Zemress gathered her designs and embarked upon a journey to Anvil. Along the way she visited shrines erected to the Virtue of [[Prosperity]] and discussed her intentions with priests and pilgrims, pleading for advice and meditating upon the wisdom she was granted. Upon arriving in Anvil, she presented her design proposals to several affluent guilds who universally expressed interest in purchasing her drawings. Several of her proposed improvements to rigging, construction and hull design are stored in the Imperial Library and may still be viewed today. The ''Zemress Hull'' is still considered to be the standard of design for all Imperial Light Cutters and has even been adopted by some foreign nations.

With her newly acquired wealth, she returned to her home city of Calvos, setting up a business with her old friend and mentor Belardinelli who acted as chief overseer of operations. A newly discovered acumen for matters of business combined with her revolutions in ship design provided her with enough funds to start construction of her own sailing ships. ''The Kraken's Bane'', a ship designed with the lone intention of hunting and destroying pirate raiders, was the first ship launched from her new shipyards and remained her personal vessel and the flagship of the fleet for the duration of her life.

Over the following years, Zemress hunted and captured dozens of pirate raiders, paying for her crews and expenses out of her own pocket and without financial support from her impecunious homeland. After the devastation of Segura (204 YE), Barbarians were shown no mercy and were quickly put to the sword while foreigners were frequently taught Imperial values and the benefits of following The Way. Those who converted to The Way were often set free and returned safely to their homes, others were ransomed back to their people with strict warnings never to trespass upon Imperial waters again. She is one of the few Imperial Exemplars also recognised in [[The Sumaah Republic]]. It was during these Years of Trouble that Zemress gained the epithet ''The Blade of the Isles''.

It would be quite easy to simply dismiss her actions as those of a glorified pirate were it not for her actions following a successful patrol. Zemress would split the spoils of war between her sailors, each taking their due share. Upon docking in port, a service of thanks would be given. This was always led by a priest of Prosperity and all and sundry were invited to participate (It has been recorded that one such service was attended by over two thousand citizens). At the conclusion of the service, Zemress would take her share of righteous bounty and bestow it upon the poor and needy of the community, announcing her plans for how it would be spent. As far as can be discerned, this money was never simply given away to be squandered on cheap drink and whores. Instead, it was invested into projects that would benefit everyone in the community. Indeed, several housing projects were funded by this wealth, local business ventures were started, a widows and orphans fund was initiated and the greatest proportion was delivered into the hands of the Imperial Civil Service to benefit all citizens of the Empire.

In the year 220 YE, Zemress sailed out of port in her ship The Kraken's Bane, with the intention of hunting a notorious pirate vessel known as the [[Grendel]]. This led to one of the greatest mysteries of the Catazar. After leaving port, neither Zemress or her crew were ever seen or heard from again. Since The Grendel also vanished at the same time it is speculated by some that both ships were engaged in a momentous battle, so fierce that everyone on board was killed. All that is truly known is that a year after setting sail, The Kraken's Bane was spotted drifting at sea just off its home port of Calvos. There was no sign of the crew or any evidence of what happened to them. It was as though everyone had simply and peacefully abandoned the ship at exactly the same time. Many faithful proclaim this is testimony that everyone must have died in battle, with the exception of Zemress herself who ascended at the end of the fighting. Others have speculated that when Zemress ascended, her entire faithful crew were raised in the labyrinth with her. Most people have no explanation and to this day the events surrounding The Kraken's Bane, remain a mystery.

For many sailors, Zemress represents the epitome of the Imperial [[corsair]] - mercilessly hunting and destroying those who threaten the security and integrity of the Empire. Others remember her for her less martial actions - as a great and selfless benefactor of the Empire responsible for great acts of kindness and generosity.

Zemress has been attributed with the saying "It is not the pointless accumulation of money that makes one wealthy, but the responsible distribution of that money that provides true wealth.". During the year 223 YE the Imperial Synod recognised Zemress Ezmara, The Blade of the Isles, as an Exemplar of Prosperity.

==Signs==
The [[Virtue Assembly|Assembly]] of [[Prosperity]] cited the following signs of Zemress's exemplardom:
* Zemress's acts of charity were acts of ''benevolence'' that enriched thousands of Imperial Citizens.
* The Blade of the Isles is an ''inspiration'' to many who take up arms against those who threaten the Empire, from sailors to [[Dawn|Dawnish]] [[knight-errant|knights-errant]]. However, she is primarily recognised as an inspiration to those who work hard and invest that money for the benefit of others, knowing that the long-term rewards will be a benefit to every citizen - recognised as such by the [[The_League_leadership|Merchant Princes]] of the [[The League|League]] and members of the [[Imperial Bourse]].
* Her journey to Anvil is generally accepted as a ''pilgrimage'' and many faithful replicate her travels, culminating in a great service in the city of Anvil.
* The [[Imperial Synod]] have acknowledged the great contribution Zemress made in converting irreligious foreigners to The Way of Virtue and also in reaffirming the faith of many Imperial Citizens who had wandered from the true path. Her acts of ''salvation'' are frequently sermonized by Priests of Prosperity.
* The Kraken's Bane is considered an, albeit slightly unusual, ''legacy''. It is housed in a specially erected dry dock in the city of Calvos and is the destination of many pilgrims. Slivers of keel timber are mounted in medals with ribbon necklaces and ''The Honour of the Kraken'' is awarded as one of the highest honours to those heroes of the Empire who have performed charitable and/or valorous acts for the sake of others.

[[Category:Exemplars]]

User:DomR

2014-06-23T18:51:03Z

DomR:

{{CaptionedImage|file=DomR.jpg|align=left}}
Team: Firefly

Email: [mailto:empire.backgrounds@profounddecisions.co.uk empire.backgrounds@profounddecisions.co.uk]

Ylenwe

2014-05-19T21:15:29Z

DomR: Added pdf tag

==Eternal of Day==
===Sobriquets===
Ylenrith (sometimes ''Ylenrath'') is called the ''Swan''.

Unlike many other Eternals, Ylenrith does not have many other common names; the only one used with any regularity is ''the Pure'' but the Eternal is known to dislike the use of this term. It is also occasionally known as the ''Eternal Flame'' and the ''Pure Morning'' and responds more positively to these sobriquets.

===Appearance===
Ylenrith (''Il-LEN-rith'') appears as a humanoid, often with strong [[merrow]] characteristics. It is neither female nor male, although it's physical form may suggest elements of either or both genders. It is usually dressed simply in a single pale colour, often white, light green or soft pastel blues. It usually wears a cloak of white feathers, and a belt of silver scales. It always speaks quietly, never raising it's voice except to sing.

As with [[Roshanwe]] the Eternal is said to make it's home at the point where they ocean of the Realm of Day rises to touch the sky. Also like Roshanwe, it expressed emotions such as bittersweet joy and quiet sadness in a way that is comprehensible to humans. While it is clearly a creature with great emotional depth, it rarely expresses those emotions - and when it does it does so through the medium of song.

Ylenrith claims that it never lies - that lying creates unnecessary dissonance - but this claim is difficult to substantiate.

The Swan is often accompanied by one or two Heralds; they are generally either musicians or mathematicians and some observers have suggested that they treat Ylenrith with a kind of restrained awe or worship that can be slightly unsettling.

===Concerns===
Ylenrith is strongly associated with concepts of purity and harmony. Focus, clarity calm and reason are all powerful touchstones as far as Ylenrith is concerned, and all suffering is caused by moving away from these principles. Lies, sickness, ignorance, drugs, passion, desire, fear and anger are all the same thing - impure, dangerous things that weigh down the spirits of living beings and lead them to harm themselves and others.

It is a consummate musician, and regularly expounds the idea that true communication takes place only through music (and occasionally through dance). The Swan appears to believe that spoken and written language impedes, rather than promotes, communication and suggests that it might be a dead end that encourages division rather than harmony. When individuals make music together their spirits briefly move into alignment with each other and with the greater scheme of things - they become a metaphor for the power of unity without sacrificing individual identity.

Emotions and passions expressed through music are 'harnessed' to the will of the musicians, and allow for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharsis catharsis] without which they can overwhelm the good sense of an individual and cause them harm. Ylenrith teaches that it is not wrong to feel things strongly, but that unless powerful emotions are carefully controlled they can lead to suffering and dissonance. By expressing them through music, they can be experienced in a contained and ordered way and provide strength and spiritual communion, rather than encouraging selfishness and disharmony.

Ylenrith encourages magicians to practice their magic with music - even the passionate dancing of the [[The Brass Coast magical traditions|hakima]] - and especially favours magicians who employ the [[Music of the spheres]] in their rituals.

Finally, music is also used as the gateway to Ylenrith's only true passion; mathematics. She firmly believes that the study of mathematics is the only 'pure' discipline, and that through it every truth of existence can be expressed in an elegant, simple and above-all truthful way. Mortals who study mathematics as more than "''the physics of bottlecaps''" are of great interest to Ylenrith.

This Eternal is also fascinated by medicine. Through understanding how mortal beings are built, one can restore harmony, purity and wholeness to them. It encourages healers to explore and embrace advances in medical sciences, moving away from superstition and tradition towards a true understanding not only of how living things are formed and operate, but from there to a greater undestanding of the world around them.

She is closely associated with the rune [[Cavul]]. She is strongly associated with pure water and a form of magical fire - which she calls ''the true flame'' - that can consume almost anything without producing smoke or soot, or leaving ashes behind.

Ylenrith is viewed with some suspicion by followers of the [[The Way|Way]]. She makes no effort to conceal her disdain for the auras created through [[Religious skills#Consecration|consecrate]], [[Religious skills#Hallow|hallowing]] and [[Religious skills#Anointing|anointing]]. Some religious magicians further point to the way that her Heralds seem to encourage worship of Ylenrith, and warn that her philosophy and boons may represent an attempt to spread [[Religious_Crimes#Idolatry|idolatrous]] worship of an Eternal to the Empire. They also point to the tranquility she seeks to promulgates as being no different to the malign spiritual presence of [[Malign_spiritual_presences#Peace|peace]] which ultimately robs humanity of it's drive to strive and leads to stagnation and death.

===Boons===
Ylenrith can remove almost any strong passion, alleviate pain, and grant [[Crystal Clarity of the Rational Soul|clarity and clear-thinking]], especially though the [[The Solace of Chimes|use of music]]. In the same way she can help purify a mind, she can purify physical things, [[Distillation of Diverse Parts|separating potions into their component parts]], turning wine into water and fruit juice, [[Ascetic Star of Atun| cleansing infection and disease]] and similar effects. While most of her boons focus on the small scale, she has also been known to offer aid in purifying tainted water sources up to the size of large lakes or entire rivers.

In the past Ylenrith has also demonstrated the ability to permanently remove [[lineage]] from an individual, although the process is apparently extremely painful and on at least one occasion has proved fatal.

She can also sometimes be prevailed on to grant boons related to the ''true flame'' with which she is associated. The fire can consume anything found in the mortal world except [[Materials#Ilium|ilium]] (and [[artefacts|things made with ilium]]) which do not even become warm when exposed to it. This represents one of the dangers of receiving the boons of Ylenrith - the act of purification can sometimes prove more damaging than allowing corruption to run it's course.

On one occasion, Ylenrith was asked to help remove a curse from an area of forest that was causing [[Mundane_beasts#Iridescent Butterfly|iridescent butterflies]] to poduce horribly tainted [[Materials#Iridescent Gloaming|iridescent gloaming]]. With some reluctance she agreed. She instructed the magicians involved to set fire to the trees at the heart of the forest, and the ensuring conflagration consumed every living and unliving thing within five miles of the central point, without producing a thimbleful of smoke. The curse was alleviated, but to this day no plant larger than tall grass will grow in the area.

She sometimes offers her boons through consumable items (usually clear water) or enchanted musical instruments.

[[Category:Eternals]]
{{pdf}}

Category:Spring Ritual

2014-05-18T21:13:24Z

DomR: Added pdf tag

[[Category:Rituals]]

<table><tr><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Ritual</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Explanation</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Magnitude</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Blessing of New Spring]]</td><td>Increase wealth gained from a farm for three seasons and serves as a foundation for other farm rituals.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Blood of the Hydra]]</td><td>Repairs ruined limbs.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Hands of Sacred Life]]</td><td>Heal lost hits.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Midwife%27s Recourse]]</td><td>Protects a baby.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Turns the Circle]]</td><td>Rots a body.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Fan the Flame of New Life]]</td><td>Makes a couple fertile.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Hearthfire Circle]]</td><td>Heals, purifies and restores the limbs of the coven.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Call Down Lightning%27s Wrath]]</td><td>Lets a target call strikedown with a staff once a day for a season.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Churning Cauldron of Bravash]]</td><td>Creates new herbs.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Merciless Wrath of the Reaver]]</td><td>Adds three ranks to a military unit for raiding during the next season.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Rot%27s Rightful Claim]]</td><td>Grants a coven a one-use ability to cleave undead over ten minutes.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Fountain of Life]]</td><td>Target can cast heal, purify and restore limb as if they knew them for a day.</td><td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Charge of the Rushing Wind]]</td><td>Gives a coven a one-use ability to repel opponents.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Rampant Growth]]</td><td>Grants additional money and herbs to the production of a forest.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Blood and Salt]]</td><td>Increases the amount of plunder gained by a fleet using the piracy action.</td><td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Chirurgeon%27s Healing Touch]]</td><td>Target gains two stay with me uses each day for a season.</td><td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Vitality of Rushing Water]]</td><td>Grants fortitude and reduces the effectiveness of venom for a day.</td><td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Forest Remains]]</td><td>Grants two shatters each day with a two-handed weapon, for a season.</td><td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Anathemic Call of Bug and Briar]]</td><td>Curses a target and halves the production of their farm, forest or garden resource for a year.</td><td>16</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Hands of the Healer]]</td><td>Target casts heal and restore limb faster for a season.</td><td>16</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Fire in the Blood]]</td><td>Grants Spring lore for a season, at the cost of lasting venom.</td><td>24</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Touch of Vile Humours]]</td><td>Grants a one-use ability to call venom with anything and without suffering venom in return.</td><td>25</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Irrepressible Monkey Spirit]]</td><td>Target gains two unstoppable or second wind uses each day for a season.</td><td>28</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Skin of Bark, Blood of Amber]]</td><td>Target gains three ranks of endurance for a season.</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea]]</td><td>Damages navies in a large area.</td><td>40</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Unending Cascade of Blood%27s Fire]]</td><td>Target can call five venoms with an implement for a day.</td><td>45</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Thunderous Deluge]]</td><td>Halves the money produced by buisnesses and farms in a territory for a season.</td><td>46</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Curse of Gangrenous Flesh]]</td><td>A year-long curse of venom.</td><td>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Fetid Breath of Teeming Plague]]</td><td>Allows the use of an area-of-effect venom call.</td><td>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Rising Roots that Rend Stone]]</td><td>Breeches a fortification on the battlefield.</td><td>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Rivers of Life]]</td><td>Halves casualties suffered by campaign armies in a region.</td><td>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Rivers Run Red]]</td><td>Doubles casualties suffered by campaign armies in a region.</td><td>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Forge the Wooden Fastness]]</td><td>Creates a temporary supernatural fortification in wooded territory.</td><td>64</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Thunderous Tread of the Trees]]</td><td>Animates rampaging trees in an area.</td><td>120</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Hallow of the Green World]]</td><td>Enhances herb garden production and birth rates throughout the Empire for a season.</td><td>160</td></tr>
</table>
{{pdf}}

Category:Winter Ritual

2014-05-18T21:11:01Z

DomR: Added pdf tag

[[Category:Rituals]]

<table><tr><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Ritual</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Explanation</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Magnitude</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[An Echo of Life Remains]]</td><td>Identifies a corpse.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Black Iron Blade]]</td><td>Cuts all bonds on target.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Fallow Fields and Dried Meat]]</td><td>Add 18 rings to the production of a farm over winter.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Hunger of the Draughir]]</td><td>Grants one rank of fortitude and the ability to eat anything for a season.</td><td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Mark the Flesh Incorruptible]]</td><td>Preserves a corpse.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Tribute to the Thrice-Cursed Court]]</td><td>Trades crafted items for Winter mana.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Words of Ending]]</td><td>Destroys the magic of a crafted item.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Wisdom of the Balanced Blade]]</td><td>Analyses a curse.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Withering Touch of Frost]]</td><td>Curses a character to lose a quarter of farm, forest and herb garden production for a year.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Pakaanan%27s Iron Shutters]]</td><td>Seals a portal for ten minutes.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Ruthless Vigilance, Healthy Crop]]</td><td>Enhances a herb garden, increasing production of each herb by two over next season.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Traitor%27s Fate]]</td><td>Agree to let someone trigger a dangerous curse if they betray you.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Crumbling Flesh and Withering Limbs]]</td><td>Grants ability to call cleave with a rod once each day for a season.</td><td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Coil of the Black Leech]]</td><td>Grants a target the ability to heal themselves when they cast weakness.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Freezing Brand of Irremais]]</td><td>Brands and influences a target.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Hungry Grasp of Despair]]</td><td>Grants coven a one-use ability to cast weakness over ten minutes.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Ravenous Tongue of Entropy]]</td><td>Grants the ability to call shatter with a staff once a day for a season.</td><td>11</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Circle of Trust]]</td><td>Agree to let someone trigger dangerous curse if they betray you.</td><td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Unyielding Constitution]]</td><td>Grants the ability to endure the effects of traumatic wounds for a season.</td><td>13</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Hold Back Frozen Hunger]]</td><td>Wards an area against the dead.</td><td>14</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[There Is No Welcome Here]]</td><td>Ward an area against eternals and heralds.</td><td>14</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Ward of the Black Waste]]</td><td>Wards an area against vallornspawn.</td><td>14</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Icy Maw Devours the Spark of Essence]]</td><td>Curse a territory so that mana crystal production is halved for a season.</td><td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Naeve%27s Twisting Blight]]</td><td>Blights all crops in a territory, halving their production.</td><td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Clarion Call of Ivory and Dust]]</td><td>Conjures unliving winter troops to greatly enhance the rank of a military unit.</td><td>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Fight Tooth and Nail]]</td><td>Grants two uses of unstoppable each day for a season.</td><td>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Gnawing, Endless Hunger]]</td><td>Curses a character with endless hunger and inability to benefit from potions.</td><td>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Last Breath Echoes]]</td><td>Restores a terminal character for a short period before they die.</td><td>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Pallid Flesh of the Dead King]]</td><td>Grants three ranks of endurance for a season at the cost of persistent venom.</td><td>22</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Sorins Rite of Agony]]</td><td>Grants 1 rank of winter lore for a season at the cost of an unhealing wound.</td><td>24</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Dreamscape of the Endless Hunt]]</td><td>Curses a character with nightmares and removes ability to recover hero points or mana naturally.</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Whispers through the Black Gate]]</td><td>Summons a dead spirit to answer questions.</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Inevitable Collapse into Ruin]]</td><td>Damages a battlefield fortification.</td><td>40</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Curse of Decrepitude]]</td><td>Curses a target with persistent weakness for a year.</td><td>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Howling Despite of the Yawning Maw]]</td><td>Allows one use of area-of-effect weakness.</td><td>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Winter%27s Ghosts]]</td><td>Curses a territory so that all production is reduced by a quarter for a season.</td><td>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Grave%27s Treacherous Edge]]</td><td>Allows one use of area-of-effect venom.</td><td>60</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Devastating Scythe of Anguish and Loss]]</td><td>Allows one use of area-of-effect shatter.</td><td>150</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Quickening Cold Meat]]</td><td>Creates a force of animated corpses that enhance a campaign army for a year.</td><td>150</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Wind of Mundane Silence]]</td><td>Destroys a regio.</td><td>150</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Wither the Seed]]</td><td>Drastically reduces the fertility of an area for a generation.</td><td>150</td></tr>
</table>
{{pdf}}

Category:Night Ritual

2014-05-18T21:10:34Z

DomR: Added pdf tag

[[Category:Rituals]]

<table><tr><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Ritual</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Explanation</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Magnitude</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Freedom of the Soul]]</td><td>Creates an aura on a character that greatly heightens emotions.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Missive for Sadogua]]</td><td>Sends a message to an Eternal.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Cast Off The Chain of Memory]]</td><td>Excises memory via voluntary amnesia.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Incantation%27s Mystic Mask]]</td><td>Obfuscate the next ritual cast by this coven.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Masque of the Blinded Weaver]]</td><td>Obscures bonds between items or characters.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Secrets for the Shadow Courier]]</td><td>Creates a year duration night pouch for a character.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Secrets of Skillful Artifice]]</td><td>Grants ability to craft a single item.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Secrets of the Empty Heart]]</td><td>Gives the ability to die rather than reveal a secret.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Signs and Portents]]</td><td>Provides a coven with visions of important events.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Chamber of Delights]]</td><td>Creates an aura in an area that encourages relaxation.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Thief%27s Arcane Gambit]]</td><td>Steals an enchantment.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Riddle Hides the Reward]]</td><td>Prevents an existing bond being broken.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Eight-spoked Wheel]]</td><td>Transforms three ingots or measures of materials along an alchemical path.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Verdant Bounty of the Twilight Bayou]]</td><td>Adds five measures to the production of a forest over the next season.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Drawing the Penumbral Veil]]</td><td>Shrouds a region from scying.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Embrace the Living Flame]]</td><td>Grants an additional hero point for a season.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Ebb and Flow of Battle]]</td><td>Divines the progress of a battle, quest or skirmish.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Retrograde Wheel]]</td><td>Transforms three ingots or measures of materials the other way along an alchemical path.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Twilight Masquerade]]</td><td>Creates a magical disguise that changes lineage.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Whispering Shadow Courtiers]]</td><td>Learns a secret about people in the nearby area.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Shadowed Glass of Sung]]</td><td>Grants intuitive information about the immediate vicinity.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Shroud of Mist and Shadow]]</td><td>Grants a concealing bonus to a military unit for both raiding and war.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Unfettered Anarchy]]</td><td>Curses a character with uncontrollable emotions.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Conclave of Trees and Shadow]]</td><td>Transforms a forest or herb garden into a powerful military unit for a season.</td><td>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Sift the Dreamscape%27s Sands]]</td><td>Grants 1 additional rank of any lore overnight, lasting a day.</td><td>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Vale of Shadows]]</td><td>Conceals a resource from invaders.</td><td>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Still Waters, Running Deep]]</td><td>Grants 2 additional hero points for a season.</td><td>26</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Align the Celestial Net]]</td><td>Realign regio for the next ritual cast at it.</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Transmogrification of the Soul%27s Echo]]</td><td>Permanently change the personality of a willing character, and remove some curses.</td><td>60</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Dripping Echoes of the Fen]]</td><td>Creates a temporary supernatural fortification in marsh territory.</td><td>64</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Distill the Serpent%27s Stone]]</td><td>Creates a unique consumable alchemical item.</td><td>70</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Wondrous Forests of the Night]]</td><td>Enhances the production of forests throughout the Empire.</td><td>160</td></tr>
</table>
{{pdf}}

Category:Day Ritual

2014-05-18T21:09:35Z

DomR: Added pdf tag

[[Category:Rituals]]

<table><tr><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Ritual</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Explanation</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Magnitude</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Ascetic Star of Atun]]</td><td>Removes venom.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Piercing Light of Revelation]]</td><td>Removes obscuring effects and opens night pouches.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Horizon%27s Razor Edge]]</td><td>Grants one-time use of cleave with a weapon.</td><td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Illuminate the Higher Mind]]</td><td>Shares knowledge of one spell with another magician for a season.</td><td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Distillation of Diverse Parts]]</td><td>Recover herbs from potion.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Celestial Library]]</td><td>Gives book or scroll to Eternal.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Solace of Chimes]]</td><td>Creates a calm roleplay aura.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Bright Lantern of Ophis]]</td><td>Analyses a magical effect.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Reading the Weave]]</td><td>Divine details of bonded item or person.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Cold Water from the Mountain]]</td><td>Gives a coven a one-use ability to cast purify over the next ten minutes.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Crystal Clarity of the Rational Soul]]</td><td>Grants an aura of calm and serenity to a character for a day.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Revelation of the Jewel%27s Sparkling Heart ]]</td><td>Adds 8 additional ingots to the production of a mine over the next season.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Sign of Aesh]]</td><td>Reduces the magnitude of the next Day-real ritual you cast by yourself by 2.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Ascendance of the Highest Mind]]</td><td>Target learns up to three spells known by the coven for a day.</td><td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Clear Lens of the Eternal River]]</td><td>Grants information about the immediate vicinity.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Spider Folds the Net]]</td><td>Detects the use of large-scale spell effects.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Thought Becomes Action]]</td><td>Grants the ability to cast all standard spells in 5 seconds.</td><td>11</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Kimus%27 Glaring Eye]]</td><td>Grants the ability to call three repels with a rod over the course of a day as long as your other hand is empty.</td><td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Sular%27s Promise]]</td><td>Grants a fleet greatly increased results from trading action during the next season.</td><td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Eyes of the Sun and Moon]]</td><td>Divines details of campaign armies in a territory.</td><td>14</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Eye of the High Places]]</td><td>Divines effects on a region or territory.</td><td>14</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Ensnaring Bond of Transient Stasis]]</td><td>Grants coven a one-use ability to cast paralyse over the course of ten minutes.</td><td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Swim Leviathan%27s Depth]]</td><td>Communes with an eternal to divine the causes events.</td><td>18</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Standing at the Threshold]]</td><td>Allows a coven to perform an extra ritual each day for a season.</td><td>19</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Carve the Crystal Guardian]]</td><td>Transforms a mana site into a powerful military unit for a season.</td><td>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[All the World in a Grain of Sand]]</td><td>Curses a character with madness that prevents ritual casting.</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Crystaline Focus of Aesh]]</td><td>The next ritual the coven performs has it's magnitude reduced by 10.</td><td>32</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Transcendent Mastery]]</td><td>Target gains all spell knowledge.</td><td>45</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Alignment of Mind and Blade]]</td><td>Grant the use of one impale each day for a season when wielding one-handed weapon or one-handed spear.</td><td>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Clarity of the Master Strategist]]</td><td>Grants an increasing bonus to a campaign army when it is on campaign.</td><td>80</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Revelatory Light of the Empyrean Spheres]]</td><td>Grants one use of area-of-effect paralysis.</td><td>150</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Bright Eyes Gleam in the Depths]]</td><td>Enhances the production of all mines in the Empire.</td><td>160</td></tr>
</table>
{{pdf}}

Category:Autumn Ritual

2014-05-18T21:09:03Z

DomR: Added pdf tag

[[Category:Rituals]]

<table><tr><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Ritual</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Explanation</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Magnitude</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Arcane Mark]]</td><td>Marks a magician as a member of an order.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Hand of the Maker]]</td><td>Identifies the crafter of an item.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Mark of Ownership]]</td><td>Marks a bonded item as owned.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Streams of Silver]]</td><td>Adds 24 rings to a business' production during the next season.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Anvil of Estavus]]</td><td>Mends an item.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Shared Mastery of the Magician%27s Guild]]</td><td>Grants knowledge of a spell known by a member of the coven.</td><td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Blade Bites Back]]</td><td>Grants an extra use to a biting blade that has been used that day.</td><td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Ephisis%27 Scale]]</td><td>Allows trade with the Eternal Ephisis.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Chamber of Pallas]]</td><td>Creates roleplay aura of conviviality in location.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Conspirator%27s Cloak]]</td><td>Grants an aura of confidence to a character.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Ties that Bind]]</td><td>Determines who is bonded to an item.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Before the Throne of Estavus]]</td><td>Swaps raw materials for Autumn mana.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Call Winged Messenger]]</td><td>Sends a magical letter.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Mantle of the Golden Orator]]</td><td>Increases a congregation for the next season granting additional 3 Liao and 6 votes in the synod.</td><td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Ambassadorial Gatekeeper]]</td><td>Lets someone accompany the caster to the Hall of Worlds.</td><td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Art of the Deal]]</td><td>Adds 120 rings to the resources produced by a fleet if it trades during the next season.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Scrivener's Bloodmark]]</td><td>Creates a delayed curse between contractees.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Twist of Moebius]]</td><td>Allows a coven to perform an extra ritual tomorrow at the cost of a ritual today.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Vault of Hoarded Wisdom]]</td><td>Coven can consume mana crystals to restore personal mana.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Barked Command of the Iron Serjant]]</td><td>Three targets gain partial weapon mastery for a day.</td><td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Circle of Gold]]</td><td>Five characters gain a one-use Stay with Me they can use on each other.</td><td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Imurrement of Leaden Chains]]</td><td>Gives a coven a one-use ability to entangle opponents.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Smooth Hands Shape The World]]</td><td>Grants ability to cast mend faster for a season.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Lure of Distant Shores]]</td><td>Enhances resources gained when a fleet takes the trade action over the next season.</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Stance of the Constricting Scourge]]</td><td>Grants a one-use ability to call entangle with weapon or implement.</td><td>11</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Rivers of Gold]]</td><td>Adds 180 rings to the production of a business in the next season.</td><td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Sum of the Parts]]</td><td>Three participants contribute health to a champion.</td><td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Timeless Hammer Rhythm]]</td><td>Grants an artisan the ability to craft an item overnight.</td><td>14</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Gathering the Harvest]]</td><td>Replaces Strong Ox, Golden Sun and adds 400 rings to the production of a farm.</td><td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Gift of the Wily Broker]]</td><td>Adds 1 Liao, 1 of each type of Resource and 1 of each type of herb to production of a business over the next season.</td><td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Braying Horns of War]]</td><td>Allows a banner to join battles or skirmishes separate to it's nation for a season.</td><td>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Brazen Claws of the Lictor]]</td><td>Grants ability to call entangle with an implement three times over a day.</td><td>22</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Balanced Scales of Lann]]</td><td>Increases one realm lore at the cost of Autumn realm lore for a season.</td><td>24</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Shadow of the Bronze Colossus]]</td><td>Grants four ranks of endurance to heavy amour wearer for a day.</td><td>24</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Like Water Through Your Fingers]]</td><td>Curses a character to lose three-quarters of all resource production for a year.</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Inescapable Chains of Bitter Glass]]</td><td>Allows one area-of-effect entangle.</td><td>40</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Bound by Common Cause]]</td><td>Enhances a campaign army for each military unit attached to it.</td><td>80</td></tr>
</table>
{{pdf}}

Category:Rituals

2014-05-18T21:07:12Z

DomR: Added pdf tag

==Known Rituals by Realm==
<row-fluid><span3>
*Rituals of [[:Category:Spring_Ritual|Spring]]
*Rituals of [[:Category:Summer_Ritual|Summer]]
</span3><span3>
*Rituals of [[:Category:Autumn_Ritual|Autumn]]
*Rituals of [[:Category:Winter_Ritual|Winter]]
</span3><span3>
*Rituals of [[:Category:Day_Ritual|Day]]
*Rituals of [[:Category:Night_Ritual|Night]]
</span3></row-fluid>

<row-fluid>
<span3>
==Spring Rituals==
<DynamicPageList>
category = Spring Ritual
ordermethod = sortkey
order = ascending
</DynamicPageList>
</span3>
<span3>
==Summer Rituals==
<DynamicPageList>
category = Summer Ritual
ordermethod = sortkey
order = ascending
</DynamicPageList>
</span3>
<span3>
==Autumn Rituals==
<DynamicPageList>
category = Autumn Ritual
ordermethod = sortkey
order = ascending
</DynamicPageList>
</span3>
</row-fluid>
<row-fluid>
<span3>
==Winter Rituals==
<DynamicPageList>
category = Winter Ritual
ordermethod = sortkey
order = ascending
</DynamicPageList>
</span3>
<span3>
==Day Rituals==
<DynamicPageList>
category = Day Ritual
ordermethod = sortkey
order = ascending
</DynamicPageList>
</span3>
<span3>
==Night Rituals==
<DynamicPageList>
category = Night Ritual
ordermethod = sortkey
order = ascending
</DynamicPageList>
</span3>
</row-fluid>
{{pdf}}

Category:Summer Ritual

2014-05-18T21:06:32Z

DomR: Added pdf tag

[[Category:Rituals]]

<table><tr><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Ritual</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Explanation</td><td style="background-color: LightGray;">Magnitude</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Renewed Strength of the New Day]]</td><td>Removes weakness condition.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Tenacity of Jotra]]</td><td>Grants a rank of fortitude for a day.</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Strength of the Bull]]</td><td>Grants one rank of endurance for a season.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Strong Ox, Golden Sun]]</td><td>Replaces blessing of new spring with enhanced production for a farm for two seasons.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Hammer of Thunder]]</td><td>Grants one shatter each day for a season with a two-handed weapon.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Leaping Hare]]</td><td>Grants one strikedown each day for a season with a pole-arm.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Swan%27s Cruel Wing]]</td><td>Grants one cleave each day for a season with any weapon.</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Stout Resolve of the Unyielding]]</td><td>Suppresses the effects of a traumatic wound until end of battle.</td><td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Unbreakable Spirit, Unbreakable Blades]]</td><td>Grants a one-use ability to mend a weapon, implement or shield.</td><td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Sound of Drums]]</td><td>Grants one use of Unstoppable each day for a season.</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Crimson Ward of Summer Stars]]</td><td>Grants two ranks of endurance while in mage armour for a day.</td><td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Champions Shining Resolve]]</td><td>Grants an additional hero point for a season.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[The Vigour of Youth]]</td><td>Grants two ranks of fortitude for a season.</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Chasuble of Majesty]]</td><td>Grants a priest the power to strengthen a ceremony with extra liao for a season.</td><td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Splendid Panoply of Knighthood]]</td><td>Grants one rank of endurance to a group for a day.</td><td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Delve Deep, Beneath the Mountain]]</td><td>Adds additional ingots and wealth to the production of a mine for a season.</td><td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Glorious Crown of Enchantment]]</td><td>Gives a coven a one-use ability to cast empower.</td><td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Raise the Standard of War]]</td><td>Grants a significant increase to the strength of a military unit in campaign battles.</td><td>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Noble Mien of the Hawk Lords]]</td><td>Grants one rank of Summer lore for a Season.</td><td>28</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Challenge the Iron Duke]]</td><td>Binds an Eternal to provide a challenge and a reward.</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Devastating Maul of Inga Tarn]]</td><td>Grants four shatters a day against shields with a two-handed weapon for a season.</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Mantle of Lordly Might]]</td><td>Grants three uses of Stay with Me or Get it Together every day for a season.</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Talon of the Gryphon]]</td><td>Grants the ability to impale with a one-handed spear once a day for a season.</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Glory to the Sovereign]]</td><td>Grants two ranks of endurance and 2 uses of cleave each day for a season.</td><td>34</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Might of the Myrmidon]]</td><td>Grants weapon master, shield, cleaving blows, shattering blows, strikedown and thrown skills for a season.</td><td>40</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Unbreakable Behemoth%27s Strength]]</td><td>Grants five ranks of endurance for a day.</td><td>40</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Thundering Roar of the Lion-bound Horn]]</td><td>Allows one use of an area-of-effect repel call.</td><td>60</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canea]]</td><td>Creates a temporary supernatural fortification in mountainous territory.</td><td>64</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Knights of Glory]]</td><td>Summons supernatural troops to enhance a campaign army.</td><td>120</td></tr>
</table>
{{pdf}}

Rituals

2014-05-18T21:04:10Z

DomR: Added pdf tag

==Rules==
{{RulesRituals}}
Every ritual draws its power from one of the six magical realms and requires a set amount of crystalized mana to perform.

{{RulesRitualsText}}

Each ritual is connected to a single Realm. To master or perform a ritual, you must have a rank of the appropriate [[Magical skills#Ritual lore|Realm lore]].

==Imperial Lore by Realm==
<row-fluid><span3>
*Rituals of [[:Category:Spring_Ritual|Spring]]
*Rituals of [[:Category:Summer_Ritual|Summer]]
</span3><span3>
*Rituals of [[:Category:Autumn_Ritual|Autumn]]
*Rituals of [[:Category:Winter_Ritual|Winter]]
</span3><span3>
*Rituals of [[:Category:Day_Ritual|Day]]
*Rituals of [[:Category:Night_Ritual|Night]]
</span3></row-fluid>
There is a library of known rituals that have been performed by Imperial magicians, known as [[Imperial Lore]]. Rituals which are part of Imperial Lore are easy for Imperial citizens to master and to perform spontaneously. There are also many rituals which are not part of Imperial Lore - they are harder to perform spontaneously, and mastering them requires additional effort.
===Spontaneous Rituals===
It is possible to create a ritual at an event that is not part of the existing library of known Imperial rituals. In this instance you will need to consult with a referee who will tell you what realm the ritual effect is and how much mana is required to perform the ritual. Spontaneous rituals may vary in cost from one event to another. It is possible to ''formulate'' a ritual so that it can be mastered with experience points; positions such as the [[Dean of the Lyceum]] possess the power to create new rituals in this way. If you learn to master a ritual that you have created then the cost of that ritual is fixed from that point onwards.
{{CaptionedImage|file=KallavesiMystic2.jpg|align=right|width=400}}

==Performing a Ritual==
Rituals require several minutes of [[appropriate roleplaying]]. Imperial magicians use a number of different sources, symbols, methods and theories when designing their rituals. The most common magical techniques are; [[Rune Overview|Rune magic]], [[Dramaturgy]], [[Astronomancy]] and the [[Music of the spheres]]. These represent bodies of magical lore and theory that can be used to add depth and significance to all magic, and have special resonance for ritual magic. In addition, the description of each ritual includes a ''Common Elements'' section that can be used as a starting point for developing the roleplaying required to perform a ritual.

It should be obvious to everyone nearby that you are performing a ritual. While it is possible to conceal precisely what your ritual is intended to achieve, it is against the spirit of ritual magic to intentionally perform a ritual that appears to have an opposite effect. For example, performing a ritual that looks as if it is intended to heal someone that is actually intended to destroy one of their magic items is inappropriate.

==Covens==
*'''Ritualists can cooperate to perform a ritual by creating a coven'''
*'''Any character can create a coven'''
*'''A coven must have a name and an oath'''
*'''Ritualists join the coven by bonding themselves to it'''
A ritualist can always perform a ritual by themselves. Most ritualists are also part of a coven, a mystical union that extends the hearth magic of oaths to allow participants to combine their strength.

Any character can create a coven, you can use the online character creation system to form a coven. A coven uses the hearth magic inherent in oaths to allow participants to work together, so every coven must have an oath of some kind, which must be set when the coven is created. Once created, the oath cannot be changed, a new coven must be formed if characters wish to change their oath.

Ritualists can join the coven using the create bond spell that all magicians know. There must be an existing member of the coven present for the spell to work. The caster must know the name of the coven and they must recite at least a few words of the oath when they cast the spell. Only characters that are members of the same nation can join a coven.

Members of a coven can work together to perform a ritual with each participant contributing mana to a ritual up to the limit of their ability.

===Contributors===
Some rituals refer to contributors. A contributor is a character who is a member of the coven performing the ritual and has at least one rank of the [[Magical skills#Ritual Magic|realm lore]] used by that ritual.

==Regio==
{{RulesRegio}}
Ritual magicians can use [[Regio]] to create powerful effects.

==Further Reading==
* You can learn about the magical skills that magicians master to allow them to perform rituals [[Magical skills|here]].
* Two most common effects of rituals are to create [[enchantment|enchantments]] and [[curse|curses]] which have their own rules; these can even be made permanent with ilium, and you can learn more about that [[Ritual use of ilium|here]].
* You can learn more about the magical auras known as regio, including the powerful Imperial regio, [[Regio|here]].

[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Rituals]]
{{pdf}}

Astronomancy

2014-05-18T21:03:06Z

DomR: Added pdf tag

<ic>As above, so below; As below; so above.</ic>

===Overview===
The constellations have been known since time immemorial – they figure, largely unchanged from their present forms, on some of the oldest buildings and artifacts in the world. Many magicians – especially those of Urizen – believe them to be a map or chart of the powers of the world reflected above – as if the sky were a great dark lake and reflected on its surface was the means to understand, control and manipulate the forces of nature.

At its core, astronomancy is a magical tradition that involves identifying patterns in the stars associated with fundamental magical and natural laws, and drawing power from them to fuel ritual magic. These patterns - the constellations - are held by many astronomancers to be the same tools the Creator used to forge Creation. Like the [[Rune Overview|runes]] and the narrative principles of [[dramaturgy]], Astronomancy is a means of placing magic in context and understanding it.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RelativePositionslores.JPG|title=The Night Sky (Constellation)|align=right|width=471|height=450}}
===Invocation and Command===
The stars are handles – physical ways to grab the force of magic. Nobody in the Empire imagines The Stork is an actual stork. That arrangement of stars you can see in the sky is the way it is to represent one of the primal powers of creation; by using that imagery and incorporating it into your rituals, you are tapping into that primal power and associating your ritual with it.

Astronomancers believe that the sky is limitless, and so are the powers it represents; the constellations known and codified by the Empire are merely the tip of the iceberg. Every star is part of a constellation and every constellation is a representation of a cosmic principle, a natural force or a universal power. The codified ones are simply those whose meaning and purpose is clearly understood; there exist many more to discover, comprehend and codify. Every Astronomancer dreams of naming a new constellation and adding them to the great catalogue.

Using the constellations the easy way, an Astronomancer can draw the design on an implement or artifact, arrange things or people to recreate the design below (such as standing your ritualists in the shape of The Fountain or The Chain) or simply invoke them during a ritual to shine favourably or unfavourably upon the outcome or a specified target. By naming propitious stars to someone you could bless or curse them.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RelativePositionsIllustration.JPG|title=The Night Sky (Illus.)|align=right|width=471|height=450}}
===As Above, So Below===
Astronomancers firmly believe that echoing the structure of the constellations strongly influences the environment – it is not uncommon to find an Urizen spire's encampments laid out in the form of The Net, or Astronomancer’s chambers arranged specifically to evoke a particular constellation.

===Tulpas===
The constellations are not sentient or sapient in any meaningful way – they are symbols of potentiality, emblems of cosmic forces ill-understood by the Empire’s magicians. But sometimes during a ritual, a combination of the existence of the constellation, coupled with the efforts of the magician, will cause the manifestation of a Tulpa. These are thought-forms; concepts and ideas given form by magical will and the motive power of the Constellation.

Tulpas are curious creatures – constructs of will and magic that make it easier to form a connection between the constellation and mortal men. The process by which a Tulpa forms and manifests is structurally and magically very similar indeed to the process by which a national Egregore is formed; some Astronomancers view them perhaps as the understandable face of principles too vast and alien for our minds to clearly understand. As the Varushkan egregore sometimes represents a way for magicians to understand what it means to be Varushka, to interact with the soul of a nation in a meaningful way, so Tulpas of the Claw allow a magician to interact with the principle of conflict between living things.

They are bridges, formed by magicians to connect them to these potent principles. Essentially the magician gives the magic a physical form or a spiritual form that is easier for mortal minds to interact with. In a real sense, if the magician were not doing the ritual the Tulpa would not exist - it is like a combination of the cosmic principle and the ritual itself. It exists from moment to moment at the point where magicians work magic using it. Through the principles of Astronomancy, the tulpa allows magicians to connect to the power of the constellations; they are not entities in the way the Eternals are entities; the Urizen in particular describe them as being much more like cosmic ushabti.

Whilst Tulpas traditionally form their own bodies, Astronomancers who are deeply aligned with a constellation during a working sometimes experience what they describe as “brushing by” or "alignment" with a Tulpa. The ritualist’s mind brushes the consciousness of a Tulpa during a ritual and the ritualist finds themselves behaving in a way which personifies or exemplifies the principle of the Constellation. The ritualist does not lose control or consciousness, he remains in control of his own actions; but all factors to do with the constellation are amplified.

===Constellations===
There are eighteen constellations recognised by Imperial astronomancers, from which they can draw power:
* [[The Chain]]
* [[The Chalice]]
* [[The Claw]]
* [[The Door]]
* [[The Drowned Man]]
* [[The Fountain]]
* [[The Great Wyrm]]
* [[The Key and The Lock|The Key]]
* [[The Key and The Lock|The Lock]]
* [[The Mountain]]
* [[The Oak]]
* [[The Phoenix]]
* [[The Spider and The Web|The Spider]]
* [[The Stallion]]
* [[The Stork]]
* [[The Spider and The Web|The Web]]
* [[The Three Sisters]]
* [[The Wanderer]]

[[Category:Astronomancy]]
{{pdf}}

Trader guidelines

2013-04-29T13:11:05Z

DomR: /* Trade stall members */ fixed link

{{stub}}
==Overview==
These guidelines are for all traders attending Empire events. If you are interested in trading at an Empire event please make sure that you have read these rules carefully.

The trade area is the centre of the event, and includes the main sets built to support the event, such as the tavern and the senate. Most of the rules and regulations for trading at events are designed to ensure that we maintain a high level of immersion in this area.

==No Spaces at Present==
At present, due to the popularity of the game with players and traders, we are unable to accept any new requests for trade pitches at the event. If you wish to be added to the waiting list for a pitch then please [mailto:angel@profounddecisions.co.uk contact us].
{{CaptionedImage|file=AngelaAngelBrownWiki.jpg|align=right|caption=Trader liaison: Angela Brown (Angel)}}
==Trader Liaison==
Our trader liaison exists to help with trading queries between and at events. Their role is to be a first point of contact and ensure that we provide you with effective support so that you can trade successfully at our events. Our current trader liaison is [mailto:angel@profounddecisions.co.uk Angel].

==Trade Items==
===Weapon===
Please remind all players that they must have weapons, shields, bows and arrows checked by a weapon checker before they use them at the event. They must not assume that an item automatically passes. We hope to have some signs available for all traders at the next event, which let players know what the situation is with weapon checking, please make sure that these are displayed prominently in your tent.

===Non IC Items===
It is perfectly fine to sell items that do not fit the Empire genre at our events, provided they are not on display at the front of the shop. Items that do not fit the game should only be displayed inside your tent or stall.

===Alcohol===
Traders are not permitted to sell alcohol at events.

==Set up and Take-down==
===Arrival===
You may arrive on site at any time from the Wednesday before the event onwards. Traders are encouraged to come early and have their stalls set up before the players arrive, so there is no charge for early arrival for traders.

===Tents===
All tents in the IC area must conform to the rules for tents published in the basic [[costume]] guidelines. Specifically it is not possible to put dome tents or party tents in the IC area.

===Costume===
All traders must wear costume that is suitable for the setting while in the IC area.

===Departure===
You may bring vehicles onto the site and begin taking your stall down as soon as the event ends at 3pm on the last day. Please do not start taking your stall down before this time as it disrupts the event for players.

==Electricity==
===Provision===
Generators are not permitted in the IC area so we provide power to all traders with a pitch at the event. The price for this is included in the pitch fee. This power is intended to run lights and small low power utility devices - you cannot use our power supply for electrical heating at an event.

===Usage===
Traders with a [[#Pitch_Sizes|small pitch]] may have up to 200 watts, traders with a large pitch may have up to 400 watts. You cannot run a kettle, toaster or any electrical device that produces heat.

===Connections===
Do not plug anything into any socket outlet until it has been checked by a member of the Profound Decisions electrical team. Electrical team members can be contacted via GOD or via the event crew on the radio. Remember, there are a lot of traders and it may take a short period of time to get a member of the team to your location.

===Safety===
If the PD crew electricians are not happy with the safety of a device then you will not be allowed to use it. You will not be able to use the device at the event and will need to secure any such items in your trader vehicle.

==Booking and Prices==
===Account===
To trade at our events your account on our website must be approved by our trader liaison. Once that is done you will be able to use the regular website to book tickets and a pitch to trade at events.

===Price===
Every person who attends a Profound Decisions event must have a valid ticket - this includes yourself (if you are attending the event) and everyone who is working on your stall.

Please see the main Profound Decisions website for [http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/event/Tickets ticket prices]. In addition you can purchase a pitch in the main trading area in the centre of the site. All normal ticket discounts apply for traders attending an event.

Pitch prices are £15 for a small pitch and £30 for a large pitch if booked during the 'early booking' period. The prices increase to £30 and £50 respectively if booked during the 'late booking period'. We do not accept requests to trade after the late booking period has ended.

===Pitch Sizes===
A small pitch is up to 20m2, a large pitch is anything over this size. The size is taken from the sides of the tent, not the footprint of your guy ropes.

===Trade stall members===
Please [[Contact_Profound_Decisions|contact us]] to book tickets for staff who are working your pitch. We will add the staff to your booking, which will ensure that your invoice is correct.

===VAT Invoices===
A VAT invoice is automatically available from your Profound Decisions account for all bookings made using your account.

Events

2013-04-29T13:07:19Z

DomR: /* Booking and Prices */ fixed link

==Overview==
Profound Decisions will run four Empire events each year. Although we are keen to give players the freedom to run their own Empire events if they wish, we believe it is also important for players to know what level of commitment and involvement a game presents. Therefore there will only ever be four Profound Decisions Empire events each year.
==Event Dates in 2013==
OOC details for all our events in 2013 are below. If you have any questions about the details then please [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk email us] and we will endeavour to answer them for you.

<table>
<tr>
<td style="color: white; background-color: DarkGray;">Event</td>
<td colspan="2" style="color: white; background-color: DarkGray;">Time In</td>
<td colspan="2" style="color: white; background-color: DarkGray;">Time Out</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Winter Solstice</td>
<td>29th March</td>
<td>Friday 13:00</td>
<td>1st April</td>
<td>Monday 15:00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Spring Equinox</td>
<td>24th May</td>
<td>Friday 18:00</td>
<td>27th May</td>
<td>Monday 15:00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Summer Solstice</td>
<td>26th July</td>
<td>Friday 18:00</td>
<td>28th July</td>
<td>Sunday 15:00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Autumn Equinox</td>
<td>13th September</td>
<td>Friday 18:00</td>
<td>15st September</td>
<td>Sunday 15:00</td>
</tr>
</table>

==Booking and Prices==
Online booking is available for all Profound Decisions events via our [http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/ online account system]. Please create an account, enter your details and choose which events you wish to attend. You can even use the online booking system if you wish to pay by cheque as the system will give you a single booking reference to write on the back of your cheque.

All our events cost £55 if booked well in advance. The price rises after the early booking deadline and then again if you pay on the gate. Please see our [http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/event/Deadlines ticket booking deadlines] for details. Various discounts are available and all discounts are cumulative.

===Multi-booking Discounts===
If you book for more than one event simultaneously then you are receive a £5 discount for each additional event that you book. For example, if you book for three events then you are eligible for a discount of £10 from the total price.

===Concessions===
Players are eligible for a discount of £15 off the price of each event if they are eligible for concessions. Anyone who is a full time student, in receipt of unemployment benefits such as job-seekers allowance or is a pensioner is eligible for the concession on the ticket price. You only have to be eligible at the point where you provide the proof of your eligibility, so students or can claim the discount for the year even if their course ends in the Summer.

You must provide proof of your eligibility. The best way to do this is to email proof to us at [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk admin@profounddecisions.co.uk] after you have booked. We can then mark your entire booking as having the concession confirmed. If you don't do this then you will be forced to bring proof to the event and then queue up in a long queue at GOD before you can play. Please don't do this, it's bad for you and bad for us! Email us a scan of your proof and we will log it to your account.

===New Player Discount===
As all players are new to Empire in 2013, our normal new player discount scheme is not applicable to Empire.

==Early Arrival==
Although there is no role-playing before time-in on Friday, you are very welcome to arrive early to begin setting up your camp. The bar will be open on Thursday evening and our caterers will be aiming to provide hot food. Please enjoy this opportunity to socialize out-of-character.

The earliest that you can arrive is 11:00 am on the Thursday before each event. There is an additional charge of £5 for anyone who stays on site on Thursday night that must be paid on the door.

==Payment==
===Ebanking===
You can pay for your ticket with a simple bank transfer, which is quick and easy especially if you use internet or telephone banking. The online booking system will provide you with a simple reference number to use when making your booking. This reference number is unique for your account and never changes.

Bank transfers are by far the cheapest way for us to take payment. If you do not mind what payment method you use then please pay by bank transfer as it helps us considerably.

===Standing Orders===
You can set up a standing order to pay for your tickets. The online booking system will provide you with a simple reference number to use when making your booking. This reference number is unique for your account and never changes. We do not get charged for standing order payments, so like bank transfers, it helps us out considerably if you choose to pay this way.

===Cheque===
Make cheques payable to Profound Decisions Ltd and post them to us at Profound Decisions, PO Box 666, Preston, PR2 1ZW. If you use the website to create your booking then you will receive a unique reference number to write on the bank of your cheque. We will have an online character creation form available soon for people who do not want to use the website to book.

===Card Payments===
Your can use most cards to pay for your bookings if you use the online booking system. If you don't wish to enter your details online then you can phone the office on 0845 0944 798 and we can process a card payment for you.

==Cancellations and Transfers==
You may cancel or transfer a ticket for an event if you inform us before 6pm on the Friday that the event begins. You can inform us by sending an email or leaving a message on our answer machine. We reserve the right to charge a £5 administration fee for cancellations or transfers within two weeks of the start of an event.

==Location==
At present all our events in 2013 are being held at our current site in Northamptonshire. See details on [[Tournament Stud]] for more information about site rules and regulations and directions.

[[Category:The Game]]

Shadowbound Donjon

2013-02-10T00:12:59Z

DomR: added ic text

==Description==
A shadowbound donjon is traditionally crafted from wood harvested in the darkest part of a forest. The birchwood of [[Upwold]] is particularly prized for use when crafting this implement, although dark pinewood from [[Karov]] and aged oak from the depths of [[Semmerholm]] are equally valuable. Interestingly, wood taken from forests that have been touched by the [[Vallorn]] seems to be especially difficult to shape into a shadowbound donjon. There is a suggestion that the vitality that infuses the area around these vegetable abominations has a lingering effect even after the entity's grasp on the forest has been broken, and that energy renders the wood less suitable for an enchantment that fixes living things in place.

When the power of the staff is invoked it locks the wielder and the target alike into a conceptual prison, unable to move. Some wielders speak of a dimming of vision when the staff is invoked, as if they were wrapped in imprisoning shadows, although the target rarely experience this phenomenon. Some [[Varushka magical traditions#Volhov|volhov]] suggest that the power of the staff works by first imprisoning the wielder, then spreading that effect to the target via the dark wood of the staff.

The staff is often inscribed with one of the runes [[Feresh]], which represents majesty; [[Aesh]], which can represent stability; or [[Hirmok]] the rune of dominion.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Magic overview#Staff|Staff]].
* '''Effect:''' Once per day when you cast the [[Spell list#Paralysis|paralysis]] spell you can do so without spending any mana.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a shadowbound donjon requires twelve measures of [[Materials#Ambergelt|ambergelt]] and three measures of [[Materials#Iridescent Gloaming|iridescent gloaming]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.

<ic>
An excerpt from "''Things Scipia the Mountebank is no longer allowed to do whilst a member of the Holberg Eagles Free Company''"

134. Announce that she has purchased a “Fortress of Darkness” when in fact she has purchased a magical staff.

135. Stop supply carts by paralysing the oxen.

136. Use her staff to paralyse the last person back to the bunk-room while insisting that failure to do so “would be wasting the magic.”

137. Ask paralysed barbarians about their hairstyles during battle.

138. Ask paralysed barbarians about anything during battle.

139. Paralysing patients during chirurgy is not “providing medical assistance.”

140. Own a shadowbound donjon.
</ic> 

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Staffs]]

Troubadour's Ring

2013-02-09T22:28:07Z

DomR:

{{stub}}
==Description==
A bannerman's band is a ring, usually worn by [[Wintermark military concerns#bannermen|bannermen]], standard-bearers, bards, [[Wintermark culture and customs#Art and history|scops]], [[Varushka|Varushkan]] [[Stzena|stzena]], [[Dawn|Dawnish]] [[Troubadour|troubadours]], many priests and even [[The League|League]] [[The League culture and customs#Relationships|Cicisbeo]]. It is a valuable item that allows a supporter or assistant to use their charisma and inner strength to keep their allies alive in the most desperate straits. While the common name is used throughout the Empire, the individual nations often refer to them by the name of an [[Archetypes|archetypal]] supporter from their own culture - thus there are ''cicisbeo signets'', ''troubadour's rings'' and ''brother's bands'' in various places.

In [[The League]] gifting someone a valuable [[The_League_hearth_magic#Rings|ring]] in return for a personal oath or indivdual loyalty is a powerful enough symbol on it's own. However when the gift is one of these bands it is a sign that the ring-giver is now under the protection of the oath bearer, and cannot be allowed to come to harm. Allowing the ring-giver to be seriously injured, or even killed, is a such a great breach of [[Loyalty]] that on the rare occurrence that this happens the League [[National Assembly]] has been called to [[National_Assembly#Condemnation|Condemn]] the perpetrator.

A bannerman's band is a princely gift given to a member of a [[Groups#Banners|fighting company]] whose bravery and loyalty are seen as being inspirational. Some companies with a long history are lucky enough to own an artefact-quality version of the ring which is passed from one 'mascot' to another. Being chosen to carry one of these treasured relics is a mark of great honour. The nature of war means that these priceless rings often fall into the hands of enemies, unfortunately; recovering one of these rings and returning it to the company to which it belongs can easily create a lifelong debt, especially in places such as the [[The Marches|Marches]] and the [[The League|League]] where debts are not treated lightly.

The ring is often marked with [[runes]] and symbols that relate to the [[Groups#Banners|group]] that commissioned it. However [[Zorech]], the rune of passion, is often worked into the design meaning the passion that drives the heroic action for the cause. [[Imperial Orcs]] however instead of having a [[Imperial_Orcs_leadership|legion]] or [[Imperial_Orcs_hearth_magic#Symbols|personal symbol]] inscribed often have a [[Imperial_Orcs_culture_and_customs#Symbols|Horse]] combined with Zorech showing their [[Imperial_Orcs_people|passion for the Empire]] as a whole.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' Jewelry ([[Talisman]])
* '''Effect:''' You may spend a [[Heroic skills#Hero points|hero point]] to use the [[Heroic skills#Stay with me|stay with me]] skill. Once per day you may use the stay with me skill without spending a hero point.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a bannerman's band requires six ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]], six measures of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]] and six measures of [[Materials#Dragonbone|dragonbone]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.



<ic>Dear Tomasina di Sarvos, Captain of the Company of the Black Banner,

Firstly, allow me to extend my warm congratulations on the birth of your granddaughter, a girl whom I am certain will be as full of the virtues of courage and pride as those who gave her birth. Keep her close and love her dearly, and she will not falter for want of good examples to guide her.

Secondly, please request from my messenger the package accompanying this letter now. I hope that you recognise it, my dear friend. I only wish that I could deliver it in person, but the terms of my contract keep me across the water for now, and it seemed too important to wait once I discovered its origins.

This fine ring fell into my possession on campaign along the Brass Coast, among a hoard of otherwise trivial jewellery being auctioned after its capture from foreign reavers. My lieutenant recognised it immediately as a Cicisbeo’s Signet, and clearly decorated with a banner of Sarvos, and yet though it lingered on the edges of our awareness, none among the crew could place it by sight. Call it a failing of vigilance, perhaps, but my banner-book was damaged by water some years ago, and parts of it remain utterly illegible. As you are aware, I am not presently on friendly terms with the Reckoner guilds, and I did not wish to entrust it to another, and so it lay unknown, an object of fierce curiosity, for these past two years.

Eventually, however, along came a torch-bearer of Urizen who wished to travel in foreign parts. He boarded the same Freeborn ship as us, and his own notes on the banners of the Companies of the League were quite extensive. It was then, some days into the voyage, that we recognised it in those notes as the old seal of the Company of the Black Banner, formerly the Black Swan Ascendant, which your grandfather re-named and valiantly rebuilt after its defeat at sea.

Imagine my delight at the discovery. I swear to you, that nervous old mountain-goat did not appreciate being shaken with quite such excitement as I felt at that moment. Immediately we made landfall I attempted to amend the terms of my contract to permit me to deliver the ring myself, but alas, you know the Freeborn: signed in a cambion’s blood, the contract was immutable. I do not blame them; when I look back, the gesture seems a tad off-colour, but such was my delight.

Instead, you have it from the hand of my most trusted lieutenant Drago Durante di Sarvos, along with this letter, sealed with two kisses of joyful affection, one for each cheek. I hope that when we next meet, I will have the honour of seeing it resplendent on the hand of your cicisbeo.

I must to the campaign trail now, but know that a part of my thoughts go with this ring to you.

With warmest regards, I remain,

Yours,

Fabrizio di Sarvos
Captain, Company of the Bald Eagle</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Talismans]]

Troubadour's Ring

2013-02-09T22:27:40Z

DomR: /* Description */

{{stub}}
==Description==
A bannerman's band is a ring, usually worn by [[Wintermark military concerns#bannermen|bannermen]], standard-bearers, bards, [[Wintermark culture and customs#Art and history|scops]], [[Varushka|Varushkan]] [[Stzena|stzena]], [[Dawn|Dawnish]] [[Troubadour|troubadours]], many priests and even [[The League|League]] [[The League culture and customs#Relationships|Cicisbeo]]. It is a valuable item that allows a supporter or assistant to use their charisma and inner strength to keep their allies alive in the most desperate straits. While the common name is used throughout the Empire, the individual nations often refer to them by the name of an [[Archetypes|archetypal]] supporter from their own culture - thus there are ''cicisbeo signets'', ''troubadour's rings'' and ''brother's bands'' in various places.

In [[The League]] gifting someone a valuable [[The_League_hearth_magic#Rings|ring]] in return for a personal oath or indivdual loyalty is a powerful enough symbol on it's own. However when the gift is one of these bands it is a sign that the ring-giver is now under the protection of the oath bearer, and cannot be allowed to come to harm. Allowing the ring-giver to be seriously injured, or even killed, is a such a great breach of [[Loyalty]] that on the rare occurrence that this happens the League [[National Assembly]] has been called to [[National_Assembly#Condemnation|Condemn]] the perpetrator.

A bannerman's band is a princely gift given to a member of a [[Groups#Banners|fighting company]] whose bravery and loyalty are seen as being inspirational. Some companies with a long history are lucky enough to own an artefact-quality version of the ring which is passed from one 'mascot' to another. Being chosen to carry one of these treasured relics is a mark of great honour. The nature of war means that these priceless rings often fall into the hands of enemies, unfortunately; recovering one of these rings and returning it to the company to which it belongs can easily create a lifelong debt, especially in places such as the [[The Marches|Marches]] and the [[The League|League]] where debts are not treated lightly.

The ring is often marked with [[runes]] and symbols that relate to the [[Groups#Banners|group]] that commissioned it. However [[Zorech]], the rune of passion, is often worked into the design meaning the passion that drives the heroic action for the cause. [[Imperial Orcs]] however instead of having a [[Imperial_Orcs_leadership|legion]] or [[Imperial_Orcs_hearth_magic#Symbols|personal symbol]] inscribed often have a [[Imperial_Orcs_culture_and_customs#Symbols|Horse]] combined with Zorech showing their [[Imperial_Orcs_people|passion for the Empire]] as a whole.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' Jewelry (Talisman)
* '''Effect:''' You may spend a [[Heroic skills#Hero points|hero point]] to use the [[Heroic skills#Stay with me|stay with me]] skill. Once per day you may use the stay with me skill without spending a hero point.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a bannerman's band requires six ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]], six measures of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]] and six measures of [[Materials#Dragonbone|dragonbone]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.



<ic>Dear Tomasina di Sarvos, Captain of the Company of the Black Banner,

Firstly, allow me to extend my warm congratulations on the birth of your granddaughter, a girl whom I am certain will be as full of the virtues of courage and pride as those who gave her birth. Keep her close and love her dearly, and she will not falter for want of good examples to guide her.

Secondly, please request from my messenger the package accompanying this letter now. I hope that you recognise it, my dear friend. I only wish that I could deliver it in person, but the terms of my contract keep me across the water for now, and it seemed too important to wait once I discovered its origins.

This fine ring fell into my possession on campaign along the Brass Coast, among a hoard of otherwise trivial jewellery being auctioned after its capture from foreign reavers. My lieutenant recognised it immediately as a Cicisbeo’s Signet, and clearly decorated with a banner of Sarvos, and yet though it lingered on the edges of our awareness, none among the crew could place it by sight. Call it a failing of vigilance, perhaps, but my banner-book was damaged by water some years ago, and parts of it remain utterly illegible. As you are aware, I am not presently on friendly terms with the Reckoner guilds, and I did not wish to entrust it to another, and so it lay unknown, an object of fierce curiosity, for these past two years.

Eventually, however, along came a torch-bearer of Urizen who wished to travel in foreign parts. He boarded the same Freeborn ship as us, and his own notes on the banners of the Companies of the League were quite extensive. It was then, some days into the voyage, that we recognised it in those notes as the old seal of the Company of the Black Banner, formerly the Black Swan Ascendant, which your grandfather re-named and valiantly rebuilt after its defeat at sea.

Imagine my delight at the discovery. I swear to you, that nervous old mountain-goat did not appreciate being shaken with quite such excitement as I felt at that moment. Immediately we made landfall I attempted to amend the terms of my contract to permit me to deliver the ring myself, but alas, you know the Freeborn: signed in a cambion’s blood, the contract was immutable. I do not blame them; when I look back, the gesture seems a tad off-colour, but such was my delight.

Instead, you have it from the hand of my most trusted lieutenant Drago Durante di Sarvos, along with this letter, sealed with two kisses of joyful affection, one for each cheek. I hope that when we next meet, I will have the honour of seeing it resplendent on the hand of your cicisbeo.

I must to the campaign trail now, but know that a part of my thoughts go with this ring to you.

With warmest regards, I remain,

Yours,

Fabrizio di Sarvos
Captain, Company of the Bald Eagle</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Talismans]]

Troubadour's Ring

2013-02-09T11:59:09Z

DomR: Added description

{{stub}}
==Description==
A bannerman's band is a ring, usually worn by [[Wintermark military concerns#bannermen|bannermen]], standard-bearers, bards, [[Wintermark culture and customs#Art and history|scops]], [[Varushka|Varushkan]] [[Stzena|stzena]], [[Dawn|Dawnish]] [[Troubadour|troubadours]], many priests and even [[The League|League]] [[The League culture and customs#Relationships|Cicisbeo]]. It is a valuable item that allows a supporter or assistant to use their charisma and inner strength to keep their allies alive in the most desperate straits. While the common name is used throughout the Empire, the individual nations often refer to them by the name of an [[Archetypes|archetypal]] supporter from their own culture - thus there are ''cicisbeo signets'', ''troubadour's rings'' and ''brother's bands'' in various places.

In [[The League]] gifting someone a valuable [[The_League_hearth_magic#Rings|ring]] in return for a personal oath or indivdual loyalty is a powerful enough symbol on it's own. However when the gift is one of these bands it is a sign that the ring-giver is now under the protection of the oath bearer, and cannot be allowed to come to harm. Allowing the ring-giver to be seriously injured, or even killed, is a such a great breach of [[Loyalty]] that on the rare occurrence that this happens the League [[National_Assembly]] has been called to [[National_Assembly#Condemnation|Condemn]] the perpetrator.

A bannerman's band is a princely gift given to a member of a [[Groups#Banners|fighting company]] whose bravery and loyalty are seen as being inspirational. Some companies with a long history are lucky enough to own an artefact-quality version of the ring which is passed from one 'mascot' to another. Being chosen to carry one of these treasured relics is a mark of great honour. The nature of war means that these priceless rings often fall into the hands of enemies, unfortunately; recovering one of these rings and returning it to the company to which it belongs can easily create a lifelong debt, especially in places such as the [[The Marches|Marches]] and the [[The League|League]] where debts are not treated lightly.

The ring is often marked with [[runes]] and symbols that relate to the [[Groups#Banners|group]] that commissioned it. However [[Zorech]], the rune of passion, is often worked into the design meaning the passion that drives the heroic action for the cause. [[Imperial Orcs]] however instead of having a [[Imperial_Orcs_leadership|legion]] or [[Imperial_Orcs_hearth_magic#Symbols|personal symbol]] inscribed often have a [[Imperial_Orcs_culture_and_customs#Symbols|Horse]] combined with Zorech showing their [[Imperial_Orcs_people|passion for the Empire]] as a whole.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' Jewelry (Talisman)
* '''Effect:''' You may spend a [[Heroic skills#Hero points|hero point]] to use the [[Heroic skills#Stay with me|stay with me]] skill. Once per day you may use the stay with me skill without spending a hero point.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a bannerman's band requires six ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]], six measures of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]] and six measures of [[Materials#Dragonbone|dragonbone]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.



<ic>Dear Tomasina di Sarvos, Captain of the Company of the Black Banner,

Firstly, allow me to extend my warm congratulations on the birth of your granddaughter, a girl whom I am certain will be as full of the virtues of courage and pride as those who gave her birth. Keep her close and love her dearly, and she will not falter for want of good examples to guide her.

Secondly, please request from my messenger the package accompanying this letter now. I hope that you recognise it, my dear friend. I only wish that I could deliver it in person, but the terms of my contract keep me across the water for now, and it seemed too important to wait once I discovered its origins.

This fine ring fell into my possession on campaign along the Brass Coast, among a hoard of otherwise trivial jewellery being auctioned after its capture from foreign reavers. My lieutenant recognised it immediately as a Cicisbeo’s Signet, and clearly decorated with a banner of Sarvos, and yet though it lingered on the edges of our awareness, none among the crew could place it by sight. Call it a failing of vigilance, perhaps, but my banner-book was damaged by water some years ago, and parts of it remain utterly illegible. As you are aware, I am not presently on friendly terms with the Reckoner guilds, and I did not wish to entrust it to another, and so it lay unknown, an object of fierce curiosity, for these past two years.

Eventually, however, along came a torch-bearer of Urizen who wished to travel in foreign parts. He boarded the same Freeborn ship as us, and his own notes on the banners of the Companies of the League were quite extensive. It was then, some days into the voyage, that we recognised it in those notes as the old seal of the Company of the Black Banner, formerly the Black Swan Ascendant, which your grandfather re-named and valiantly rebuilt after its defeat at sea.

Imagine my delight at the discovery. I swear to you, that nervous old mountain-goat did not appreciate being shaken with quite such excitement as I felt at that moment. Immediately we made landfall I attempted to amend the terms of my contract to permit me to deliver the ring myself, but alas, you know the Freeborn: signed in a cambion’s blood, the contract was immutable. I do not blame them; when I look back, the gesture seems a tad off-colour, but such was my delight.

Instead, you have it from the hand of my most trusted lieutenant Drago Durante di Sarvos, along with this letter, sealed with two kisses of joyful affection, one for each cheek. I hope that when we next meet, I will have the honour of seeing it resplendent on the hand of your cicisbeo.

I must to the campaign trail now, but know that a part of my thoughts go with this ring to you.

With warmest regards, I remain,

Yours,

Fabrizio di Sarvos
Captain, Company of the Bald Eagle</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Talismans]]

Circlet of Command

2013-02-09T11:22:33Z

DomR:

{{stub}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Urizen-0247.JPG|title=An Urzien officer shows off her Circlet of Command|caption=Costume by [http://costumemercenary.blogspot.co.uk/p/costumes-for-empire.html Costume Mercenary]|align=right|width=302|height=449}}
==Description==
A circlet of command is sometimes called a ''serjeant's helm'' a ''barracker's ring'' depending on the form it takes. Usually formed of beaten [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]] alloyed with silver, [[Materials#Common metals|mithril]] or iron, it is often inlaid with [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]]. In [[Dawn]] and [[Urizen]] it is often made in the form of a chain or net of weltsilver and green iron, secured at the temples. In the [[The Marches|Marches]] and [[Varushka]] it is as likely to be a sturdy open-faced helmet made of green steel, with weltsilver decoration. Either way, it is sought after by sergeants, captains and martially inclined priests. It grants strength to the words of encouragement spoken - or more commonly, shouted or barked - at injured soldiers to help keep their fighting spirit strong.

Circlets of command exist all over the Empire and are even known outside it, wherever there are stories of a martial officer restoring strength and faith to their battered troops ''en masse''. The legendary Marcher figure [[Bolstering_Bill_(Exemplar)|Bolstering Bill]], although rarely portrayed as an officer, is nevertheless often shown with a cap or simple helmet bearing the [[Runes]] [[Lann]] and [[Bravash]], representing him granting his comrades strength through [[Loyalty]].

Some legends attribute the very first circlet of command to the [[Signs_of_the_Paragon_and_Exemplar|Paragon]] of [[Courage]] [[Korl]], who discovered the secrets of metal-working deep beneath the earth. It is said that he wore a twist of metal about his arm to remind others that with bravery anything could be accomplished and that this reminder would give his fellows fresh strength to battle on against the monsters plaguing their land. Some [[Magisters]] believe it more likely that Korl’s bracelet was symbolic, rather than magical, but the association with this item has persisted, with some examples being called ''Korl’s Crowns.''

Battlefield doctors have also been known to acquire these talismans, to help save their skill for those who truly need it. The notoriously sharp-tongued [[the_Marches|Marcher]] [[Surgical_skills#Physick|physic]] Harry Mallard called his circlet ''Timewaster’s Treatment'' and would wield its power by convincing the walking wounded that their injuries were trivial.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' Jewelry (Talisman)
* '''Effect:''' When you use the [[Heroic skills#Get it together|get it together]] skill, you may use it on two characters at the same time for the cost of only one [[Heroic skills#Hero points|hero point]]. You must have one hand on each target throughout the five seconds of appropriate roleplaying used with the skill.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a circlet of command requires ten ingots of [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]], seven ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]], four ingots of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]] and three ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.



<ic>Burmoth yelled in pain as an orc blade bit into his shoulder tearing his flesh. Beside him his sister Beate faired little better, bleeding from half a dozen cuts that were slowly sapping her strength. The Wintermark force was being pressed hard by the orcs; sorely outnumbered their line was slowly being forced to give ground and the once crisp white snow of the battlefield had become a crimson slush. The Kallavesi leader had been slain near the beginning of the battle, poisoned by a crazed skirmisher and then peppered with arrows. The loss of leadership so early had seen the usual good order of the Wintermark warriors slowly deteriorate until they were in danger of becoming little more than pockets of resistance in a sea of orc bodies.

Burmoth and Beate raised their shields, fending off several more strength-sapping blows but losing ground. Beate screamed as an orc spear slipped through her guard and into her armpit. Distracted by his sibling's cry, Burmoth failed to see the mace that crashed into his head, knocking his helmet clean off and sending him stumbling back dizzily. He knew that the end was coming.

He was shocked, then, when his blurred vision saw a huge shape push past them both and bury a pair of rune-covered axes into the skulls of the orcs that had moments before been set to end their lives. The giant Kallavessi left his weapons imbedded in the orcs and lifted the pair to their feet as if they were children, not fully grown adults armoured for war. He placed a huge hand on each of them; hands that would be better suited on a bear and spoke.

“Spotted Bull has seen your skeins, little ones, yours is not the time yet!” he smiled with teeth like tombstones. Beneath his bull-head helm there was blood in his hair, Matted and sticky it clung around the ornate circlet he wore at his temples. interwoven strands of weltsilver, orichalcum and green iron with a cloudy green gemstone set central above his eyes. As he spoke it seemed as if a miniature snowstorm whipped inside the gem, swirling hypnotically.

“Spotted Bull will tell you when you can die! Until then you slay orcs until your arms grow tired, then you slay some more and you worry not about tiny scratches like that!”

Emboldened by his certainty, Burmoth and Beate felt the fading fires of their spirit reignite. Beate grunted and hefted her axe, Burmoth untied his hair, no longer needing it tight as his helmet was lost. They resembled the warrior heroes of Wintermark tales, shouting battle-cries and rallying their comrades.

Spotted Bull laughed, pulled free his axes from the orcs at his feet and charged after them with a battle song on his lips.</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Talismans]]

Wintermark people

2013-02-08T21:59:11Z

DomR: added picture

{{CaptionedImage|file=Wintermark-Group-0721.JPG|title=Steinr, Kallavesi and Suaq stand together|caption=Costume by [http://costumemercenary.blogspot.co.uk/p/costumes-for-empire.html Costume Mercenary]|align=right|width=216}}
The Winterfolk were once three separate peoples: the [[Kallavesi]], the [[Steinr]] and the [[Suaq]]. Although they unified years before they joined the Empire, they preserve the heritage that made each tradition strong. Which tradition you follow is not an accident of birth but a choice made by each Winterfolk child as they reach maturity. Just as one might be born a peasant and rise to become a Thane, so someone can be born to Steinr family and leave to follow the path of a Kallavesi mystic or journey with the Suaq as a scout. Children gravitate towards whichever tradition calls most strongly to them as they come of age.

All three traditions are equally respected; they are all crucial to the survival of the nation. Although a single tradition predominates in each territory of Wintermark – this is a consequence of landscape and history – most communities include members of all three. They refer to themselves as Winterfolk, especially when talking to outsiders. They no longer consider themselves three peoples; they are one people, but with three traditions.
{{CaptionedImage|file=WinterKallavesi2.jpg|align=left|width=210}}
Many Winterfolk maintain the old belief in the [[Wintermark Culture and Customs#Skein|Skein]] which says that when one decides to do something, one should be absolutely committed. Vacillation is anathema as is trying to go back on one's skein by trying to undo a decision one has made. When they hunt monsters across the icy wastes, they seek to kill all of them. When they design a fortress or a suit of armour, they strive to make it impregnable. When they go to war, they are prepared to die for their cause.

They judge people not by the company they keep or by their words, but by the things they do. They live their lives to the full, throwing themselves into whatever they are doing with gusto. They are generous in triumph, but selfish in defeat. The mark of a Wintermark hero is that they take personal responsibility for their failings but they share their victories with everyone. The more people involved in a heroic deed, the more heroic it is seen to be. Whenever the Scops tell a tale of a battle, everyone who fought at that battle stands a little taller, even if their specific deeds are not recounted.

All Winterfolk admire personal [[heroism]]. They relish challenges as an opportunity to prove themselves. Battle is an obvious opportunity to show one's worth, but they also recognise the challenges that are overcome with cunning or wisdom. Whether triumph is won by force of arms, imagination and cunning or wise and profound insight does not matter to the Winterfolk. What counts is how significant and notable the triumph was and how many benefit as a result of the deed. Winterfolk heroes are those whose prowess and noble qualities serve or inspire others.

While the stereotypical Winterfolk crafter is often thought of as a weapon or armour smith, they are also known for their expertise in civil and military engineering, their construction of great fortresses and other defensive structures and their delicately engraved jewellery. The Winterfolk prize individuality, not just as people, but in the things they do and the things they make. Winterfolk craftsmen take immense pride in incorporating complex [[runes]] into the things they create. The Winterfolk delight in this act of creation; they enjoy making beautiful and unique things, whether it be a torc, a weapon or a poem.
{{CaptionedImage|file=WinterSuaq2.jpg|align=right|width=175}}

==Names==
Winterfolk names are primarily Saxon and Finnish in flavour.

===Sample names===
*'''Male:''' Alric, Aarne, Burmoth, Cynestan, Dunstan, Eadric, Eomer, Esa, Kye, Marko, Oswald, Siward, Theodric, Topi, Urho, Ville, Wulfric.
*'''Female:''' Agatha, Anja, Eawyn, Edith, Elina, Emma, Gytha, Inga, Kaisa, Lyydia, Maethild, Needa, Reet, Ricola, Suvi, Wynflaed, Ymma.

When they are born Winterfolk take their second names from the thane's hall to which they belong, (which in turn will have been named after its founder) or less commonly they may take their mother or father's name. In either case the name is adjusted to make the name flow.

The Winterfolk strive to commit deeds worthy of a name, to earn a name. This name is bestowed by the scops and is a word or phrase that reflects the character's achievements. You can create a character who has already achieved their name or one that is still looking to earn their name.

* ''{given name} {thane's hall}ing'' e.g. Alric Marking (Alric of Marko's Hall), Reet Ceorling (Reet of Ceorl's Hall).
* ''{given name} {parent's name}sson'' or ''{given name} {parent's name}sdottir'' e.g. Hrothgar Arnesson, Adla Runasdottir
* ''{nickname and given name} e.g. Wulfric the Bear, Wise Lyydia, Black Dow.

===Naming resources===
* [http://www.regia.org/members/names.htm Saxon names]
* [http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/finnish-names.html Finnish names]

[[Category:Wintermark]]
[[Category:Nations]]

Fell Iron Fury

2013-02-08T21:54:27Z

DomR: added picture

{{stub}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Urizen-0199.JPG|title=An Urzien sentinel trains with his Fell Iron Fury|caption=Costume by [http://costumemercenary.blogspot.co.uk/p/costumes-for-empire.html Costume Mercenary]|align=right|width=302|height=449}}
==Description==
The Fell Iron Fury is a weapon for an individual. No nation could afford the cost of spreading these through even a small unit. However, a commander who leads from the front, or the sort of heroes who are sent through the portals to do great damage at a precise point - these are the people who the nations of the Empire outfits with their best. Few are the artisans with the knowledge of how to make them, fewer still the treasuries with the stores of green iron and ambergelt needed.

The [[The_Brass_Coast_military_concerns#Kohan|Kohan]] of the Freeborn, the [[Urizen military concerns#Sentinels|Sentinels]] of Urizen, or perhaps a particularly successful [[Warden]]. These are the people who will look to get themselves outfitted with a Fell Iron Fury. Fighters with the knowledge of when to strike to kill, when to disable, and when to knock down. Warriors with the skill to hit precisely enough to kill through the gaps in heavy armour; anyone can use the weapon will leave a lightly-armoured enemy dying.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Combat#Pole-arms|Pole-arm]].
* '''Effect:''' Twice per day you may either call [[Combat#CLEAVE|CLEAVE]] or [[Combat#STRIKEDOWN|STRIKEDOWN]] with this weapon.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a Fell Iron Fury requires eighteen ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]], eight measures of [[Materials#Ambergelt|ambergelt]] and six ingots of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.
[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Pole-arms]]

<ic>General Johor was already in his cups when Iskandar entered. He gestured angrily with a crumpled up note clenched in one fist. He tossed a wineskin over to his aide and started ranting without further preamble.

"Enrico is complaining about Felix again, isn't he?" The general began an improbably high-pitched impersonation of the Freeborn champion's accent. "He has no fire in him, no spirit. That serenity speaks of a hollow soul, a soul of ice, nothing in it that would excite the smallest measure of loyalty, the passion that welds a family together, so that it will bleed for itself. You cannot trust him with the captaincy! He will never be able to lead troops!"

General Johor crumpled the piece of paper up, threw it into the fire and grabbed another scroll from his table. skandar wisely said nothing and let him burn himself out.

"And of course as soon as Felix gets a whiff of one of Enrico's messengers I have scant minutes before the sentinel finds an excuse to send one of his own. 'I don't wish to appear brusque, but that painted dancer is only a mere breath from barbarism. Uncouth. That whirling, it's hardly a proper combat form, and is a danger to any troops unfortunate enough to fight near him. It is more like dancing that the serious business of making war. I could argue that when he does the right thing it can only be coincidence, so dizzy must he be from all that spinning; I think that it might be considered a poor decision to give such as he a position of authority in tomorrow's battle etc etc."

The second letter followed the first into the fire and the General sat down heavily in his chair. He put his head in his hands

"It's hard to believe they both buy the same weapon from the same artisan. All I asked for were some people who knew one end of a pole-arm from the other. Who'd be a general in this bloody Empire?"</ic>

Warmage's Belt

2013-02-08T21:51:05Z

DomR: added some description

{{stub}}
==Description==
A sturdy leather belt is a common component of a suit of mage armour, using raw magic to protect the guts and groin. When the magic of the belt is invoked, healing power flows up from the base of the spine and the stomach and spreads through the body, not only fixing damaged skin, bone and blood vessels, but invigorating the wearer. Many wearers feel permanently vigorous and potent. [[Briar]]s find this effect particularly pronounced, bestowing upon them a restlessness and drive extreme for even the twisted. This leads many briars, ashamed of their heritage, to avoid this mage armour. Those few who embrace their lineage in spite of the suspicions of others wear these belts proudly, relishing their exaggerated liveliness and putting their energies to good use on the battlefield

A warmage's belt is usually polished with ambergelt resin, usually inlaid or embossed with weltsilver. The rune [[Bravash]] is often worked into the front of the belt, helping to generate and channel vital energies when the belt is invoked. For this reason, some waggish [[The Marches|Marcher]] once named it the ''cocksure cummerbund'', a name which appears in more than one bawdy ballad. A Marcher landskeeper who wears a warmage's belt may expect some good-natured ribbing after the battle is won.

As might be expected, the warmage's belt is common among the [[Urizen_military_concerns|Sentinels]] of [[Urizen]], where it is often made with elegant simplicity. In contrast, a number of extremely decorative examples exist from [[the League]], made around the turn of the fourth century when the [[League_leadership|Merchant Prince]] Julio de [[Tassato]] ran a contest to make him a suit of [[Magic_overview#Mage_Armour|mage armour]] that exemplified his [[Pride]] in his city - the prize being a hefty sum of steel and exclusive patronage for the winner. In an ironic turn lost on none of Tassato's salon wits, blind judging led to the prize going to his greatest rival, who purchased all of the runners-up with the prize money and marched his [[League_military_concerns_|Free Company]] through the streets to display them.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Magical_skills#Wear_Mage_Armour|Mage Armour]].
* '''Effect:''' Once per day you may use the [[Heroic skills#Second wind|second wind]] skill.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a warmage's belt requires eight ingots of [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]] and four measures of [[Materials#Ambergelt|ambergelt]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.

<ic>"Hold still!" 
The harsh tone of the cambion seamstress shocked him out of his contemplations. Tillita had a reputation of being the best in Sarvos
and it would not do to anger her. Almost immediately, Illyrio felt a sharp pain in his rear and near jumped out of his skin. 
"Pay attention! That's what happens if you start daydreaming and shuffling your feet. A pin will be the least of your worries if you are so distracted when you stand before the guild tomorrow!" 
Illyrio sighed and stood up straight, his cheeks flushing a bright red. His embarrassment was not just due to the constant haranguing this tailor was giving him, but also to the nagging fact that she had been right on every occasion. He regaled himself briefly in the magnificent full-length gilt-edged mirror that stood before him in Tillita's well furnished studio. Somewhere off to the edge of the room, he could hear his young apprentice Cassio snickering into his sleeve. He would have to have words. 
“I have chosen this to complement your new robe.” Tillita clapped her thrice-ringed hands together and a naga child ran out from behind the rich red curtains leading to her workshop, a sturdy belt held above his head. Illyrio studied it with interest, noting how it was the weltsilver reflected the light, drawing further attention to the embossed rune in the centre. Tillita had outdone herself, he thought as the seamstress took the belt from the youngster and arranged it around his ample midriff. 
At once, Illyrio felt empowered – potent and confident. A perfect choice not just for his meeting with the guild, but a marvellous accompaniment to any outfit. He smiled. 
“I trust it meets with your approval.” Illyrio nodded vigorously. 
“The full outfit will be ready in the morning. I expect prompt and full payment.” Illyrio carefully removed the new belt and robe, handing them to the child as Tillita adjusted the mirror impatiently. Illyrio took his cue and with a curt bow left the room, dragging his apprentice behind him. 
Tillita fidgeted with the gold ring adorning her left index finger and motioned to the naga boy. 
“Please be so kind as to pay a visit to Master Parati. Wish him good health and inform him of the details of Illyrio's purchase.” The youth
nodded and sped off down the stairs, leaving Tillita whistling to herself as she prepared the studio for her next customer. She had never loved her job more.</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Mage Armour]]

Champion's Bastion

2013-02-08T21:46:41Z

DomR:

{{CaptionedImage|file=Wintermark-3184.jpg|title=A young thane, proud of his enchanted shield|caption=Armour by [https://www.facebook.com/idiomproductions?ref=ts&fref=ts Idiom Productions] Horse Shield by [http://www.skianmhor.co.uk Skian Mhor]|align=right|width=400|height=600}}
{{stub}}
==Description==
A warrior who can withstand mighty blows can fight for longer. A ''champion's bastion'' is often of alloyed [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]] and steel, inlaid with [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]] designs. The more active a warrior wielding this shield is on a battlefield, the more the field repays that action by granting them vigour and helping them shrug off minor wounds.

The history of this item is fiercely disputed, with the [[Highguard|Highborn]] and the [[Dawn|Dawnish]] both claiming it as their development. It certainly predates the Empire; carvings in the [[Necropolis]] tomb of Miriam the Strong, a Highborn hero of [[Highguard_history|the Patrician War]], appear to show her gaining strength from her glowing shield after striking down her enemies. Her shield, ''War's Reward'', was stolen from her tomb in the early years of the Empire, and has long-since disappeared from [[Imperial history]], but its depiction of a unicorn and a pegasus rampant is widely known among Highborn historians. If the shield still exists, it would be an artefact of remarkable worth, not least as the oldest known example of a ''Champion's Bastion''.

Ironically, the grounds for this claim are the source of the dispute with the Dawnish, who claim that Miriam was a Dawnish Noble who travelled to Highguard to aid Permion's rebellion. The evidence for this is largely a folk tradition in Dawn, but as with many troubadours' tales, the Dawnish regard it is as just as true as the glory in it.

This shield is generally found in the possession of those with a passion for battle beyond even other warriors. [[Imperial_Orcs_leadership|Warlords]] of the Imperial Orc legions value these shields, usually boldly decorated with their legion’s [[Imperial_Orcs_hearth_magic#Symbols|symbol]], as a means of staying upright for longer to inspire their followers in battle. Some hear particularly loud bursts of ancestral whispering while using the shield, believing it invigorates their souls along with their bodies. The [[Dawn|Dawnish]] similarly bear these shields with heraldic decoration. Some very wealthy [[Questing_knight#Creating_a_knightly_order|Knightly Orders]] strive to bestow one of these shields upon every new member, bearing the order’s heraldry. It is sometimes called ''Glory’s Reward'' as it rewards glorious actions with renewed strength and harks back to the name of Miriam the Strong's shield. It can lead to over-confidence. One knight is famously recorded as saying, just prior to the battle where she was hacked apart by a dozen orcs, “Give me ''Glory’s Reward'' and a bucket of [[Philtres_of_War#Bannerman.27s_Honey|Bannerman’s Honey]], and I’ll slay the lot myself.”

In Dawn, the Gryphon [[runes]] are commonly used as a set upon these shields, along with depictions of [[Legendary_beasts#Gryphon|gryphons]] about to strike. Elsewhere, particularly in [[Wintermark]], [[Legendary_beasts#Firebird|firebird]] imagery is used, invoking its strength of spirit and fabulous healing powers.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Combat#Shields|shield]] (Talisman). You cannot make a champion's bastion that is a buckler.
* '''Effect:''' Whenever you spend a [[Heroic skills#Hero points|hero points]] you regain one hit immediately afterward.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a champion's bastion requires seven ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]], three ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]] and three ingots of [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.

<ic>The scop was holding court in a raucous corner of the tavern. He had an audience of drinkers all over the Empire, but his attention was on three: a Marcher, a Dawnish knight and most particularly on the hero of his Hall. She'd recently returned from Skarsind. The Imperial army had lost, and his job was to drag crumbs of glory out of defeat, to fire the citizens of Empire to the challenge of battles to come.

"Shield-guarded glory-tall, legend, tho' stature-small, 
Great Kiri! Axe-maid! The best of our hall! 

Two foes she faced alone, turn-swings she cut one down, 
left his skull axe-cleaved, and turned to the next

Down swung his mighty axe, leaving the lime-wood cracked. 
She's hurt. She rises! she back-handed hacks!"

Not bad, he thought as he smashed a tankard towards the next table to punctuate the end of the line. He raised his arm to Kiri:

"Blood-slick that deadly glade, death for orc foe-man made, 
Giant she stood there, bestriding the field!".

They're laughing now. He's got them, he knows, but always leave them wanting more and that knight's Troubadour is tuning up on the next table.

He'd something in his mind about the shield that Arte had made her. "Sturdy-light lime-wood board, bastioned with tempest jade, Green-iron girded and welt-silver-wired!" or something like that. A bit literal for a tavern-song, really. Best keep it for the Hall. He can feel he'll be asked for a verse about this next time his Hall gathers to remind themselves they are all heroes, and their legends will live forever.

"Axe-ready glory-torn, Wintermark newly-born, 
bonded like sword-edge, a nation for war.

Ice-crafty Suaq-scouts, Steinr-line weapons high, 
storm-crows amongst us, wise Kallavesi.

First Empress came to us, Wisdom she spoke to us 
Empire like thanes-hall, nine nations as one.

Soul-singing, gathered here, heroes of Kolti's hall! 
These are our stories, they say who we are."



[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Talismans]]

Champion's Bastion

2013-02-08T21:45:47Z

DomR:

{{CaptionedImage|file=Wintermark-3184.jpg|title=A young thane, proud of his enchanted shield|caption=Armour by [https://www.facebook.com/idiomproductions?ref=ts&fref=ts Idiom Productions] Horse Shield by [http://www.skianmhor.co.uk Skian Mhor]|align=right|width=400|height=600}}
{{stub}}
==Description==
A warrior who can withstand mighty blows can fight for longer. A ''champion's bastion'' is often of alloyed [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]] and steel, inlaid with [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]] designs. The more active a warrior wielding this shield is on a battlefield, the more the field repays that action by granting them vigour and helping them shrug off minor wounds.

The history of this item is fiercely disputed, with the [[Highguard|Highborn]] and the [[Dawn|Dawnish]] both claiming it as their development. It certainly predates the Empire; carvings in the [[Necropolis]] tomb of Miriam the Strong, a Highborn hero of [[Highguard_history|the Patrician War]], appear to show her gaining strength from her glowing shield after striking down her enemies. Her shield, ''War's Reward'', was stolen from her tomb in the early years of the Empire, and has long-since disappeared from [[Imperial history]], but its depiction of a unicorn and a pegasus rampant is widely known among Highborn historians. If the shield still exists, it would be an artefact of remarkable worth, not least as the oldest known example of a ''Champion's Bastion''.

Ironically, the grounds for this claim are the source of the dispute with the Dawnish, who claim that Miriam was a Dawnish Noble who travelled to Highguard to aid Permion's rebellion. The evidence for this is largely a folk tradition in Dawn, but as with many troubadours' tales, the Dawnish regard it is as just as true as the glory in it.

This shield is generally found in the possession of those with a passion for battle beyond even other warriors. [[Imperial_Orcs_leadership|Warlords]] of the Imperial Orc legions value these shields, usually boldly decorated with their legion’s [[Imperial_Orcs_hearth_magic#Symbols|symbol]], as a means of staying upright for longer to inspire their followers in battle. Some hear particularly loud bursts of ancestral whispering while using the shield, believing it invigorates their souls along with their bodies. The [[Dawn|Dawnish]] similarly bear these shields with heraldic decoration. Some very wealthy [[Questing_knight#Creating_a_knightly_order|Knightly Orders]] strive to bestow one of these shields upon every new member, bearing the order’s heraldry. It is sometimes called “Glory’s Reward” as it rewards glorious actions with renewed strength. It can lead to over-confidence. One knight is famously recorded as saying, just prior to the battle where she was hacked apart by a dozen orcs, “Give me ''Glory’s Reward'' and a bucket of [[Philtres_of_War#Bannerman.27s_Honey|Bannerman’s Honey]], and I’ll slay the lot myself.”

In Dawn, the Gryphon [[runes]] are commonly used as a set upon these shields, along with depictions of [[Legendary_beasts#Gryphon|gryphons]] about to strike. Elsewhere, particularly in [[Wintermark]], [[Legendary_beasts#Firebird|firebird]] imagery is used, invoking its strength of spirit and fabulous healing powers.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Combat#Shields|shield]] (Talisman). You cannot make a champion's bastion that is a buckler.
* '''Effect:''' Whenever you spend a [[Heroic skills#Hero points|hero points]] you regain one hit immediately afterward.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a champion's bastion requires seven ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]], three ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]] and three ingots of [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.

<ic>The scop was holding court in a raucous corner of the tavern. He had an audience of drinkers all over the Empire, but his attention was on three: a Marcher, a Dawnish knight and most particularly on the hero of his Hall. She'd recently returned from Skarsind. The Imperial army had lost, and his job was to drag crumbs of glory out of defeat, to fire the citizens of Empire to the challenge of battles to come.

"Shield-guarded glory-tall, legend, tho' stature-small, 
Great Kiri! Axe-maid! The best of our hall! 

Two foes she faced alone, turn-swings she cut one down, 
left his skull axe-cleaved, and turned to the next

Down swung his mighty axe, leaving the lime-wood cracked. 
She's hurt. She rises! she back-handed hacks!"

Not bad, he thought as he smashed a tankard towards the next table to punctuate the end of the line. He raised his arm to Kiri:

"Blood-slick that deadly glade, death for orc foe-man made, 
Giant she stood there, bestriding the field!".

They're laughing now. He's got them, he knows, but always leave them wanting more and that knight's Troubadour is tuning up on the next table.

He'd something in his mind about the shield that Arte had made her. "Sturdy-light lime-wood board, bastioned with tempest jade, Green-iron girded and welt-silver-wired!" or something like that. A bit literal for a tavern-song, really. Best keep it for the Hall. He can feel he'll be asked for a verse about this next time his Hall gathers to remind themselves they are all heroes, and their legends will live forever.

"Axe-ready glory-torn, Wintermark newly-born, 
bonded like sword-edge, a nation for war.

Ice-crafty Suaq-scouts, Steinr-line weapons high, 
storm-crows amongst us, wise Kallavesi.

First Empress came to us, Wisdom she spoke to us 
Empire like thanes-hall, nine nations as one.

Soul-singing, gathered here, heroes of Kolti's hall! 
These are our stories, they say who we are."



[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Talismans]]

Champion's Bastion

2013-02-08T21:45:17Z

DomR: Added description

{{CaptionedImage|file=Wintermark-3184.jpg|title=A young thane, proud of his enchanted shield|caption=Armour by [https://www.facebook.com/idiomproductions?ref=ts&fref=ts Idiom Productions] Horse Shield by [http://www.skianmhor.co.uk Skian Mhor]|align=right|width=400|height=600}}
{{stub}}
==Description==
A warrior who can withstand mighty blows can fight for longer. A ''champion's bastion'' is often of alloyed [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]] and steel, inlaid with [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]] designs. The more active a warrior wielding this shield is on a battlefield, the more the field repays that action by granting them vigour and helping them shrug off minor wounds.

The history of this item is fiercely disputed, with the [[Highguard|Highborn]] and the [[Dawn|Dawnish]] both claiming it as their development. It certainly predates the Empire; carvings in the [[Necropolis]] tomb of Miriam the Strong, a Highborn hero of [[Highguard_history|the Patrician War]], appear to show her gaining strength from her glowing shield after striking down her enemies. Her shield, ''War's Reward'', was stolen from her tomb in the early years of the Empire, and has long-since disappeared from [[Imperial History]], but its depiction of a unicorn and a pegasus rampant is widely known among Highborn historians. If the shield still exists, it would be an artefact of remarkable worth, not least as the oldest known example of a ''Champion's Bastion''.

Ironically, the grounds for this claim are the source of the dispute with the Dawnish, who claim that Miriam was a Dawnish Noble who travelled to Highguard to aid Permion's rebellion. The evidence for this is largely a folk tradition in Dawn, but as with many troubadours' tales, the Dawnish regard it is as just as true as the glory in it.

This shield is generally found in the possession of those with a passion for battle beyond even other warriors. [[Imperial_Orcs_leadership|Warlords]] of the Imperial Orc legions value these shields, usually boldly decorated with their legion’s [[Imperial_Orcs_hearth_magic#Symbols|symbol]], as a means of staying upright for longer to inspire their followers in battle. Some hear particularly loud bursts of ancestral whispering while using the shield, believing it invigorates their souls along with their bodies. The [[Dawn|Dawnish]] similarly bear these shields with heraldic decoration. Some very wealthy [[Questing_knight#Creating_a_knightly_order|Knightly Orders]] strive to bestow one of these shields upon every new member, bearing the order’s heraldry. It is sometimes called “Glory’s Reward” as it rewards glorious actions with renewed strength. It can lead to over-confidence. One knight is famously recorded as saying, just prior to the battle where she was hacked apart by a dozen orcs, “Give me ''Glory’s Reward'' and a bucket of [[Philtres_of_War#Bannerman.27s_Honey|Bannerman’s Honey]], and I’ll slay the lot myself.”

In Dawn, the Gryphon [[runes]] are commonly used as a set upon these shields, along with depictions of [[Legendary_beasts#Gryphon|gryphons]] about to strike. Elsewhere, particularly in [[Wintermark]], [[Legendary_beasts#Firebird|firebird]] imagery is used, invoking its strength of spirit and fabulous healing powers.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Combat#Shields|shield]] (Talisman). You cannot make a champion's bastion that is a buckler.
* '''Effect:''' Whenever you spend a [[Heroic skills#Hero points|hero points]] you regain one hit immediately afterward.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a champion's bastion requires seven ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]], three ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]] and three ingots of [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.

<ic>The scop was holding court in a raucous corner of the tavern. He had an audience of drinkers all over the Empire, but his attention was on three: a Marcher, a Dawnish knight and most particularly on the hero of his Hall. She'd recently returned from Skarsind. The Imperial army had lost, and his job was to drag crumbs of glory out of defeat, to fire the citizens of Empire to the challenge of battles to come.

"Shield-guarded glory-tall, legend, tho' stature-small, 
Great Kiri! Axe-maid! The best of our hall! 

Two foes she faced alone, turn-swings she cut one down, 
left his skull axe-cleaved, and turned to the next

Down swung his mighty axe, leaving the lime-wood cracked. 
She's hurt. She rises! she back-handed hacks!"

Not bad, he thought as he smashed a tankard towards the next table to punctuate the end of the line. He raised his arm to Kiri:

"Blood-slick that deadly glade, death for orc foe-man made, 
Giant she stood there, bestriding the field!".

They're laughing now. He's got them, he knows, but always leave them wanting more and that knight's Troubadour is tuning up on the next table.

He'd something in his mind about the shield that Arte had made her. "Sturdy-light lime-wood board, bastioned with tempest jade, Green-iron girded and welt-silver-wired!" or something like that. A bit literal for a tavern-song, really. Best keep it for the Hall. He can feel he'll be asked for a verse about this next time his Hall gathers to remind themselves they are all heroes, and their legends will live forever.

"Axe-ready glory-torn, Wintermark newly-born, 
bonded like sword-edge, a nation for war.

Ice-crafty Suaq-scouts, Steinr-line weapons high, 
storm-crows amongst us, wise Kallavesi.

First Empress came to us, Wisdom she spoke to us 
Empire like thanes-hall, nine nations as one.

Soul-singing, gathered here, heroes of Kolti's hall! 
These are our stories, they say who we are."



[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Talismans]]

Circlet of Command

2013-02-08T21:33:40Z

DomR: Added description

Shimmergold Coat

2013-02-08T21:13:35Z

DomR:

{{stub}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=League-0227.JPG|title=A League senator shows off his shimmergold coat|caption=Costume by [http://costumemercenary.blogspot.co.uk/p/costumes-for-empire.html Costume Mercenary]|align=right|width=302|height=449}}
==Description==
These beautiful long coats are usually worked with [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]]-and-gold thread, and dyed vibrant, [[Materials#Iridescent Gloaming|iridescent colours]]. They are popular with folk from all walks of life, offering a level of protection similar to that granted by armour but without the weight or restriction on movement or magic. They are particularly popular with senators and priests, but they are also worn by wealthy individuals such as physicians or magicians who regularly travel to dangerous locations or fear assassination.

This coat was most famously owned by the dashing [[mountebank]] Joaozinho Andre di Tassato, whose foolhardy daring has been immortalised by numerous songs and play. Although a highly accomplished ritualist, he was well-known for charging head-long into brawls and battles armoured in only his distinctive purple shimmergold coat, much to the distress of his companions. ''Purple-Coated'' is a slang term used by some [[Free Company|Free Companies]] of [[Tassato]] to refer to foolhardy bravery.

Although the benefit of the enchantment is clear, many who live in the wilds find the garish colouring of these robes challenging. Shimmergold robes of [[Navarr]]i or [[Suaq]] manufacture are more commonly long tunics worn under other layers or occasionally linings sewn into furs. These are known as ''Summer-Plume Shirts'' and are appreciated by scouts across the Empire. A few shimmergold coats are even reversible, allowing the owner to flip between subtle and showy sides.


==Rules==
* '''Form:''' Robes.
* '''Effect:''' While wearing this robe you gain one additional level of [[Combat skills#Endurance|endurance]].
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a shimmergold coat requires seven measures of [[Materials#Iridescent Gloaming|iridescent gloaming]], and four ingots of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.



<ic>
Old Marcher Jack 
O’the spirit of the seasons 
Taught us all to make a coat 
And gave us lotsa reasons 
Spring you’re warm an’ winters gone 
Be round again afore too long, 
Summers here the suns’a’blazin’ 
Keeps you safe from Feni’s razin’, 
Autumn’s coming, leaves a’fallin 
Need to stay out, logs need haulin’. 
Winter’s here, it’s wet an’ cold 
But you can stay out, proud an’ bold. 

''Marcher Seamstress’ Rhyme''</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Robes]]

Shimmergold Coat

2013-02-08T21:12:33Z

DomR:

{{stub}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=League-0227.JPG|title=A League senator shows off his shimmergold coat|caption=Costume by [http://costumemercenary.blogspot.co.uk/p/costumes-for-empire.html Costume Mercenary]|align=right|width=302|height=449}}
==Description==
These beautiful long coats are usually worked with orichalcum-and-gold thread, and dyed vibrant, iridescent colours. They are popular with folk from all walks of life, offering a level of protection similar to that granted by armour but without the weight or restriction on movement or magic. They are particularly popular with senators and priests, but they are also worn by wealthy individuals such as physicians or magicians who regularly travel to dangerous locations or fear assassination.

This coat was most famously owned by the dashing [[mountebank]] Joaozinho Andre di Tassato, whose foolhardy daring has been immortalised by numerous songs and play. Although a highly accomplished ritualist, he was well-known for charging head-long into brawls and battles armoured in only his distinctive purple shimmergold coat, much to the distress of his companions. ''Purple-Coated'' is a slang term used by some [[Free Company|Free Companies]] of [[Tassato]] to refer to foolhardy bravery.

Although the benefit of the enchantment is clear, many who live in the wilds find the garish colouring of these robes challenging. Shimmergold robes of [[Navarr]]i or [[Suaq]] manufacture are more commonly long tunics worn under other layers or occasionally linings sewn into furs. These are known as ''Summer-Plume Shirts'' and are appreciated by scouts across the Empire. A few shimmergold coats are even reversible, allowing the owner to flip between subtle and showy sides.


==Rules==
* '''Form:''' Robes.
* '''Effect:''' While wearing this robe you gain one additional level of [[Combat skills#Endurance|endurance]].
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a shimmergold coat requires seven measures of [[Materials#Iridescent Gloaming|iridescent gloaming]], and four ingots of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.



<ic>
Old Marcher Jack 
O’the spirit of the seasons 
Taught us all to make a coat 
And gave us lotsa reasons 
Spring you’re warm an’ winters gone 
Be round again afore too long, 
Summers here the suns’a’blazin’ 
Keeps you safe from Feni’s razin’, 
Autumn’s coming, leaves a’fallin 
Need to stay out, logs need haulin’. 
Winter’s here, it’s wet an’ cold 
But you can stay out, proud an’ bold. 

''Marcher Seamstress’ Rhyme''</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Robes]]

Shimmergold Coat

2013-02-08T21:10:55Z

DomR: /* Description */

{{stub}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=League-0227.JPG|title=A League senator shows off his shimmergold coat|caption=Costume by [http://costumemercenary.blogspot.co.uk/p/costumes-for-empire.html Costume Mercenary]|align=right|width=302|height=449}}
==Description==
These beautiful long coats are usually worked with orichalcum-and-gold thread, and dyed vibrant, iridescent colours. They are popular with folk from all walks of life, offering a level of protection similar to that granted by armour but without the weight or restriction on movement or magic. They are particularly popular with senators and priests, but they are also worn by wealthy individuals such as physicians or magicians who regularly travel to dangerous locations or fear assassination.

This coat was most famously owned by the dashing [[mountebank]] Joaozinho Andre di Tassato, whose foolhardy daring has been immortalised by numerous songs and play. Although a highly accomplished ritualist, he was well-known for charging head-long into brawls and battles armoured in only his distinctive purple shimmergold coat, much to the distress of his companions. ''Purple-Coated'' is a slang term used by some [[Free Company|Free Companies]] of [[Tassato]] to refer to foolhardy bravery.

Although the benefit of the enchantment is clear, many who live in the wilds find the garish colouring of these robes challenging. Shimmergold robes of [[Navarr]]i or [[Suaq]] manufacture are more commonly long tunics worn under other layers or occasionally linings sewn into furs. These are known as ''Summer-Plume Shirts'' and are appreciated by scouts across the Empire. A few shimmergold coats are even reversible, allowing the owner to flip between subtle and showy sides. Even these more restrained versions are considered rather gaudy in [[the Marches]]. These coats are rarely worn there, being compared unfavourably to simply donning a padded gambeson like everyone else.


==Rules==
* '''Form:''' Robes.
* '''Effect:''' While wearing this robe you gain one additional level of [[Combat skills#Endurance|endurance]].
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a shimmergold coat requires seven measures of [[Materials#Iridescent Gloaming|iridescent gloaming]], and four ingots of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.



<ic>
Old Marcher Jack 
O’the spirit of the seasons 
Taught us all to make a coat 
And gave us lotsa reasons 
Spring you’re warm an’ winters gone 
Be round again afore too long, 
Summers here the suns’a’blazin’ 
Keeps you safe from Feni’s razin’, 
Autumn’s coming, leaves a’fallin 
Need to stay out, logs need haulin’. 
Winter’s here, it’s wet an’ cold 
But you can stay out, proud an’ bold. 

''Marcher Seamstress’ Rhyme''</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Robes]]

Shimmergold Coat

2013-02-08T21:08:00Z

DomR: Added description

{{stub}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=League-0227.JPG|title=A League senator shows off his shimmergold coat|caption=Costume by [http://costumemercenary.blogspot.co.uk/p/costumes-for-empire.html Costume Mercenary]|align=right|width=302|height=449}}
==Description==
These beautiful long coats are usually worked with orichalcum-and-gold thread, and dyed vibrant, iridescent colours. They are popular with folk from all walks of life, offering a level of protection similar to that granted by armour but without the weight or restriction on movement or magic. They are particularly popular with senators and priests, but they are also worn by wealthy individuals such as physicians or magicians who regularly travel to dangerous locations or fear assassination.

This coat was most famously owned by the dashing [[mountebank]] Joaozinho Andre di Tassato, whose foolhardy daring has been immortalised by numerous songs and play. Although a highly accomplished ritualist, he was well-known for charging head-long into brawls and battles armoured in only his distinctive purple shimmergold coat, much to the distress of his companions.

Although the benefit of the enchantment is clear, many who live in the wilds find the garish colouring of these robes challenging. Shimmergold robes of [[Navarr]]i or [[Suaq]] manufacture are more commonly long tunics worn under other layers or occasionally linings sewn into furs. These are known as ''Summer-Plume Shirts'' and are appreciated by scouts across the Empire. A few shimmergold coats are even reversible, allowing the owner to flip between subtle and showy sides. Even these more restrained versions are considered rather gaudy in [[the Marches]]. These coats are rarely worn there, being compared unfavourably to simply donning a padded gambeson like everyone else.


==Rules==
* '''Form:''' Robes.
* '''Effect:''' While wearing this robe you gain one additional level of [[Combat skills#Endurance|endurance]].
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a shimmergold coat requires seven measures of [[Materials#Iridescent Gloaming|iridescent gloaming]], and four ingots of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.



<ic>
Old Marcher Jack 
O’the spirit of the seasons 
Taught us all to make a coat 
And gave us lotsa reasons 
Spring you’re warm an’ winters gone 
Be round again afore too long, 
Summers here the suns’a’blazin’ 
Keeps you safe from Feni’s razin’, 
Autumn’s coming, leaves a’fallin 
Need to stay out, logs need haulin’. 
Winter’s here, it’s wet an’ cold 
But you can stay out, proud an’ bold. 

''Marcher Seamstress’ Rhyme''</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Robes]]

Stormguard Bulwark

2013-02-08T20:21:27Z

DomR: Added description

{{stub}}
==Description==
While armour makes it impossible for a magician to perform magic, a skilled battle-mage can get great use from a shield, even one that is not enchanted. A stormguard bastion is usually decorated with tempest jade, and painted with pigment infused with iridescent gloaming. [[Feresh]], the [[runes|rune]] of majesty, is often marked twice on these shields, to symbolise the enhancement of both the wielder’s magical and martial prowess. Despite the name [[Mawrig]], rune of Storms is almost never used on these shields, as it also represents disaster. It is said that anyone going into battle with Mawrig on their Bulwark as it will bring them and those who fight with them only ruination.

Like many other powerful objects, the first stormguard bulwarks were devised in [[Wintermark]]. In the early days of the [[Wintermark_history|union]] between the three peoples, a [[Suaq]] [[Wintermark_culture_and_customs#Art_and_history|scop’s]] description of a storm, containing both the physical power of the wind and rain and the more mysterious power of thunder and lightning, inspired a [[Wintermark_magical_traditions#Runesmiths|Runesmith]] to create a shield which would empower both body and mind. When the scop was shown the shield, she said that even the storm would need to guard itself against one bearing such a marvel, thus giving the design its name. It is said that the best stormguards must be finished beneath the raging clouds of a thunderstorm. For this reason many artisans leave a small part of it unpainted or undecorated for days or weeks, waiting for a storm to pass overhead so that they can complete it in the proper conditions.

Now these shields are most frequently employed by the [[Imperial_Orcs_magical_traditions#Warcasters|warcasters]] of the Imperial Orc legions. They are often painted to make their comrades’ shields, which makes the warcasters’ spells all the more surprising among a battle line of warriors. Countless barbarian orcs have spent their final seconds frozen in place, staring down the rod of an unexpected warcaster while another foe cuts open their belly. Runesmiths and [[Dawn_magical_traditions|War Witches]] are the other major users of stormguard bulwarks, but battle-mages in other lands occasionally use these shields along with a rod.


==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Combat#Shields|shield]] (Talisman). You cannot make a stormguard bulwark that is a buckler.
* '''Effect:''' While you wield this shield you gain one additional rank of both the [[Combat skills#Endurance|endurance]] skill and one additional point of personal mana.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a stormguard bulwark requires nine ingots of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]], seven ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]] and seven measures of [[Materials#Iridescent Gloaming|iridescent gloaming]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.


<ic>The makeshift camp was nothing to speak of, little more than blankets propped up on spears to keep off the endless rain, and five of the six Sentinels of Coppermount Spire slept fitfully. Theodora, the implacable changeling, had decried the idea of drawing lots for the watches when night fell, and so it had fallen to her to take the mid-watch. She stared angrily out into the darkness, her sharp eyes watching for any disturbance of the moonless night’s shadows and her sharp ears listening for any hint of the gryphons they had come down into the valleys to hunt.

The landslide that had buried the six of them and half their travelling kit, forcing them to abort the hunt, had left her covered in clinging mud and in a dark mood that would not leave her until she had fought something. It was bad enough that when the young gryphon had attacked the group she had been trapped up to her shoulders in mud, face-down in a river of rainwater, fighting to breathe.

After the fourth turn of the glass, in the dead of night, the rain stopped as suddenly as it had started. The dripping from the rain-soaked shelter came irregularly, a pitter-patter that only stoked her irritation further.

When it returned, therefore, she relished the opportunity to take its hide for her own.

She heard wingbeats pass overhead, though she saw no hint of it. It must have come back up the valley. She knew it was hurt already, but it would have gotten over the wounds from the earlier battle. The venom that coursed through its veins from Gnaeus’ lucky spell, however, would not have gone. That was why it had returned at night. A desperate outcast from its pride, it thought to catch them sleeping.

It would catch only its death, Theodora swore to herself.

She listened to it circle not far overhead, showing no sign that she knew it was there. It wouldn’t attack if it knew there was someone awake, so she sat perfectly still, ready to turn and face it, and waited for the wingbeats to stop.

They did.

She spun and raised her Stormguard Bulwark, and the beast crashed talons-first into her. It yowled in frustration and pulled itself to its feet at the same time as she recovered her stance, and the two faced off against one another. Never try to take a gryphon on alone, Castor had told her when they set out. The over-cautious old fish might as well have slapped her in the face.

She took a step toward it – there was no darting in and out in this mud – and held her shield out at the extent of her reach. It was lighter and more mobile than she was; best find out what it thought its range was. Another step and it slashed at her shield. Good.

She feinted a lunge towards it, and when its counter-slash met only air, it faltered. She knocked it across the beak with her rod, and it shook its head.

Then, with a flap of its great wings, it pounced on her.

She managed to keep the shield between her throat and its beak, which was what really mattered, though its powerful back legs raked her thighs. She clubbed it with her rod once, twice, and on the third blow it reared back and gave her the chance she needed. With a heave and a shout she rolled it off herself and cast the healing spell she now urgently needed.

Stumbling to her feet, she met its charge again with her shield. It bit at the top of her shield and pulled hard, as if trying to tear it from her grip, and she kept striking viciously at it with the green-iron tip of her rod. Eventually it let go and snapped at her face, taking a chunk of flesh, before she bodily heaved it away onto the ground.

Theodora reeled and fought for the concentration she needed to heal herself again. The absurdity of it struck her then; how like a disobedient dog it had seemed, pulling at her shield like a toy. She laughed a slightly manic laugh and raised her rod, ready to fight again. This was battle as it should be. She could deal with it at range, and she could deal with it close-to. She controlled her surroundings, and the magic that her shield extended around her would keep her standing easily long enough to deal with such a pathetic little beast. She laughed again, a challenging laugh, a laugh in the beaked face of danger.

Then two arrows zipped past her and sank into the gryphon with a thunk. It fell with barely a sound, thrashed briefly, and lay still.

Theodora spun round to find the others awake, the strings of Girgis and Ignatios’ bows still trembling. Castor stood behind them, a look of absolute thunder on his blue face.

Theodora opened her mouth to protest, and then bit back the words. It took a lot for Castor to lose his poise. Then again, she’d lost hers somewhat. Laughing in battle and all.

She was probably overdue the lecture she was about to get.

Still, it had entirely been worth it.</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Talismans]]

User:DomR

2013-02-08T15:03:46Z

DomR: Added mugshot

{{CaptionedImage|file=DomR.jpg|align=left}}
Team: New Player Plot

Email: [mailto:empire.backgrounds@profounddecisions.co.uk empire.backgrounds@profounddecisions.co.uk]

File:DomR.jpg

2013-02-08T14:59:05Z

DomR: Photo of DomR

Photo of DomR

Moonsilver Doublet

2013-02-04T23:54:28Z

DomR:

{{stub}}
==Description==
"Moonsilver" is a term used to describe methods of adding goldwork to garments using a combination of weltsilver and mithril. The garment is surprisingly heavy, and with dragonbone fixtures it can become even more bulky. Like the [[Wyvernsting Spaulders]] and the [[Glamourweave Robe]], a moonsilver doublet allows a magician to weave their mana more efficiently, storing tiny amounts in the weave of the doublet to be called on in an emergency. Unlike those more warlike garments, the weave of weltsilver threads allows the wearer to perform the [[Spell list#Swift heal|swift heal]] spell many more times a day.

While the [[Trollsweave_Vest|Trollsweave Vest]] was developed in Wintermark, these robes were devised independently in [[Reikos#High_Chalcis|High Chalcis, in the [[Highguard]] territory of [[Reikos]], one of the greatest centres of healing known to the Empire. When the two designs came into contact, there was much debate between artisans about their relative merits. Both result in rapid, mana-efficient healing. The Highborn argued that Moonsilver Doublet was superior as the spell could be delivered in the moments after casting, while the Winterfolk felt there were benefits to not having to poke your patient with a stick. Regardless, both designs have spread across the entire Empire and each healer has to make their own mind up on which is more useful.

These robes are often linked to the virtue of [[Vigilance]], as a battlefield healer must be alert to the needs of those around them. In [[Varushka]], these are decorated with goosefeathers or spider web patterns, as a reference to the [[Varushka_religious_beliefs#The_Virtuous_Animals|the Virtuous Animals]] of Vigilance. Tower motifs are also common, though it is uncertain whether this tradition is due to the association with Vigilance or with its origins in Highguard.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' Robes.
* '''Effect:''' When you cast the [[Spell list#Swift Heal|swift heal]] spell, you do so at a cost of 1 mana rather than 2 mana.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a moonsilver doublet requires fifteen ingots of [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]], fourteen measures of [[Materials#Iridescent Gloaming|iridescent gloaming]], seven measures of [[Materials#Beggar's Lye|beggar's lye]], and three measures of [[Materials#Dragonbone|dragonbone]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.


<ic>“It’s a bit bloody fancy, isn’t it?” Landskeeper Edith said, inspecting the garment on the tailor’s dummy before her. She’d come down from the Overton hills to Tassato to find a tailor who could sew her a Moonsilver Doublet. Once she’d seen the artisan’s wares laid out before her, she’d tried her hardest to specify that it should not be too bloody fancy, but somewhere along the line the Leaguer seemed to have misunderstood her instructions.

The doublet was about the prettiest piece of clothing she’d seen in her life. The dragonbone collar, inset with weltsilver Rhyv and Pallas runes – ‘to create an abundance of healing’; the broken weltsilver lines running down the lengths of the arms; the iridescent gloaming sheen to the whole thing; and as if that weren’t enough, the fact that the whole thing seemed to be woven of cloth-of-bloody-gold: it was as if the woman had tried to make as fantastical a garment as possible just to annoy her.

“Trust me, senhora Landskeeper, it’s all in aid of the magic. Wearing this, and bearing that fine staff of yours, there will be no young lad or lass of your Company who won’t know you when they need healing. And knowing is half the-”

“They don’t need to see me dressed up like that to know me. They know me ‘cos they know me. I brought half of ‘em into the world, and they know I’ll send ‘em out of it again if they ever laugh at me. Wearing this-” she lifted the sleeve, which fell to the side of the garment again with a faint clicking of weltsilver decoration, “-I would laugh at me.”

“Well, senhora, I suppose I could enclose the whole in-”

“I don’t care what you do. I’ve had too many wee boys die on me recently for lack of mana, and I’m already bothering the Navarri to fetch me a boxload from Urizen. I need this thing for the war we’re fighting while you’re down here charging Thrones for cloth-of-bloody-gold. And I need the Regiments to take me seriously, and they’re not going to do that if I look like a bloody statue. Cover it in sacking if you have to. Just finish it, and by tomorrow.”

The artisan was taken aback. Such people as this Landskeeper were not many to the Crown in the League. Then again, if she had been losing people in battle as she said, no wonder she was in a bad mood. “Of course, senhora, I...”

She didn’t have time to finish. The Marcher had marched off already.

The artisan sighed, took a moment to admire the fine handiwork that would now have to be concealed from all public viewing, and went off to shout at an apprentice. That always helped her mood.
</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Robes]]

Moonsilver Doublet

2013-02-04T23:53:45Z

DomR: /* Description */

Defiant Steel

2013-02-04T22:13:09Z

DomR:

{{stub}}
==Description==
Weltsilver steel is pale and reflective, but also resilient and flexible. Such armour is effective at absorbing the force of a powerful blow that might otherwise cripple or incapacitate the wearer. Reinforced with green iron and orichalcum steel, and inlaid with ambergelt and tempest jade, the armour focuses the will of the wearer to allow them to recover swiftly from attacks that might leave a lesser warrior maimed.

This enchantment is unheard of on full suits of plate, which already protect their wearer from broken bones. Instead, breastplates accompanied by greaves or bracers are the most common form, followed by sets of breastplates and helms. The armour’s power helps to make up for the reduced coverage, a boon for those who prefer a lighter and more flexible suit of plate. Leaders among the [[the_Brass_Coast|Freeborn]] [[The_Brass_Coast_military_concerns#Kohan|Kohan]] favour this armour in the form of scalemail, calling is “Drake-scale” after the [[Mundane_beasts#Drakes|great reptiles]] which plague the region. Occasionally it is also called “Wyvern-scale”, as it is most useful to those without functioning arms.

Arm and leg coverings often double as splints to help the wearer push their limbs back into shape as they draw upon the armour’s power. Some suits are decorated with etchings of [[Cerulean_Mazzarine|Cerulean Mazzarine]] to draw upon the knowledge of that herb’s healing sap, the image acting as a substitute for medical treatment. Others bear [[Xun]], the rune of transformation, invoked to change a mangled limb to an unbroken one.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Combat#Heavy Armour|Heavy Armour]].
* '''Effect:''' With ten seconds of [[appropriate roleplaying]] you may spend a [[Heroic skills#Hero Points|hero point]] to repair one of your limbs that has been ruined by the [[Combat#CLEAVE|cleave]] or [[Combat#IMPALE|impale]] call.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a suit of defiant steel requires ten ingots of [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]], eight ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]], eight measures of [[Materials#Ambergelt|ambergelt]], four ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]] and four ingots of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Heavy Armour]]
[[Category:IC_Text_Required]]

Defiant Steel

2013-02-04T22:12:37Z

DomR: /* Description */

Defiant Steel

2013-02-04T22:12:04Z

DomR: /* Description */

{{stub}}
==Description==
Weltsilver steel is pale and reflective, but also resilient and flexible. Such armour is effective at absorbing the force of a powerful blow that might otherwise cripple or incapacitate the wearer. Reinforced with green iron and orichalcum steel, and inlaid with ambergelt and tempest jade, the armour focuses the will of the wearer to allow them to recover swiftly from attacks that might leave a lesser warrior maimed.

This enchantment is unheard of on full suits of plate, which already protect their wearer from broken bones. Instead, breastplates accompanied by greaves or bracers are the most common form, followed by sets of breastplates and helms. The armour’s power helps to make up for the reduced coverage, a boon for those who prefer a lighter and more flexible suit of plate. Leaders among the [[the_Brass_Coast|Freeborn]] [[The_Brass_Coast_military_concerns#Kohan|Kohan]] favour this armour in the form of scalemail, calling is “Drake-scale” after the [[Mundane_beasts#Drakes|great reptiles]] which plague the region. Occasionally it is also called “Wyvern-scale”, as it is most useful to those without functioning arms.

Arm and leg coverings often double as splints to help the wearer push their limbs back into shape as they draw upon the armour’s power. Some suits are decorated with etchings of [[Cerulean_Mazzarine]|Cerulean Mazzarine]] to draw upon the knowledge of that herb’s healing sap, the image acting as a substitute for medical treatment. Others bear [[Xun]], the rune of transformation, invoked to change a mangled limb to an unbroken one.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Combat#Heavy Armour|Heavy Armour]].
* '''Effect:''' With ten seconds of [[appropriate roleplaying]] you may spend a [[Heroic skills#Hero Points|hero point]] to repair one of your limbs that has been ruined by the [[Combat#CLEAVE|cleave]] or [[Combat#IMPALE|impale]] call.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a suit of defiant steel requires ten ingots of [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]], eight ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]], eight measures of [[Materials#Ambergelt|ambergelt]], four ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]] and four ingots of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Heavy Armour]]
[[Category:IC_Text_Required]]
[[Category:Descriptive_Text_Required]]

Twilight Pauldrons

2013-02-04T22:08:55Z

DomR:

{{stub}}{{CaptionedImage|file=UrizenMage2.jpg|align=right|width=375}}
==Description==
Purified with beggar's lye, the materials used to craft twilight pauldrons are carefully coloured and woven with threads dyed with iridescent gloaming. One of the most complex suits of mage armour that an [[Crafting skills#Artisan|artisan]] can create, it greatly increases the number of spells the wearer can cast making it a powerful adjunct to implements such as the [[Staff of the Magi]] or the [[Woundbinder]].

All the magical materials needed for this suit can be found in the forests of the Empire. It is said that the first set of pauldrons was made either for or by [[Navarr_magical_traditions#Vates|Star]], one of the first [[Navarr]]i [[Vate]]s, when the remnants of [[Navarr_history|Terunael]]’s defenders fled into the forests. It served as a symbol of how the wilds contained power that the resistance could use to their advantage. This first suit was dyed a twilight blue and decorated with flecks which sparkled like stars. The celestial theme is found elsewhere. Suits made in [[Urizen]] often bear a design of a large star surrounded by six smaller stars, representing the world and the six magical realms, as well as reminding the wearer of the [[Net of the Heavens]].

Bonding to these suits has been linked to bursts of arrogance, but it has been impossible to tell whether this is an effect of the bond or a natural consequence of such an increase in personal power. In peaceful or well-defended regions, [[Ashen_Mantle|Ashen Mantle]]s are more popular among the most powerful magicians, thus donning this armour in such places is considered a statement of over-dedication to the arts of war. Meanwhile in border regions under active attacks, powerful mages who stick to [[Ashen_Mantle|Ashen Mantle]]s are seen as a little naive or shirking their duties in battle.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Magical_skills#Wear_Mage_Armour|Mage Armour]].
* '''Effect:''' While wearing this mage armour you gain three additional points of personal mana.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting twilight pauldrons requires twenty-three measures of [[Materials#Iridescent Gloaming|iridescent gloaming]], nine measures of [[Materials#Dragonbone|dragonbone]], seven measures of [[Materials#Beggar's Lye|beggar's lye]] and three measures of [[Materials#Ambergelt|ambergelt]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.

<ic>It had, he reflected, been a perfectly normal meeting of the Senate. It seemed now to be quite a trivial matter. How should magic be best used in the Empire's campaigns? The Senator for Casinea had been going on and on about the importance of ritual magic in a support role.

He'd been speaking for the front-line battle-mage. In his old green robe, as usual. Nothing showy, nothing over-decorated. Just a plain green robe. Like a barbarian might wear, they said, when they thought he wasn't listening.

<nowiki>***</nowiki>''And hand raised to the Net of Heavens, and pull down the power...''<nowiki>***</nowiki>

The smoke had been choking, he remembered. Maybe some beggarwood had got in to the pile outside? Then, of course, the messenger had pushed his way in and suddenly a simple debate became a tumult. She'd called for silence, and he'd read the message. When she asked: "Who's with us?", he'd clasped his hands in agreement to what had become a unanimous decision. After a short pause for effect, of course.

<nowiki>***</nowiki>''And turn, and swing, and drive the orc away...''<nowiki>***</nowiki>

He'd gone outside and called over a friend from the Brass Coast to help his shrug his old green robe off. To reveal his full mage armour beneath. He rather suspected no one realised he always wore it to Senate meetings. Not because he thought he might need the extra power from the Twilight Pauldrons he'd been give to mark his election as Senator for Morrow, but to remind himself that he was a battle-mage, first and foremost.

Here is where he's most at home. To feel the touch of perfection in battle. To strive for arete over the bodies of the Empire's enemies.

<nowiki>***</nowiki>''And that orc falls into two others, and you've time for a smile before the next one...''<nowiki>***</nowiki>
</ic>



[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Mage Armour]]

Twilight Pauldrons

2013-02-04T22:08:22Z

DomR: /* Description */

Brother Blades

2013-02-04T22:05:00Z

DomR:

{{stub}}
==Description==
The brother blades are most commonly crafted as a pair, whether of swords, axes or hammers. Pains are taken to ensure the weapons are as similar as possible, and traditionally the materials used to create the best of them are taken from the same ore quarried in the same mines. That is not to say that 'unbalanced pairs' don't exist, but they are in the minority. Even unbalanced pairs tend to be similar, save for size, such as a longsword paired with a shortsword in the off-hand. A rapier paired to a stiletto is a combination popular among [[bravo]]s determined to armed under all circumstances, sometimes called ‘Pins and Needles’. So valuable is the idea of the weapons as twins that wielders take great pains to make sure that they remain reflections of each others, ensuring that any decoration of one is mirrored on the other.

It is possible to permanently mark or change the appearance of these weapons; to do so the wielder has one of the weapons altered and then uses their magical power to "copy" that change to the other weapon. This process is unreliable, and is ineffective at copying anything other than cosmetic changes to the physical shape of the weapons.

Means of invoking the pair’s power varies greatly. [[Navarr]]i paired hand-axes sometimes have [[Navarr_Culture_and_Customs#Vows|oaths]] impressed into the leather wrappings of the handles, proclaiming the weapons’ devotion to each other, which is repeated by the wielder to restore the shattered twin. All across the Empire, soldiers press together the intact blade with the remnants of its companion and invoke the rune [[Pallas]], which has power over crafted goods.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' A pair of [[Combat#One-handed Weapons|One-handed weapons]]. Despite the name any one-handed weapons may be brother blades.
* '''Effect:''' With ten seconds of [[appropriate roleplaying]] you can [[Spell list#Mend|mend]] one of these paired weapons provided the other weapon is intact and in your other hand.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a set of brother blades requires no special materials. It takes two months to make a pair of these items.
You require the [[Combat skills#Ambidexterity|ambidexterity]] skill to bond to these items.

<ic>The Brass Coast trader lifted up the sword, and weighed it in his hands. It was a fine blade, alike to its brother as ordered, and now was the moment of truth. The price had been low, he thought, but he was just finishing a Conquerors’ Sword like the one wielded by his illustrious tribes-mate Jone i Arco and that had taken every scrap of rare stuff he'd been able to lay hands on. On average, he though, he'd make more over three months than if he'd made three common blades. The other side of the tavern table was his customer, known to him, from a nation known to him, and without any of the honesty that the Freeborn would show. Would he press for still lower?

The Temeschwari took the blade. It was, as promised, the twin of the one he'd already had delivered. Imperial horse in gold relief on the blade, red leather hilt. It would match his Merchant Prince's brigandine and robe perfectly.

The Freeborn's hand drifted down, under the table, and wrapped round the reassuring steel of his knife.

"So, the price..."

"Eight Crowns the pair. As contracted. The balance of four is due." said the Freeborn. Amethyst and topaz gleamed on the Temeschwari's fingers as two stacks of coins were pushed over the table: transaction done.

And as the he left, the Freeborn's grip relaxed.

</ic>



[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Paired Weapons]]

Brother Blades

2013-02-04T22:04:17Z

DomR: /* Description */

Mazzarine Spindle

2013-01-31T20:05:18Z

DomR: /* Description */

{{stub}}
==Description==
The name of this implement references the [[Cerulean Mazzarine]], a valuable healing herb that helps treat crippling injuries. The [[Dawn magical traditions|weavers]] of [[Dawn]] use this tapering wands in their work, wrapping fine threads around them for safekeeping. They also use them in magical work, weaving the flesh and bone of shattered and fractured limbs as easily as they weave delicate silk and wool to create garments.

As these wands are often not beyond the means of the reasonably well-off, they are among the more common items employed by warrior-magicians across the Empire, particularly those who have focused on martial training at the expense of their repertoire of spells. [[Urizen_military_concerns#Sentinels|Sentinels]] with a basic understanding of spellcraft find great use in these wands, especially in conjunction with a companion bearing an [[Acolyte%27s_Mercy|Acolyte’s Mercy]]. The relatively plentiful wandmakers of [[Urizen]] do a roaring trade in both these wands.

It has been observed that magicians bonded to this wand seem less likely to break limbs, or [[Cambion|horns]] and [[Changeling|antlers]] in the case of certain Lineages, compared to those around them. A powerful blow in battle will still shatter bone, but falls and accidents appear to be less damaging. It is theorised that the borrowed knowledge in the wand teaches the wielder’s bones to be more resilient somehow. Others chalk this up to blind luck, but some especially vain changelings have been known to acquire these wands primarily to prevent shedding.

A mazzarine spindle is most often a shaft of polished and decorated wood, wound around with thick wires of silver alloyed with weltsilver. It is sometimes carved to resemble several long [[Legendary beasts#hydra|hydra]] necks twisted around one another, drawing upon legends of such creatures growing back their severed heads at an alarming rate.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Magic overview#Wands|Wand]].
* '''Effect:''' You may cast the [[Spell list#Restore Limb|restore limb]] spell as if you knew it.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a mazzarine spindle requires seven measures of [[Materials#Weltsilver|weltsilver]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.

<ic>The young man stared out of the window, day-dreaming of glory.

"'Prentice! Fetch me the scarlet silk!"

He started awake, and grabbed the nearest spindle of blood-coloured thread.

"No, not the maroon. The scarlet! This is for Lady Mary of House Bourne, not the common yeomen of the Rucastle garrison!"

He stared blankly at the spindle in his hand, and replaced it, running his hand along various shades of red yarn neatly wound round wooden bobbins.

"Yes, the stack there. No, the next shelf. Yes, that one. If you wish to 'prentice, you must be able to take instruction, young man! First time! See, this is a noble thread, so it's stored nobly! It took me a month's careful work to make that spindle. See the wiring? That's part weltsilver, and worth more than you are I would wager."

The weaver stared sharply at the young man.

"Oh, you're good for nothing today, and don't think I don't know the reason why! Why, it was only thirty years ago that I sat as you do now, waiting for my mistress to release me so I could practise for my Test. Not that the earl wants you - 'Return with the head of an ogre!' is hardly the test she'd set someone she wanted in her House! Still, on the off-chance you survive today, you should at least understand the basics of a craft. The House always has need of embroiderers!"

"Now, tidy up while I take wine."

**

So it was that that afternoon, a young man stood in a clearing, dappled with late summer sun, sniffing the air to find the monster whose trail he'd lost. After a second or so, he chose. Carefully, quietly, he stalked down a path.

Only to be hit by a mass of muscled fury. His rusty buckler knocked aside, he held up his other arm to defend his face, and the monster raked it with its claws, slicing through his thin leather coat and ruining the arm underneath. He was knocked to the ground, his borrowed sword falling in some leaves, the monster bellowing triumph.

He backed off, crawling, sweating, good hand searching in his shirt. The monster howled a challenge to the sky. He found what he was looking for, and focused his mind. Flesh knitted, bone snapped back into place, and as the monster moved to dispatch him...

He snatched up his sword. The creature lunged towards him, he struck it square in the chest and its weight carried the blade through fur and flesh and bone and heart.

He lay under its body, exhausted by the effort.

**

With a flurry of trumpets, a noble company entered the glade. Banners fluttering, coats-of-arms showing each to be a noble of a House of Dawn. The most gloriously-panoplied looked, took in the scene, and spoke.

"You know that trick won't work if you're wearing armour? Still, well done... And please replace Mistress Weaver's valuable wand. Unbound. And preferably without her finding it missing..." </ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Wands]]

Pugilist's Shillelagh

2013-01-31T20:02:11Z

DomR: /* Description */

{{stub}}
==Description==
The pugilist's shillelagh, or ''stormcudgel'' as it is also known, is usually a rough-hewn slab of wood reinforced with iron at either end. It is intended as much as a weapon for beating sense into the ignorant as it is for channeling magic, and is often favoured by rough-and-ready magicians from [[Wintermark]], [[Varushka]] and the [[The Marches|Marches]]. In Varushka it is sometimes known as a ''Volhov's Cane'', and disingenuous itinerant magicians make a great deal of how important it is for them to keep their staff with them at all times, given how much they rely on it to get around.

In some eyes, the greater length of the stormcudgel makes it preferable to its close cousin, the [[Storm_Sceptre|Storm Sceptre]], although its use requires greater skill. Mages enlisted into a [[the_Marches|Marcher]] pike-block find this staff useful for driving back foes who get inside the guard of their comrades’ long weapons. Occasionally a [[Landskeeper]] will fight alongside a household for their own peculiar reasons and acquire one of these staves to make up for their ignorance of battle magic. It is said that [[The_Marches_History#Joining_the_Empire|Brigit of Dourfen]], a Landskeeper who served the First Empress as her ambassador to the Marches, took up one of these staves for the first time upon heading out to meet with the Marcher Lords, ready to drive back any who might strike her down before hearing the Empress’ proposal.

These staves are also popular among Freeborn magicians who take to a life at sea on one of the [[The_Brass_Coast_economic_interests|Brass Coast’s many ships]]. Most are employed for their abilities as healers and menders and so find that, if a sea battle breaks out, this staff provides them with a means to repel boarders in a very direct fashion. These are sometimes known as “Sweeping Booms”.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Magic overview#Staffs|Staff]].
* '''Effect:''' You may cast the [[Spell list#Repel|repel]] spell as if you knew it.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting an pugilist's shillelagh requires six ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.


<ic>Eoin Fire-Bush sprinted through the underbrush at the head of a party of Thorns, swearing silently in his head all the way. The plan had been to present the bandits with a target, then fall upon them from a position of concealment on their flanks.

That was before he’d run into their outliers. The bandits seemed to be keeping their distance from the main force, loosing arrows indiscriminately. They needed to find a way to drive them towards the main force of the Striving.

Eoin ducked one branch and dived out of the way of another. He heard a thwack and Brigit swearing behind him, and rolled his eyes, but he didn’t slow down. She’d keep up. So would the rest of them. They were Navarr. They did what they needed.

He heard a clack-clack and saw one of the bandits go down, and knew that the Striding must be close, for that was the crossbow of the Temeschwar bravo travelling with them. He stopped for a moment at the edge of the clearing and waited. Brigit, Dafydd and Tam landed next to him seconds later.

Without a word spoken between them, they broke into the clearing as one. The bandits with their bows had seconds to take up their swords and axes, and only a couple of them even noticed they were there.

Eoin hit the back of them like a bear, clubbing with his staff and driving them toward the Striding. He gave a great cry, and suddenly all of their attention was on him. The Striding broke cover and into a sprint, and if Eoin’s Thorns could do well enough, they’d still be standing when the Striding reached them.

He fought like a monster, like the worst thing these fools had ever met. He blocked what he could and stayed too fast to hit, and kept chanting the spell, driving bandit after bandit away from him and toward the Striding, where they would meet their end. Striking and blocking and snarling like the terror he wanted them to fear, Eoin and his Thorns kept the foe at bay long enough for his Striding to catch up.

By the time they caught up, he was alone. The last of the bandits who’d stayed to fight was down, and the rest were fleeing into the forest, pursued by his Thorns. It wasn’t the tactically perfect choice, but it seemed he’d been driving them in every direction, and it had worked. His Brand grinned and slapped a hand on his shoulder, and congratulated him on doing what needed to be done.

Triumphant, terrifying, and a hero to his people, Eoin sat down in the clearing and breathed deeply of the scent of victory.</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Staffs]]

Butcher's Cleaver

2013-01-30T03:22:21Z

DomR:

{{stub}}
==Description==
A butcher's cleaver is a practical weapon that allows the wielder to deliver a crippling blow to an enemy. Despite being made of [[Materials|mystical materials]], [[Crafting_skills#artisan|artisans]] often make these weapons in the shape of crude, heavy butcher's cleavers in honour of the tale of Kaisa Battle-Butcher, the [[Wintermark magical traditions#Icewalker|Icewalker]] who used such a weapon to trick a band of barbarian raiders.

These weapons gained great popularity among the [[Imperial Orcs]] after they were introduced to the legions by [[Wintermark]] [[Wintermark_magical_traditions#Runesmiths|Runesmiths]], as the heavy style appealed to the Orcish tastes. Some called them [[Imperial_Orcs_history#The_Uprising|”Thrace’s]] Bounty” after the rumour that the leader of the rebellion acquired one of these cleavers among the first weapons the rebels looted. The [[Worth]] of that cleaver, if it were located, would be staggering.

In the Marches, these take the more orderly form of long axes and are known as Wayford Axes after the town in [[Mitwold]], where several were made and sold to notorious bandits. One of those same axes was later used to behead members of the gang, once it was bonded to the town executioner as a fee for her work. This hasn’t tarnished the design’s reputation as much as expected, as [[Yeoman_of_the_Marches|yeomen]] are too sensible to dismiss a useful weapon on such grounds.

Jotra, the rune of battle, is a common feature of these weapons but a few bear Yoorn, the rune of ending, to emphasise the deadliness of the wounds delivered.

==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Combat#Two-handed Weapon|Two-handed Weapon]]. Despite the name any two-handed weapon can be a butcher's cleaver.
* '''Effect:''' Once per day you may spend a [[Heroic skills#Hero Points|hero point]] to call [[Combat#CLEAVE|CLEAVE]] with this weapon.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a butcher's cleaver requires six ingots of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]] and four ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.

<ic>
How Kaisa became the Battle-Butcher

In years which followed the founding of the kingdom of Wintermark, barbarian bandits still prowled the sparsest parts of the land and preyed on the smaller halls, like runtish dogs snapping at a wounded deer. Kaisa was a young Suaq, dwelling in one such hall in deep woods of Sermersuaq, when one night came the report that a band of orcs was fast approaching the settlement. The thane told his people to brace themselves for death, for they lacked the strength of arms to see off such a threat.

Kaisa stepped forward and said, "Do not despair so quickly! I can drive off this horde, if you will grant me a single boon."

The thane snorted and said, "I do not see how one young magician can face such a band and hope to win, but we have little left to lose now. What do you wish to ask of me?"

"Grant me that axe you have been forging, my thane, and I shall get rid of them all," she asked with a smile.

"That axe? But it is barely finished. The magic has settled but it still needs shaping. It looks little better than a butcher's cleaver."

"That will serve me well, my lord. It is all I ask of you."

With a shrug, the thane granted her the weapon. Kaisa bound it to her with a swift spell and set off to find the bandits. That proved simple as the orcs did not try to hide their path. Kaisa stepped out before them and challenged them to send their best warrior to fight her. Thinking to make some sport out of the silly human, the orcs agreed.

Kiasa had learnt to wield such a weapon but was no great warrior. Still she found the single opening she needed to put the enchantment to good use, throwing her heart and soul into a fearsome blow. The orc champion fell at her feet and at once she cut off his head.

The other bandits were astonished.

"Are you that hall's finest warrior?" their leader asked. "Is that your finest weapon?"

"Oh no," replied Kaisa. "I am but a lowly butcher and this is but my butcher's cleaver. I use it to cut up goat meat The others are all far greater warriors than I and armed with blades far more brilliant. They sent me to see if you were worth their time."

The orcs pondered what kind of people would think such a weapon suitable only for chopping up goats. As one, they decided that they did not wish to meet such people in battle. As one, the orc bandits fled.

And that is how Kaisa became known as Kaisa Battle-Butcher.
</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Two-handed Weapons]]

Butcher's Cleaver

2013-01-30T03:21:44Z

DomR: /* Description */

{{stub}}
==Description==
A butcher's cleaver is a practical weapon that allows the wielder to deliver a crippling blow to an enemy. Despite being made of [[Materials|mystical materials]], [[Crafting_skills#artisan|artisans]] often make these weapons in the shape of crude, heavy butcher's cleavers in honour of the tale of Kaisa Battle-Butcher, the [[Wintermark magical traditions#Icewalker|Icewalker]] who used such a weapon to trick a band of barbarian raiders.

These weapons gained great popularity among the [[Imperial Orcs]] after they were introduced to the legions by [[Wintermark]] [[Wintermark_magical_traditions#Runesmiths|Runesmiths]], as the heavy style appealed to the Orcish tastes. Some called them [[Imperial_Orcs_history#The_Uprising|”Thrace’s]] Bounty” after the rumour that the leader of the rebellion acquired one of these cleavers among the first weapons the rebels looted. The [[Worth]] of that cleaver, if it were located, would be staggering.

In the Marches, these take the more orderly form of long axes and are known as Wayford Axes after the town in [[Mitwold]], where several were made and sold to notorious bandits. One of those same axes was later used to behead members of the gang, once it was bonded to the town executioner as a fee for her work. This hasn’t tarnished the design’s reputation as much as expected, as [[Yeoman_of_the_Marches|yeomen]] are too sensible to dismiss a useful weapon on such grounds.

Jotra, the rune of battle, is a common feature of these weapons but a few bear Yoorn, the rune of ending, to emphasise the deadliness of the wounds delivered.



==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Combat#Two-handed Weapon|Two-handed Weapon]]. Despite the name any two-handed weapon can be a butcher's cleaver.
* '''Effect:''' Once per day you may spend a [[Heroic skills#Hero Points|hero point]] to call [[Combat#CLEAVE|CLEAVE]] with this weapon.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a butcher's cleaver requires six ingots of [[Materials#Orichalcum|orichalcum]] and four ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]]. It takes one month to make one of these items.

<ic>
How Kaisa became the Battle-Butcher

In years which followed the founding of the kingdom of Wintermark, barbarian bandits still prowled the sparsest parts of the land and preyed on the smaller halls, like runtish dogs snapping at a wounded deer. Kaisa was a young Suaq, dwelling in one such hall in deep woods of Sermersuaq, when one night came the report that a band of orcs was fast approaching the settlement. The thane told his people to brace themselves for death, for they lacked the strength of arms to see off such a threat.

Kaisa stepped forward and said, "Do not despair so quickly! I can drive off this horde, if you will grant me a single boon."

The thane snorted and said, "I do not see how one young magician can face such a band and hope to win, but we have little left to lose now. What do you wish to ask of me?"

"Grant me that axe you have been forging, my thane, and I shall get rid of them all," she asked with a smile.

"That axe? But it is barely finished. The magic has settled but it still needs shaping. It looks little better than a butcher's cleaver."

"That will serve me well, my lord. It is all I ask of you."

With a shrug, the thane granted her the weapon. Kaisa bound it to her with a swift spell and set off to find the bandits. That proved simple as the orcs did not try to hide their path. Kaisa stepped out before them and challenged them to send their best warrior to fight her. Thinking to make some sport out of the silly human, the orcs agreed.

Kiasa had learnt to wield such a weapon but was no great warrior. Still she found the single opening she needed to put the enchantment to good use, throwing her heart and soul into a fearsome blow. The orc champion fell at her feet and at once she cut off his head.

The other bandits were astonished.

"Are you that hall's finest warrior?" their leader asked. "Is that your finest weapon?"

"Oh no," replied Kaisa. "I am but a lowly butcher and this is but my butcher's cleaver. I use it to cut up goat meat The others are all far greater warriors than I and armed with blades far more brilliant. They sent me to see if you were worth their time."

The orcs pondered what kind of people would think such a weapon suitable only for chopping up goats. As one, they decided that they did not wish to meet such people in battle. As one, the orc bandits fled.

And that is how Kaisa became known as Kaisa Battle-Butcher.
</ic>

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Two-handed Weapons]]
[[Category:Descriptive_Text_Required]]

Scrivener's Guard

2013-01-30T02:19:38Z

DomR:

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==Description==
This light mail shirt, usually composed of mithril or made in the form of steel ringmail, is favoured by [[Wintermark|Winterfolk]] and [[The Brass Coast|Freeborn]] senators,diplomats, negotiators and merchants who go to dangerous places in the pursuit of their duties. It is also popular with [[Wintermark military concerns#Bannermen|bannermen]] and [[Wintermark culture and customs#Scop|scops]]. In these professions, many lack the boisterous spirit found among those who thrive on the battlefield, so they often seek out inspiring weapons to accompany the armour such as a [[Triumphant_Blade|Triumphant Blade]].

Since no rare materials are needed to produce these, the enchantment is derived entirely from the skill of the artisan. In [[Urizen]] each ring is polished to the greatest possible shine and exposed to intricate patterns of [[Urizen_hearth_magic#Light|light]], while an [[Imperial Orcs|Orcish]] smith might gather a few links from the armour of many of her hardiest comrades before combining them to produce a mail shirt of great [[Worth]] drawing on the resilience of all the links’ past owners. In [[Wintermark]] and most other lands, tiny runes are etched into some of the rings, usually [[Evrom]], the rune of beginnings, to give the wearer a fresh start or occasionally [[Naeve]], the rune of hunger, to drive the wearer through hardship and on to greater things.

In the Brass Coast it is sometimes crafted from leather and dubbed ''Scrivener's Scale''. The Freeborn Emperor Ahraz is known to have worn a suit of scrivener's scale during most of his career, including his negotiations with the rebellious orc slaves. When queried about why he did not don a more powerful suit of armour he is said to have replied:



==Rules==
* '''Form:''' [[Combat#Medium Armour|Medium armour]]. Despite the name any medium armour may be mediator's mail.
* '''Effect:''' Once per day you can spend a [[Heroic skills#Hero Points|hero point]] to use the [[Heroic skills#Second Wind|second wind]] skill.
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a suit of mediator's mail requires no special materials. It takes two months to make one of these items.

[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Medium Armour]]

<ic> "I am a diplomat, not a warrior. My armour is more to stop me being a burden on my bodyguards than to aid me in battle. If a fight breaks out, I will do my best but I am no soldier and no amount of armour will make me one. Better I save my money and spend it somewhere it will do good - on weapons and armour for those to whom I entrust my life."</ic>