Empire - User contributions [en]

Avigliana di Sarvos

2017-06-27T10:32:43Z

Nick Taylor: /* Signs */ Fix category markup

<quote-right by="Avigliana di Sarvos, on addressing the Senate">And I say to you, that whilst the vaults of Highguard, and the grain stores of the Marches, may store wealth, only the League can make it.</quote-right>

==Virtue==
Avigliana di Sarvos was recognised as an Exemplar of [[Wisdom]] by the Synod in the year 76 YE, as she lay on her death bed.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Avigliana.png|align=right|width=250}}

==Biography==
Avigliana was born in the city of [[Sarvos]] on the year that the Empire was founded. The daughter of a money-lender, Avigliana learned the accountant's trade, but had a grander vision.

When the first Empress died, she judged the situation wisely, and moved to [[Tassato]] in order to gain the ear of [[Emperor Giovanni]].

Her work at the time was primarily on large-scale accounting, but many of the larger guilds were confined to [[the League]] by complex exchange rates and the lack of a shared currency. The idea of an Imperial [[currency]] was not a new one, but Avigliana was able to appeal to the Emperor on behalf of his home city, and also appeal to the [[Imperial Senate]], to entrust the League with the creation of the single universal measure of the Empire's wealth.

Although she continued to work with the [[Tassato#The_Imperial_Mint|Imperial Mint]], she used her influence to set up [[Tassato#The_School_of_Epistemology| the School of Epistemology]], to which she eventually retreated entirely, seen only by the students there. But her writing became prolific – pamphlets and letters would emerge from the school, bearing her seal, talking about subjects both mundane and esoteric.

These writings form the “Epistemologicon”, which is held, in coded form, by the school. A modern edition, “Excerpts from the Epistemologicon” is an ongoing project by the new master of the school, Niccolo Dos Tassatos.

The school continues to support the Empire – many diplomats are trained there, as are spies and cartographers, using a highly specialised approach that only the Path of Wisdom can offer.

==Signs==
The Assembly of Wisdom held that Avigliana demonstrated the following signs of being an Exemplar:
* Avigliana was ''recognised'' as being the reincarnation of Kala, a Urizen Exemplar of Wisdom. Both were committed to weighing and measuring the world they dwelt in. It was simply a matter of what was weighed and measured, and how.
* Avigliana's efforts in contributing to the Imperial Mint, and in seeing the League's currency - and fascination with wealth - accepted across the Empire, demonstrated her ''benevolence'' to the Empire.
* Through her school Avigliana encouraged citizens of the League to take note of the world they lived in and put the truth of it in writing. The school continues to teach spies, diplomats and cartographers, alongside the the more traditional accountants and priests. Those that study there study Avigliana's works closely, which illustrates how she ''inspired'' others.
* Some claim that the Imperial Mint is Avigliana's ''legacy'', but she has also left behind a magnificent reliquary that pilgrims have visited and meditated in the presence of.
* Finally, demonstrating the sign of ''salvation'', Avigliana wrote extensively about Wisdom as a path to Ascension; teaching the laity to meditate on the entire Labyrinth as a means of transcending its function. As an extension of this, she also wrote a treatise on the distant future of the Empire, and the rewards, and dangers, of mass Ascension of large numbers.

[[Category:Inspirations]][[Category:The League]]

Distillation of Diverse Parts

2017-04-16T21:06:20Z

Nick Taylor: /* Description */ Markup fixes

==Rules==
{{Season|Day|4}}
===Performing the Ritual===
{{Casting time|2}} The ritual targets a potion prepared by an [[Surgical skills#Apothecary|apothecary]] which must be present throughout.

===Effects===

This ritual targets a potion created by an [[Surgical skills#Apothecary|apothecary]]. It renders the potion down into its component parts allowing the herbs used to brew the potion to be recovered. This may take a short time to complete.

The ritual will not recover [[Liao]] or mana crystals that have been used in a potion, although it will extract a ring of [[ilium]] that has been used in the creation of a powerful elixir.

===Additional Targets===
This ritual can affect additional potions. Each additional potion increases the magnitude by 1. Additional potions must be present throughout, but there is no requirement for them to be of the same type.

==Description==

This is a relatively simple ritual that separates a potion into its various parts. In addition to the herbs that are recovered, it leaves the ritualists with neat piles of salts, mundane herbs, thimbles of water or alcohol and the like. One odd element is that the ritual always provides the herbs used in a standard recipe; it doesn't seem to matter if the [[Surgical skills#Apothecary|apothecary]] who brewed the potion used an item such as an [[Escharotic Cauldron]] to substitute additional herbs.

This ritual ''can'' be used to extract the components used in a poison that has been mixed with another substance, but only if the poison has not already been ingested, and if the ritual is begun ''before'' the poison breaks down and becomes useless.

The ritual destroys a dose of [[liao]] if there is any in the potion; the reason for this appears to be that it breaks the liao down into its component pieces along with everything else in the elixir. Likewise, it cannot return crystals of mana because they are "used up" in the creation of the potions that involve them. It ''can'' get ilium out of a potion, however, and that rare ability makes it occasionally a very lucrative ritual indeed.

==Common Elements==
This purification ritual often involves fire, but might just as easily involve lenses or mirrors used to reflect light onto the targetted potions. In some cases, the ritualists engage in procedures familiar to the herbalist, but in reverse. Repeatedly diluting and then decanting the potion, or using a process of magically-enhanced distillation may also be an element. The rune [[Cavul]] is often invoked, unsurprisingly.

[[Category:Day Ritual]]
[[Category:Rituals]]

Empire rules

2016-03-22T22:36:10Z

Nick Taylor: Add printable rules overview

<row-fluid>
Welcome to the Empire rules; here you can find out how to create characters and play the game. A short, printable [[:File:RulesOverview-A4booklet-v1.0.pdf|summary]] of the key points is available. If you have any questions then check the [[Frequently Asked Questions|FAQ]] first and if that doesn't help then please [[contact Profound Decisions]] and we will answer your questions.
</row-fluid>

<row-fluid>
<span4>
==[[Playing the game|Playing the Game]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=ChalkieAndPaw.jpg|link=Playing the game}}
This section tells you how to [[Playing the game|play the game]] - providing the rules and guidelines for creating your character as well as roleplaying the character at an event.

</span4>

<span4>
==[[Combat]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=BarbarianOrcs.jpg|link=Combat}}
All player-characters are able to fight in Empire if they choose. The [[Combat|combat rules]] explain what to do in skirmishes and battles and how to use your skills.
</span4>

<span4>
==[[Safety_overview|Safety]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=ImperialOrcWarrior.jpg|link=Safety_overview}}
[[Safety_overview|Safety]] is important to ensure that events are as safe as possible. Everyone must make sure that they understand these rules even if they do not intend to fight.
</span4>
</row-fluid>

<row-fluid>
<span4>
==[[Groups]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=MarcherGroupCrop.jpg|link=Groups}}
Players creating characters together can create a concept for a group to link those characters together. There are special rules some types of groups, called bands in Empire.
</span4>

<span4>
==[[Skills]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=LeagueCrossbowman.jpg|link=Skills}}
A character is defined by the [[skills]] that they possess. You can purchase any skill you want for your character, though some skills must be bought first.
</span4>

<span4>
==[[Magic]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=MagicStaff.jpg|link=Magic}}
Magicians are able to wield the force of [[magic]], using it to drive enemies away or mend shattered weapons and bones. Read this section if you are interested in playing a magician.
</span4>

</row-fluid>

<row-fluid>
<span4>
==[[Resource]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=RingsAndCoins.jpg|link=Resource}}
[[Resource|Resources]] provide a character with wealth and precious resources. Every character in Empire may control [[Resource#Campaign Resource|campaign resources]] and a single [[Resource#Personal Resource|personal resource]].
</span4>

<span4>
==[[Potion]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=nickpouring.jpg|link=Potion}}
Herbs can be mixed by characters with the apothecary skill to make [[potion|potions and poisons]]. Potions can be consumed by anyone, providing valuable magical benefits.
</span4>

<span4>
==[[Magical items|Magical Items]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=DawnFighting2.jpg|link=Magical items}}
There are scores of different [[magical items]] that exist in Empire. They are created and sold by player-characters and many characters will have access to one or two.
</span4>
</row-fluid>

[[Category:Rules]]

Thunderous Tread of the Trees

2016-03-07T20:50:48Z

Nick Taylor: /* Performing the Ritual */ Markup fix

{{CaptionedImage|file=SnowWhiteRoseRed.jpg|align=left|caption=The rage of the forest is deep, and slow to rouse...|width=400}}
==Rules==
{{Season|Spring|120}}
===Performing the Ritual===
{{Casting time|10}} {{Regio|Spring}} {{Target Territory}}

During the performance of the ritual the casters must name a region within the target territory which has the ''forested'' or ''marsh'' keyword.

{{curse}}

===Effects===
The ritual targets a single territory. Over the course of the next few days a powerful [[curse]] settles over the area. Plants in the territory, especially trees, become possessed of both mobility and malign awareness. The resulting force is uncontrolled. It attacks indiscriminately within the area, targeting [[fortifications]] and [[Imperial armies|campaign armies]] (favouring the former over the latter).

Every season, 500 casualties are assessed and spread among all potential targets in the territory. Casualties inflicted on fortifications are increased by 20%. For example, if a territory contains only a single campaign army (regardless of who it belongs to) the army takes 500 casualties. If the territory contains an army and a fortification, the army takes 250 casualties and the fortification suffers 300 casualties.

{{Year Duration}}

==Description==
This ritual infuses the vegetation in an area with a malign life. Scholars suggest that it causes spirits of the Spring realm to infuse the vegetation, granting animation and sending them on a murderous rampage. The trees cannot be directed, and will not fight alongside other campaign armies. They are especially drawn to fortifications, which they tear asunder with reckless abandon.

Attacks against the animated trees are largely fruitless. While individual trees might be burnt or hacked to pieces, the sheer amount of vegetation in most territories makes this minimally effective at best. The trees may occasionally endanger smaller settlements, but for the most part they simply ignore villages and even small towns preferring to vent their wrath on armies and castles. This is not to say there is no collateral damage from performing this ritual, and sometimes it will lead to the destruction of an unlucky town, mine or farm - but the emphasis is on large, solid fortifications and gatherings of thousands of troops.

An area under the effect of Thunderous Tread of the Trees will give rise to plenty of stories of horror and heroism in the face of what amounts to an army of angry plants. Some witnesses claim that the vegetative horde unleashed through the ritual is drawn to both Spring [[regio]] and to the [[trods]], drawing strength from the one and using the other to move quickly through a territory. A plant that is not entirely burnt to ash seems to quickly repair itself at a regio and rejoin the fray, while there are also reports of previous immobile plants suddenly uprooting themselves as one or more Spring spirits, cast out of their earlier hosts, find new wood to clothe themselves in.

As the curse runs its course, effected vegetation tends to move back towards the location where the plants originally grew. Many trees fail to make it all the way back, however; those that can locate places to root themselves where they can survive, but the aftermath of Thunderous Tread of the Trees often sees trees, bushes and other plants growing in peculiar or unexpected locations.

In the early years of the Empire, the [[Navarr]] [[Navarr_religious_beliefs|guide]] Megan Black Blood observed the use of this ritual during a campaign in [[Weirwater]]. She commented primarily on its destructive nature but also remarked how many of the non-Navarri soldiers mistook the effect for the attack of a [[vallorn]]. She is said to have privately theorised that a similar effect could be achieved more easily by crafting a ritual to specifically target vallorn vegetation, but said that the results could be unpredictable. She pointed to the way the unleashed vegetation does not leave the territory in which it was created, and that the trees tended to find their way back to (or close to) their original places when the curse began to fade to suggest that such a ritual might be "''controllable - for a given definition of 'control'.''"

==Common Elements==
The performance of this ritual often involves evocations of destructive forces, and the destruction of easily broken items especially objects of pottery or clay. A map is sometimes used as an additional element, showing the target territory. It is often carved into bark or wood, drenched in water or blood, and left behind at the site of the ritual when it is completed.

The rune [[Mawrig]] is commonly used during this ritual, and the star known as [[The Wanderer]] is often invoked.

[[Category:Spring Ritual]]
[[Category:Rituals]]
[[Category:Warfare]]

Thunderous Deluge

2016-03-07T20:47:00Z

Nick Taylor: /* Effects */ Sentence reconstruction

==Rules==
{{Season|Spring|46}}

===Performing the Ritual===
{{Casting time|10}} {{regio|Spring}} {{Target Territory}}

{{curse}}

===Effects===
The territory is scoured with terrible thunderstorms; torrential rain; frozen hail or dreadful blizzards as appropriate to the area and the season.

The income from all [[farm|farms]] and [[business|businesses]] in the territory is halved over the coming season.

This will have a significant effect on a foreign or barbarian territory, damaging their agriculture and industry and reducing their capacity to field troops and feed their people.

===Options===
{{Ritual Substitution|tempest jade|ingots}}.

==Description==

The power of this ritual pounds the target territory with supernaturally bad weather. It directly attacks the economy of the area where it is invoked. The effect is wide-reaching, but as with most such effects a certain degree of protection can be gained from any [[enchantment]] that improves the production of a resource - the enchanted production is not impeded.

In some cases, a well-timed use of this ritual has compounded natural conditions to give a strategic advantage to Imperial troops; as recently as the [[Jotun]] campaign of [[Empress Britta]] a well-timed and destructive blizzard created by a circle of [[Navarr]] magicians accompanying her army trapped a retreating barbarian force in an exposed position, allowing them to be easily mopped up.

The ritual has been invoked twice in the last hundred years by Imperial citizens on an Imperial territory. Once was during a dispute between two groups of [[Varushka|Varushkan]] [[Varushka magical traditions#Cabalists|cabalists]] in [[Volodmartz]] that boiled over into a direct assault; the second involved the efforts of a circle of [[Suaq]] [[Wintermark magical traditions#Icewalkers|icewalkers]] who were trying to influence a [[The Marches|Marcher]] vote in [[Upwold]]. In both cases, the [[Groups#Covens|covens]] involved were declared to be sorcerers by the [[Imperial Conclave]] and faced the full force of the law.

==Common Elements==
The ritual calls up an uncontrollable force of nature and sets it loose in a territory. Warhorns, drums, copper rods and clashing cymbals are all used, and it is not uncommon for a great bowl of water to play a central role, especially if the ritualists plan to use [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]] in place of some or all of the crystalline mana.

Performances are often violent and dramatic, as is to be expected with a ritual that unleashes the force of the storm. Some ritualists are of the opinion that the 'best' time to perform the ritual is during naturally bad weather, with the intention of making it worse.

It is common to evoke the rune [[Mawrig]] with this ritual, which represents the indiscriminate and most destructive forces of Spring. Some [[Wintermark]] covens attempt to channel or mitigate its effects with [[Hirmok]], but they are rarely successful in doing so.



[[Category:Spring Ritual]]
[[Category:Rituals]]

Ephisis

2016-02-11T13:08:49Z

Nick Taylor: /* Concerns */ Remove "welchers"

{{CaptionedImage|file=Ephisis.jpg|caption=Artists impression of Ephisis by Constanza i Kalamar i Guerra|width=400|align=right}}
==Eternal of Autumn==
===Sobriquets===
Known as the ''Hidden Prince'', Ephisis is a mistress of trade, barter and fair exchange.

She is sometimes referred to as the ''Accounter'', and the ''Lady of the Counting House''. She is the ''Sovereign Lady of the City of Gold and Lead'' and the ''Prince of Scales''. She is sometimes referred to as the ''Invisible Hand'' in reference to both her sequestration and to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_hand certain economic theories]. Her love of trade sometimes leads to her being called the ''Merchant Queen''. Her great wealth is often referenced in the title ''Grand Plutocrat''.

In [[Asavean Archipelago|Asavea]] she is sometimes worshipped directly as a patroness of merchants, traders and wealth; in both the [[Principalities of Jarm|Jarm]] and [[Axos]] she and her heralds are courted for the various mercantile boons they offer. The magicians of the [[Sumaah Republic]] consider her, along with [[Estavus]] and [[Prospero]] to be an acceptable Eternal to treat with; that said it is illegal for any citizen of Sumaah to deal with Ephisis without the assistance of a priestly mediator from the Assembly of Prosperity or the Assembly of Wisdom.

The [[Sarcophan Delves|Sarcophan]] have something of a love-hate relationship with Ephisis; their tendency to seek a profit without regard for ethics, and to engage in piracy, occasionally grates with this fair-minded Eternal.

Ephisis is always referred to as being female.

Her heralds are often referred to as ''chamberlains'' or ''seneschals'' in reference to the role they have in managing the City of Gold and Lead on her behalf.

===Appearance===
No mortal in living memory has provably interacted directly with Ephisis. She does not host audiences in the Hall of the Worlds, and deals entirely through intermediaries. This has lead to a lot of speculation – but nobody has met a herald who has met her, either. She apparently never leaves her citadel – a pyramid of polished gold at the centre of the sprawling city she rules.

The City of Gold and Lead is built on the Plains of Aggido, framed between two great mountains. Some texts refer to it as the ''City of Five Rings'', referring to the five great concentric walls that have been built to contain the city as it grows. The closer one gets to the central citadel, the richer and more influential the citizens. The central ring is said to be a place of wonders where some of the wealthiest of the Autumn Eternals can be found – along with the embassies from the other Eternals. Almost all the buildings in and around the City are businesses – Ephisis rules the greatest trade hub in the Realm.

The High Merchant is closely associated with the rune [[Lann]], which represents bargains, and the rune [[Pallas]] which represents wealth. Her sigil is the balanced scale, and appears on many official documents and banners of the City of Gold and Lead.

===Concerns===
While nobody has ever met Ephisis directly, scholars can theorize about her philosophies and concerns based on the actions her heralds take.

Ephisis is fascinated with trade in all its forms. She encourages trade across the Realm and the mortal world - from a bartered exchange of goods, to the most complex financial schemes of the League or the Sarcophan Delves.

She opposes attempts to restrict or control trade, but equally is fascinated by them and by what they can teach her about her obsession. She is known to be ambivalent about taxes – and the citizens of the City of Gold and Lead are known to pay a tenth of their profits to the Accounter's coffers. Of taxes, she has repeatedly expressed the opinion that taxation is a form of trade – the government provides services and facilities, and the citizens contribute to their upkeep. That said, she has also praised systems where citizens voluntarily donate to the state, and those anarchies where the individual has no responsibility to the state at all.

Ephisis is immensely rich. In her opinion, wealth is both a means to an end (securing happiness), and a way of recognising talent and ambition. People who make themselves wealthy in their society deserve to be more powerful because they have worked hard to gain their wealth. Wealth is also an equaliser – anyone can become wealthy, and unwise investments can plunge a complacent plutocrat into the gutter.

Core to her philosophy, however, is the belief in ethical behaviour. This quality is sometimes seen as being at odds with her obsession with trade. Ephisis expects trade to be 'honest' and absolutely despises cheats and con artists. While profit is integral to many trading models, it is up to the merchant, the customer and their society to determine what is a 'fair' profit on a transaction. She dislikes business practices that involve tricking, or deceiving customers or workers and despises the use of force to take wealth from others.

While Ephisis mostly focuses on the trade of material goods. She dislikes trades involving 'future favours'; she dislikes attempts to turn economic interactions into social interactions, and absolutely ''despises'' those who fail to pay their debts or honour their bargains. She views many social exchanges in terms of trade. Whether it is a stonemason sculpting a statue for a client, a mercenary fighting for an employer, or a mine-worker extracting ore, all these activities are trades of time and skill for recompense. A common phrase used by the Eternals of the City of Gold and Lead is that the only real commodity of any value is time.

Her heralds are often used as advocates by other Eternals and mortals alike, and view mediation as another form of trade. She would always rather mediate a dispute than fight, but that is not to say that she is weak. She employs brotherhoods of mercenary soldiers to guard her city, and they are very well paid indeed.

In the Autumn Realm, Ephisis remains neutral. She is believed to have close ties with Estavus, but to keep the other eternals at arm's length. There is particular rivalry between Ephisis and [[Prospero]] over the Echoing Bazaar – a mirror of her own marketplaces but one where favours and influence are used rather than good hard coin. Many of the other powers of the Autumn realm come to the City of Gold and Lead to trade, and none are interested in losing access to her services. A Prince who attacked Ephisis would risk drawing the ire of all the other Princes.

Ephisis and her heralds regularly invoke the [[Lictors]]. Given they are invariably dealing from an open and honest position, they see no harm in using magic to ensure that anyone they are dealing with is incentivised to be likewise honest.

Within the Empire, Ephisis is known to favour the [[The Brass Coast|Freeborn]] especially, being impressed by their commitment to honesty in business dealings. The murky practices of the League are a source of constant frustration, and she is known to be interested in the slow struggle between [[Market town|market towns]] and households in [[the Marches]]. On the whole, Ephisis is a quiet supporter of the Empire, especially impressed by the institution of the [[Imperial Bourse]]. Indeed, her heralds have directly intervened to assist or protect the Bourse on the rare occasions where it has been threatened.

===Boons===
Ephisis is the mistress of exchange. She is a source of many boons that enhance trading ventures – and can weave potent [[enchantment|enchantments]] to improve [[business|businesses]] and [[fleet|fleets]].

She is also fascinated with the idea of open trade. Her heralds often demonstrate the ability to quickly evaluate the magical properties of an object offered for trade. She is known to share this ability with some mortals, although the boon often comes at a steep price.

Most magicians know the eternal through the ritual [[Ephisis' Scale]]. Beneath her citadel, Ephisis has vaults of unimaginable size, containing all the valuable items she has accumulated through trade with her fellow eternals and the mortal world. It is impossible to guess what lost treasures, secrets and objects of incalculable worth are contained in those vaults. “Mundane” trade with Ephisis is very common – she has an encyclopaedic knowledge of everything she owns, and queries to the eternal regarding specific items have sometimes been remarkably successful.

This connection with the preservation of wealth means that Ephisis has access to some of the finest vaultsmiths and lockmakers in the Autumn Realm. She is known to be able to create secure containers similar to those made with the [[night pouch]] incantation or the [[Secrets for the Shadow Courier]] ritual, and may share them with magicians.

Ephisis seems to have no interest in [[curse|cursing]] anyone. Indeed, she is much more likely to trade for something that can help remove a curse than to help a magician in placing one. Curses that disrupt trade are particularly abhorrent to her – a single malediction can disrupt the economic activity of an entire region.

Ephisis does not deal in influence. She never does something for a promised favour in the future. This does not mean that she does not understand intangible trades – only that she avoids trades where someone promises to do something unspecified at a future date. A deal in which one party agrees to perform a specified task for payment is eminently acceptable to the eternal.

[[Category:Eternals]]

Weapons & armour

2016-02-05T17:16:41Z

Nick Taylor: /* Implements */ Tiny wording tweak so Acolyte's Mercy and friends make any sense

==Weapons==
*'''All weapons must be at least 8” (20 cm) long'''
*'''Some categories require you to use a set grip to fight with the weapon'''
There are five basic weapon categories in Empire. Any character can wield a one‑handed weapon but they must purchase the [[Combat skills#Weapon master|Weapon Master]] skill to use a larger weapon. Weapon categories are also important for enchantments and for use with the skills allowing heroic blows.

One-handed spears, pole-arms and pikes require you to use a set grip when fighting with the weapon. These grips are set for a combination of safety and play balance. You don’t have to carry the weapon like this when you are not fighting, but you must use the mandated grip throughout any fight where you use the weapon.

===One-handed Weapons===
*'''Must be between 8” long and 42” long'''
*'''Can call CLEAVE using a hero point and the Cleaving Strike skill'''
A one-handed weapon must be up to 42 inches long. If you expend a hero point then any one-handed weapon longer than 24" can be used to call CLEAVE provided you also have the relevant skill.

Flails up to 42” long are included in this category and can be used by any character. Larger flails are covered by the rules for two-handed weapons.

===Two-handed weapons===
*'''Must be over 42” long and up to 60” long'''
*'''Can call CLEAVE using a hero point and the Cleaving Strike skill'''
*'''Can call SHATTER using a hero point and the Shattering Blow skill'''
*'''You must hold the weapon in both hands'''

If you expend a hero point then any two-handed weapon can be used to call CLEAVE, or SHATTER if the weapon is at least 48" long, provided you also have the relevant skill.

The phys-rep for a two-handed weapon can be any suitable phys-rep such as a great sword, dane axe or similar. You must hold the weapon in both hands during combat.
{{CaptionedImage|file=HolbergDefender.jpg|title=Stern von Holberg of the Orphans preparing to ruin a barbarian's day.|caption=League defender with pole-arm|align=right|width=250}}

===Pole-arms===
*'''Must be between 60” long and 84” long'''
*'''Can have a thrust-safe tip'''
*'''Can call CLEAVE using a hero point and the Cleaving Strike skill'''
*'''Can call STRIKEDOWN using a hero point and the Mighty Strikedown skill'''
*'''You must hold the weapon in both hands with at least 18” separating them'''
A pole-arm must be between 60" and 84" in length. You can always swing a pole-arm at any enemy but you may also thrust with the weapon if it has a thrust safe tip. If you expend a hero point then any pole-arm can be used to call CLEAVE or STRIKEDOWN provided you also have the relevant skill.

The phys-rep for a pole-arm should be any suitable phys-rep for a pole-arm designed for swinging or thrusting at an enemy such as a spear, bardiche, halberd, or bill. You must hold the weapon in both hands at all times and keep at least 18 inches separation between your hands during combat.

===One-handed Spear===
*'''Must be over 60" long and up to 84" long'''
*'''Must have a thrust-safe tip'''
*'''You must only thrust with a one-handed spear, you cannot swing it'''
*'''Can call CLEAVE using a hero point and the Cleaving Strike skill'''
*'''You must hold the weapon within 6" of the centre of the haft'''
A one-handed spear must be between 60" long and 84" long. If you expend a hero point then any one-handed weapon can be used to call CLEAVE provided you also have the relevant skill.

The phys-rep for a one-handed spear should be any suitable phys-rep for a spear designed for thrusting at an enemy. You must hold the weapon within 6" of the centre of the haft during combat.
{{CaptionedImage|file=CM-130728-8895.jpg|align=right|width=450}}

===Pike===
*'''Must be over 84” long and up to 108” long'''
*'''Must have a thrust-safe tip'''
*'''You must only thrust with a pike, you cannot swing it'''
*'''You must hold the weapon in both hands with at least 18” separating them'''
A pike is any pole-arm between 7 foot and 9 foot in length. It must have a thrust safe tip. You may only thrust using a pike, you may not swing any weapon that is over seven foot in length. A pike is too heavy and cumbersome to be used to make heroic calls.

The phys-rep for a pike should be any suitable phys-rep for a long pole-arm designed for thrusting at an enemy. You must hold the weapon in both hands at all times and have at least 18” separation between your hands during combat.

==Implements==
*'''Offensive spells can only be delivered using an implement'''
*'''Must be a safe phys-rep of a wand, rod or staff'''
*'''Should not look like a weapon'''
An implement is a magical tool that allows a magician to deliver an [[Spellcasting#Offensive_Spells|offensive spell]]. All offensive spells require an implement to be used. You cannot use an implement to deliver a regular spell such as [[mend]] or [[heal]].

All implements must be weapon safe phys-reps. They may appear to be made of any material, and should be decorated and shaped to make it as clear as possible that they are magical implements and ''not weapons''.

Implements come in three broad classifications; wands, rods and staves. Any character with the [[Magical skills#Magician|magician]] skill can wield a wand or rod effectively, but the [[Magical_skills#Battle_Mage|Battle Mage]] skill is needed to wield a staff.

A character can cause a point of damage with an implement, but they cannot be used with the heroic skills [[Heroic skills#Cleaving Strike|cleaving strike]], [[Heroic skills#Shattering Blow|shattering blow]] or [[Heroic skills#Mighty Strikedown|mighty strikedown]].

Although any magician may choose to use a wand or rod as an implement, some magical enchantments can only be placed on wands and some can only be placed on rods.

===Wands===
*'''Must be between 8” long and 18” long'''
A wand is 8” to 18” long. Magical wands usually enhance healing incantations such as [[restore limb]] or utility incantations such as [[mend]]

===Rods===
*'''Must be over 18” long and up to 42” long'''
A rod is 18” to 42” long. Wielded in one hand, a rod is popular with many magicians who take the battlefield because it can be combined with a shield or with another one-handed weapon (provided the magician possesses the skill to do so). Magical rods most commonly enhance battlefield incantations such as [[repel]] or [[swift heal]].

===Staff===
*'''Must be over 42” long and up to 84” long'''
*'''You must hold the weapon in both hands
*'''A staff that is at least 60” long must be held in both hands with at least 18” separating them but can be thrust safe'''
A staff is 42” to 84” long. It must be wielded in two hands, but greatly extends the magician's reach for delivering implement incantations. Staves are popular with magicians of all backgrounds, but require the [[Magical_skills#Battle_Mage|Battle Mage]] skill to use in battle. Magic staves may enhance battlefield incantation or grant benefits to ritual casters.

A staff that is between 60" and 84" in length may have a thrust-safe tip. If it does then you may attack, and deliver spells and incantations by making an appropriately safe thrust to strike your target. You must keep at least 18" separation between your hands when wielding a staff that is 60" or longer.

==Bows==
{{CaptionedImage|file=OrzelBand1.jpg|align=right|width=500}}
*'''You must have the Marskman skill to use a bow or crossbow'''
*'''You must hold the weapon in both hands to shoot'''
You may use a bow or crossbow. All missile weapons require both hands to shoot, and do IMPALE automatically, with no need to call the effect.

==Shields==
*'''Any character can use a buckler up to 15” (40 cm) in diameter'''
*'''A shield must be gripped by a handle held in the hand'''
*'''Characters with the shield skill can use larger shields'''
*'''You can push with a shield, but you cannot shield barge another character'''
Any character can use a buckler, a small shield up to 15 inches in diameter. If you have the shield skill then you can use a larger shield. The maximum dimensions for a shield are based on the shape, listed in the table below.

A shield must be gripped by a handle held in the hand to protect the wearer. A shield that is simply strapped to the body does not protect the wearer. All blows that strike a slung shield are considered to hit the character wearing it.
{| width="50%"
|-
! Shield Type !! Max Dimensions
|-
| Buckler|| 15" (40cm) diameter
|-
| Round shield|| 40" (1m) diameter
|-
| Tower shield|| 40" by 24" (1m by 60cm)
|-
| Kite/Heater shield|| 48" by 24" (1.2m by 60cm)
|}

If you are standing still or walking slowly then you may hold a shield out and push with it. You are not allowed to shield barge other characters; you must not run, shield first, into another character for safety reasons.

==Armour==
*'''All characters can wear armour'''
*'''Armour that covers the torso and another location provides extra global hits'''
*'''Some armour protects from CLEAVE, IMPALE, or PARALYSE'''
*'''Magicians cannot cast spells while wearing armour'''
Armour protects the wearer by increasing their global hits if it covers the majority of the torso and at least one other location. Valid locations are the head (with a helm), the arms and the legs, or you may cover half of your arms and legs.

E.g. A mail vest covers your torso but does not cover another location. If you wear it with a helm them it would count. A full-length mail hauberk covers the torso, thighs and upper arms so it would always count.
{{CaptionedImage|file=JohnShoutingCrop.jpg|align=left|width=250}}
Medium armour protects a character against CLEAVE, while heavy armour protects them against CLEAVE, IMPALE, and PARALYSE. You are only protected if the blow strikes the armour phys-rep; if it hits an unprotected part of the body then you are affected normally. Your armour continues to protect you in this way even if the hits it provides have been lost.

Any character can wear armour, but magicians cannot cast spells or perform rituals while wearing armour.

To count as armour, the phys-rep must be a phys-rep of a suit of armour. A leather coat or biker-jacket does not count as armour and is not appropriate costume for the Empire setting. Leather armour may count as light or medium armour depending on the thickness; adding studs or rivets does not make it count as heavy armour.

Armour does not provide separate armour hits, it protects you by increasing your global hits. Armour is not repaired separately. Whenever you are healed back to full hits all lost hits are regained.

Wearing more than one type of armour does not grant any additional hits.
{{CaptionedImage|file=ArmourWintermark.jpg|title=Thick leather armour (where the majority of the armour is more than 3mm thick) is medium armour.|width=300|align=right}}
===Light Armour===
*'''Padded cloth or thin leather armour (between 1.5mm and 3mm).'''
*'''Provides 2 extra hits only.'''
Any armour made of padded cloth such as a gambeson or light or thin leather such as a thin leather hauberk provides the wearer with 2 additional hits. It does not provide any additional protection against heroic blows.

Any cloth or leather that is less than 1.5mm thick counts as clothing, it does not count as armour at all. Costume made from foam or karrimat does not count as armour.

===Medium Armour===
*'''Thick leather or any light weight armour materials, such as polyurethane or aluminium.'''
*'''Provides 3 extra hits and protects against CLEAVE.'''
Thick leather armour (the majority of the armour is more than 3mm thick) or any armour made from a light weight material such as polyurethane (e.g. Norton Armour), aluminium, or mixed neoprene and steel provides the wearer with 3 extra hits. Light mail, such as modern ring mesh (butcher's mail) or mail with an open weave (sometimes called "ring mail"), counts as medium armour.

If the wearer is hit by a CLEAVE heroic blow that strikes a piece of medium armour rather than directly hitting the wearer then the target loses one hit but does not take any additional effects.
{{CaptionedImage|file=DawnPlate.jpg|align=right|width=400}}

===Heavy Armour===
*'''Armour made from steel or a similar weight metal'''
*'''If there are plates used they must be at least 1mm thick'''
*'''Butchers mail and ring mail are not included as heavy armour, regardless of the materials used'''
*'''Provides 4 extra hits and protects against CLEAVE, IMPALE, and PARALYSE'''
Any armour that is primarily made from steel provides the wearer with 4 extra hits. Other base metals that weigh the same such as brass would also count, but aluminium and titanium armour counts as medium.

If the wearer is hit by a CLEAVE or IMPALE heroic blow, or a PARALYSE call, that strikes a piece of heavy armour rather than directly hitting the wearer then the target loses one hit but does not take any additional effects.

===Mage Armour===
*'''You must have the battle mage skill to wear mage armour'''
*'''Must cover at least 3 locations including one of the chest, shoulders or waist'''
*'''Providers 2 extra hits only'''
*'''Does not protect against [[Calls#CLEAVE|CLEAVE]], [[Calls#IMPALE|IMPALE]], or [[Calls#PARALYSE|PARALYSE]] calls'''
Mage armour is a magical talisman that protects you against harm but allows you to cast spells and perform rituals. The talisman is made up of several pieces fitted to the wearer's body to protect them. The parts of the talisman superficially resemble pieces of armour, but armour that is ornate and ceremonial rather than practical. They are often decorated with runes, crystals, gems or other magical accoutrements and it is clear that the armour protects the wearer through magic rather than by physically deflecting blows.
{{CaptionedImage|file=MageArmour.jpg|title=Mage Armour|caption=Image courtesy of Totally Leathered|align=right|width=300}}
Mage armour provides the wearer with two additional hits. Mage armour does not protect against CLEAVE, IMPALE, or PARALYSE. To qualify the talisman must include three of the following items including at least one of the first three items on the list:

* Pauldrons (shoulders)
* Pectorals (upper chest)
* Hero Belt (waist)

* Circlet (head)
* Vambraces (wrists)
* Gorget (neck)
* Greaves (lower legs)

The items must be substantial and cover a significant portion of the area but it is possible to use a single pauldron, greave or vambrace if appropriate for the costume.

You must have the [[Magical_skills#Battle_Mage|Battle Mage]] skill to wear and use mage armour. Although mage armour is magical in nature, any character with the battle mage skill is assumed to have access to a suit of mage armour, in the same way a warrior has access to a suit of mundane armour.

Mage armour can be made out of any real world material, provided you try to make as clear as possible that your character is wearing magical protection and not mundane armour.
{{Core Rule Links}}
[[Category:Rules]]

Combat

2016-01-26T17:41:43Z

Nick Taylor: Slightly improve discoverability of Event safety page

==Global Hits==
*'''You start with two global hits'''
*'''Every time you are struck in combat you lose one hit'''
*'''On zero hits you cannot act and are dying'''
*'''You regain all lost global hits after at least two hours of rest and relaxation'''
Every character has a number of global hits to represent the injuries they can endure before becoming wounded so badly that they start to die. Most characters start with two global hits, but can gain more by buying the [[Combat_skills#Endurance|endurance skill]] or by [[Weapons & armour#armour|wearing armour]].

For the purposes of global hits it does not matter where you have been struck. You lose one hit every time you are struck in combat. Once you have lost all your hits then you are dying and can take no further action, as described later in this chapter.

You automatically regain all lost global hits after at least two hours of rest, so you always start each day with all your hits. Chirurgy and magic can both be used to restore lost hits.

==Fighting without Skills==
*'''You do not need a skill to use a melee weapon between 8" and 42” (106 cm) long'''
*'''You do not need a skill to use a shield up to 15” in diameter'''
*'''You do not need a skill to wear armour'''
All weapons must be at least 8” (20 cm) long, but you do not need a skill to wield a weapon up to 42” long, either to attack or to parry. You do not need a skill to wear [[Weapons & armour#Armour|armour]] or to use a small shield up to 15" in diameter to block attacks.

You must purchase the [[Combat skills#Weapon master|Weapon Master skill]] to use a [[Weapons & armour#weapons|larger weapon]]. You must purchase the [[Combat skills#Shield|shield skill]] to use a [[Weapons & armour#shield|larger shield]]. You must purchase the [[Combat skills#Thrown|Thrown skill]] to use thrown weapons or the [[Combat skills#Marskman|Marksman skill]] to use a bow.

==The One Second Rule==
*'''You can only lose one global hit per second from multiple attacks from one enemy'''
You may attack an opponent as swiftly and rapidly as you wish, but a flurry of swift blows is not as dangerous as a full swing. To represent this, if a single character hits you more once in a single second then you lose one global hit to that flurry of blows.

This rule is not meant to be measured with a stopwatch, it exists to give you a rule of thumb to decide how much damage to take from a swift flurry of blows.

This rule applies to blows from a single target regardless of how many weapons they have - ambidexterity does not allow you to cause more than one hit every second. Attacks from multiple opponents do damage normally.

==Heroic Blows==
*'''You can buy skills to inflict one of four heroic blows'''
*'''You must purchase hero points to power a heroic blows'''
*'''Each time a heroic blow is used you expend one hero point'''
*'''Hero points recharge overnight'''
*'''Heroic calls do not affect enemies that are larger than human-sized'''
*'''All heroic calls delivered with a weapon or implement also cause the target to lose one global hit'''
If you purchase hero points and an appropriate heroic skill then you can inflict one or more heroic blows in combat. These are indicated using the appropriate call which lets the target know what they have been hit with and how to react. Every time you make a heroic blow your character expends one hero point from their daily allowance. Your character’s hero points replenish overnight.

If the target does not visibly respond to your heroic call then your blow has not affected them and the hero point is not spent. You only expend a hero point if the target is affected by the call.

There is no way to resist an effect in Empire, but heroic calls never affect any creature that is larger than human-sized. Any monstrous creature whose phys-rep is expressly designed to make them taller or wider than the wearer would normally be counts as larger than human-sized. Player-characters (all PCs) always count as human-sized - no matter how large the player is.
{{CaptionedImage|file=WarRhino.jpg|align=right|title=Battle of Ikka's Tears, Autumn Equinox, 378YE|caption=A Thule warbeast is larger than human-sized|width=450}}

==Arrows==
*'''All arrows and bolts do Impale automatically'''
There is no call shouted when using a bow or crossbow, but if you are hit by an arrow or a bolt then you are affected by the [[calls#Impale|Impale]] call.

==Dying==
*'''When you reach zero global hits you fall over and start dying'''
*'''You stop dying if you regain a global hit for any reason'''
*'''You become terminal after three minutes'''
*'''You are automatically unresisting while you are dying'''
*'''You must roleplay that you are dying'''
*'''You must not take any action other than talking or screaming'''
If you are reduced to zero global hits then you are so badly wounded that you fall over and start dying. You can sense what is happening around you and you can talk or scream but you cannot take any other action. You cannot attack, defend and you cannot use any skill or magical item unless it explicitly says that it can be used while dying. You may not drink a potion yourself, but may be fed a potion by another character. You must roleplay the fact that you are dying of your wounds.
{{CaptionedImage|file=CM-140419-6232.jpg|align=left|width=450}}
You must fall to the ground at most two steps from where you were last struck. This rule allows you to avoid having to fall over in unsafe or particularly wet areas; it does not allow a tactical retreat from combat. Once you have fallen over you must not move from that spot unless you need to for reasons of OOC safety.

A character who is dying can be executed, killing them immediately. To execute a character you should spend at least five seconds appropriate roleplaying delivering a fatal blow to execute your target.

A character that is dying will become terminal after three minutes. The fortitude skill and some magical items increase the time it takes to bleed to death in this way.

While being treated with the [[Surgical skills#Chirurgeon|chirurgeon]] skill, your 'death count' is paused, you are still dying, and subject to all the other rules associated with the state. If the chirurgeon does not complete at least 30 seconds of roleplay to restore you to one hit, then your 'death count' will resume with the same time remaining.

==Terminal==
*'''A character who is terminal is dying and cannot be saved'''
*'''You must roleplay that you are dying'''
*'''You can choose the point in the event for your character to expire'''
A character becomes terminal after they have been bleeding to death for three minutes or more. A character who is terminal is so badly wounded that they are beyond any magical or medical help. The character is covered by all the rules for dying but they can no longer be saved by any method.

You can choose the point during the event at which your character dies, provided you continue to roleplay the fact that they are mortally wounded. There is a limit to how long your character can survive, your character dies before the start of the next PD Empire event, at the very latest.
{{CaptionedImage|file=CM-130914-0379.jpg|align=right|width=450}}
==Traumatic Wounds==
*'''You may receive a traumatic wound in battle'''
*'''Traumatic wounds can only be healed using the [[Surgical skills#physick|physick skill]]'''
*'''You must keep the traumatic wound card and give it to your physick'''
In battle your character is at risk of receiving a traumatic wound. Traumatic wounds represent things like broken bones, internal bleeding, punctured lungs and the like. These wounds are particularly difficult to treat and cannot be healed magically, you must receive the aid of another character using the physick skill to treat your wound.

If you receive a traumatic wound you will be given a wound card by a referee or crew member. This card will state the approximate nature of your wound. You must keep hold of the card - if a physick attempts to heal your character then you will need to give them the card so that they know what resources are needed to heal your wound.

A referee or crew member may assign you a traumatic wound card if your character is soundly beaten while fighting. Some large or magical monsters are notable for causing traumatic wounds when they connect solidly with an opponent.

===Spiritual Wounds===
*'''You may receive a spiritual wound in battle or from another supernatural cause.'''
*'''Spiritual Wounds affect the soul and require the [[Religious skills#Insight|insight]] ceremony to diagnose.'''
Spiritual wounds affect the soul of the target and are often associated with noticeable changes to behaviour or personality, in the form of [[Roleplaying effects|roleplaying effects]]. These wounds are spiritual in nature and cannot be treated in the same way as physical injuries, such as physick or healing magic.

If you receive a spiritual wound, you will be given a card by a referee or crew member. This card will detail the symptoms you experience. If a priest performs the[[Religious skills#Insight|insight]] ceremony on you, they will be know what is needed to treat the wound. Some may require [[Religious skills#Exorcism|exorcism]] to cleanse.

A referee or crew member may assign you a spiritual wound if your character has an appropriate supernatural experience. Some supernatural entities, such as wraiths, are notable for inflicting both spiritual and physical damage when they strike.

==Moving a dying character==
*'''Moving a dying character requires both hands free'''
You may move any unresisting character if you have both hands free. You can move a dead, dying, terminal or paralyzed character in this way. You cannot move a character who has been entangled until the spell effect has worn off.

==Searching a character==
*'''You must not touch a player unless they are comfortable for you to do so'''
*'''You must use appropriate roleplaying searching for at least 30 seconds'''
*'''You may perform an actual search only if both of you prefer to do so'''
You can automatically take any IC item that you can see from an unresisting character. You can search an unresisting character to attempt to find any valuable items that they are carrying that are hidden on their person. You can only do this if you have both hands free.
To search a character you must use appropriate roleplaying for at least thirty seconds. If you complete the count without interruption then the target must give you every IC item that they are carrying.

If you and the target agree that you both prefer to perform a real search then you may do so. You must not touch the player without clear indication that they are comfortable for you to do so. You do not have to phys-rep the search if you are not comfortable doing so. The target must give you any items that you find while searching them.

==Capturing a character==
*'''You can automatically capture any character who cannot resist your attacks'''
*'''You can escape any bonds with five minutes of obvious roleplaying'''
*'''Make sure you have a referee present if you are planning to capture another character'''
If you wish to capture another character while they are at an event, then you must reduce them to zero global hits. If a character is not able to participate in combat because they are non-combat, or need to drop OOC for a first-aid incident or emergency then you require a referee if you wish to capture them.
We strongly advise that you get a referee before attempting to capture any character.
{{CaptionedImage|file=OrcArmy1.jpg|align=right|width=400}}
You may then roleplay taking steps to secure the character with ropes or similar while another character treats their wounds. You should not phys-rep any method of restraint until you have made certain that the other player is comfortable with it.

If you are not on zero body hits then you may automatically escape any bonds after a count of at least 300 seconds regardless of the method used to restrain you. You must use appropriate roleplaying in a way that is obvious to everyone who is watching that you are escaping your bonds. If your attempt to escape is interrupted then you must restart your count. Your character also automatically escapes if they are taken outside the IC site boundary.

If you are held prisoner at time-out at night or at the end of an event then you are assumed to be in the custody of your captors and should resume play as a captive at the next time-in. If this is likely to be difficult for any reason then consult a referee. It is not possible to force a captor to hand over any resources they gain in downtime.
{{Core Rule Links}}
*[[Event safety]]
[[Category:Rules]]

Empire rules

2016-01-26T17:38:20Z

Nick Taylor: Fix Safety link to not be a maze of twisty little redirects

<row-fluid>
Welcome to the Empire rules; here you can find out how to create characters and play the game. If you have any questions then check the [[Frequently Asked Questions|FAQ]] first and if that doesn't help then please [[contact Profound Decisions]] and we will answer your questions.
</row-fluid>

<row-fluid>
<span4>
==[[Playing the game|Playing the Game]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=ChalkieAndPaw.jpg|link=Playing the game}}
This section tells you how to [[Playing the game|play the game]] - providing the rules and guidelines for creating your character as well as roleplaying the character at an event.

</span4>

<span4>
==[[Combat]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=BarbarianOrcs.jpg|link=Combat}}
All player-characters are able to fight in Empire if they choose. The [[Combat|combat rules]] explain what to do in skirmishes and battles and how to use your skills.
</span4>

<span4>
==[[Safety_overview|Safety]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=ImperialOrcWarrior.jpg|link=Safety_overview}}
[[Safety_overview|Safety]] is important to ensure that events are as safe as possible. Everyone must make sure that they understand these rules even if they do not intend to fight.
</span4>
</row-fluid>

<row-fluid>
<span4>
==[[Groups]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=MarcherGroupCrop.jpg|link=Groups}}
Players creating characters together can create a concept for a group to link those characters together. There are special rules some types of groups, called bands in Empire.
</span4>

<span4>
==[[Skills]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=LeagueCrossbowman.jpg|link=Skills}}
A character is defined by the [[skills]] that they possess. You can purchase any skill you want for your character, though some skills must be bought first.
</span4>

<span4>
==[[Magic]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=MagicStaff.jpg|link=Magic}}
Magicians are able to wield the force of [[magic]], using it to drive enemies away or mend shattered weapons and bones. Read this section if you are interested in playing a magician.
</span4>

</row-fluid>

<row-fluid>
<span4>
==[[Resource]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=RingsAndCoins.jpg|link=Resource}}
[[Resource|Resources]] provide a character with wealth and precious resources. Every character in Empire may control [[Resource#Campaign Resource|campaign resources]] and a single [[Resource#Personal Resource|personal resource]].
</span4>

<span4>
==[[Potion]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=nickpouring.jpg|link=Potion}}
Herbs can be mixed by characters with the apothecary skill to make [[potion|potions and poisons]]. Potions can be consumed by anyone, providing valuable magical benefits.
</span4>

<span4>
==[[Magical items|Magical Items]]==
{{ThreeColIconImage|file=DawnFighting2.jpg|link=Magical items}}
There are scores of different [[magical items]] that exist in Empire. They are created and sold by player-characters and many characters will have access to one or two.
</span4>
</row-fluid>

[[Category:Rules]]

Coil of the Black Leech

2015-10-08T19:48:38Z

Nick Taylor: /* Description */ Remove reference to Exorcism pending over-winter review

==Rules==
{{Season|Winter|10}}
===Performing the Ritual===
{{Casting time|2}} {{Target Character}} The target character must possess the [[Magical skills#Magician|magician]] skill.

{{enchantment}}

===Effects===

Whenever the target casts the [[weakness]] spell and strikes a target, they immediately regain up to three lost hits. The ritual does not grant the target any ability to ''cast'' the weakness spell.

While under this [[enchantment]], the target experiences a [[roleplaying effect]]: whenever they gain hits due to this enchantment, they feel a rush of pleasure. Once they have used this ability once, they feel a constant urge to use it again even when they are not injured.

{{Season Duration}}

===Additional Targets===
This ritual can affect additional characters from the same [[Groups#Covens|coven]]. Each additional character increases the magnitude by 8. Additional characters must be present throughout.

==Description==

This vampiric ritual takes advantage of the way the [[weakness]] spell works to revitalize the caster when they strike a foe. It brings with it a dangerous, gnawing hunger to experience the pleasant taste of another's strength. A cautionary tale suggests that the twisted, accursed leech-priests of the [[Sarcophan Delves]] were created using a variant of this ritual, or fell into the clutches of an Eternal of Winter after their reliance on this magic became too pronounced.

This enchantment is sometimes coupled with the use of a [[Wendigo's Bargain]] or similar enchanted implement. The magic also has an obvious synergy with the [[Splintering Gorget]] [[Weapons & Armour#Mage Armour|mage armour]].

==Common Elements==
When performing this ritual, the coven often invokes leeches, bats and other creatures that feed on the blood of the living. They may shed blood into a goblet of sweet wine for the target to drink, or offer gifts or tokens that represent the power to take strength from others. The runes [[Kyrop]] and [[Naeve]] are commonly evoked, and some magicians favour the name of [[Wendigo]] or even [[Sorin]] (whose philosophy of growth through suffering seems a peripheral match for this ritual).
[[Category:Winter Ritual]]
[[Category:Rituals]]

Weapons & armour

2015-09-25T16:24:53Z

Nick Taylor: Add heavy armour's PARALYSE resistance to summary sections.

==Weapons==
*'''All weapons must be at least 8” (20 cm) long'''
*'''Some categories require you to use a set grip to fight with the weapon'''
There are five basic weapon categories in Empire. Any character can wield a one‑handed weapon but they must purchase the [[Combat skills#Weapon master|Weapon Master]] skill to use a larger weapon. Weapon categories are also important for enchantments and for use with the skills allowing heroic blows.

One-handed spears, pole-arms and pikes require you to use a set grip when fighting with the weapon. These grips are set for a combination of safety and play balance. You don’t have to carry the weapon like this when you are not fighting, but you must use the mandated grip throughout any fight where you use the weapon.

===One-handed Weapons===
*'''Must be between 8” long and 42” long'''
*'''Can call CLEAVE using a hero point and the Cleaving Strike skill'''
A one-handed weapon must be up to 42 inches long. If you expend a hero point then any one-handed weapon longer than 24" can be used to call CLEAVE provided you also have the relevant skill.

Flails up to 42” long are included in this category and can be used by any character. Larger flails are covered by the rules for two-handed weapons.

===Two-handed weapons===
*'''Must be between 42” long and 60” long'''
*'''Can call CLEAVE using a hero point and the Cleaving Strike skill'''
*'''Can call SHATTER using a hero point and the Shattering Blow skill'''
*'''You must hold the weapon in both hands'''

A two-handed weapon must be between 42 inches and 60 inches in length. If you expend a hero point then any two-handed weapon can be used to call CLEAVE or SHATTER provided you also have the relevant skill.

The phys-rep for a two-handed weapon can be any suitable phys-rep such as a great sword, dane axe or similar. You must hold the weapon in both hands during combat.
{{CaptionedImage|file=HolbergDefender.jpg|title=Stern von Holberg of the Orphans preparing to ruin a barbarian's day.|caption=League defender with pole-arm|align=right|width=250}}
===Pole-arms===
*'''Must be between 60” long and 84” long'''
*'''Can have a thrust-safe tip'''
*'''Can call CLEAVE using a hero point and the Cleaving Strike skill'''
*'''Can call STRIKEDOWN using a hero point and the Mighty Strikedown skill'''
*'''You must hold the weapon in both hands with at least 18” separating them'''
A pole-arm must be between 60" and 84" in length. You can always swing a pole-arm at any enemy but you may also thrust with the weapon if it has a thrust safe tip. If you expend a hero point then any pole-arm can be used to call CLEAVE or STRIKEDOWN provided you also have the relevant skill.

The phys-rep for a pole-arm should be any suitable phys-rep for a pole-arm designed for swinging or thrusting at an enemy such as a bardiche, halberd or bill. You must hold the weapon in both hands at all times and keep at least 18 inches separation between your hands during combat.

===One-handed Spear===
*'''Must be between 60" long and 84" long'''
*'''Must have a thrust-safe tip'''
*'''You must only thrust with a one-handed spear, you cannot swing it'''
*'''Can call CLEAVE using a hero point and the Cleaving Strike skill'''
*'''You must hold the weapon within 6" of the centre of the haft'''
A one-handed spear must be between 60" long and 84" long. If you expend a hero point then any one-handed weapon can be used to call CLEAVE provided you also have the relevant skill.

The phys-rep for a one-handed spear should be any suitable phys-rep for a spear designed for thrusting at an enemy. You must hold the weapon within 6" of the centre of the haft during combat.
{{CaptionedImage|file=CM-130728-8895.jpg|align=right|width=450}}

===Pike===
*'''Must be between 84” long and 108” long'''
*'''Must have a thrust-safe tip'''
*'''You must only thrust with a pike, you cannot swing it'''
*'''You must hold the weapon in both hands with at least 18” separating them'''
A pike is any pole-arm between 7 foot and 9 foot in length. It must have a thrust safe tip. You may only thrust using a pike, you may not swing any weapon that is over seven foot in length. A pike is too heavy and cumbersome to be used to make heroic calls.

The phys-rep for a pike should be any suitable phys-rep for a long pole-arm designed for thrusting at an enemy. You must hold the weapon in both hands at all times and have at least 18” separation between your hands during combat.

==Implements==
*'''Offensive spells can only be delivered using an implement'''
*'''Must be a safe phys-rep of a wand, rod or staff'''
*'''Should not look like a weapon'''
An implement is a magical tool that allows a magician to deliver an [[Spellcasting#Offensive_Spells|offensive spell]]. All offensive spells require an implement to be used. You cannot use an implement to cast a regular spell such as [[mend]] or [[heal]].

All implements must be weapon safe phys-reps. They may appear to be made of any material, and should be decorated and shaped to make it as clear as possible that they are magical implements and ''not weapons''.

Implements come in three broad classifications; wands, rods and staves. Any character with the [[Magical skills#Magician|magician]] skill can wield a wand or rod effectively, but the [[Magical_skills#Battle_Mage|Battle Mage]] skill is needed to wield a staff.

A character can cause a point of damage with an implement, but they cannot be used with the heroic skills [[Heroic skills#Cleaving Strike|cleaving strike]], [[Heroic skills#Shattering Blow|shattering blow]] or [[Heroic skills#Mighty Strikedown|mighty strikedown]].

Although any magician may choose to use a wand or rod as an implement, some magical enchantments can only be placed on wands and some can only be placed on rods.

===Wands===
*'''Must be between 8” long and 18” long'''
A wand is 8” to 18” long. Magical wands usually enhance healing incantations such as [[restore limb]] or utility incantations such as [[mend]]

===Rods===
*'''Must be between 18” long and 42” long'''
A rod is 18” to 42” long. Wielded in one hand, a rod is popular with many magicians who take the battlefield because it can be combined with a shield or with another one-handed weapon (provided the magician possesses the skill to do so). Magical rods most commonly enhance battlefield incantations such as [[repel]] or [[swift heal]].

===Staff===
*'''Must be between 42” long and 84” long'''
*'''You must hold the weapon in both hands
*'''A staff that is at least 60” long must be held in both hands with at least 18” separating them but can be thrust safe'''
A staff is 42” to 84” long. It must be wielded in two hands, but greatly extends the magician's reach for delivering implement incantations. Staves are popular with magicians of all backgrounds, but require the [[Magical_skills#Battle_Mage|Battle Mage]] skill to use in battle. Magic staves may enhance battlefield incantation or grant benefits to ritual casters.

A staff that is between 60" and 84" in length may have a thrust-safe tip. If it does then you may attack, and deliver spells and incantations by making an appropriately safe thrust to strike your target. You must keep at least 18" separation between your hands when wielding a staff that is 60" or longer.

==Bows==
{{CaptionedImage|file=OrzelBand1.jpg|align=right|width=500}}
*'''You must have the Marskman skill to use a bow or crossbow'''
*'''You must hold the weapon in both hands to shoot'''
You may use a bow or crossbow. All missile weapons require both hands to shoot, and do IMPALE automatically, with no need to call the effect.

==Shields==
*'''Any character can use a buckler up to 15” (40 cm) in diameter'''
*'''Characters with the shield skill can use larger shields'''
*'''You can push with a shield, but you cannot shield barge another character'''
Any character can use a buckler, a small shield up to 15 inches in diameter. If you have the shield skill then you can use a larger shield. The maximum dimensions for a shield are based on the shape, listed in the table below.
{| width="50%"
|-
! Shield Type !! Max Dimensions
|-
| Buckler|| 15" (40cm) diameter
|-
| Round shield|| 40" (1m) diameter
|-
| Tower shield|| 40" by 24" (1m by 60cm)
|-
| Kite/Heater shield|| 48" by 24" (1.2m by 60cm)
|}

If you are standing still or walking slowly then you may hold a shield out and push with it. You are not allowed to shield barge other characters; you must not run, shield first, into another character for safety reasons.

==Armour==
*'''All characters can wear armour'''
*'''Armour that covers the torso and another location provides extra global hits'''
*'''Some armour protects from CLEAVE, IMPALE, or PARALYSE'''
*'''Magicians cannot cast spells while wearing armour'''
Armour protects the wearer by increasing their global hits if it covers the majority of the torso and at least one other location. Valid locations are the head (with a helm), the arms and the legs, or you may cover half of your arms and legs.

E.g. A mail vest covers your torso but does not cover another location. If you wear it with a helm them it would count. A full-length mail hauberk covers the torso, thighs and upper arms so it would always count.
{{CaptionedImage|file=JohnShoutingCrop.jpg|align=left|width=250}}
Medium armour protects a character against CLEAVE, while heavy armour protects them against CLEAVE, IMPALE, and PARALYSE. You are only protected if the blow strikes the armour phys-rep; if it hits an unprotected part of the body then you are affected normally. Your armour continues to protect you in this way even if the hits it provides have been lost.

Any character can wear armour, but magicians cannot cast spells or perform rituals while wearing armour.

To count as armour, the phys-rep must be a phys-rep of a suit of armour. A leather coat or biker-jacket does not count as armour and is not appropriate costume for the Empire setting. Leather armour may count as light or medium armour depending on the thickness; adding studs or rivets does not make it count as heavy armour.

Armour does not provide separate armour hits, it protects you by increasing your global hits. Armour is not repaired separately. Whenever you are healed back to full hits all lost hits are regained.

Wearing more than one type of armour does not grant any additional hits.

===Light Armour===
*'''Padded cloth or thin leather armour (between 1.5mm and 3mm).'''
*'''Provides 2 extra hits only.'''
Any armour made of padded cloth such as a gambeson or light or thin leather such as a thin leather hauberk provides the wearer with 2 additional hits. It does not provide any additional protection against heroic blows.
{{CaptionedImage|file=ArmourWintermark.jpg|title=Thick leather armour (where the majority of the armour is more than 3mm thick) is medium armour.|width=300|align=right}}
Any cloth or leather that is less than 1.5mm thick counts as clothing, it does not count as armour at all. Costume made from foam or karrimat does not count as armour.

===Medium Armour===
*'''Thick leather or any light weight armour materials, such as polyurethane or aluminium.'''
*'''Provides 3 extra hits and protects against CLEAVE.'''
Thick leather armour (the majority of the armour is more than 3mm thick) or any armour made from a light weight material such as polyurethane (e.g. Norton Armour), aluminium, or mixed neoprene and steel provides the wearer with 3 extra hits. Light mail, such as modern ring mesh (butcher's mail) or mail with an open weave (sometimes called "ring mail"), counts as medium armour.

If the wearer is hit by a CLEAVE heroic blow that strikes a piece of medium armour rather than directly hitting the wearer then the target loses one hit but does not take any additional effects.

===Heavy Armour===
*'''Armour made from steel or a similar weight metal'''
*'''If there are plates used they must be at least 1mm thick'''
*'''Butchers mail and ring mail are not included as heavy armour, regardless of the materials used'''
*'''Provides 4 extra hits and protects against CLEAVE, IMPALE, and PARALYSE'''
Any armour that is primarily made from steel provides the wearer with 4 extra hits. Other base metals that weigh the same such as brass would also count, but aluminium and titanium armour counts as medium.

If the wearer is hit by a CLEAVE or IMPALE heroic blow, or a PARALYSE call, that strikes a piece of heavy armour rather than directly hitting the wearer then the target loses one hit but does not take any additional effects.

===Mage Armour===
*'''You must have the battle mage skill to wear mage armour'''
*'''Must cover at least 3 locations including one of the chest, shoulders or waist'''
*'''Providers 2 extra hits only'''
*'''Does not protect against [[Calls#CLEAVE|CLEAVE]], [[Calls#IMPALE|IMPALE]], or [[Calls#PARALYSE|PARALYSE]] calls'''
Mage armour is a magical talisman that protects you against harm but allows you to cast spells and perform rituals. The talisman is made up of several pieces fitted to the wearer's body to protect them. The parts of the talisman superficially resemble pieces of armour, but armour that is ornate and ceremonial rather than practical. They are often decorated with runes, crystals, gems or other magical accoutrements and it is clear that the armour protects the wearer through magic rather than by physically deflecting blows.
{{CaptionedImage|file=MageArmour.jpg|title=Mage Armour|caption=Image courtesy of Totally Leathered|align=right|width=300}}
Mage armour provides the wearer with two additional hits. Mage armour does not protect against CLEAVE, IMPALE, or PARALYSE. To qualify the talisman must include three of the following items including at least one of the first three items on the list:

* Pauldrons (shoulders)
* Pectorals (upper chest)
* Hero Belt (waist)

* Circlet (head)
* Vambraces (wrists)
* Gorget (neck)
* Greaves (lower legs)

The items must be substantial and cover a significant portion of the area but it is possible to use a single pauldron, greave or vambrace if appropriate for the costume.

You must have the [[Magical_skills#Battle_Mage|Battle Mage]] skill to wear and use mage armour. Although mage armour is magical in nature, any character with the battle mage skill is assumed to have access to a suit of mage armour, in the same way a warrior has access to a suit of mundane armour.

Mage armour can be made out of any real world material, provided you try to make as clear as possible that your character is wearing magical protection and not mundane armour.
{{Core Rule Links}}
[[Category:Rules]]

Pallid Flesh of the Dead King

2015-07-17T18:40:03Z

Nick Taylor: /* Description */ Remove outdated reference to Abraxus Stone

==Rules==
{{Season|Winter|22}}

===Performing the Ritual===
{{Casting time|2}} {{Target Character}}

{{enchantment}}

===Effects===

The target gains two additional ranks of [[Combat skills#Endurance|endurance]]. At the same time, they are affected by [[venom]]. The supernatural venom caused by this [[enchantment]] cannot be removed by a [[purify]] or [[purge]] spell (although attempting to do so will not cost the caster any mana) unless the enchantment is removed first.

If the venom is removed by other means (such as [[Ascetic Star of Atun]] or the use of [[Imperial Roseweald]] for example) the enchantment immediately ends.

While under this enchantment, the target also experiences a [[roleplaying effect]]: they occasionally feel as if their body is wrapped in heavy chains, and suffer instants where an arm or leg will not move. They regularly suffer dreams of being buried alive, or entombed unmoving in a great empty chamber for eternity.

{{Season Duration}}

===Additional Targets===
This ritual can affect additional characters from the same [[Groups#Banners|banner]]. Each additional character increases the magnitude by 13. Additional characters must be present throughout.

==Description==
This [[enchantment]] lets a target shrug off the effects of sword-blows, but renders them vulnerable both to arrows and to sustained injury. It provides short-term protection at a price, and a short-sighted, incautious target is likely to die under the influence of this ritual. Only a warrior who understands the limitations the enchantment places on them can use it safely.

The power of this enchantment is drawn from the [[The_Thrice-cursed_Court#Tharim|Bound King]] of [[the Thrice-cursed Court]]. It demonstrates their obsession with power that comes at a price. Some scholars of the [[Eternals]] believe that this ritual alleviates a portion of the Bound King's own curse as long as a mortal 'benefits' from the Enchantment, and this explains why the Heralds of the court often bear items that make it easier to perform this ritual. Suspicious minds suggest that ''in theory'' if enough people were subject to this ritual at one time, the Bound King would be permanently freed from his chains.

==Common Elements==
Performance of this ritual often involves feeding poisonous or noxious liquid to the target, or binding their wrists or in some cases even going to far as to wrap them in chains while simultaneously criwning them in a symbolic way. The target is often sitting when this enchantment is performed. Some ritualists require that the target verbally confirm that they understand the price for the strength the ritual grants, and agree to seek no vengeance should they die as a consequence of it's performance; some [[Varushka|Varushkan]] ritualists go so far as to demand an oath to that effect.

The ritual often involves the runes [[Verys]] and [[Naeve]] together; whatever it's ultimate source, the enchantment grants strength through weakness, or perhaps demonstrates the idea of offering weakness in one area as a price for strength in another.



[[Category:Winter Ritual]]
[[Category:Rituals]]

Coil of the Black Leech

2015-05-23T15:51:43Z

Nick Taylor: /* Effects */ Weakness spell no longer weakens

==Rules==
{{Season|Winter|10}}
===Performing the Ritual===
{{Casting time|2}} {{Target Character}} The target character must possess the [[Magical skills#Magician|magician]] skill.

{{enchantment}}

===Effects===

Whenever the target casts the [[weakness]] spell and strikes a target, they immediately regain up to three lost hits. The ritual does not grant the target any ability to ''cast'' the weakness spell.

While under this [[enchantment]], the target experiences a [[roleplaying effect]]: whenever they gain hits due to this enchantment, they feel a rush of pleasure. Once they have used this ability once, they feel a constant urge to use it again even when they are not injured.

{{Season Duration}}

===Additional Targets===
This ritual can affect additional characters from the same [[Groups#Covens|coven]]. Each additional character increases the magnitude by 8. Additional characters must be present throughout.

==Description==

This vampiric ritual takes advantage of the way the [[weakness]] spell works to revitalize the caster when they strike a foe. It brings with it a dangerous, gnawing hunger to experience the pleasant taste of another's strength. Targets are often advised to seek out a priest to [[Religious skills#Exorcism|remove]] the tainted hunger that accompanies the [[enchantment]]. A cautionary tale suggests that the twisted, accursed leech-priests of the [[Sarcophan Delves]] were created using a variant of this ritual, or fell into the clutches of an Eternal of Winter after their reliance on this magic became too pronounced.

This enchantment is sometimes coupled with the use of a [[Wendigo's Bargain]] or similar enchanted implement. The magic also has an obvious synergy with the [[Splintering Gorget]] [[Weapons & Armour#Mage Armour|mage armour]].

==Common Elements==
When performing this ritual, the coven often invokes leeches, bats and other creatures that feed on the blood of the living. They may shed blood into a goblet of sweet wine for the target to drink, or offer gifts or tokens that represent the power to take strength from others. The runes [[Kyrop]] and [[Naeve]] are commonly evoked, and some magicians favour the name of [[Wendigo]] or even [[Sorin]] (whose philosophy of growth through suffering seems a peripheral match for this ritual).
[[Category:Winter Ritual]]
[[Category:Rituals]]

Auras of Prosperity

2015-05-07T21:42:44Z

Nick Taylor: /* Consecration of Prosperity */ SPAG

==Overview==
These roleplaying effects are created by priests dedicated to the virtue of Prosperity who use the relevant ceremonial skill. A character performing an anointing or hallow must pick one of the appropriate roleplaying effects when they perform the ceremony.

==Consecration of Prosperity==
* ''In this place, you feel an impulse to use all the means and abilities at your disposal to prosper yourself or your fellows.''

==Anointings of Prosperity==
The following are a range of auras that can be summoned onto a living soul, with their consent, by priests whose own souls are dedicated to Prosperity:

===The Path of Prosperity===
* ''You receive a brief vision of the rewards that your labours may yield. You feel more willing and able to perform these labours, and negative feelings you associate with them are diminished. If you are bleeding, or terminal, the vision you receive is of the fruits of labours that you have enjoyed in the past accompanied with a feeling of satisfaction.''

'''Description:''' The path of prosperity can be long, and arduous, with the rewards of labours seemingly distant. Priests of prosperity have been able to use this aura to bolster citizens and pilgrims for the journey, and particularly when obstacles and setbacks are encountered. This auras has also been beneficial in helping citizens overcome the obstacles that presents itself as a malign effect or aura. Elsewise, the visions provided by this aura have also been utilised in ceremonies of last rites to provide comfort and celebration in a person's last moments.

===The Worth of Prosperity===
* ''You feel a strong sense of the value of what is around you, and a strong distaste for waste, including excessive hoarding. You feel motivated to engage in fruitful activity, and your tolerance for squandering and hoarding is greatly diminished.''

'''Description:''' Priests of the path of prosperity have used this anointing to encourage the prosperous use of resources amongst citizens and pilgrims. It has seen popular use by Friars of the Marches, though this is balanced by the way many stewards run their households. Priests of prosperity often encourage misers and hoarders to receive this and receive the benefits of living a virtuous life, but attaining consent often proves difficult.

===The Benevolence of Prosperity===
* ''During this anointing, you were asked to specify an entity, usually a particular individual, group or cause. Whilst this anointing is in effect, you feel a strong urge to ensure that this entity receives the benefit of your prosperity, whether this is in the form of labour, resources or another way. This applies even if the specified entity would not normally be something you would wish to prosper.''

'''Description:''' This anointing is opposed by [[Schisms_and_Heresies#The_Lucidian_Blasphemy|Lucidians]] who believe that the effort for prosperity must come from within. However, other priests of the path of prosperity have made it clear that this anointing requires the consent of the recipient. This anointing has been used to stir those who lack virtue into action, whether they are lazy or miserly. There have also been occasions where it has been applied to convicted felons to promote restorative justice.

===The Seeds of Prosperity===
* ''You gain a strong sense of the value that others have in ensuring your prosperity, and theirs. You feel more inclined to co-operate in ventures in which all parties, especially you, will profit.''

'''Description:''' This anointing is popular with sects of prosperity, but has also been used by other groups and parties in building the foundations of a co-operative venture. This has included Bishops of the League offering this ministration to Free Companies and Guilds, and Benefactors of Highguard bringing together parties for a venture. This anointing has also been beneficial in peace-making or reconciliation between antagonistic groups whose combined efforts are needed to bring to bear on a situation.

===The Vision of Prosperity===
* ''The next time you sleep you experience vivid dreams concerning the goals you have been working towards. In some dreams you see yourself toiling and achieving these goals, in others you experience the rewards of success that could from accomplishing your efforts. You awaken deeply reinvigorated with renewed drive to face the hard work that lies before you..''

'''Description:''' The teachings of the path make clear that prosperity is not about labour for labour's sake, but about effort made for reward. However, for many citizens and pilgrims, it is not always clear how to transfer their efforts, labours and resources into true prosperity. Priests of the path seek to use this anointing to help provide enlightenment and guidance. Some merchants and traders have naively sought this aura in the hope that it prophetically shows them the way to wealth and riches, but find themselves disappointed that the path is rarely so simple and straightforward.

==Hallows of Prosperity==

===Hallowing of the Little Mother===
* ''You feel an urge to use your resources, such as wealth or skills, to help others in their pursuit of prosperity. This is amplified if the person or group you are helping would struggle to achieve without your aid.''

===Hallowing of the Opportunist===
* ''You feel an urge to use the resources at your disposal to take full advantage of opportunities that you encounter. If you deliberately pass up such an opportunity, then the feeling changes so that revulsion and rejection flows from the item to you for as long as you are bonded to it.''

===Hallowing of the Overflowing Cup===
* ''When bonded to this item, and in contact with it you feel a desire to enjoy the fruits of your labour and to share them with those around you who likewise work hard and honestly for what they have.''

===Hallowing of the Company===
* ''When bonded to this item, you feel an urge to set aside selfishness and work closely with those who are bonded to the item in the same ceremony to achieve mutual prosperity for all.''

===Hallowing of the Shepherd===
* ''You feel an urge to protect, by whatever means you can, that which has been justly earned, from the undeserving who would seek to take it. This impulse includes a desire to use this item in that protection, if it would be appropriate to do so.''

===Hallowing of Good Walder===
* ''You feel an urge to seek out those who hoard wealth and persuade them to utilise it for further prosperity. This feeling is amplified if you perceive the wealth is unearned, or undeserved. This feeling includes the impulse to use this item as part of your effiorts, if it would appropriate to do so.''

[[Category:Religion]]

Wiki Updates

2015-05-05T14:31:11Z

Nick Taylor: Sect rules duplication removed

This is a list of significant updates to the wiki which we will try and keep as up to date as possible. Hopefully this will be a more useful document than the recent changes page which lists every spelling correction and formatting change.

By it's nature this page will be regularly updated so when you visit the wiki try checking here first. However please keep in mind this is a manually updated page so at times maybe a little behind the actual updates.

==Sects==
The rules for priestly co-operation within [[Bands#Sects|sects]] were unintentionally more restrictive than those for co-operation in the absence of a sect. The duplication of rules has been removed, leaving priests precisely as able to co-operate within sects as without.

==Winter 2015 Rules Update==
Over winter we carried out a review of the rules from the second year. As a result of that review we have changed a number of rules. We are in the process of updating the wiki to reflect these [[Rules update 2015|rules changes]]. We will continue to carry out reviews of rules each winter. The most recent updates are to magic, particularly spontaneous magic and battle magic.

==Magic Item modifications==
The [[Healer's Harness]] and [[Warcaster's Oath]] were rendered useless by our change to [[spellcasting]]. We have modified the effect of both, and raised the cost of the Healer's Harness to reflect these changes.

Magic standards must be carried (wording strengthened from "should"); back banners, tabards and especially flamboyant bandanas are not appropriate phys-reps for magic standards, and this was not clearly communicated by the previous wording.

==Otkodov Spy Network==
The [[Construct Otkodov spy network|Otkodov spy network]] was initially set up before more detailed information about how they worked was available. A single spy network cannot provide information about an entire nation, only a single territory. We have clarified this, and future reports from this spy network will focus on the [[Thule]] territory of Verthandi.

==Ritual Theory==
We've created a series of pages relating to [[ritual theory]] that provide background, setting and rules information for players. It is primarily of use to players who want to create new [[spontaneous magic]] effects, or explore the theories of how ritual magic work. This is somewhat of a work in progress - we intend to expand it to cover more setting-related information such as what crystal mana is or how it differs from personal mana (for example), but the information given here should serve as a good foundation for players who want to discuss magical theories in the field.

==Brass Coast Army Support==
Following the re-integration of [[Segura]] into the Empire, [[the Brass Coast]] now has the ability to support three armies rather than two.

==Senate Commissions==
We added details of three new civillian [[Commission|commissions]] available to the [[Imperial Senate]].
* The [[College of Magic]].
* The [[Runeforge]].
* The [[Embassy]].
* The [[Imperial navy]].

==Remote Navarr==
We've clarified a few design concepts around the [[Navarr]] on the [[Remote Navarr]] page. To accompany this, we've made a few edits to [[Navarr_look_and_feel|look and feel]] to reflect those clarifications.

==Military Council Overhaul==
We have done a major redesign of the way the [[Imperial Military Council]] works. This has included clarification on the events at the [[muster]] and [[Council session]], as well as expanded and clarified material regarding the role of a [[general]], the [[Field Marshal]] and the civil servant role of the [[herald of the Council]]. We've also given the right of [[Council address]] to the [[High Exorcist]] and [[Quartermaster General of the Imperial Armies]].

At the same time, we've clarified and streamlined some of the factors to do with [[war]], including the way that generals submit their [[orders]]. We've also included a [[campaign outcome]] page that details the mathematics that underlie the campaign resolution system.

Finally, we've removed the idea of ''keywords'' from armies - each [[imperial army]] now has a singular [[army qualities|quality]] that reflects the way that army operates. This means that we have also overhauled all the existing armies with new abilities. The individual armies will be updated over the next day or so, but for the moment the changes are detailed on the table [[Military_Council_design#Army_Quality|here]].

You can find details of some of our reasons for these changes [[Military_Council_design#A_Conjunction_did_it|here]].

===Field Marshal===
Following discussion with our magistrates, we have removed the idea that it is a legal requirement for the [[Field Marshal]] to address the [[Imperial Senate]]. It is still a responsibility of the role, but it is up to the [[Imperial Synod]] to deal with Field Mashalls who neglect to do so, rather than the Magistrates.

==Clemency==
We removed the idea that characters with Imperial Titles were given additional weight by a magistrate. This was simply not the case in practice, and undermined the idea of virtuous defence. A virtuous argument from a priest should hold more weight than a poor speech from the Throne.

==Legacy of Thorns==
We've clarified that the [[Legacy_of_Thorns#Blade_Venoms|blade venoms]] (specifically [[Legacy_of_Thorns#Oil_of_Blackthorn|oil of blackthorn]] and [[Legacy_of_Thorns#Redwillow_Paste|Redwillow Paste]] cannot be applied to [[Weapons & armour#Implements|implements]]).

==Ritual Changes==
Several rituals are receiving clarifications and tweaks.
* [[Whispering Shadow Courtiers]] no longer references the idea of providing visions of "nearby" things. It functions like [[Signs and Portents]], drawing from a pool of visions including "important" or "relevant" secrets, no matter where in the Empire it is cast.
* [[Wisdom of the Balanced Blade]] no longer gains a bonus to penetrate magical obscuring effects. As with [[Bright Lantern of Ophis]] it must overcome the full strength of an effect designed to obscure information about a curse.
* [[Eyes of the Sun and Moon]] has been tweaked to specifically provide military information about armies and fortifications. We've also removed the "hour's notice" requirement from the ritual as the information it delivers is now prepared for each potential target territory before an event.
* [[The Eye of the High Places]] has been tweaked to clarify that it determines any large scale effects on the target territory, and to remove reference to detecting small-scale effects such as resource enchantments which were proving difficult to collate information about.
* [[Reading the Weave]] has been clarified to remove reference to information that was proving difficult to uncover in a timely fashion.
* [[Bright Lantern of Ophis]] has had its ability to divine large-scale effects from a distance removed - this is now the purview of [[The Eye of the High Places]].
* [[Wisdom of the Balanced Blade]] no longer requires a regio to analyse an area curse, but the ritualists must be in the presence of the curse in some fashion.
* [[Sum of the Parts]] has had its magnitude increased, correcting a significant rounding error


==The Brass Coast Brief==
We have updated the Brass Coast brief on the [[the Brass Coast magical traditions|Brass Coast magical traditions]] and the [[Hakima]] to clarify their political niche and to modify their role slightly. The Hakima are now dedicated to aiding (and meddling in the affairs of) the entire nation rather than an individual tribe. The old brief was too focused, and too limited in scope and we think these changes will help address that. We've also made a minor change to the way [[the Brass Coast military concerns#Kohan|kohan]] are organised, primarily to remove the restriction that the members of a group belong to a single tribe.

We've also expanded on the material on [[corsair|corsairs]] that was originally scattered around the Brass Coast section. The new brief contains some new elements and advice on creating corsair characters and groups.

==Marcher Brief==
We have updated the Marcher brief on the [[the Marches magical traditions]] and [[Landskeeper|Landskeepers]] to clarify their political niche and how they usually organize themselves. We have corrected the old text to make clear that Landskeepers make frequent use of curses against those they believe have transgressed against Marcher traditions and Marcher interests. The old brief was restricting the ability of existing Landskeepers to access the full range of magical powers at events and the previous Landskeeper political structure was too complex and fine-grained to be workable in play.

==Wintermark Brief==
We have updated the Wintermark brief on the [[Wintermark_culture_and_customs#Age.2C_infirmity_and_the_good_death|good death]] to remove any mention of how Wintermark treats individuals who are maimed or crippled. Any form of discrimination on the grounds of disability is against our game rules on equality and diversity and does not fit the setting. Many of the heroes of the Empire come from hard lands - but the Wintermark brief stood out as none of the other briefs single out individuals who are disabled in anyway for special note. The people of the Empire do not discriminate on grounds of infirmity.

==Commissions Updated==
We have updated the page on [[commission]] to lay out the essential details needed for any new commission.

==New Map Viewer==
Racheet Dave has produced [http://empire.racheet.me/ a cool new map viewer] for the Empire. The [[maps]] page has been updated with a link to the new map viewer.

There are also new maps showing the tactical/political features of the Empire, and two maps showing Barbarian lands (Otkodov and the Barrens).

==Senate Update==
We have updated the rules for mercantile commissions, and added a page each for a [[sinecure]], [[ministry]], and [[great work]]. The costs to make new mercantile commissions has been altered and reduced for play balance reasons. We have increased the effective output of the Madruga Shipyard, but all other existing sinecures, ministries and great works are unaffected.

==Rules Update==
We have removed Spider Folds the Net from the list of available rituals. The ritual had major problems and after several attempts to fix it, we have abandoned the attempt and simply deleted it. Everyone who had the ritual now has a free slot that they can fill at any time instead. If anyone requires an IC explanation for the change, it is because recent movements of the constellations have rendered the ritual unworkable.

Rules for [[Battlefield Ritual|Battlefield Rituals]] written up.

Regio rules changed: using a regio does not automatically make the ritual take ten minutes. Some rituals intrinsically take ten minutes, and some rituals require a regio. There is some overlap between these groups.

==Sanctioned Event Update==
We have added some guidelines for using [[Imperial Law at sanctioned events]].

==Senate Pages Overhauled==
We have overhauled the Senate wiki pages, mostly to improve the presentation and make the processes clearer. The overhaul includes a few changes to the political rules and powers of some positions. As with other recent updates we have included some OOC design notes about the changes and this part of the game.

Key changes or clarifications are:
* Procedural motions are eliminated, allocation and assignment are done by normal motions. [[Senate motion|Administrative motions]] covering minor matters by civil service remain.
* [[The Throne]] can talk in the Senate but cannot propose a motion or vote in the Senate.
* The Throne can [[Senate address|address]] the senate.
* The Throne gains the [[The_Throne#Custodian_of_Virtue|Custodian of Virtue]] power to change a vote in the Synod.
* The Throne gains the [[The_Throne#Order_of_The_Throne|Order of the Throne]] power to nominate speakers in the Conclave.
* We have removed the deadline for the Senate to [[Appointments_by_the_Senate#National_Position|appoint a national position]] but given the wider Senate freedom to act earlier if they choose.

==Field Marshal==
A page for the [[Field Marshal]], the official name for the Field Commander chosen by the Military Council has been added to the wiki. This page expands on this position, how it works, the powers, limitations and responsibilities. It includes some OOC design notes about why the position works the way it does.

==Nations and Territories==
The [[Wintermark Territories]] have been extensively expanded. A note was added to [[Wintermark history]] to make it clear that the position of king or queen of Wintermark was not a ''hereditary'' position.

(09/10/14) Extensive updates to [[Varushka Territories]]; to [[Redoubt]] in [[Urizen]]; and to [[Tassato]] and [[Sarvos]] in [[The League]] (including the creation of the [[Keeper of the Sapphire Stair]] [[sinecure]])

==Ritual Corrections==
The following rituals had incorrect costs listed on the wiki. These have now been corrected.
* [[Blood and Salt]]
* [[Revelation of the Jewel%27s Sparkling Heart]]
* [[Unending Cascade of Blood%27s Fire]]

The last ritual was incorrectly reduced in magnitude shortly before the last event. This error has been fixed and the original correct magnitude restored.

The following ritual had an incorrect casting time listed on the wiki. This has now been corrected.
* [[Rising_Roots_that_Rend_Stone]]

The following rituals have been overhauled to bring them into line with each other and changes to the Campaign Battles.
* [[Knights of Glory]]
* [[Quickening Cold Meat]]
* [[Clarity of the Master Strategist]]
* [[Bound by Common Cause]]
* [[Thunderous Tread of the Trees]]
* [[Forge the Wooden Fastness]]
* [[Dripping Echoes of the Fen]]
* [[Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canea]]

==Anvil Hospital==
We have added information about the [[Anvil Hospital & Imperial School of Medicine]] to the wiki. Thanks to all the players involved for creating this great institution.

==Map Update==
There is a new strategic-and-political map of the Empire [[Gazetteer|here]], and each of the Imperial (or formerly Imperial) territories now has a territory map. Over the next few days, each territory page will be overhauled and updated to include more information about regions and points of interest.

==Military Council Update==
We have updated the [[Imperial Military Council]], streamlining the processes which we will use going forwards to calculate the outcomes of military campaigns, and giving player generals more freedom and control over what happens to their armies. We have also modified the upkeep costs for fortifications to ensure that powerful fortifications remain tenable. We have overhauled the presentation of the section to bring it into line with the new pages for the Imperial Conclave and added extra [[Military Council design|design notes and an explanation for the change]].

==Senate Update==
We've reorganised several pages, as well as creating separate pages for titles such as [[senator]]. We've also done some work clarifying some of the powers of [[The Throne]] where their function was either unclear, or would work poorly.

==Bourse Update==
Several new [[Imperial title|Imperial Bourse titles]] have been added to the wiki.
* [[Bailiff of the Grand Market]] (Marcher position)
* [[Vizier of the Incarnadine Satchel]] (Freeborn position)
* [[Dhomiro of the Cinnabar Hills]] (Freeborn position)
* [[Mistress of the Glass Parador]] (Freeborn position)
* [[Custodian of the Assayer's Guild]] (League position)
* [[Provost of the Halls of Knowledge]] (Urizen position)
* [[Castellan of Spiral Castle]] (Dawn position)

The method by which national bourse positions are assigned has been updated for the Marches and the League.

==Monstering==
Information about [[monstering]] and making your own [[barbarian]] tribe has been added to the wiki. Everyone who is keen is welcome to join us for big kit making session on Friday before the Easter event starts. Whatever you make is yours to keep! We'll hope to find time to add more detail to these pages later in the year.

===Conclave Update===
Players have asked us to provide an [[Conclave_design#A_WizardCivil_Servant_Did_It| IC explanation for the change in the Conclave rules]], rather than simply retcon it, so we have done as requested.

==Winter 2014 Rules Update==
Over winter we carried out a review of the rules from the first year. As a result of that review we have changed a few rules. We are in the process of updating the wiki to reflect these [[Rules changes 2014|rules changes]]. We will continue to carry out reviews of rules each winter, but do not envisage making many other significant changes in the future.

The rules update has been updated... please note that you need to have the relevant skill to participate in a ceremony as part of a sect.

==Updates April 2014 ==
Finally wrote up [[Riddle Hides the Reward]].

Clarified power of [[The Throne]] to ratify constitutional votes.

Added [[Highguard_culture_and_customs#Day_of_the_Dead|details of a Highborn celebration]] to the Customs and Culture section of Highguard.

Changed [[Warmage]] again in line with constitutional note.

Clarified ability of Senator to resupply army on [[Casualties#Emergency_Resupply|Casualties]] page

Completed motions outstanding from [[377YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_Session]]

Updates and maps for [[Semmerholm]], [[Liathaven]], [[Therunin]], [[Mournwold]], [[Brocéliande]] and [[Spiral]] are up, but still stubbed until I have time to check all the backgrounds in the world.

===Conclave Overhaul===
A number of pages have been changed to reflect changes to the way the [[Imperial Conclave]] will function at future events. You can read about the changes in more detail [[Conclave_design|here]]
* Updated the [[Imperial Conclave]] page to lay out the new Conclave in more detail
* Created pages for the three principles of the Conclave [[Principle of Precedence]], [[Principle of Proportions]] and [[Principle of Presence]].
* Updated the [[Conclave order]] page with details of joining an order and the powers of membership.
* Updated the ''Membership of the Order'' section of each conclave order page, and included details of the base materials that go into their [[Conclave vault]] each season. The orders are [[Celestial Arch#Membership_of_the_Order|Celestial Arch]], [[Sevenfold Path#Membership_of_the_Order|Sevenfold Path]], [[Shuttered_Lantern#Membership_of_the_Order|Shuttered Lantern]], [[Rod and Shield#Membership_of_the_Order|Rod and Shield]], [[Golden Pyramid#Membership_of_the_Order|Golden Pyramid]] and [[Unfettered Mind#Membership_of_the_Order|Unfettered Mind]].
* Updated [[detect magic]] with regard to Arcane Mark.
* Updated Imperial title pages for [[Archmage]], [[Grandmaster]], [[Dean of the Lyceum]], [[Warmage]] and created a page for the [[Bursar of the Conclave]].
* Updated [[Conclave session]] and created pages explaining [[Conclave address]], [[declaration]], [[gambit]] and [[amity and enmity]]
* Included the ritual [[Arcane Mark]]
* Updated [[Powers of the Senate]] to reference creation and dissolution of Conclave order and to remove references to Imperial Lore.

==Updates March 2014 ==
Ongoing changes to ritual text durations and targeting guidelines; most of these are just clarifications. Specific changes include:
* [[Rot's Rightful Claim]] is no longer an enchantment
* Added a section about ilium use to [[Mark of Ownership]]
* Added a section to [[Black Iron Blade]] allowing it's magnitude to be increased when cast on a single target to allow removal of protected bonds.
* [[Icy Maw Devours the Spark of Essence]], [[Naeve's Twisting Blight]], [[Winter's Ghosts]] and [[Drawing the Penumbral Veil]] now target a territory rather than a region
* [[Clarity of the Master Strategist]] now requires a Day regio to bring it into line with other campaign army rituals
* [[Transmogrification of the Soul's Echo]] is now clearer on who makes the changes - it is not a brainwashing ritual

Sanctioned event guidelines have been updated to give advice on how to apply Profound Decisions [http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/equalityanddiversity?1 equality and diversity] rules to your event.

Tidied up information about several Bourse seats, and linked the physical locations of the seat resources to the territory sections.

Clarified [[military unit#Downtime options|military unit]] downtime options relating to assigning to Imperial armies or special projects and the production from doing so.

Overhauled and updated [[Skarsind]] page, with smaller updates elsewhere especially to [[Miekarova]] and [[Hercynia]] territory pages

Overhauled and updated [[Reikos]] page, with smaller updates elsewhere

Updated the [[Titles Autumn 377]] page to indicate who has what title as of the end of 2013

Overhauled and updated [[Hercynia]] page, with smaller updates elsewhere

Made some changes to the with reference to [[operate portal]] and [[detect magic]]

Several changes to [[enchantment]] effects, as well as a slight change to the way an enchantment made permanent with [[ilium]] can be removed

Changed duration of [[Mark of Ownership]] to "as long as the item lasts"

===Minor updates===
Corrected an error where [[Enfeebling Echo]] was referred to as ''Hand of Time'' on the staffs category page, and corrected an error in the materials (it costs seven beggar's lye, not seven beggar's lye ''and'' seven green iron. Matt to change on database.

Clarified the way that [[Witness]] works for priests in the Imperial Conclave.

==Updates February 2014 ==
The senate powers to create [[new Imperial titles]] have been overhauled with additional content and clarification.

Update about changing a [[resource]]

LaTeX download added to [[Rune_Overview|runes]]

Update to [[Spider's Tollkeep]] and [[Advisor on orc affairs]] to correct error in who can hold these titles; as National positions, they can be held only by characters from those nations.

Slight change to [[Vallorn]] interconnectivity; Vallorn are not believed to be interconnected, allowing more plot options.

Ongoing changes to ritual text durations and targetting guidelines; most of these are just clarifications. Specific changes include:
* [[Touch of Vile Humours]] has changed to bring it into line with the new rules on Day duration enchantments
* [[Forge the Wooden Fastness]], [[Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae]] and similar rituals are undergoing a revision to bring them into line with out rules on [[fortifications]]. Watch this space.

Changed the election process for [[Keeper of the Spice Gardens]] has been adjusted to bring it into line with the section on the [[New_Imperial_titles#Appointment|appointment]] of titles; added a page about the Keeper title; made some edits to the [[Feroz#The_Spice-Gardens_of_Feroz|Feroz]] section about the gardens.

Rules about what happens with personal resources in conquered territories added [[Resource#Conquered_Territories|here]].

Change to [[Orc#Rules|orc rules]] about liao and religious skills, to make the situation very clear

Additional page [[Languages]] added to wiki

Details of the Eternals [[Sung]] and [[Janon]] laid out.

===Minor updates===
Recordings of songs added for Brass Coast (Lost Segura, Wagon Song, Without You) and Marches (Marcher Battle Song, Apple Wassail).

An option to retire a character using [[Sift the Dreamscape's Sands]] added

==Updates January 2014 ==

More details added to the [[Sanctioned_events|sanctioned events]] page including [[Sanctioned_event_rules|rules]].

The Play one, Crew one rule added to the [[Battles]] page

[[Traders]] page updated

[[Events]] page updated with details of 2014 events

[[Facebook_%26_Forums|Facebook and Forums]] page with links for the various social media resources that exist for Empire.

[[Profound_Decisions_management_team|PD management team ]] page updated to show Alison and Matt's current event roles.

=== Minor additions ===
A new minor trapping added to the [[Naga]] page.

New song "For Once I Was A Young Man" added to [[Highguard_music|Highguard music]]

New costume diary added to [[Costume_advice|costume advice]] - high status Marchers doublet.

==Updates after Event 4, Sept 2013 ==

[[Synod Results, Autumn Summit, 377 YE]]

==Updates between Event 3 and Event 4 2013 ==
All updates up to Event 4 are grouped here under appropriate heading.

Details of event 4 [[Autumn Equinox 2013]]

===Ring of Triumph===
An error on the summary page for the Ring of Triumph has been corrected. The correct materials for this item are include six ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]] '''not''' six ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]]

===Rules and OOC info===
Update on the [[Frequently Asked Questions|FAQ]]
*Question added - Can I email a longer background?
*Clarification about using using a one handed spear as a two handed pole weapon.
*Clarification about using hero skills at range.

A section added to [[playing the game]] about stealing IC items and what to do with the phys reps.

[[Traders]] info updated with details of Jolly Dicey, Twisted Flax, Grimm & Grizzly and a new website for Mandala Studios.

=== World information===
A [[Current Affairs|current affairs]] page added to pull together various reports including elections, senate and synod decisions from the first three events. This page and the various other pages it leads to should be updated each event. There is also a page which details the [[Titles Autumn 377|planned elections at E4]] .

Addition of [[Damaris|Damaris of Cantiarch's Hold]] as a [[ Paragons and Exemplars|examplar]]

Pages about [[Trogoni]] and [[Plaguewulf]] added.

The section on [[Madruga]] has been updated to show the current situation with the [[Repair the Spider's Dream|now repaired]] Spider's Dream bridge and the [[Imperial Title|Imperial title]] [[Spider's Tollkeep]] which is funded from the tolls is now available for election again.

Section on [[ List of Criminal Offences|criminal offences]] updated with more links to the [[ Religious Crimes|religious crimes]] section. New crime of desecration added.
Several new [[Imperial Title|Imperial titles]] have been created they will be added to the [[Current Imperial Titles]] list in due course.

More information added to some [[Foreign nations|foreign nations]] including a new page on [[Iron Confederacy]]

Updated information on the [[Imperial Bourse]] about elections and titles.

More [[Eternals]] detailed

Details added about [[Fortifications]] and existing ones added to relevant territory pages.

On going - Details of senate decisions and the resulting actions being added as the scribes have time, check the [[Recent History (Senate)| Senate sessions]] for details.

===Magic===
*Ritual [[Cold Water from the Mountain]] changed from Spring to Day
*Autumn ritual [[Sum of the Parts]] added.

Updates to [[Dean of the Lyceum]] and [[Conclave session]] about adding new rituals available to Imperial citizens.

===Music===

[[Highguard Go To War]] added to [[Highguard music]]

Extra information about music added to [[Urizen music|Urizen]] including three new songs.

Also a whole bunch of song pdfs have been updated.

Bands

2015-05-05T14:26:20Z

Nick Taylor: /* Sects */ Minor grammar fix

==Overview==
In Empire it is possible for characters to formalize their loyalty to each other by creating a band. Bands draw on the hearth magic of
oaths combined with [[create bond|magical bonds]] created by magicians to allow members to use certain skills, rituals and items more effectively on each other. For instance ritualists who are part of the same coven (a type of band) can combine their skills to perform more powerful rituals.

Bands are intended to build on the characterisation of the group concept that you have created for your characters. They are there to recognize and support the choice to act as part of a Dawnish [[noble house]], a League [[guild]] or a Freeborn [[family]]. Players creating characters together are encouraged to use the potential abilities of bands to add depth and character to their group concept.

==The Role of Bands==
We encourage players coming to Empire to attend as part of a band with their friends. Bands can help to add depth and enjoyment to characterization, making all the characters feel more real and be more fun to play. The band can have its own identity and history and gives characters a way to belong to something that is bigger than they are, yet is still something they can create a history and background for. Bands give OOC friends good IC reasons to roleplay together and good groups are great for helping new players get involved in a game.

The brief for every nation in Empire includes several archetypes to help you develop the idea for a band. For instance a [[noble house]] in [[Dawn]], or a [[chapter]] in [[Highguard]]. There are pages for some of these archetypes explaining the part they play in the setting and offering advice on how to create and play one. These concepts have been designed to be fun to play, but the list is not meant to be restrictive. You can create a travelling band of Dawnish troubadours, or a secretive guild of Highborn artisans if you wish to. Working with your friends, you have the same freedom to create a group concept as you do to create your own character.
{{CaptionedImage|file=League-3100.jpg|align=right|width=350}}

==Joining a Band==
* There are three types of band, banners, covens, and sects
*You may join one of each type of band when you create your character
*You can only ever join a band with members of the same nation
*Joining a band in play requires a magician using the create bond spell

There are three types of band: banners, covens and sects. You may join a single banner, a single coven, and a single sect at the same time, but a character can never be a member of two banners at the same time, nor two covens or two sects. If you are creating a new character then you may choose one band of each type to begin play as part of - but you can leave any of the options blank if you prefer. Please ensure that you have the permission of the players who are part of a band before joining.

''E.g. The Highborn chapter of Exile's Hold is a banner. The members gain all the benefits of being a banner but any character that joins this group cannot join any other banner. They must break the bond with this banner before joining any other banner.''

To join a band in play you must find a magician to perform the [[create bond]] spell. You can only be a member of one of each type of band at once. For example, if you are a member of an existing banner, then you cannot join another band that is a banner without first breaking the bonds that join you to your existing banner. You can only join a band with members of the same nation.

==Creating a Band==
*You must use the website to create a band
*Bands must have a name, an oath and a nationality
*Oaths must be appropriate for the setting
*An oath can never be changed

One player will need to use the website to create a new band, but it must only be done once - other characters then join that band. A band can be secret or public. If the band is public, then the name of the band and the nation it is associated with is public to all players in the game. Players making a character can choose to begin play as part of a public band. If the band is secret, then the name of the band is not visible to any player. New characters must join the band in play, they cannot begin play as part of a secret band.

Bands use the hearth magic of an oath to give them power. For this reason, a band must choose an oath when it is created. The oath is usually reasonably short - because it must be recited by any character who joins the band in play. The player creating the band online should enter the text for the oath when they create the band. The only requirement for the oath is that it is in-character and suitable for the setting, any oath that meets these requirements is fine.

Although an oath is required to create a band, it is not magically enforced - there is no automatic magical consequence for any individual that breaks their oath. It is a matter for the roleplaying of the characters who are members of the band to deal with any character who breaks their oath. Once created, the oath cannot be changed, a new band must be formed if characters wish to change their oath.

You can still create a band on the system, even if the benefits are not relevant for your group concept. By picking one of the three options (banner is usually the easiest, if your group plans to fight together at all) and ignoring the additional rules you can still submit details and background about it, even if it doesn't benefit from being a banner, coven or sect.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Varushka-Group-2872.jpg|align=right|width=350}}

==Banners==
* A banner may benefit from using a magical standard

If your band incorporates the idea of a group of warriors that fight together then you may wish to create a banner to represent this. A banner is named for their ability to use a [[Magic_items#Magic_Standards|magical standard]], which is a magical item created by an artisan. Magical standards provide a potential benefit to every member of the banner.

==Covens==
* A coven may combine their skills to perform rituals together
* A coven can perform up to two rituals a day
* A coven may benefit from paraphernalia

Groups that intend to perform rituals together need to create a coven. A coven is a band of oath-sworn magicians who choose to work together to perform powerful [[rituals]] that they could not do alone.

Members of a coven can work together to perform a ritual with each participant contributing crystalized mana to a ritual up to the limit of their ability. This allows a coven to perform much more powerful rituals than an individual could achieve alone. A coven may also benefit by being bound to ritual paraphernalia, a powerful magical item created by an artisan.

A coven can only perform up to two rituals each day. A character may perform any number of rituals by themselves and they may include others in the ritual performance. But the power of the coven can only be used to combine magical strengths twice per day. Some magical paraphernalia increase the number of rituals a coven can perform in a single day.

If a character is part of a coven that have already perform a ritual together that day, then they may join another coven but they cannot participate in another ritual conducted by that coven until the next day.

==Sects==
* When members of a sect co-operate to perform some [[Religious_skills|liao ceremonies]] the cost is reduced to one liao
* A sect may benefit from using a magical reliquary

If your group concept incorporates the idea of a shared set of beliefs and worship then you may wish to create a sect to represent this. A sect is a band of oath-sworn devotees of the Way who choose to work together to further their common goals.

If members of a sect co-operate to perform a ceremony of anointing, consecration, dedication, excommunication, exorcism, hallowing, or testimony, only one dose of liao needs to be consumed to achieve the result, no matter how many members co-operate. All the other [[Religious_skills|rules]] for co-operation in ceremonial skills still apply.

''For example, if two members of a sect who are both dedicated to [[Vigilance]] and both have the [[Religious skills#Anointing|anointing]] skill perform a ceremony together to anoint a target, then they may may produce the same effect as two priests cooperating - but need only consume a single dose of liao.''

A magical reliquary provides a benefit to every member of the sect that is bonded to it.

==Linking Bands Together==
Although a band must be either a banner, coven, or sect; it is common for players to have a background concept that includes characters who are linked in multiple ways. In these situations it is perfectly appropriate to create more than one band whose concept and background is linked.

''For example, a group of players intend to play a Marcher Household but some of them want to play monks while the others play yeomen. They create a banner called House Cawford and a sect called Cawford monastery - to represent the large monastery on the Cawford lines. House Cawford players can choose to start as members of either group and join the other group in play.''

[[Category: Rules]]

Bands

2015-05-05T14:25:42Z

Nick Taylor: /* Sects */ Remove duplicated, incorrect rules

==Overview==
In Empire it is possible for characters to formalize their loyalty to each other by creating a band. Bands draw on the hearth magic of
oaths combined with [[create bond|magical bonds]] created by magicians to allow members to use certain skills, rituals and items more effectively on each other. For instance ritualists who are part of the same coven (a type of band) can combine their skills to perform more powerful rituals.

Bands are intended to build on the characterisation of the group concept that you have created for your characters. They are there to recognize and support the choice to act as part of a Dawnish [[noble house]], a League [[guild]] or a Freeborn [[family]]. Players creating characters together are encouraged to use the potential abilities of bands to add depth and character to their group concept.

==The Role of Bands==
We encourage players coming to Empire to attend as part of a band with their friends. Bands can help to add depth and enjoyment to characterization, making all the characters feel more real and be more fun to play. The band can have its own identity and history and gives characters a way to belong to something that is bigger than they are, yet is still something they can create a history and background for. Bands give OOC friends good IC reasons to roleplay together and good groups are great for helping new players get involved in a game.

The brief for every nation in Empire includes several archetypes to help you develop the idea for a band. For instance a [[noble house]] in [[Dawn]], or a [[chapter]] in [[Highguard]]. There are pages for some of these archetypes explaining the part they play in the setting and offering advice on how to create and play one. These concepts have been designed to be fun to play, but the list is not meant to be restrictive. You can create a travelling band of Dawnish troubadours, or a secretive guild of Highborn artisans if you wish to. Working with your friends, you have the same freedom to create a group concept as you do to create your own character.
{{CaptionedImage|file=League-3100.jpg|align=right|width=350}}

==Joining a Band==
* There are three types of band, banners, covens, and sects
*You may join one of each type of band when you create your character
*You can only ever join a band with members of the same nation
*Joining a band in play requires a magician using the create bond spell

There are three types of band: banners, covens and sects. You may join a single banner, a single coven, and a single sect at the same time, but a character can never be a member of two banners at the same time, nor two covens or two sects. If you are creating a new character then you may choose one band of each type to begin play as part of - but you can leave any of the options blank if you prefer. Please ensure that you have the permission of the players who are part of a band before joining.

''E.g. The Highborn chapter of Exile's Hold is a banner. The members gain all the benefits of being a banner but any character that joins this group cannot join any other banner. They must break the bond with this banner before joining any other banner.''

To join a band in play you must find a magician to perform the [[create bond]] spell. You can only be a member of one of each type of band at once. For example, if you are a member of an existing banner, then you cannot join another band that is a banner without first breaking the bonds that join you to your existing banner. You can only join a band with members of the same nation.

==Creating a Band==
*You must use the website to create a band
*Bands must have a name, an oath and a nationality
*Oaths must be appropriate for the setting
*An oath can never be changed

One player will need to use the website to create a new band, but it must only be done once - other characters then join that band. A band can be secret or public. If the band is public, then the name of the band and the nation it is associated with is public to all players in the game. Players making a character can choose to begin play as part of a public band. If the band is secret, then the name of the band is not visible to any player. New characters must join the band in play, they cannot begin play as part of a secret band.

Bands use the hearth magic of an oath to give them power. For this reason, a band must choose an oath when it is created. The oath is usually reasonably short - because it must be recited by any character who joins the band in play. The player creating the band online should enter the text for the oath when they create the band. The only requirement for the oath is that it is in-character and suitable for the setting, any oath that meets these requirements is fine.

Although an oath is required to create a band, it is not magically enforced - there is no automatic magical consequence for any individual that breaks their oath. It is a matter for the roleplaying of the characters who are members of the band to deal with any character who breaks their oath. Once created, the oath cannot be changed, a new band must be formed if characters wish to change their oath.

You can still create a band on the system, even if the benefits are not relevant for your group concept. By picking one of the three options (banner is usually the easiest, if your group plans to fight together at all) and ignoring the additional rules you can still submit details and background about it, even if it doesn't benefit from being a banner, coven or sect.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Varushka-Group-2872.jpg|align=right|width=350}}

==Banners==
* A banner may benefit from using a magical standard

If your band incorporates the idea of a group of warriors that fight together then you may wish to create a banner to represent this. A banner is named for their ability to use a [[Magic_items#Magic_Standards|magical standard]], which is a magical item created by an artisan. Magical standards provide a potential benefit to every member of the banner.

==Covens==
* A coven may combine their skills to perform rituals together
* A coven can perform up to two rituals a day
* A coven may benefit from paraphernalia

Groups that intend to perform rituals together need to create a coven. A coven is a band of oath-sworn magicians who choose to work together to perform powerful [[rituals]] that they could not do alone.

Members of a coven can work together to perform a ritual with each participant contributing crystalized mana to a ritual up to the limit of their ability. This allows a coven to perform much more powerful rituals than an individual could achieve alone. A coven may also benefit by being bound to ritual paraphernalia, a powerful magical item created by an artisan.

A coven can only perform up to two rituals each day. A character may perform any number of rituals by themselves and they may include others in the ritual performance. But the power of the coven can only be used to combine magical strengths twice per day. Some magical paraphernalia increase the number of rituals a coven can perform in a single day.

If a character is part of a coven that have already perform a ritual together that day, then they may join another coven but they cannot participate in another ritual conducted by that coven until the next day.

==Sects==
* When members of a sect co-operate to perform some [[Religious_skills|liao ceremonies]] the cost is reduced to one liao
* A sect may benefit from using a magical reliquary

If your group concept incorporates the idea of a shared set of beliefs and worship then you may wish to create a sect to represent this. A sect is a band of oath-sworn devotees of the Way who choose to work together to further their common goals.

If members of a sect co-operate to perform a ceremony of anointing, consecration, dedication, excommunication, exorcism, hallow, or testimony, only one dose of liao needs to be consumed to achieve the result, no matter how many members co-operate. All the other [[Religious_skills|rules]] for co-operation in ceremonial skills still apply.

''For example, if two members of a sect who are both dedicated to [[Vigilance]] and both have the [[Religious skills#Anointing|anointing]] skill perform a ceremony together to anoint a target, then they may may produce the same effect as two priests cooperating - but need only consume a single dose of liao.''

A magical reliquary provides a benefit to every member of the sect that is bonded to it.

==Linking Bands Together==
Although a band must be either a banner, coven, or sect; it is common for players to have a background concept that includes characters who are linked in multiple ways. In these situations it is perfectly appropriate to create more than one band whose concept and background is linked.

''For example, a group of players intend to play a Marcher Household but some of them want to play monks while the others play yeomen. They create a banner called House Cawford and a sect called Cawford monastery - to represent the large monastery on the Cawford lines. House Cawford players can choose to start as members of either group and join the other group in play.''

[[Category: Rules]]

Whispers through the Black Gate

2015-05-01T09:16:50Z

Nick Taylor: /* OOC Elements */ When is "Dusk" anyway?

==Rules==
{{Season|Winter|30}}
===Performing the Ritual===
{{Casting time|10}} {{regio|Winter}} This ritual can only be cast at sunset.

===Effects===

During the ritual, the ritualists must name a single character who has died in the last day.

At the completion of the ritual, a spirit is summoned. The spirit will be:

* the spirit of the dead character, who may be questioned for up to ten minutes. They know whatever they knew while they were alive.
* the spirit of one of the dead character's past lives, who may be questioned for up to ten minutes.
* a dangerous spirit.

The casters cannot predict in advance with absolute certainty which will appear.

Spirits summoned by this ritual are only aware of the ritualists who performed the ritual.

===Additional Targets===
You may call an additional spirit by increasing the magnitude of the spell by 15 for each additional spirits. All spirits appear simultaneously and depart simultaneously.

===Option===
The ritualists may consume up to 5 measures of liao as part of the ritual. Every measure consumed in this way reduces the magnitude of the ritual by 2.

===OOC Elements===
If you plan to perform this ritual, you will need to let PD know at least an hour in advance, longer if we need to track the player of the dead character down ourselves. If we are unable to obtain the physrep, then one of the second two possibilities will occur. If we ''are'' able to obtain the physrep then the first option will almost certainly occur.
In the event of a death on the last day of an event, the Ritual can be cast at Dusk on the first day of the next event.

Dusk usually runs from half an hour before sunset, to half an hour after. If players wish to physrep their dead characters, they should report to Monster half an hour before this period: an hour before sunset.


==Description==
This powerful ritual eases open the door of death for a short time, raising the spirit of a recently deceased person. In some ways, this ritual represents little more than a more than an advanced form of [[Voice for the dead]]; in other ways it is a profound alteration of the natural order. Priests and magicians alike are fascinated by the magic this ritual represents.

The spirit summoned with this ritual can be questioned about anything it knew when it was alive; it seems to possess all the memories and the personality of the deceased individual. Sometimes the spirit is unaware that it has died, especially if that death took place very suddenly or happened while the target was asleep. More often though, the spirit knows it has died and under what circumstances. Regardless, the spirit cannot speak about anything that has happened to it ''since'' it died. Attempts to learn more about the Labyrinth of Ages or the Howling Abyss have simply served to frustrate arcanists and theologians alike.

The spirit is only aware of the ritualists who performed the ritual; when it comes to questioning the dead, it is the magicians who must take the lead. Being able to see a departed loved-one, but unable to reach them, can be a profoundly upsetting experience for the living, and for the spirit once it ralises a beloved spouse or child is present, but they they cannot see or hear them.

A conjured spirit appears to be at least slightly corporeal; it seems to possess a pseudo-body and if it is struck firmly it can be dispelled back to wherever it came from. Most spirits cannot physically interact with the living; only in the case of the rare [[Malign Spiritual Presences|malignant spirit]] have there been any reports of attacks and wounds on ritualists.

The most common use for this ritual is to call up the spirit of a murder victim to question them about the circumstances of their deaths. In such circumstances a magistrate is often present, but the ritualists must perform any interrogation themselves. The majority of magistrates treat the witness statements of the dead much as they would the living; they know there is no requirement that the conjured spirit tell the truth about what happened, and even though departed the spirit is likely to share the same motivations and prejudices it had when alive.

The ritual is expensive, and a little risky, but has also been used in the past to allow the living one final chance to speak to a departed loved one - or enemy - before the black gate closes forever. Likewise, it has been used on occasion to attempt to gather intelligence about a distant event or the plans of enemies, although such uses are frowned upon in general. During the [[Freedom Heresy]] the ruthless [[The League|League]] general Sagio de Temeschwar had the spirit of a deceased [[briar]] warrior called up and proceeded to torment the spirit by describing in intense detail the tortures he was inflicting on the briar's still-living wife. While the general did not in fact have the woman present, so effective was his performance that the weeping spirit disclosed several key facts about the secessionist's plans. In a final act of cruelty for which he was widely criticised, Sagio let the spirit depart in the belief that his wife was still suffering unspeakable agony. His acts also reignited discussion of whether the ritual calls an actual spirit from the Labyrinth, or simply an echo of the target.

On rare occasions this spirit calls up a malign spiritual presence that is a threat to the ritualists. Recorded incidents have included a mass possession by spirits that tried to drive a coven of [[Landskeeper|landskeepers]] to acts of monstrous [[Malign Spiritual Presences#Hatered|hatered]], a horrible shadowy spectre that killed two of the magicians responsible for raising it before it could be dismissed; and a band of restless spirits whose anguished cries inflicted crippling [[Calls#WEAKNESS|weakness]] on the coven.

On very rare occasions, the spirit that appears seems entirely unconnected to the target spirit. These events were recorded as enigmatic anomalies until a [[Highguard|Highborn]] [[Highguard religious beliefs#Stewards of the dead|steward of the dead]] named Esther of Highcastle drew parallels between two incidents and public records of [[liao]] visions. Her theory that these spirits were echoes of past lives is generally accepted, although the precise details of how and why this can occur given the temporal limitations of ''Whispers through the Black Gate'' is still not understood.

==Common Elements==
This ritual is usually accompanied by solemn music, incense and chants recounting as much detail as possible the life of the target spirit. It is usually accompanied by a design laid out on the ground, often with braziers or candles. at key points of the design.

Fire and light often play a key role, serving as a beacon for the dead spirit to 'find the way' back to the mortal realm. SImilarly, some ritualists like to have things that belonged to the target in life, or people important to them [[Imperial Orcs|Imperial orc]] [[Shamans|shaman]] ideally want to have someone from the same legion, while [[The Brass Coast|Freeborn]] ritualists prefer the presence of someone of the same family, especially a child or parent. Likewise, many [[Navarr]] include small amounts of blood in this ritual, the smell of which help attract the attention of the spirit and remind it of it's life; [[The Marches|Marcher]] spirits might include an offering of food or drink, an action that leads to the ritual sometimes being referred to as ''The Feast for the Dead''..

It is important to realise that the ritual is not technically complete when the spirit appears. Many ritualists consider it to be only half-way through at this point. The spirit must still be addressed, and agreeing in advance how this will happen can save time and prevent confusion. Some ritualists include an hourglass to track the amount of time available before the spirit must depart,

At the end of the ritual, the spirit should be formally dismissed - sent back into the Labyrinth or the Abyss - and some ritualists believe that if the spirit is not treated well it is more likely to become one of the restless dead. The end of the ritual is often marked by the mournful tolling of bells, as the spirit departs.

The rune [[Irremais]] and the constellation of [[The Door]] are often evoked with this ritual.



[[Category:Winter Ritual]]
[[Category:Rituals]]
[[Category:IC Text Required]]

Jade Hammers

2015-04-26T19:56:33Z

Nick Taylor: /* Rules */ Spelling fix

==Description==
A set of jade hammers are often a [[Weapons & Armour#One-handed weapons|one-handed]] mace or warhammer and a sturdy [[Weapons & Armour#Rods|rod]], both inlaid with decorative [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]]. By weaving the two items together, a warrior-magician can unleash a burst of powerful magic that sends an opponent sprawling. Many wielders make a point of striking their target with both the weapon and the implement simultaneously, but this is not actually required for their magic to function.

Attempts to create this ''thundering blow'' through traditional [[spellcasting]] have so far been unsuccessful. It seems that the complex crystalline structure of the tempest jade used in their creation harnesses the magic energy of the wielders in a way either too complex for a mortal to duplicate, or amplifies it in a way that cannot be duplicated by a human magician. Indeed, to date, nobody has succeeded at creating a rod that can achieve this task alone - the closest anyone has come is the [[Witches' Hammer]] which releases magical energy in a barely contained burst, and even then is only useful to someone who has already mastered the [[repel]] spell - though it is worth noting that the rod in question also uses a large amount of tempest jade in it's construction.

==Rules==
{{Arcane Weapons}}
* '''Effect:''' You may cast [[Calls#STRIKEDOWN|STRIKEDOWN]] as if it were a two-mana-point [[Spellcasting#Offensive Spells|offensive spell]].
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a pair of jade hammers requires five measures of [[Materials#Dragonbone|dragonbone]], five ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]] and three measures of [[Materials#Iridescent Gloaming|iridescent gloaming]]. It takes one month to make a pair of these items.

Herb garden

2015-04-04T10:12:29Z

Nick Taylor:

==Definition==
A herb garden represents an area of land where herbs grow. A herb garden can be of almost any size - it could be a tiny personal garden in an Urizen spire, meticulously tended and cared for, or it could be a vast forest in Wintermark or Varushka that a character scours in search of wild herbs.

==Production==
A herb garden produces 6 doses of True Vervain, 2 doses of Cerulean Mazzarine, 2 does of Bladeroot, 2 doses of Imperial Roseweald and 2 doses of Marrowort.

==Downtime Options==
It is possible to obtain a higher yield from a herb garden. You may spend 6 crowns to have the herb garden produce an additional 3 True Vervain, 1 Cerulean Mazzerine, 1 Imperial Roseweald, 1 Bladeroot and 1 Marrowort in that season.

==Upgrades==
A herb garden can be upgraded using weirwood obtained from the Bourse. Each time a herb garden is upgraded, the owner chooses a single herb from the list. The herb garden produces 2 additional doses of that herb from then on.

To upgrade a herb garden requires Imperial Wains of weirwood equal to the level the herb garden is being upgraded to. So the first upgrade of a starting level 1 herb garden costs 2 Imperial Wains of weirwood, from 2 to 3 costs 3 Imperial Wains, etc.

[[Category:Rules]]
[[Category:Resources]]

Dreams in the Witch House

2015-04-02T21:38:25Z

Nick Taylor: Created page with "{{stub}} ==Rules== {{Season|Night|12}} ===Performing the Ritual=== {{Casting time|2}} This ritual requires a map of the target territory. ===Effects=== At the completion of..."

{{stub}}
==Rules==
{{Season|Night|12}}

===Performing the Ritual===
{{Casting time|2}} This ritual requires a map of the target territory.

===Effects===
At the completion of the ritual the contributors receive images that reveal information about the military campaign in a territory. It provides impressions and intuitions as to the current objectives of enemy armies.

Each contributor receives a similar vision. These visions often contain symbolic elements, but will usually give a clear, general idea of the current objectives of enemy forces in the territory. This information is not completely reliable; the actions of player characters during an event may cause this information to become obsolete.

The spell is most reliable where there are only two sides in a conflict; if it targets a territory where there are forces from more than two sides, the information may become confusing.

If a campaign army or a region within the target territory is under an effect that obscures information such as Drawing the Penumbral Veil, this spell can only penetrate it if it has been performed with a magnitude at least equal to that of the enchantment. Otherwise only the presence, Realm and magnitude of the effect are revealed.

===Additional Magnitude===
You may increase the magnitude of the ritual in order to pierce more powerful rituals of concealment.

===OOC Elements===
It is very important to understand that the information derived from this ritual may be subject to change based on what player characters do during an event.

Letting a referee know at least an hour in advance that you plan to perform this ritual and what the target territory will be will make it easier to ensure that the information is ready and will prevent delays.

==Description==
The ritual was developed under the guidance of the Dean of the Lyceum, Simargl the Empty One of the Circle of Zulgan-Tash. It continues the Dean's fascination with dreams, impressions and invading the thoughts of other living beings.

This ritual is likely to be useful in helping Imperial Generals to determine their strategy for the coming season. The information is subject to change, but it will be reliable at the point the ritual is cast. It is designed to focus on strategic goals and objectives with a wide scope, rather than narrow or immediate agendas.

Some scholars at the Lyceum questioned the usefulness of this ritual when compared to Eyes of the Sun and Moon. They were largely ignored as the applications are obvious – while the information is transient it is reliable at the point it is received and may also potentially give insight into longer-term goals of enemy nations.

Ophelia von Tassato Regario, who helped adapt the methods of targeting the ritual's magic using a map of the territory, expressed some interest in seeing what would happen if the ritual were performed on Broceliande or one of the other Navarr territories – this experiment has yet to be performed.

==Common Elements==
This is a divination ritual, and often involves [[Runes|runestones]] or cards as well as the map which serves to target the magic. Mirrors, crystals and other reflective surfaces are often involved, set up around the map and used to focus the attention of the contributors.

As a night ritual, it is also appropriate to include the consumption of specially prepared food, drink or mild narcotics allowing the contributors to more easily achieve a trance-like state.

Symbols connected to the enemy armies, or to the territory, are also helpful as would be tokens that represent various emotional states or military goals. The ritual is often performed in doors.

The rune [[Diras]] is a classic complement to this ritual, being connected as it is with secrets. It is also appropriate to evoke [[Gralm]] or [[Ull]] to represent the influence of chance and destiny. In dramaturgy, the character of the Witch is very appropriate (in an early casting, Ophelia Von Tassato Regario [[Dramaturgy|portrayed]] the witch as courtesan who seduced secrets from an enemy general). The evocation of the virtues of [[Wisdom]] or [[Vigilance]] (especially, given the Varushkan inspiration for the ritual, in the shape of virtuous animals).

[[Category:Night Ritual]]
[[Category:Rituals]]
[[Category:IC Text Required]]
[[Category:Warfare]]

Wiki Updates

2015-03-27T00:03:24Z

Nick Taylor: /* Magic Item modifications */

This is a list of significant updates to the wiki which we will try and keep as up to date as possible. Hopefully this will be a more useful document than the recent changes page which lists every spelling correction and formatting change.

By it's nature this page will be regularly updated so when you visit the wiki try checking here first. However please keep in mind this is a manually updated page so at times maybe a little behind the actual updates.

==Winter 2015 Rules Update==
Over winter we carried out a review of the rules from the second year. As a result of that review we have changed a number of rules. We are in the process of updating the wiki to reflect these [[Rules update 2015|rules changes]]. We will continue to carry out reviews of rules each winter. The most recent updates are to magic, particularly spontaneous magic and battle magic.

==Magic Item modifications==
The [[Healer's Harness]] and [[Warcaster's Oath]] were rendered useless by our change to [[spellcasting]]. We have modified the effect of both, and raised the cost of the Healer's Harness to reflect these changes.

Magic standards must be carried (wording strengthened from "should"); back banners, tabards and especially flamboyant bandanas are not appropriate phys-reps for magic items, and this was not clearly communicated by the previous wording.

==Otkodov Spy Network==
The [[Construct Otkodov spy network|Otkodov spy network]] was initially set up before more detailed information about how they worked was available. A single spy network cannot provide information about an entire nation, only a single territory. We have clarified this, and future reports from this spy network will focus on the [[Thule]] territory of Verthandi.

==Ritual Theory==
We've created a series of pages relating to [[ritual theory]] that provide background, setting and rules information for players. It is primarily of use to players who want to create new [[spontaneous magic]] effects, or explore the theories of how ritual magic work. This is somewhat of a work in progress - we intend to expand it to cover more setting-related information such as what crystal mana is or how it differs from personal mana (for example), but the information given here should serve as a good foundation for players who want to discuss magical theories in the field.

==Brass Coast Army Support==
Following the re-integration of [[Segura]] into the Empire, [[the Brass Coast]] now has the ability to support three armies rather than two.

==Senate Commissions==
We added details of three new civillian [[Commission|commissions]] available to the [[Imperial Senate]].
* The [[College of Magic]].
* The [[Runeforge]].
* The [[Embassy]].
* The [[Imperial navy]].

==Remote Navarr==
We've clarified a few design concepts around the [[Navarr]] on the [[Remote Navarr]] page. To accompany this, we've made a few edits to [[Navarr_look_and_feel|look and feel]] to reflect those clarifications.

==Military Council Overhaul==
We have done a major redesign of the way the [[Imperial Military Council]] works. This has included clarification on the events at the [[muster]] and [[Council session]], as well as expanded and clarified material regarding the role of a [[general]], the [[Field Marshal]] and the civil servant role of the [[herald of the Council]]. We've also given the right of [[Council address]] to the [[High Exorcist]] and [[Quartermaster General of the Imperial Armies]].

At the same time, we've clarified and streamlined some of the factors to do with [[war]], including the way that generals submit their [[orders]]. We've also included a [[campaign outcome]] page that details the mathematics that underlie the campaign resolution system.

Finally, we've removed the idea of ''keywords'' from armies - each [[imperial army]] now has a singular [[army qualities|quality]] that reflects the way that army operates. This means that we have also overhauled all the existing armies with new abilities. The individual armies will be updated over the next day or so, but for the moment the changes are detailed on the table [[Military_Council_design#Army_Quality|here]].

You can find details of some of our reasons for these changes [[Military_Council_design#A_Conjunction_did_it|here]].

===FIeld Marshall===
Following discussion with our magistrates, we have removed the idea that it is a legal requirement for the [[Field Marhsall]] to address the [[Imperial Senate]]. It is still a responsibility of the role, but it is up to the [[Imperial Synod]] to deal with Field Mashalls who neglect to do so, rather than the Magistrates.

==Clemency==
We removed the idea that characters with Imperial Titles were given additional weight by a magistrate. This was simply not the case in practice, and undermined the idea of virtuous defence. A virtuous argument from a priest should hold more weight than a poor speech from the Throne.

==Legacy of Thorns==
We've clarified that the [[Legacy_of_Thorns#Blade_Venoms|blade venoms]] (specifically [[Legacy_of_Thorns#Oil_of_Blackthorn|oil of blackthorn]] and [[Legacy_of_Thorns#Redwillow_Paste|Redwillow Paste]] cannot be applied to [[Weapons & armour#Implements|implements]]).

==Ritual Changes==
Several rituals are receiving clarifications and tweaks.
* [[Whispering Shadow Courtiers]] no longer references the idea of providing visions of "nearby" things. It functions like [[Signs and Portents]], drawing from a pool of visions including "important" or "relevant" secrets, no matter where in the Empire it is cast.
* [[Wisdom of the Balanced Blade]] no longer gains a bonus to penetrate magical obscuring effects. As with [[Bright Lantern of Ophis]] it must overcome the full strength of an effect designed to obscure information about a curse.
* [[Eyes of the Sun and Moon]] has been tweaked to specifically provide military information about armies and fortifications. We've also removed the "hour's notice" requirement from the ritual as the information it delivers is now prepared for each potential target territory before an event.
* [[The Eye of the High Places]] has been tweaked to clarify that it determines any large scale effects on the target territory, and to remove reference to detcting small-scale effects such as resrouce enchantments which were proving difficult to collate information about.
* [[Reading the Weave]] has been clarified to remove reference to information that was proving difficult to uncover in a timely fashion.
* [[Bright Lantern of Ophis]] has had it's ability to divine large-scale effects from a distance removed - this is now the purview of [[The Eye of the High Places]].
* [[Wisdom of the Balanced Blade]] no longer requires a regio to analyse an area curse, but the ritualists must be in the presence of the curse in some fashion.
* [[Sum of the Parts]] has had it's mangitude increased, correcting a significant rounding error


==The Brass Coast Brief==
We have updated the Brass Coast brief on the [[the Brass Coast magical traditions|Brass Coast magical traditions]] and the [[Hakima]] to clarify their political niche and to modify their role slightly. The Hakima are now dedicated to aiding (and meddling in the affairs of) the entire nation rather than an individual tribe. The old brief was too focused, and too limited in scope and we think these changes will help address that. We've also made a minor change to the way [[the Brass Coast military concerns#Kohan|kohan]] are organised, primarily to remove the restriction that the members of a group belong to a single tribe.

We've also expanded on the material on [[corsair|corsairs]] that was originally scattered around the Brass Coast section. The new brief contains some new elements and advice on creating corsair characters and groups.

==Marcher Brief==
We have updated the Marcher brief on the [[the Marches magical traditions]] and [[Landskeeper|Landskeepers]] to clarify their political niche and how they usually organize themselves. We have corrected the old text to make clear that Landskeepers make frequent use of curses against those they believe have transgressed against Marcher traditions and Marcher interests. The old brief was restricting the ability of existing Landskeepers to access the full range of magical powers at events and the previous Landskeeper political structure was too complex and fine-grained to be workable in play.

==Wintermark Brief==
We have updated the Wintermark brief on the [[Wintermark_culture_and_customs#Age.2C_infirmity_and_the_good_death|good death]] to remove any mention of how Wintermark treats individuals who are maimed or crippled. Any form of discrimination on the grounds of disability is against our game rules on equality and diversity and does not fit the setting. Many of the heroes of the Empire come from hard lands - but the Wintermark brief stood out as none of the other briefs single out individuals who are disabled in anyway for special note. The people of the Empire do not discriminate on grounds of infirmity.

==Commissions Updated==
We have updated the page on [[commission]] to lay out the essential details needed for any new commission.

==New Map Viewer==
Racheet Dave has produced [http://empire.racheet.me/ a cool new map viewer] for the Empire. The [[maps]] page has been updated with a link to the new map viewer.

There are also new maps showing the tactical/political features of the Empire, and two maps showing Barbarian lands (Otkodov and the Barrens).

==Senate Update==
We have updated the rules for mercantile commissions, and added a page each for a [[sinecure]], [[ministry]], and [[great work]]. The costs to make new mercantile commissions has been altered and reduced for play balance reasons. We have increased the effective output of the Madruga Shipyard, but all other existing sinecures, ministries and great works are unaffected.

==Rules Update==
We have removed Spider Folds the Net from the list of available rituals. The ritual had major problems and after several attempts to fix it, we have abandoned the attempt and simply deleted it. Everyone who had the ritual now has a free slot that they can fill at any time instead. If anyone requires an IC explanation for the change, it is because recent movements of the constellations have rendered the ritual unworkable.

Rules for [[Battlefield Ritual|Battlefield Rituals]] written up.

Regio rules changed: using a regio does not automatically make the ritual take ten minutes. Some rituals intrinsically take ten minutes, and some rituals require a regio. There is some overlap between these groups.

==Sanctioned Event Update==
We have added some guidelines for using [[Imperial Law at sanctioned events]].

==Senate Pages Overhauled==
We have overhauled the Senate wiki pages, mostly to improve the presentation and make the processes clearer. The overhaul includes a few changes to the political rules and powers of some positions. As with other recent updates we have included some OOC design notes about the changes and this part of the game.

Key changes or clarifications are:
* Procedural motions are eliminated, allocation and assignment are done by normal motions. [[Senate motion|Administrative motions]] covering minor matters by civil service remain.
* [[The Throne]] can talk in the Senate but cannot propose a motion or vote in the Senate.
* The Throne can [[Senate address|address]] the senate.
* The Throne gains the [[The_Throne#Custodian_of_Virtue|Custodian of Virtue]] power to change a vote in the Synod.
* The Throne gains the [[The_Throne#Order_of_The_Throne|Order of the Throne]] power to nominate speakers in the Conclave.
* We have removed the deadline for the Senate to [[Appointments_by_the_Senate#National_Position|appoint a national position]] but given the wider Senate freedom to act earlier if they choose.

==Field Marshal==
A page for the [[Field Marshal]], the official name for the Field Commander chosen by the Military Council has been added to the wiki. This page expands on this position, how it works, the powers, limitations and responsibilities. It includes some OOC design notes about why the position works the way it does.

==Nations and Territories==
The [[Wintermark Territories]] have been extensively expanded. A note was added to [[Wintermark history]] to make it clear that the position of king or queen of Wintermark was not a ''hereditary'' position.

(09/10/14) Extensive updates to [[Varushka Territories]]; to [[Redoubt]] in [[Urizen]]; and to [[Tassato]] and [[Sarvos]] in [[The League]] (including the creation of the [[Keeper of the Sapphire Stair]] [[sinecure]])

==Ritual Corrections==
The following rituals had incorrect costs listed on the wiki. These have now been corrected.
* [[Blood and Salt]]
* [[Revelation of the Jewel%27s Sparkling Heart]]
* [[Unending Cascade of Blood%27s Fire]]

The last ritual was incorrectly reduced in magnitude shortly before the last event. This error has been fixed and the original correct magnitude restored.

The following ritual had an incorrect casting time listed on the wiki. This has now been corrected.
* [[Rising_Roots_that_Rend_Stone]]

The following rituals have been overhauled to bring them into line with each other and changes to the Campaign Battles.
* [[Knights of Glory]]
* [[Quickening Cold Meat]]
* [[Clarity of the Master Strategist]]
* [[Bound by Common Cause]]
* [[Thunderous Tread of the Trees]]
* [[Forge the Wooden Fastness]]
* [[Dripping Echoes of the Fen]]
* [[Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canea]]

==Anvil Hospital==
We have added information about the [[Anvil Hospital & Imperial School of Medicine]] to the wiki. Thanks to all the players involved for creating this great institution.

==Map Update==
There is a new strategic-and-political map of the Empire [[Gazetteer|here]], and each of the Imperial (or formerly Imperial) territories now has a territory map. Over the next few days, each territory page will be overhauled and updated to include more information about regions and points of interest.

==Military Council Update==
We have updated the [[Imperial Military Council]], streamlining the processes which we will use going forwards to calculate the outcomes of military campaigns, and giving player generals more freedom and control over what happens to their armies. We have also modified the upkeep costs for fortifications to ensure that powerful fortifications remain tenable. We have overhauled the presentation of the section to bring it into line with the new pages for the Imperial Conclave and added extra [[Military Council design|design notes and an explanation for the change]].

==Senate Update==
We've reorganised several pages, as well as creating separate pages for titles such as [[senator]]. We've also done some work clarifying some of the powers of [[The Throne]] where their function was either unclear, or would work poorly.

==Bourse Update==
Several new [[Imperial title|Imperial Bourse titles]] have been added to the wiki.
* [[Bailiff of the Grand Market]] (Marcher position)
* [[Vizier of the Incarnadine Satchel]] (Freeborn position)
* [[Dhomiro of the Cinnabar Hills]] (Freeborn position)
* [[Mistress of the Glass Parador]] (Freeborn position)
* [[Custodian of the Assayer's Guild]] (League position)
* [[Provost of the Halls of Knowledge]] (Urizen position)
* [[Castellan of Spiral Castle]] (Dawn position)

The method by which national bourse positions are assigned has been updated for the Marches and the League.

==Monstering==
Information about [[monstering]] and making your own [[barbarian]] tribe has been added to the wiki. Everyone who is keen is welcome to join us for big kit making session on Friday before the Easter event starts. Whatever you make is yours to keep! We'll hope to find time to add more detail to these pages later in the year.

===Conclave Update===
Players have asked us to provide an [[Conclave_design#A_WizardCivil_Servant_Did_It| IC explanation for the change in the Conclave rules]], rather than simply retcon it, so we have done as requested.

==Winter 2014 Rules Update==
Over winter we carried out a review of the rules from the first year. As a result of that review we have changed a few rules. We are in the process of updating the wiki to reflect these [[Rules changes 2014|rules changes]]. We will continue to carry out reviews of rules each winter, but do not envisage making many other significant changes in the future.

The rules update has been updated... please note that you need to have the relevant skill to participate in a ceremony as part of a sect.

==Updates April 2014 ==
Finally wrote up [[Riddle Hides the Reward]].

Clarified power of [[The Throne]] to ratify constitutional votes.

Added [[Highguard_culture_and_customs#Day_of_the_Dead|details of a Highborn celebration]] to the Customs and Culture section of Highguard.

Changed [[Warmage]] again in line with constitutional note.

Clarified ability of Senator to resupply army on [[Casualties#Emergency_Resupply|Casualties]] page

Completed motions outstanding from [[377YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_Session]]

Updates and maps for [[Semmerholm]], [[Liathaven]], [[Therunin]], [[Mournwold]], [[Brocéliande]] and [[Spiral]] are up, but still stubbed until I have time to check all the backgrounds in the world.

===Conclave Overhaul===
A number of pages have been changed to reflect changes to the way the [[Imperial Conclave]] will function at future events. You can read about the changes in more detail [[Conclave_design|here]]
* Updated the [[Imperial Conclave]] page to lay out the new Conclave in more detail
* Created pages for the three principles of the Conclave [[Principle of Precedence]], [[Principle of Proportions]] and [[Principle of Presence]].
* Updated the [[Conclave order]] page with details of joining an order and the powers of membership.
* Updated the ''Membership of the Order'' section of each conclave order page, and included details of the base materials that go into their [[Conclave vault]] each season. The orders are [[Celestial Arch#Membership_of_the_Order|Celestial Arch]], [[Sevenfold Path#Membership_of_the_Order|Sevenfold Path]], [[Shuttered_Lantern#Membership_of_the_Order|Shuttered Lantern]], [[Rod and Shield#Membership_of_the_Order|Rod and Shield]], [[Golden Pyramid#Membership_of_the_Order|Golden Pyramid]] and [[Unfettered Mind#Membership_of_the_Order|Unfettered Mind]].
* Updated [[detect magic]] with regard to Arcane Mark.
* Updated Imperial title pages for [[Archmage]], [[Grandmaster]], [[Dean of the Lyceum]], [[Warmage]] and created a page for the [[Bursar of the Conclave]].
* Updated [[Conclave session]] and created pages explaining [[Conclave address]], [[declaration]], [[gambit]] and [[amity and enmity]]
* Included the ritual [[Arcane Mark]]
* Updated [[Powers of the Senate]] to reference creation and dissolution of Conclave order and to remove references to Imperial Lore.

==Updates March 2014 ==
Ongoing changes to ritual text durations and targeting guidelines; most of these are just clarifications. Specific changes include:
* [[Rot's Rightful Claim]] is no longer an enchantment
* Added a section about ilium use to [[Mark of Ownership]]
* Added a section to [[Black Iron Blade]] allowing it's magnitude to be increased when cast on a single target to allow removal of protected bonds.
* [[Icy Maw Devours the Spark of Essence]], [[Naeve's Twisting Blight]], [[Winter's Ghosts]] and [[Drawing the Penumbral Veil]] now target a territory rather than a region
* [[Clarity of the Master Strategist]] now requires a Day regio to bring it into line with other campaign army rituals
* [[Transmogrification of the Soul's Echo]] is now clearer on who makes the changes - it is not a brainwashing ritual

Sanctioned event guidelines have been updated to give advice on how to apply Profound Decisions [http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/equalityanddiversity?1 equality and diversity] rules to your event.

Tidied up information about several Bourse seats, and linked the physical locations of the seat resources to the territory sections.

Clarified [[military unit#Downtime options|military unit]] downtime options relating to assigning to Imperial armies or special projects and the production from doing so.

Overhauled and updated [[Skarsind]] page, with smaller updates elsewhere especially to [[Miekarova]] and [[Hercynia]] territory pages

Overhauled and updated [[Reikos]] page, with smaller updates elsewhere

Updated the [[Titles Autumn 377]] page to indicate who has what title as of the end of 2013

Overhauled and updated [[Hercynia]] page, with smaller updates elsewhere

Made some changes to the with reference to [[operate portal]] and [[detect magic]]

Several changes to [[enchantment]] effects, as well as a slight change to the way an enchantment made permanent with [[ilium]] can be removed

Changed duration of [[Mark of Ownership]] to "as long as the item lasts"

===Minor updates===
Corrected an error where [[Enfeebling Echo]] was referred to as ''Hand of Time'' on the staffs category page, and corrected an error in the materials (it costs seven beggar's lye, not seven beggar's lye ''and'' seven green iron. Matt to change on database.

Clarified the way that [[Witness]] works for priests in the Imperial Conclave.

==Updates February 2014 ==
The senate powers to create [[new Imperial titles]] have been overhauled with additional content and clarification.

Update about changing a [[resource]]

LaTeX download added to [[Rune_Overview|runes]]

Update to [[Spider's Tollkeep]] and [[Advisor on orc affairs]] to correct error in who can hold these titles; as National positions, they can be held only by characters from those nations.

Slight change to [[Vallorn]] interconnectivity; Vallorn are not believed to be interconnected, allowing more plot options.

Ongoing changes to ritual text durations and targetting guidelines; most of these are just clarifications. Specific changes include:
* [[Touch of Vile Humours]] has changed to bring it into line with the new rules on Day duration enchantments
* [[Forge the Wooden Fastness]], [[Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae]] and similar rituals are undergoing a revision to bring them into line with out rules on [[fortifications]]. Watch this space.

Changed the election process for [[Keeper of the Spice Gardens]] has been adjusted to bring it into line with the section on the [[New_Imperial_titles#Appointment|appointment]] of titles; added a page about the Keeper title; made some edits to the [[Feroz#The_Spice-Gardens_of_Feroz|Feroz]] section about the gardens.

Rules about what happens with personal resources in conquered territories added [[Resource#Conquered_Territories|here]].

Change to [[Orc#Rules|orc rules]] about liao and religious skills, to make the situation very clear

Additional page [[Languages]] added to wiki

Details of the Eternals [[Sung]] and [[Janon]] laid out.

===Minor updates===
Recordings of songs added for Brass Coast (Lost Segura, Wagon Song, Without You) and Marches (Marcher Battle Song, Apple Wassail).

An option to retire a character using [[Sift the Dreamscape's Sands]] added

==Updates January 2014 ==

More details added to the [[Sanctioned_events|sanctioned events]] page including [[Sanctioned_event_rules|rules]].

The Play one, Crew one rule added to the [[Battles]] page

[[Traders]] page updated

[[Events]] page updated with details of 2014 events

[[Facebook_%26_Forums|Facebook and Forums]] page with links for the various social media resources that exist for Empire.

[[Profound_Decisions_management_team|PD management team ]] page updated to show Alison and Matt's current event roles.

=== Minor additions ===
A new minor trapping added to the [[Naga]] page.

New song "For Once I Was A Young Man" added to [[Highguard_music|Highguard music]]

New costume diary added to [[Costume_advice|costume advice]] - high status Marchers doublet.

==Updates after Event 4, Sept 2013 ==

[[Synod Results, Autumn Summit, 377 YE]]

==Updates between Event 3 and Event 4 2013 ==
All updates up to Event 4 are grouped here under appropriate heading.

Details of event 4 [[Autumn Equinox 2013]]

===Ring of Triumph===
An error on the summary page for the Ring of Triumph has been corrected. The correct materials for this item are include six ingots of [[Materials#Green Iron|green iron]] '''not''' six ingots of [[Materials#Tempest Jade|tempest jade]]

===Rules and OOC info===
Update on the [[Frequently Asked Questions|FAQ]]
*Question added - Can I email a longer background?
*Clarification about using using a one handed spear as a two handed pole weapon.
*Clarification about using hero skills at range.

A section added to [[playing the game]] about stealing IC items and what to do with the phys reps.

[[Traders]] info updated with details of Jolly Dicey, Twisted Flax, Grimm & Grizzly and a new website for Mandala Studios.

=== World information===
A [[Current Affairs|current affairs]] page added to pull together various reports including elections, senate and synod decisions from the first three events. This page and the various other pages it leads to should be updated each event. There is also a page which details the [[Titles Autumn 377|planned elections at E4]] .

Addition of [[Damaris|Damaris of Cantiarch's Hold]] as a [[ Paragons and Exemplars|examplar]]

Pages about [[Trogoni]] and [[Plaguewulf]] added.

The section on [[Madruga]] has been updated to show the current situation with the [[Repair the Spider's Dream|now repaired]] Spider's Dream bridge and the [[Imperial Title|Imperial title]] [[Spider's Tollkeep]] which is funded from the tolls is now available for election again.

Section on [[ List of Criminal Offences|criminal offences]] updated with more links to the [[ Religious Crimes|religious crimes]] section. New crime of desecration added.
Several new [[Imperial Title|Imperial titles]] have been created they will be added to the [[Current Imperial Titles]] list in due course.

More information added to some [[Foreign nations|foreign nations]] including a new page on [[Iron Confederacy]]

Updated information on the [[Imperial Bourse]] about elections and titles.

More [[Eternals]] detailed

Details added about [[Fortifications]] and existing ones added to relevant territory pages.

On going - Details of senate decisions and the resulting actions being added as the scribes have time, check the [[Recent History (Senate)| Senate sessions]] for details.

===Magic===
*Ritual [[Cold Water from the Mountain]] changed from Spring to Day
*Autumn ritual [[Sum of the Parts]] added.

Updates to [[Dean of the Lyceum]] and [[Conclave session]] about adding new rituals available to Imperial citizens.

===Music===

[[Highguard Go To War]] added to [[Highguard music]]

Extra information about music added to [[Urizen music|Urizen]] including three new songs.

Also a whole bunch of song pdfs have been updated.

Magic items

2015-03-26T23:55:13Z

Nick Taylor: /* Magic Standards */ Magic standards must be carried

{{CaptionedImage|file=MagicWeapon.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
==Bonded Items==
*'''Most magic items are made by artisans'''
*'''You must be bonded to these items to use them'''
*'''You can only be bonded to one item of each form at once'''
*'''Most magic items last up to four events'''
Almost all magic items require you to be bonded to them to use them. Magicians can cast [[create bond]] to bond a character to an item, or an artisan can bond a character to any item that they know how to make. A bond lasts as long as the magic of an item endures, or until a magician breaks the bond using the a [[create bond|spell]].

Personal magic items fall into one of a number of three forms, weapons, armour, and talismans. You can only ever be bonded to one weapon, one suit of armour and one talisman at any one time.

''E.g. Your character is bonded to a [[Shieldbreaker]] weapon. You cannot become bonded to a [[Giant's Maul]] two-handed axe because both of these items are weapons.''

A character who has purchased the [[Crafting skills#Artisan|artisan skill]] can make at least one magic item before every event. Magic items last for a single year from the day of creation. This means that they can be used at the following four events before the magic is lost.

==Non-bonded Items==
*'''Some magic items are activated and do not need to be bonded'''
{{CaptionedImage|file=HorseHeadSword.jpg|align=right|width=350}}
A very small number of rare magic items can be used without the user needing to be bonded to them. Usually these items are one-shot items that require activation by the wielder to invoke the magic stored in them. It is not possible to bond to these items.

You should always assume that an item requires bonding unless the explicitly told otherwise. The [[detect magic]] spell will tell the caster if an item does not require bonding to use.

==Artefacts==
*'''Artefacts are permanent magic items made by artisans using ilium'''
Artisans can use [[ilium]] to make a permanent artefact version of any magic item they can create. These powerful items retain their properties indefinitely, are readily identifiable as unique named items, and can exert powerful [[roleplaying effects]] over anyone bonded to them.

==Personal Magic Items==
*'''There are three types of magic item a character can be bonded to'''
*'''You can only be bonded to one of each form at once'''
*'''Many personal magic items require you to have one or more skills to bond to it'''
Characters may [[Create_bond#Effects|bond]] to three different types of personal items. You may only be bonded to one item of each form: weapons, armour, and talismans.

Each magic item has its own page on the wiki, but there is a summary of the magic items by category, linked on the right. The summary includes the name and basic effect of the item.
===Weapons===
<table class="wikitable" style="width:400px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right: 10px;">
<tr><th>Weapons</th><th>Skills Needed to Bond</th></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Daggers|Daggers]]</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:One-handed_Weapons|One-Handed Weapons]]</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Two-handed_Weapons | Two-Handed Weapons]]</td><td>[[Combat_skills#Weapon_Master|Weapon Master]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:One-handed_Spears | One-Handed Spears]]</td><td>[[Combat_skills#Weapon_Master|Weapon Master]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Paired_Weapons | Paired Weapons]]</td><td>[[Combat_skills#Ambidexterity|Ambidexterity]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Pole-arms | Pole-arms]]</td><td>[[Combat_skills#Weapon_Master|Weapon Master]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Bows | Bows]]</td><td>[[Combat_skills#Marksman|Marksman]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Arcane_Weapons | Arcane Weapons]]</td><td>[[Combat_skills#Ambidexterity|Ambidexterity]], [[Magical_skills#Magician|Magician]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Wands | Wands]]</td><td>[[Magical_skills#Magician|Magician]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Rods | Rods]]</td><td>[[Magical_skills#Magician|Magician]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Staffs | Staffs]]</td><td>[[Magical_skills#Magician|Magician]], [[Magical_skills#Battle_Mage|Battle Mage]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Ritual Staves | Ritual Staves]]</td><td>[[Magical_skills#Magician|Magician]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Icons | Icons]]</td><td>[[Religious_skills#Dedication|Dedication]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Musical_Instruments | Musical Instruments]]</td><td>[[Religious_skills#Dedication|Dedication]]</td></tr>
</table>
*'''Weapons includes all items designed to be wielded'''
*'''You must have a weapon in hand and be actively using it to use its magical abilities'''
Most weapons are magic items designed to be held in the hand and wielded, presented or used. [[Weapons_%26_armour#Weapons|Weapons]] and [[Weapons_%26_armour#Implements|implements]] are the most common armaments, but this type also covers icons, ritual staves and musical instruments.

Paired weapons and arcane weapons is a single magic item that consists of two one-handed weapons or a one-handed weapon and an implement respectively. They are intended to be used together, and both items count as a single object for purposes of bonding.

A ritual stave is designed to be used by a ritualist during the performance of a ritual, it does not need to be a weapon safe implement and you do not need the battle mage skill to bond or use one of these items. You do need the battle mage skill to bond and use a regular magical staff.

===Armour===
<table class="wikitable" style="width:400px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right: 10px; clear:right;">
<tr><th>Armour</th><th>Skills Needed to Bond</th></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Light Armour|Light Armour]]</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Medium Armour|Medium Armour]]</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Heavy Armour|Heavy Armour]]</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Mage Robes|Mage Robes]]</td><td>[[Magical_skills#Magician|Magician]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Mage Armour|Mage Armour]]</td><td>[[Magical_skills#Magician|Magician]], [[Magical_skills#Battle_Mage|Battle Mage]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Vestments|Vestments]]</td><td>[[Religious_skills#Dedication|Dedication]]</td></tr>
</table>
*'''Armour includes all magic items that cover the body'''
*'''You must be wearing magic armour to use its magical abilities'''
Armour includes all magic items that cover a significant portion of the body when worn. The phys-rep for magical armour must cover the majority of the torso and at least one other location. Valid locations are the head (with a helm), the arms and the legs, or you may cover half of your arms and legs.

Robes must cover the majority of the torso and at least one other location. Valid locations are the head (with a hood), the arms or the legs, or at least half of your arms and legs. Magical mage armour must comply with the coverage rules for normal [[Weapons & armour#Mage_Armour|mage armour]]

It is acceptable to wear a suit of heavier armour over the top of a suit of lighter magical armour, provided you phys-rep both sets of armour. You gain the hits and protection of the heaviest armour you wear, and the benefits of any magical armour you wear.

===Talismans===
<table class="wikitable" style="width:400px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right: 10px;">
<tr><th>Talismans</th><th>Skills Needed to Bond</th></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Shields|Shield]]</td><td>[[Combat_skills#Shield|Shield]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Jewellery|Jewellery]]</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Foci|Foci]]</td><td>[[Magical_skills#Magician|Magician]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Tools|Tool]]</td><td>[[Surgical_skills#Physick|Physick]] '''or''' [[Surgical_skills#Apothecary|Apothecary]] '''or''' [[Crafting_skills#Artisan|Artisan]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Regalia|Regalia]]</td><td>[[Religious_skills#Dedication|Dedication]]</td></tr>
</table>
*'''You must be using a talisman use its magical abilities'''
Talismans covers several different groups of magical items, including shields, ritual foci, ceremonial regalia, jewellery, and tools. Jewellery, regalia, and foci must be worn to use their magical abilities; shields and tools must be held in the hand to use their abilities.

Jewellery must be a phys-rep of an item that is worn. It may take the form of actual jewellery such as an amulet, ring, bracelet or circlet. It may also take the form of any other small item intended to be worn such as an embroidered favour, decorative braid and the like. As much as possible the item should look distinctive and decorative.

Foci are items such as rings and masks that help focus energies in rituals. They can only be used by magicians.

Some tools are used by physicks, some by apothecaries, and some by artisans. You must have the appropriate skill to use this tool to be able to bond to it.

==Group Magic Items==
<table class="wikitable" style="width:300px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right: 10px;">
<tr><th>Group Magic Items</th><th>Band</th></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Magic Standards|Magic Standards]]</td><td>[[Banner]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Paraphernalia|Paraphernalia]]</td><td>[[Coven]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[:Category:Reliquaries|Reliquaries]]</td><td>[[Sect]]</td></tr>
</table>
*'''A [[bands|band]] may only be bonded to one magic item at a time'''
*'''The magical item must be present and in use for the members to gain the benefit'''
These magic items must be [[Create_bond#Effects|bonded to a band]] to gain their benefits. A [[band]] can only be bonded to one magic item at a time and it must be present and actively in use for them to gain any benefits from it.

===Magic Standards===
A magic standard must be a phys-rep of a banner or standard. It must be an item that is carried, rather than a back-banner or a tabard. Ideally it should consist of a banner pole at least 60" long, and should bear a flag, pennant or banner with a design on it.

Some magical standards allow the standard bearer to grant the items' power to up to fifteen members of the banner. The standard bearer will receive a set of power cards that they can choose to give to characters in the banner.

===Paraphernalia===
Paraphernalia are props used in rituals by covens, that provide powerful bonuses to the magical strength of everyone in the coven. They can be orbs, books, chalices or similar.

===Reliquaries===
A reliquary can be any phys-rep of a suitable relic, statue, chalice, tome, or actual [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliquary reliquary].
{{CaptionedImage|file=JohnKnockingOrcOver.jpg|width=400|align=right}}

==Changing Magic Items==
*'''You can never use two items of the same type in the same day'''
*'''If an item has been used then it cannot be used again that day'''
Any magician can perform a spell that breaks the bond between an item and a character. If the character has used the ability of their magical item in any way that day then they cannot benefit from the abilities of another item of the same type that day. The item is also affected - any character that is bonded to an item that has been used that day cannot make use of it until the following morning. The ref will inform you if an item has already been used that day when you are bonded to it.

''E.g. You have a Shieldbreaker magic weapon that you have used to call SHATTER earlier that day, using the item. You cannot use any other magic weapon until the following day even if you bond to a new weapon. No other character can use this magic weapon until the following day even if they become bonded to it.''

If the character or item is not present when the break bond spell is cast then the power of the item for the day is automatically used, as is the character’s ability to use an item of that type for that day.

==Schema==
* '''A schema describes the method of creating a single magic item'''
* '''A schema requires [[ilium]] to create'''
* '''An [[Crafting skills#Artisan|artisan]] can use a schema they possess to learn how to make the item it describes'''
* '''It is not possible to copy a schema'''
* '''A schema can be destroyed with the [[Words of Ending]] ritual as if it were an artefact'''
A schema (plural:''schemata'') is a rare, magical item that contains all the details necessary to create a magic item. Schemata are made at a [[runeforge]]. Most (though not all) schema include a description of the item, including all the rules, and at least some in-character commentary on the item.

A character who has the physical schema can learn how to make the item it describes by buying the [[Crafting_skills#Extra Item|extra item]] skill or using an empty item slot. This follows all the other rules for learning a skill during time-in. The schema must be taken to GOD or shown to a referee to allow the item it describes to be mastered in the field.

Every schema is a permanent Item, but it requires the rare material [[ilium]] to create. A scheme needs 1 ring of ilium for each ingot or measure of raw [[materials]] required to make the final item (to a minimum of 10 rings).

The [[Imperial Senate]] can raise a motion to add a schema to the list of items any citizen can learn to make. If the motion passes, it costs 10 thrones to distribute the knowledge contained in the schema. The schema must be handed over to the civil service, and is destroyed in the process. If the Senate chooses to make the knowledge in a schema public knowledge, any character can learn to make the item and it's details will be added to the wiki. The Senate could devolve this power to another body (such as the [[Imperial Conclave]]).

==Further reading==
* [[Crafting_skills#Artisan|Artisan]]
* [[Downtime]]
* [[Ilium]]
* [[Materials]]
* [[Runeforge]]

[[Category:Rules]]
[[Category:Magic Items]]
[[Category:Magic]]

Spring magic

2015-03-21T10:07:12Z

Nick Taylor: /* Dissonance */ Minor SPAG

==Overview==
The magic of Spring is wild, unconstrained, energetic and vital. It is akin to the force that pushes a shoot up through the soil and urges it to grow into a massive oak. It lives in the blood and sap, in the breath, in the ceaseless motion of the sea and the life-giving power of the river, spring and stream. It is utterly amoral, refuses to be bounded or contained, and is the magic msot likely to explode with unexpected consequence.

Spring magic is the most potent form of healing magic, but there is much more to this realm. It deals with the raw energy of life, both encouraging and harming; it encourages fertility and adaptation; it is savage and merciless; it brings destruction without hate or malice; it is the essence of chaos and turmoil. Magicians who work extensively with spring magic often liken the experience to trying to hold back a river; the magic is easy to initiate, but very difficult to direct or control.

Although Spring magic is the most powerful realm for healing, its tendency to infest the target makes it the subject of superstition and fear. Its reputation is not helped by the wild and unpredictable nature of powerful Spring magic. The most infamous magical catastrophe known in the Empire - the creation of the [[Vallorn]] - is inextricably linked with the fundamental nature of Spring magic.

Spring magic is the most powerful because it allows control of the most potent forces in nature - from nurturing new life, to healing the sick, to unleashing devastating storms, to unstoppable tidal waves.

==Resonance==
===Healing and Vitality===
The most obvious magic of Spring is the magic of healing. Spring magic is powerful when refreshing, revitalising and regenerating a subject. Sometimes the way the magic works can be unsettling. A ritual to cure a disease might work by accelerating the symptoms to a nightmarish degree while providing the vitality to survive them. Rituals that restore the flesh are usually painful, often to cast as well as to receive while rituals that use Spring magic to dull the pain invariably drive the target into a narcotic delirium. Spring is powerful in all ways that support life, but it is never benign.

Examples: [[Blood of the Hydra]], [[The Hands of Sacred Life]], [[Hearthfire Circle]], [[Chirurgeon's Healing Touch]], and [[Fountain of Life]].

Spring can do more than just heal, it can grant unnatural vitality and endurance. Spring resonates strongly with magic that attempts to grant the subject increased physical and mental strength.

Examples: [[Midwife's Recourse]], [[Vitality of Rushing Water]], [[Irrepressible Monkey Spirit]], [[Skin of Bark, Blood of Amber]], and [[Rivers of Life]].

===Fertility===
Spring is also the magic that deals with fertility – it can ensure conception, even when no conception is possible, or ensure safe delivery of a child. Superstition surrounds Spring magic: birthing a child with Spring magic ensures it will be born healthy, but there are claims that Spring magic can mark those it touches. There is no evidence that a child born using [[Midwife's Recourse]]'s or conceived using [[Fan the Flame of New Life]] is more likely to be a briar but the rumours persist. And there is no denying that healing magic '''can''' cause a subject to express a previously hidden [[briar]] lineage if the wounds are severe.

The fertility of Spring magic can affect plants and animals as well as humans. The fertility is wild, though - a ritual to bless a farm makes the weeds grow as well as the crops. A ritual to bless a herd of animals encourages multiple births; a ritual to make a battlefield fecund cultivates fungi in dead flesh and breeds odd ferns and flowers from blood-soaked soil.

Examples: [[Blessing of New Spring]], [[Fan the Flame of New Life]], [[Churning Cauldron of Bravash]], [[Rampant Growth]], [[Hallow of the Green World]].

===Venom===
The Spring Realm resonates strongly with poison and venom of all kinds. Poison is the perfect natural weapon: both plants and animals use it, and poisonous creatures are found throughout the realm. No other realm rivals Spring's ability to poison or envenom someone else. Curse of Gangrenous Flesh is an example of a disease ritual - infesting the victim with a voracious sickness.

Like Day magic, Spring can be used to help a patient suffering from poison. However, where Day works by purifying and removing the taint, Spring magic causes the poison to course through the target's veins while simultaneously giving them the strength to survive it.

Examples: [[Fire in the Blood]], [[Touch of Vile Humours]], [[Unending Cascade of Blood's Fire]], [[Curse of Gangrenous Flesh]], [[Fetid Breath of Teeming Plague]], [[Rivers Run Red]]

===Savagery===
The wild chaos of the Spring Realm lends itself easily to rituals that fill the target with wild passions, especially rituals that make the subject feel ruthless, bloodthirsty, and ferocious. Such rituals are often inextricably linked with the power needed to grant the strength and vitality. Many powerful Spring rituals to strengthen the target have unavoidable side-effects that cause the subject to feel rage or similar reactions. Spring curses can force the victim to struggle with base urges like anger and greed.

Examples: [[Call Down Lightning's Wrath]], [[Charge of the Rushing Wind]], [[Blood and Salt]], [[Merciless Wrath of the Reaver]].

===Chaos===
All Spring magic is chaotic and difficult to control, as it were trying to escape the caster. Some magicians have even poetically suggested that Spring magic wants to be cast, it just hates to be controlled. Whatever the nature of the Spring Realm, magic that draws on it all too often has unforeseen consequences. Perhaps as a result, wild natural phenomena resonate strongly with Spring: storms, gales, and floods are part of Spring, as are tremors and quakes. If a magician wants to unleash wild uncontrolled destruction over an area, then Spring magic is by far the most powerful choice.

[[Imperial Lore]] does not include any rituals that create plagues, due to the inherent impossibility of controlling who is affected, but the Druj are known to possess magic of this kind.

Examples: [[Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea]], [[Thunderous Deluge]], [[Rivers Run Red]]

===Ruin===
Spring magic finds it easier than other realms to destroy man-made things. Buildings can be torn apart with vines, collapsed with tremors or simply rot away. In part this reflects the power of the realm to cause all things to succumb to the natural process of decay - for instance dead bodies can easily be made to quickly decay using Spring Magic. In part it reflects the wild power of Spring magic, expressed through storms and tremors, as well as the limitless power of nature to consume everything given time.

Examples: [[Turns the Circle]], [[Rot's Rightful Claim]], [[The Forest Remains]], [[Rising Roots that Rend Stone]], [[Thunderous Tread of the Trees]]

==Dissonance==
===Control===
Fine control is always difficult with Spring magic: it has a prevailing tendency to run amok. It is hard to aim a ritual with any accuracy beyond "what's in front of me". A storm will hit everything in a territory. A plague will quickly spread. A blessing of fertility may cause unlooked for side-effects such as increasing likelihood of being a briar.

===Deference===
Spring magic creates roleplaying effects that encourage rebellion, independence and selfishness, as well as those associated with [[#Savagery|savage ferocity]]. The more targets at one time the worse it gets - enchanting an Imperial army with Spring magic is likely to encourage the army to bloodlust and disregard for authority. It is very poor for enchantments that encourage groups to cooperate and work together such as congregations, military units and armies.

===Complexity===
Complex concepts and ideas, especially social structures like trade, alliances, and relationships are also beyond Spring. Spring magic is ill-suited to anything that requires subtlety or this kind of complexity.

===Subtlety===
Powerful Spring magic lacks subtlety. It is direct and tends to overwhelm opposition rather than circumvent it. It doesn't gently erode a wall, it tears it down with animated vines. Curses won't make the victim feel on edge or unwell, they send them into fevered convulsions. Roleplaying effects create energy and passion.

===Construction===
Spring does not work well with objects made by mortal beings, either creating or restoring them. Living things can be healed - Spring magic can lend supernatural haste to the natural process of recovery - but it cannot repair broken objects. It might make a tree-branch into a temporary club or wind trees together to make a sanctuary, but restoring the unnatural craftsmanship of mortals to something that has been damaged is anathema.

===Conformity and Stagnation===
Spring magic can be wild and chaotic and it has a powerful tendency to cause these results even when they are undesirable. Because of this it is particularly poor for casting rituals that require things to conform, to grow more similar in nature or form. Spring magic hates stagnation and status quo. It is good at changing things but especially weak when trying to preserve things just as they are.

{{Ritual Theory Further Reading}}

[[Category:Magic Theory]]
[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Rules]]

Spring magic

2015-03-21T10:01:04Z

Nick Taylor: /* Chaos */ Minor SPAG

==Overview==
The magic of Spring is wild, unconstrained, energetic and vital. It is akin to the force that pushes a shoot up through the soil and urges it to grow into a massive oak. It lives in the blood and sap, in the breath, in the ceaseless motion of the sea and the life-giving power of the river, spring and stream. It is utterly amoral, refuses to be bounded or contained, and is the magic msot likely to explode with unexpected consequence.

Spring magic is the most potent form of healing magic, but there is much more to this realm. It deals with the raw energy of life, both encouraging and harming; it encourages fertility and adaptation; it is savage and merciless; it brings destruction without hate or malice; it is the essence of chaos and turmoil. Magicians who work extensively with spring magic often liken the experience to trying to hold back a river; the magic is easy to initiate, but very difficult to direct or control.

Although Spring magic is the most powerful realm for healing, its tendency to infest the target makes it the subject of superstition and fear. Its reputation is not helped by the wild and unpredictable nature of powerful Spring magic. The most infamous magical catastrophe known in the Empire - the creation of the [[Vallorn]] - is inextricably linked with the fundamental nature of Spring magic.

Spring magic is the most powerful because it allows control of the most potent forces in nature - from nurturing new life, to healing the sick, to unleashing devastating storms, to unstoppable tidal waves.

==Resonance==
===Healing and Vitality===
The most obvious magic of Spring is the magic of healing. Spring magic is powerful when refreshing, revitalising and regenerating a subject. Sometimes the way the magic works can be unsettling. A ritual to cure a disease might work by accelerating the symptoms to a nightmarish degree while providing the vitality to survive them. Rituals that restore the flesh are usually painful, often to cast as well as to receive while rituals that use Spring magic to dull the pain invariably drive the target into a narcotic delirium. Spring is powerful in all ways that support life, but it is never benign.

Examples: [[Blood of the Hydra]], [[The Hands of Sacred Life]], [[Hearthfire Circle]], [[Chirurgeon's Healing Touch]], and [[Fountain of Life]].

Spring can do more than just heal, it can grant unnatural vitality and endurance. Spring resonates strongly with magic that attempts to grant the subject increased physical and mental strength.

Examples: [[Midwife's Recourse]], [[Vitality of Rushing Water]], [[Irrepressible Monkey Spirit]], [[Skin of Bark, Blood of Amber]], and [[Rivers of Life]].

===Fertility===
Spring is also the magic that deals with fertility – it can ensure conception, even when no conception is possible, or ensure safe delivery of a child. Superstition surrounds Spring magic: birthing a child with Spring magic ensures it will be born healthy, but there are claims that Spring magic can mark those it touches. There is no evidence that a child born using [[Midwife's Recourse]]'s or conceived using [[Fan the Flame of New Life]] is more likely to be a briar but the rumours persist. And there is no denying that healing magic '''can''' cause a subject to express a previously hidden [[briar]] lineage if the wounds are severe.

The fertility of Spring magic can affect plants and animals as well as humans. The fertility is wild, though - a ritual to bless a farm makes the weeds grow as well as the crops. A ritual to bless a herd of animals encourages multiple births; a ritual to make a battlefield fecund cultivates fungi in dead flesh and breeds odd ferns and flowers from blood-soaked soil.

Examples: [[Blessing of New Spring]], [[Fan the Flame of New Life]], [[Churning Cauldron of Bravash]], [[Rampant Growth]], [[Hallow of the Green World]].

===Venom===
The Spring Realm resonates strongly with poison and venom of all kinds. Poison is the perfect natural weapon: both plants and animals use it, and poisonous creatures are found throughout the realm. No other realm rivals Spring's ability to poison or envenom someone else. Curse of Gangrenous Flesh is an example of a disease ritual - infesting the victim with a voracious sickness.

Like Day magic, Spring can be used to help a patient suffering from poison. However, where Day works by purifying and removing the taint, Spring magic causes the poison to course through the target's veins while simultaneously giving them the strength to survive it.

Examples: [[Fire in the Blood]], [[Touch of Vile Humours]], [[Unending Cascade of Blood's Fire]], [[Curse of Gangrenous Flesh]], [[Fetid Breath of Teeming Plague]], [[Rivers Run Red]]

===Savagery===
The wild chaos of the Spring Realm lends itself easily to rituals that fill the target with wild passions, especially rituals that make the subject feel ruthless, bloodthirsty, and ferocious. Such rituals are often inextricably linked with the power needed to grant the strength and vitality. Many powerful Spring rituals to strengthen the target have unavoidable side-effects that cause the subject to feel rage or similar reactions. Spring curses can force the victim to struggle with base urges like anger and greed.

Examples: [[Call Down Lightning's Wrath]], [[Charge of the Rushing Wind]], [[Blood and Salt]], [[Merciless Wrath of the Reaver]].

===Chaos===
All Spring magic is chaotic and difficult to control, as it were trying to escape the caster. Some magicians have even poetically suggested that Spring magic wants to be cast, it just hates to be controlled. Whatever the nature of the Spring Realm, magic that draws on it all too often has unforeseen consequences. Perhaps as a result, wild natural phenomena resonate strongly with Spring: storms, gales, and floods are part of Spring, as are tremors and quakes. If a magician wants to unleash wild uncontrolled destruction over an area, then Spring magic is by far the most powerful choice.

[[Imperial Lore]] does not include any rituals that create plagues, due to the inherent impossibility of controlling who is affected, but the Druj are known to possess magic of this kind.

Examples: [[Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea]], [[Thunderous Deluge]], [[Rivers Run Red]]

===Ruin===
Spring magic finds it easier than other realms to destroy man-made things. Buildings can be torn apart with vines, collapsed with tremors or simply rot away. In part this reflects the power of the realm to cause all things to succumb to the natural process of decay - for instance dead bodies can easily be made to quickly decay using Spring Magic. In part it reflects the wild power of Spring magic, expressed through storms and tremors, as well as the limitless power of nature to consume everything given time.

Examples: [[Turns the Circle]], [[Rot's Rightful Claim]], [[The Forest Remains]], [[Rising Roots that Rend Stone]], [[Thunderous Tread of the Trees]]

==Dissonance==
===Control===
Fine control is always difficult with Spring magic, is has prevailing tendency to run amok. It is hard to aim a ritual with any accuracy beyond "what's in front of me". A storm will hit everything in a territory. A plague will quickly spread. A blessing of fertility may cause unlooked for side-effects such as increasing likelihood of being a briar.

===Deference===
Spring magic creates roleplaying effects that encourage rebellion, independence and selfishness, as well as those associated with [[#Savagery|savage ferocity]]. The more targets at one time the worse it gets - enchanting an Imperial army with Spring magic is likely to encourage the army to bloodlust and disregard for authority. It is very poor for enchantments that encourage groups to cooperate and work together such as congregations, military units and armies.

===Complexity===
Complex concepts and ideas, especially social structures like trade, alliances, and relationships are also beyond Spring. Spring magic is ill-suited to anything that requires subtlety or this kind of complexity.

===Subtlety===
Powerful Spring magic lacks subtlety. It is direct and tends to overwhelm opposition rather than circumvent it. It doesn't gently erode a wall, it tears it down with animated vines. Curses won't make the victim feel on edge or unwell, they send them into fevered convulsions. Roleplaying effects create energy and passion.

===Construction===
Spring does not work well with objects made by mortal beings, either creating or restoring them. Living things can be healed - Spring magic can lend supernatural haste to the natural process of recovery - but it cannot repair broken objects. It might make a tree-branch into a temporary club or wind trees together to make a sanctuary, but restoring the unnatural craftsmanship of mortals to something that has been damaged is anathema.

===Conformity and Stagnation===
Spring magic can be wild and chaotic and it has a powerful tendency to cause these results even when they are undesirable. Because of this is that it is particularly poor for casting rituals that require things to conform, to grow more similar in nature or form. Spring magic hates stagnation and status quo. It is good at changing things but especially weak when trying to preserve things just as they are.

{{Ritual Theory Further Reading}}

[[Category:Magic Theory]]
[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Rules]]

Spring magic

2015-03-21T09:59:36Z

Nick Taylor: /* Venom */ Minor SPAG

==Overview==
The magic of Spring is wild, unconstrained, energetic and vital. It is akin to the force that pushes a shoot up through the soil and urges it to grow into a massive oak. It lives in the blood and sap, in the breath, in the ceaseless motion of the sea and the life-giving power of the river, spring and stream. It is utterly amoral, refuses to be bounded or contained, and is the magic msot likely to explode with unexpected consequence.

Spring magic is the most potent form of healing magic, but there is much more to this realm. It deals with the raw energy of life, both encouraging and harming; it encourages fertility and adaptation; it is savage and merciless; it brings destruction without hate or malice; it is the essence of chaos and turmoil. Magicians who work extensively with spring magic often liken the experience to trying to hold back a river; the magic is easy to initiate, but very difficult to direct or control.

Although Spring magic is the most powerful realm for healing, its tendency to infest the target makes it the subject of superstition and fear. Its reputation is not helped by the wild and unpredictable nature of powerful Spring magic. The most infamous magical catastrophe known in the Empire - the creation of the [[Vallorn]] - is inextricably linked with the fundamental nature of Spring magic.

Spring magic is the most powerful because it allows control of the most potent forces in nature - from nurturing new life, to healing the sick, to unleashing devastating storms, to unstoppable tidal waves.

==Resonance==
===Healing and Vitality===
The most obvious magic of Spring is the magic of healing. Spring magic is powerful when refreshing, revitalising and regenerating a subject. Sometimes the way the magic works can be unsettling. A ritual to cure a disease might work by accelerating the symptoms to a nightmarish degree while providing the vitality to survive them. Rituals that restore the flesh are usually painful, often to cast as well as to receive while rituals that use Spring magic to dull the pain invariably drive the target into a narcotic delirium. Spring is powerful in all ways that support life, but it is never benign.

Examples: [[Blood of the Hydra]], [[The Hands of Sacred Life]], [[Hearthfire Circle]], [[Chirurgeon's Healing Touch]], and [[Fountain of Life]].

Spring can do more than just heal, it can grant unnatural vitality and endurance. Spring resonates strongly with magic that attempts to grant the subject increased physical and mental strength.

Examples: [[Midwife's Recourse]], [[Vitality of Rushing Water]], [[Irrepressible Monkey Spirit]], [[Skin of Bark, Blood of Amber]], and [[Rivers of Life]].

===Fertility===
Spring is also the magic that deals with fertility – it can ensure conception, even when no conception is possible, or ensure safe delivery of a child. Superstition surrounds Spring magic: birthing a child with Spring magic ensures it will be born healthy, but there are claims that Spring magic can mark those it touches. There is no evidence that a child born using [[Midwife's Recourse]]'s or conceived using [[Fan the Flame of New Life]] is more likely to be a briar but the rumours persist. And there is no denying that healing magic '''can''' cause a subject to express a previously hidden [[briar]] lineage if the wounds are severe.

The fertility of Spring magic can affect plants and animals as well as humans. The fertility is wild, though - a ritual to bless a farm makes the weeds grow as well as the crops. A ritual to bless a herd of animals encourages multiple births; a ritual to make a battlefield fecund cultivates fungi in dead flesh and breeds odd ferns and flowers from blood-soaked soil.

Examples: [[Blessing of New Spring]], [[Fan the Flame of New Life]], [[Churning Cauldron of Bravash]], [[Rampant Growth]], [[Hallow of the Green World]].

===Venom===
The Spring Realm resonates strongly with poison and venom of all kinds. Poison is the perfect natural weapon: both plants and animals use it, and poisonous creatures are found throughout the realm. No other realm rivals Spring's ability to poison or envenom someone else. Curse of Gangrenous Flesh is an example of a disease ritual - infesting the victim with a voracious sickness.

Like Day magic, Spring can be used to help a patient suffering from poison. However, where Day works by purifying and removing the taint, Spring magic causes the poison to course through the target's veins while simultaneously giving them the strength to survive it.

Examples: [[Fire in the Blood]], [[Touch of Vile Humours]], [[Unending Cascade of Blood's Fire]], [[Curse of Gangrenous Flesh]], [[Fetid Breath of Teeming Plague]], [[Rivers Run Red]]

===Savagery===
The wild chaos of the Spring Realm lends itself easily to rituals that fill the target with wild passions, especially rituals that make the subject feel ruthless, bloodthirsty, and ferocious. Such rituals are often inextricably linked with the power needed to grant the strength and vitality. Many powerful Spring rituals to strengthen the target have unavoidable side-effects that cause the subject to feel rage or similar reactions. Spring curses can force the victim to struggle with base urges like anger and greed.

Examples: [[Call Down Lightning's Wrath]], [[Charge of the Rushing Wind]], [[Blood and Salt]], [[Merciless Wrath of the Reaver]].

===Chaos===
All Spring magic is chaotic and difficult to control, as it were trying to escape the caster. Some magicians have even poetically suggested that Spring magic wants to be cast, it just hates to be controlled. Whatever the nature of the Spring Realm, magic that draws on it all too often has unforeseen consequences. Perhaps as a result, wild natural phenomena resonate strongly with Spring, storms, gales, and floods are part of Spring, as are tremors and quakes. If a magician wants to unleash wild uncontrolled destruction over an area, then Spring magic is by far the most powerful choice.

[[Imperial Lore]] does not include any rituals that create plagues, due to the inherent impossibility of controlling who is affected, but the Druj are known to possess magic of this kind.

Examples: [[Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea]], [[Thunderous Deluge]], [[Rivers Run Red]]

===Ruin===
Spring magic finds it easier than other realms to destroy man-made things. Buildings can be torn apart with vines, collapsed with tremors or simply rot away. In part this reflects the power of the realm to cause all things to succumb to the natural process of decay - for instance dead bodies can easily be made to quickly decay using Spring Magic. In part it reflects the wild power of Spring magic, expressed through storms and tremors, as well as the limitless power of nature to consume everything given time.

Examples: [[Turns the Circle]], [[Rot's Rightful Claim]], [[The Forest Remains]], [[Rising Roots that Rend Stone]], [[Thunderous Tread of the Trees]]

==Dissonance==
===Control===
Fine control is always difficult with Spring magic, is has prevailing tendency to run amok. It is hard to aim a ritual with any accuracy beyond "what's in front of me". A storm will hit everything in a territory. A plague will quickly spread. A blessing of fertility may cause unlooked for side-effects such as increasing likelihood of being a briar.

===Deference===
Spring magic creates roleplaying effects that encourage rebellion, independence and selfishness, as well as those associated with [[#Savagery|savage ferocity]]. The more targets at one time the worse it gets - enchanting an Imperial army with Spring magic is likely to encourage the army to bloodlust and disregard for authority. It is very poor for enchantments that encourage groups to cooperate and work together such as congregations, military units and armies.

===Complexity===
Complex concepts and ideas, especially social structures like trade, alliances, and relationships are also beyond Spring. Spring magic is ill-suited to anything that requires subtlety or this kind of complexity.

===Subtlety===
Powerful Spring magic lacks subtlety. It is direct and tends to overwhelm opposition rather than circumvent it. It doesn't gently erode a wall, it tears it down with animated vines. Curses won't make the victim feel on edge or unwell, they send them into fevered convulsions. Roleplaying effects create energy and passion.

===Construction===
Spring does not work well with objects made by mortal beings, either creating or restoring them. Living things can be healed - Spring magic can lend supernatural haste to the natural process of recovery - but it cannot repair broken objects. It might make a tree-branch into a temporary club or wind trees together to make a sanctuary, but restoring the unnatural craftsmanship of mortals to something that has been damaged is anathema.

===Conformity and Stagnation===
Spring magic can be wild and chaotic and it has a powerful tendency to cause these results even when they are undesirable. Because of this is that it is particularly poor for casting rituals that require things to conform, to grow more similar in nature or form. Spring magic hates stagnation and status quo. It is good at changing things but especially weak when trying to preserve things just as they are.

{{Ritual Theory Further Reading}}

[[Category:Magic Theory]]
[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Rules]]

Spring magic

2015-03-21T09:58:20Z

Nick Taylor: /* Fertility */ Minor SPAG

==Overview==
The magic of Spring is wild, unconstrained, energetic and vital. It is akin to the force that pushes a shoot up through the soil and urges it to grow into a massive oak. It lives in the blood and sap, in the breath, in the ceaseless motion of the sea and the life-giving power of the river, spring and stream. It is utterly amoral, refuses to be bounded or contained, and is the magic msot likely to explode with unexpected consequence.

Spring magic is the most potent form of healing magic, but there is much more to this realm. It deals with the raw energy of life, both encouraging and harming; it encourages fertility and adaptation; it is savage and merciless; it brings destruction without hate or malice; it is the essence of chaos and turmoil. Magicians who work extensively with spring magic often liken the experience to trying to hold back a river; the magic is easy to initiate, but very difficult to direct or control.

Although Spring magic is the most powerful realm for healing, its tendency to infest the target makes it the subject of superstition and fear. Its reputation is not helped by the wild and unpredictable nature of powerful Spring magic. The most infamous magical catastrophe known in the Empire - the creation of the [[Vallorn]] - is inextricably linked with the fundamental nature of Spring magic.

Spring magic is the most powerful because it allows control of the most potent forces in nature - from nurturing new life, to healing the sick, to unleashing devastating storms, to unstoppable tidal waves.

==Resonance==
===Healing and Vitality===
The most obvious magic of Spring is the magic of healing. Spring magic is powerful when refreshing, revitalising and regenerating a subject. Sometimes the way the magic works can be unsettling. A ritual to cure a disease might work by accelerating the symptoms to a nightmarish degree while providing the vitality to survive them. Rituals that restore the flesh are usually painful, often to cast as well as to receive while rituals that use Spring magic to dull the pain invariably drive the target into a narcotic delirium. Spring is powerful in all ways that support life, but it is never benign.

Examples: [[Blood of the Hydra]], [[The Hands of Sacred Life]], [[Hearthfire Circle]], [[Chirurgeon's Healing Touch]], and [[Fountain of Life]].

Spring can do more than just heal, it can grant unnatural vitality and endurance. Spring resonates strongly with magic that attempts to grant the subject increased physical and mental strength.

Examples: [[Midwife's Recourse]], [[Vitality of Rushing Water]], [[Irrepressible Monkey Spirit]], [[Skin of Bark, Blood of Amber]], and [[Rivers of Life]].

===Fertility===
Spring is also the magic that deals with fertility – it can ensure conception, even when no conception is possible, or ensure safe delivery of a child. Superstition surrounds Spring magic: birthing a child with Spring magic ensures it will be born healthy, but there are claims that Spring magic can mark those it touches. There is no evidence that a child born using [[Midwife's Recourse]]'s or conceived using [[Fan the Flame of New Life]] is more likely to be a briar but the rumours persist. And there is no denying that healing magic '''can''' cause a subject to express a previously hidden [[briar]] lineage if the wounds are severe.

The fertility of Spring magic can affect plants and animals as well as humans. The fertility is wild, though - a ritual to bless a farm makes the weeds grow as well as the crops. A ritual to bless a herd of animals encourages multiple births; a ritual to make a battlefield fecund cultivates fungi in dead flesh and breeds odd ferns and flowers from blood-soaked soil.

Examples: [[Blessing of New Spring]], [[Fan the Flame of New Life]], [[Churning Cauldron of Bravash]], [[Rampant Growth]], [[Hallow of the Green World]].

===Venom===
The Spring Realm resonates strong with poison and venom of all kinds. Poison is the perfect natural weapon, both plants and animals use it, and poisonous creatures are found throughout the realm. No other realm rivals Spring's ability to poison or envenom someone else. Curse of Gangrenous Flesh is an example of a disease ritual - infesting the victim with a voracious sickness.

Like Day magic, Spring can be used to help a patient suffering from poison. However, where Day works by purifying and removing the taint, Spring magic causes the poison to course through the target's veins while simultaneously giving them the strength to survive it.

Examples: [[Fire in the Blood]], [[Touch of Vile Humours]], [[Unending Cascade of Blood's Fire]], [[Curse of Gangrenous Flesh]], [[Fetid Breath of Teeming Plague]], [[Rivers Run Red]]

===Savagery===
The wild chaos of the Spring Realm lends itself easily to rituals that fill the target with wild passions, especially rituals that make the subject feel ruthless, bloodthirsty, and ferocious. Such rituals are often inextricably linked with the power needed to grant the strength and vitality. Many powerful Spring rituals to strengthen the target have unavoidable side-effects that cause the subject to feel rage or similar reactions. Spring curses can force the victim to struggle with base urges like anger and greed.

Examples: [[Call Down Lightning's Wrath]], [[Charge of the Rushing Wind]], [[Blood and Salt]], [[Merciless Wrath of the Reaver]].

===Chaos===
All Spring magic is chaotic and difficult to control, as it were trying to escape the caster. Some magicians have even poetically suggested that Spring magic wants to be cast, it just hates to be controlled. Whatever the nature of the Spring Realm, magic that draws on it all too often has unforeseen consequences. Perhaps as a result, wild natural phenomena resonate strongly with Spring, storms, gales, and floods are part of Spring, as are tremors and quakes. If a magician wants to unleash wild uncontrolled destruction over an area, then Spring magic is by far the most powerful choice.

[[Imperial Lore]] does not include any rituals that create plagues, due to the inherent impossibility of controlling who is affected, but the Druj are known to possess magic of this kind.

Examples: [[Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea]], [[Thunderous Deluge]], [[Rivers Run Red]]

===Ruin===
Spring magic finds it easier than other realms to destroy man-made things. Buildings can be torn apart with vines, collapsed with tremors or simply rot away. In part this reflects the power of the realm to cause all things to succumb to the natural process of decay - for instance dead bodies can easily be made to quickly decay using Spring Magic. In part it reflects the wild power of Spring magic, expressed through storms and tremors, as well as the limitless power of nature to consume everything given time.

Examples: [[Turns the Circle]], [[Rot's Rightful Claim]], [[The Forest Remains]], [[Rising Roots that Rend Stone]], [[Thunderous Tread of the Trees]]

==Dissonance==
===Control===
Fine control is always difficult with Spring magic, is has prevailing tendency to run amok. It is hard to aim a ritual with any accuracy beyond "what's in front of me". A storm will hit everything in a territory. A plague will quickly spread. A blessing of fertility may cause unlooked for side-effects such as increasing likelihood of being a briar.

===Deference===
Spring magic creates roleplaying effects that encourage rebellion, independence and selfishness, as well as those associated with [[#Savagery|savage ferocity]]. The more targets at one time the worse it gets - enchanting an Imperial army with Spring magic is likely to encourage the army to bloodlust and disregard for authority. It is very poor for enchantments that encourage groups to cooperate and work together such as congregations, military units and armies.

===Complexity===
Complex concepts and ideas, especially social structures like trade, alliances, and relationships are also beyond Spring. Spring magic is ill-suited to anything that requires subtlety or this kind of complexity.

===Subtlety===
Powerful Spring magic lacks subtlety. It is direct and tends to overwhelm opposition rather than circumvent it. It doesn't gently erode a wall, it tears it down with animated vines. Curses won't make the victim feel on edge or unwell, they send them into fevered convulsions. Roleplaying effects create energy and passion.

===Construction===
Spring does not work well with objects made by mortal beings, either creating or restoring them. Living things can be healed - Spring magic can lend supernatural haste to the natural process of recovery - but it cannot repair broken objects. It might make a tree-branch into a temporary club or wind trees together to make a sanctuary, but restoring the unnatural craftsmanship of mortals to something that has been damaged is anathema.

===Conformity and Stagnation===
Spring magic can be wild and chaotic and it has a powerful tendency to cause these results even when they are undesirable. Because of this is that it is particularly poor for casting rituals that require things to conform, to grow more similar in nature or form. Spring magic hates stagnation and status quo. It is good at changing things but especially weak when trying to preserve things just as they are.

{{Ritual Theory Further Reading}}

[[Category:Magic Theory]]
[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Rules]]

Spring magic

2015-03-21T09:56:07Z

Nick Taylor: /* Overview */ Minor SPAG

==Overview==
The magic of Spring is wild, unconstrained, energetic and vital. It is akin to the force that pushes a shoot up through the soil and urges it to grow into a massive oak. It lives in the blood and sap, in the breath, in the ceaseless motion of the sea and the life-giving power of the river, spring and stream. It is utterly amoral, refuses to be bounded or contained, and is the magic msot likely to explode with unexpected consequence.

Spring magic is the most potent form of healing magic, but there is much more to this realm. It deals with the raw energy of life, both encouraging and harming; it encourages fertility and adaptation; it is savage and merciless; it brings destruction without hate or malice; it is the essence of chaos and turmoil. Magicians who work extensively with spring magic often liken the experience to trying to hold back a river; the magic is easy to initiate, but very difficult to direct or control.

Although Spring magic is the most powerful realm for healing, its tendency to infest the target makes it the subject of superstition and fear. Its reputation is not helped by the wild and unpredictable nature of powerful Spring magic. The most infamous magical catastrophe known in the Empire - the creation of the [[Vallorn]] - is inextricably linked with the fundamental nature of Spring magic.

Spring magic is the most powerful because it allows control of the most potent forces in nature - from nurturing new life, to healing the sick, to unleashing devastating storms, to unstoppable tidal waves.

==Resonance==
===Healing and Vitality===
The most obvious magic of Spring is the magic of healing. Spring magic is powerful when refreshing, revitalising and regenerating a subject. Sometimes the way the magic works can be unsettling. A ritual to cure a disease might work by accelerating the symptoms to a nightmarish degree while providing the vitality to survive them. Rituals that restore the flesh are usually painful, often to cast as well as to receive while rituals that use Spring magic to dull the pain invariably drive the target into a narcotic delirium. Spring is powerful in all ways that support life, but it is never benign.

Examples: [[Blood of the Hydra]], [[The Hands of Sacred Life]], [[Hearthfire Circle]], [[Chirurgeon's Healing Touch]], and [[Fountain of Life]].

Spring can do more than just heal, it can grant unnatural vitality and endurance. Spring resonates strongly with magic that attempts to grant the subject increased physical and mental strength.

Examples: [[Midwife's Recourse]], [[Vitality of Rushing Water]], [[Irrepressible Monkey Spirit]], [[Skin of Bark, Blood of Amber]], and [[Rivers of Life]].

===Fertility===
Spring is also the magic that deals with fertility – it can ensure conception, even when no conception is possible, or ensure safe delivery of a child. Superstition surrounds Spring magic, birthing a child with Spring magic ensures it will be born healthy, but there are claims that Spring magic can mark those it touches. There is no evidence that a child born using [[Midwife's Recourse]]'s or conceived using [[Fan the Flame of New Life]] is more likely to be a briar but the rumours persist. And there is no denying that healing magic '''can''' cause a subject to express a previously hidden [[briar]] lineage if the wounds are severe.

The fertility of Spring magic can affect plants and animals as well as humans. The fertility is wild, though - a ritual to bless a farm makes the weeds grow as well as the crops. A ritual to bless a herd of animals encourages multiple births; a ritual to make a battlefield fecund cultivates fungi in dead flesh and breeds odd ferns and flowers from blood-soaked soil.

Examples: [[Blessing of New Spring]], [[Fan the Flame of New Life]], [[Churning Cauldron of Bravash]], [[Rampant Growth]], [[Hallow of the Green World]].

===Venom===
The Spring Realm resonates strong with poison and venom of all kinds. Poison is the perfect natural weapon, both plants and animals use it, and poisonous creatures are found throughout the realm. No other realm rivals Spring's ability to poison or envenom someone else. Curse of Gangrenous Flesh is an example of a disease ritual - infesting the victim with a voracious sickness.

Like Day magic, Spring can be used to help a patient suffering from poison. However, where Day works by purifying and removing the taint, Spring magic causes the poison to course through the target's veins while simultaneously giving them the strength to survive it.

Examples: [[Fire in the Blood]], [[Touch of Vile Humours]], [[Unending Cascade of Blood's Fire]], [[Curse of Gangrenous Flesh]], [[Fetid Breath of Teeming Plague]], [[Rivers Run Red]]

===Savagery===
The wild chaos of the Spring Realm lends itself easily to rituals that fill the target with wild passions, especially rituals that make the subject feel ruthless, bloodthirsty, and ferocious. Such rituals are often inextricably linked with the power needed to grant the strength and vitality. Many powerful Spring rituals to strengthen the target have unavoidable side-effects that cause the subject to feel rage or similar reactions. Spring curses can force the victim to struggle with base urges like anger and greed.

Examples: [[Call Down Lightning's Wrath]], [[Charge of the Rushing Wind]], [[Blood and Salt]], [[Merciless Wrath of the Reaver]].

===Chaos===
All Spring magic is chaotic and difficult to control, as it were trying to escape the caster. Some magicians have even poetically suggested that Spring magic wants to be cast, it just hates to be controlled. Whatever the nature of the Spring Realm, magic that draws on it all too often has unforeseen consequences. Perhaps as a result, wild natural phenomena resonate strongly with Spring, storms, gales, and floods are part of Spring, as are tremors and quakes. If a magician wants to unleash wild uncontrolled destruction over an area, then Spring magic is by far the most powerful choice.

[[Imperial Lore]] does not include any rituals that create plagues, due to the inherent impossibility of controlling who is affected, but the Druj are known to possess magic of this kind.

Examples: [[Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea]], [[Thunderous Deluge]], [[Rivers Run Red]]

===Ruin===
Spring magic finds it easier than other realms to destroy man-made things. Buildings can be torn apart with vines, collapsed with tremors or simply rot away. In part this reflects the power of the realm to cause all things to succumb to the natural process of decay - for instance dead bodies can easily be made to quickly decay using Spring Magic. In part it reflects the wild power of Spring magic, expressed through storms and tremors, as well as the limitless power of nature to consume everything given time.

Examples: [[Turns the Circle]], [[Rot's Rightful Claim]], [[The Forest Remains]], [[Rising Roots that Rend Stone]], [[Thunderous Tread of the Trees]]

==Dissonance==
===Control===
Fine control is always difficult with Spring magic, is has prevailing tendency to run amok. It is hard to aim a ritual with any accuracy beyond "what's in front of me". A storm will hit everything in a territory. A plague will quickly spread. A blessing of fertility may cause unlooked for side-effects such as increasing likelihood of being a briar.

===Deference===
Spring magic creates roleplaying effects that encourage rebellion, independence and selfishness, as well as those associated with [[#Savagery|savage ferocity]]. The more targets at one time the worse it gets - enchanting an Imperial army with Spring magic is likely to encourage the army to bloodlust and disregard for authority. It is very poor for enchantments that encourage groups to cooperate and work together such as congregations, military units and armies.

===Complexity===
Complex concepts and ideas, especially social structures like trade, alliances, and relationships are also beyond Spring. Spring magic is ill-suited to anything that requires subtlety or this kind of complexity.

===Subtlety===
Powerful Spring magic lacks subtlety. It is direct and tends to overwhelm opposition rather than circumvent it. It doesn't gently erode a wall, it tears it down with animated vines. Curses won't make the victim feel on edge or unwell, they send them into fevered convulsions. Roleplaying effects create energy and passion.

===Construction===
Spring does not work well with objects made by mortal beings, either creating or restoring them. Living things can be healed - Spring magic can lend supernatural haste to the natural process of recovery - but it cannot repair broken objects. It might make a tree-branch into a temporary club or wind trees together to make a sanctuary, but restoring the unnatural craftsmanship of mortals to something that has been damaged is anathema.

===Conformity and Stagnation===
Spring magic can be wild and chaotic and it has a powerful tendency to cause these results even when they are undesirable. Because of this is that it is particularly poor for casting rituals that require things to conform, to grow more similar in nature or form. Spring magic hates stagnation and status quo. It is good at changing things but especially weak when trying to preserve things just as they are.

{{Ritual Theory Further Reading}}

[[Category:Magic Theory]]
[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Rules]]

Imperial Orcs religious beliefs

2015-01-24T18:23:34Z

Nick Taylor: /* Liao and the Labyrinth */ Typo removed

==Liao and the Labyrinth==
Imperial Orcs derive no benefit from taking [[liao]] and do not believe that they reincarnate. It is a key tenet of Imperial Orc belief that each orc has only one life, and that after they die there is no coming back.

Exactly what happens to the soul of an orc after death depends on how they have lived their lives. Most orcs fall into the Howling Abyss that they believe waits for them after death. The Howling Abyss tears their soul to pieces and casts those pieces into oblivion. Such orcs are utterly annihilated and gone forever. It is literally a fate worse than death.

Some humans claim that the lack of reincarnation is proof that orcs have no souls, but the Imperial Orcs believe that the souls of orcs are simply different to the souls of humans. Experiment has shown that auras created with liao ceremonies still affect orcs as do ceremonies such as insight and testify so the majority of synod members accept that orcs must have souls even if doubt remains over their ability to enter and pass through the Labyrinth of Ages.
{{CaptionedImage|file=OrcBevor.jpg|align=left|width=400}}

==The Howling Abyss==
The greatest, the most powerful, the truly legendary orcs, those capable of inspiring a generation with their deeds, are able to cross over the Howling Abyss to the other side. What lies on this farthest shore is not known, for these ancestors never speak of it, but they are strong enough to pass back through the darkness. By doing so they are able to influence and guide their descendants, to speak to them, and to lead them through the Abyss after death - provided they are worthy.

Orcs who have powerful ancestors may receive help from them when they die. The ancestors come for those who have managed to achieve greatness, who strive and succeed against the odds, and help them cross the Howling Abyss. These orcs will return across the Howling Abyss many times, seeking to help their allies and offspring grow strong, but eventually they become too weak to make the journey and can no longer return. Only the most powerful ancestors, those capable of making the journey unaided are able to continue to aid their descendants forever more.

Orcs hear the words of their ancestors in battle when roused to fury. These voices are those of orc ancestors whose greatness allows them to cross the Howling Abyss to offer guidance to their descendants, or those who have been aided in crossing the Howling Abyss by the ancestors.

==Imperial Orc ancestors==
For Imperial Orcs, the words of their ancestors are often confused and incoherent urging battle with the Empire, rather than its enemies. They have identified three rough groups of ancestors whose voices they can hear. The smallest group is made up of a tiny handful of first- and second-generation Imperial Orcs whose voices are hard to hear. The second group is made up of a small number of slaves whose voices are also weak, and who mostly advise the Imperial Orcs to fight the humans or flee them. The largest group is made up of ancestors connected to the barbarian tribes from which the Imperial Orcs were originally taken - they tend to be angry, barely comprehensible voices that generally urge you to take violent or aggressive action against the rest of the Empire.

It is an unspoken fear for many Imperial Orcs that their ancestors are not strong enough to carry them across the Howling Abyss, and that their slave and barbarian ancestors will never guide them through the darkness because they do not embrace the violent, anti-human teachings of these resentful ancestors. They are left with the inescapable conclusion that unless they can produce strong, inspirational ancestors their people are doomed to oblivion after they die.

Imperial Orcs seek new Imperial Orc ancestors – ancestors who can understand the Empire and the lives the Imperial Orcs have chosen, and offer them support and guidance. The only way this can happen is for Imperial Orc heroes to emerge, and through their deeds and the reverence of their people, gain the strength to cross the Howling Abyss.

==Becoming an ancestor==
To become an ancestor, an orc must be carried within the proud hearts of their people. They must pour their tale into the soul of future generations and become a legend while still alive, respected and admired by their peers and offspring. It is not, however, one that is easily achieved. Each victory in battle, each notch on their blade and each new story to tell around the fire adds to their legacy, and the quest towards becoming an ancestor. Some Imperial Orcs seek triumph in battle in the name of the Empire, aiming to fell the mightiest foes while still living to fight another day. Others seek to remain in the hearts and memories of their people for their wisdom or cleverness, strengthening and nurturing their fellow orcs and building an enduring legacy for later generations.

==The ancestors in play==
How well your character can hear the ancestors is left almost entirely to the individual player's character and roleplaying. The usual time to hear the ancestors is when you're in a heightened state of anger or fear, especially in combat. You become aware of them around you; usually it's a rumbling of many voices where you can't make out the meaning, but sometimes you can hear an individual ancestor offering guidance.

It is extremely unlikely that a ref will ever inform you that an ancestor is talking to you - or what they are saying. What is important to bear in mind is that you aren't just making this up - orcs ''really do'' hear voices when they are agitated, and when they compare notes they often hear the same kinds of voices telling them the same kinds of things. The ancestors ''really do'' move orcs to acts of heroism and glory, or try to encourage them to stab an insolent [[Dawn|Dawnish]] knight in the guts in the middle of a tense negotiation...

Orcs can only hear an ancestor if they are a direct descendent of them, knew them well when they were alive or are a descendent of someone who knew them well. This means that you may hear your uncle or your grandfather, if you regard that figure with respect and admiration, but other Imperial Orcs probably won't unless they are also have a link to your ancestor.

===Things the ancestors say===
The ancestors are only dimly aware of your character and what you are doing, so the guidance they offer is invariably quite general in nature. In battle, they may alert you to imminent danger with a shout of warning. It is very common for them to exhort you to action but the words they use are never specific. If they do use a name, it is as likely to be someone else's name as your own. Despite this the advice given is applicable to what you are doing, at least most of the time.

Although it may sometimes appear as if the ancestors are talking to you, they cannot hear your words. The ancestors are only dimly aware of you and your actions. Long experience has taught the orcs that the ancestors cannot hear you speak and cannot hold a conversation with you; they have a message to deliver, and they deliver it.

When your grandad urges you to charge the enemy, and you do, there might be a few parting words of approval; if you decline to follow his advice, there may be a feeling of anger and some shouted abuse, but grandad does not enter into a dialogue about ''why'' he wants you to charge the enemy or what alternative courses of action might be equally good.

===Ancestors and hero points===
When an Imperial Orc spends a [[Heroic skills#Hero Points|hero point]], they are much more likely to hear the voice of an ancestor. You may want to roleplay that an ancestor is guiding your hand when you use [[Heroic skills#Cleaving Strikes|cleaving strike]] for example, or that it is the voice of an ancestor shouting at you that gives you the strength to [[Heroic skills#Unstoppable|get back on your feet]] when you are down. It is especially appropriate to roleplay hearing an ancestor when you use a hero point to change your response to a roleplaying effect - the urging of an ancestor lets you act in a way counter to that the external influence is causing.

==Shamans==
Most orcs only experience communion with the ancestors when battle is upon them but a few individuals - called [[shamans]] - are able to hear the voices more frequently. Shamans occupy a unique position in Imperial Orc society, as a result, but many are moon-struck, their minds affected by the constant attempts by the ancestors to communicate with them.

==Preachers==
The Imperial Virtues are clearly a part of what makes the Empire what it is. As a result most Imperial Orcs at least pay them lip service and there is a drive amongst some orcs to embody the virtues as keenly as possible, to prove themselves the equal of any human citizen of the Empire. Those Imperial Orcs who embrace the Way and become priests are called [[Preachers]].

==The Imperial orc National Assembly==
Originally, the orcs did not have their own [[The_Assemblies_of_the_Synod#The_National_Assemblies|national assembly]] within the [[Imperial Synod]]. During the Winter summit of 377YE, a motion was brought before the [[Imperial Senate]] by the [[Conscience of the Senate]] - the Imperial orc Gralka of the Stormcrows. The motion passed with unanimous support, and an Imperial orc assembly was [[Establish_Imperial_Orc_Assembly|established]].
[[Category:Imperial Orcs]]
[[Category:Nations]]

Battlefield ritual

2014-09-06T23:47:03Z

Nick Taylor:

* On the battlefield, you may cast certain rituals without the presence of a referee
* Be sure you understand the effects and limitations of the ritual
* Rip any mana crystals you have used on completing the ritual
* You must do your best not to exceed the ritual uses per day available to your coven
* After leaving the battlefield, report all rituals you have cast to a referee
* If you wish to cast any other rituals on the battlefield, please inform a referee as early as possible on the day of the battle

Many rituals do not require a referee to cast on the battlefield. If you wish to cast one of these, do not spend any time or effort looking for a referee. Calculate the [[Rituals|mana cost]] and perform the ritual, ripping the appropriate number of mana crystal cards at the conclusion of your roleplaying. Brief all targets on the effect once the ritual is complete. Record or remember the number of targets and the mana cost you have paid.

Not all of these rituals work exactly as you may expect. [[Last Breath Echoes]], for example, would be an excellent tool for covering up a murder if it didn't require a willing target, while [[Blood of the Hydra]] targets limbs, not characters. Make sure you fully understand the rules for the ritual, as opposed to the outcome you desire or the rules that make most sense, before casting these rituals. If in doubt, find a referee, ideally before the battle.

== The Coven Bond ==

You must do your best not to use your [[Bands#Covens|coven bond]] more times per day than you are permitted under the rules. By default, you may perform two coven rituals per day. Make sure that you know before going on the battlefield how many times your coven may use their bond today. If you perform a coven ritual at which not all coven members are present, ensure that absent members are updated OOC when next you meet them. If members of your coven attempt to perform a coven ritual and you are aware that you have exhausted the coven bond for the day, inform them of this OOC.

== Enchantments ==

Some of these rituals (indicated with an asterisk (*) in the list below) create an [[Enchantment|enchantment]] on their targets. This will overwrite any previous enchantment on that character. Ensure that you brief the target on this, in addition to the enchantment's effect. To ensure that Profound Decisions apply this to the correct character, please record or remember at least '''two''' of the target's CID, character name, and player name when casting one of these rituals.

Many enchantments last until the end of the next battle, skirmish or quest the target participates in. If these are cast on the battlefield, they last until the end of the ''current'' battle, skirmish or quest: the enchantment will wear off when you return to Anvil through the Sentinel Gate, assuming your character is lucky enough to make it out.

== After the battle ==

After you have left the battlefield, please find a referee and inform them of any rituals you have cast, the number of targets, the mana cost paid, whether you used your coven bond, and in the case of rituals that create enchantments the identity of the targets. Please do not do this on the battlefield.

== Off the battlefield ==

Please find a referee, as usual for ritual casting, if you wish to cast any of these rituals on the main field. If the situation becomes time-critical, you may cast them without a referee, as if you were on the battlefield. Such situations are expected to be uncommon on the main field.

== Ritual list ==

The following rituals may be cast without a referee on the battlefield. Rituals marked with an asterisk (*) create an enchantment. You '''must''' record the target's identity for rituals which create an enchantment.

=== Spring ===

* [[Blood of the Hydra]]
* [[The Hands of Sacred Life]]
* [[Hearthfire Circle]]
* [[Call Down Lightning%27s Wrath]] *
* [[Rot%27s Rightful Claim]]
* [[Charge of the Rushing Wind]]

=== Summer ===

* [[Renewed Strength of the New Day]]
* [[The Hammer of Thunder]] *
* [[The Leaping Hare]] *
* [[The Swan%27s Cruel Wing]] *
* [[Stout Resolve of the Unyielding]]
* [[The Sound of Drums]] *
* [[Glorious Crown of Enchantment]]

=== Autumn ===

* [[The Anvil of Estavus]]
* [[The Blade Bites Back]]
* [[Imurrement of Leaden Chains]]

=== Winter ===

* [[Crumbling Flesh and Withering Limbs]] *
* [[Hungry Grasp of Despair]]
* [[Unyielding Constitution]] *
* [[Last Breath Echoes]]

=== Day ===

* [[Ascetic Star of Atun]]
* [[Horizon%27s Razor Edge]] *
* [[Cold Water from the Mountain]]
* [[Ensnaring Bond of Transient Stasis]]

=== Night ===

This section intentionally left blank.

== OOC reasoning ==

Referees can add a lot to rituals: they can check your maths, keep track of coven bonds, and look up details of the rules while you get on with your ritual. They can tell you your wounds are closing themselves with bark rather than skin, curse you with illiteracy, or drop a Tulpa on your head. On the battlefield, though, there aren't enough referees to guarantee you get one to your Hands of Sacred Life before the targets have bled to death or been overrun by orcs. Even if the size of the referee team doubled, that would still be the case: there are a lot of ritualists, and the woods are large. The potential benefits of having a ref present for a ritual are outweighed, in these cases, by the fact that requiring their presence makes the ritual useless.

Some of the rituals on this list are of pretty questionable use on the battlefield, but if you want to refresh your Swan's Cruel Wing because you've used its cleave for today, it's your mana: knock yourself out. A lot of other rituals are useful on the battlefield, but not on this list; [[Rising Roots that Rend Stone]] needs a referee (probably grinning, and holding the trigger for a pyro) to handle the effect, for example. The rituals on this list are here because the cost of going and getting a referee in a battle outweighs the benefit of having a referee at the ritual.

[[Category:Rituals]] [[Category:Magic]]

Wiki Updates

2014-09-06T23:22:09Z

Nick Taylor:

Battlefield ritual

2014-09-06T23:19:34Z

Nick Taylor: Full battlefield rituals rules

* On the battlefield, you may cast certain rituals without the presence of a referee
* Be sure you understand the effects and limitations of the ritual
* Rip any mana crystals you have used on completing the ritual
* You must do your best not to exceed the ritual uses per day available to your coven
* After leaving the battlefield, report all rituals you have cast to a referee
* If you wish to cast any other rituals on the battlefield, please inform a referee as early as possible on the day of the battle

Many rituals do not require a referee to cast on the battlefield. If you wish to cast one of these, do not spend any time or effort looking for a referee. Calculate the [[Rituals|mana cost]] and perform the ritual, ripping the appropriate number of mana crystal cards at the conclusion of your roleplaying. Brief all targets on the effect once the ritual is complete. Record or remember the number of targets and the mana cost you have paid.

Not all of these rituals work exactly as you may expect. [[Last Breath Echoes]], for example, would be an excellent tool for covering up a murder if it didn't require a willing target, while [[Blood of the Hydra]] targets limbs, not characters. Make sure you fully understand the rules for the ritual, as opposed to the outcome you desire or the rules that make most sense, before casting these rituals. If in doubt, find a referee, ideally before the battle.

== The Coven Bond ==

You must do your best not to use your [[Bands#Covens|coven bond]] more times per day than you are permitted under the rules. By default, you may perform two coven rituals per day. Make sure that you know before going on the battlefield how many times your coven may use their bond today. If you perform a coven ritual at which not all coven members are present, ensure that absent members are updated OOC when next you meet them. If members of your coven attempt to perform a coven ritual and you are aware that you have exhausted the coven bond for the day, inform them of this OOC.

== Enchantments ==

Some of these rituals (indicated with an asterisk (*) in the list below) create an [[Enchantment|enchantment]] on their targets. This will overwrite any previous enchantment on that character. Ensure that you brief the target on this, in addition to the enchantment's effect. To ensure that Profound Decisions apply this to the correct character, please record or remember at least '''two''' of the target's CID, character name, and player name when casting one of these rituals.

Many enchantments last until the end of the next battle, skirmish or quest the target participates in. If these are cast on the battlefield, they last until the end of the ''current'' battle, skirmish or quest.

== After the battle ==

After you have left the battlefield, please find a referee and inform them of any rituals you have cast, the number of targets, the mana cost paid, whether you used your coven bond, and in the case of rituals that create enchantments the identity of the targets. Please do not do this on the battlefield.

== Off the battlefield ==

Please find a referee, as usual for ritual casting, if you wish to cast any of these rituals on the main field. If the situation becomes time-critical, you may cast them without a referee, as if you were on the battlefield. Such situations are expected to be uncommon on the main field.

== Ritual list ==

The following rituals may be cast without a referee on the battlefield. Rituals marked with an asterisk (*) create an enchantment. You '''must''' record the target's identity for rituals which create an enchantment.

=== Spring ===

* [[Blood of the Hydra]]
* [[The Hands of Sacred Life]]
* [[Hearthfire Circle]]
* [[Call Down Lightning%27s Wrath]] *
* [[Rot%27s Rightful Claim]]
* [[Charge of the Rushing Wind]]

=== Summer ===

* [[Renewed Strength of the New Day]]
* [[The Hammer of Thunder]] *
* [[The Leaping Hare]] *
* [[The Swan%27s Cruel Wing]] *
* [[Stout Resolve of the Unyielding]]
* [[The Sound of Drums]] *
* [[Glorious Crown of Enchantment]]

=== Autumn ===

* [[The Anvil of Estavus]]
* [[The Blade Bites Back]]
* [[Imurrement of Leaden Chains]]

=== Winter ===

* [[Crumbling Flesh and Withering Limbs]] *
* [[Hungry Grasp of Despair]]
* [[Unyielding Constitution]] *
* [[Last Breath Echoes]]

=== Day ===

* [[Ascetic Star of Atun]]
* [[Horizon%27s Razor Edge]] *
* [[Cold Water from the Mountain]]
* [[Ensnaring Bond of Transient Stasis]]

=== Night ===

This section intentionally left blank.

== OOC reasoning ==

Referees can add a lot to rituals: they can check your maths, keep track of coven bonds, and look up details of the rules while you get on with your ritual. They can tell you your wounds are closing themselves with bark rather than skin, curse you with illiteracy, or drop a Tulpa on your head. On the battlefield, though, there aren't enough referees to guarantee you get one to your Hands of Sacred Life before the targets have bled to death or been overrun by orcs. Even if the size of the referee team doubled, that would still be the case: there are a lot of ritualists, and the woods are large. The potential benefits of having a ref present for a ritual are outweighed, in these cases, by the fact that requiring their presence makes the ritual useless.

Some of the rituals on this list are of pretty questionable use on the battlefield, but if you want to refresh your Swan's Cruel Wing because you've used its cleave for today, it's your mana: knock yourself out. A lot of other rituals are useful on the battlefield, but not on this list; [[Rising Roots that Rend Stone]] needs a referee (probably grinning, and holding the trigger for a pyro) to handle the effect, for example. The rituals on this list are here because the cost of going and getting a referee in a battle outweighs the benefit of having a referee at the ritual.

[[Category:Rituals]] [[Category:Magic]]

Rituals

2014-09-06T23:08:36Z

Nick Taylor: Battlefield casting of rituals

==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.

==Battlefield rituals==
Many rituals do not require a referee to cast on the battlefield. If you wish to cast one of these, do not spend any time or effort looking for a referee. Calculate the mana cost and perform the ritual, ripping the appropriate number of mana crystal cards at the conclusion of your roleplaying. Brief all targets on the effect once the ritual is complete. Record or remember the number of targets and the mana cost you have paid.

For full rules and a list of rituals for which this is permissible, see [[Battlefield Rituals]].

==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]]
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Wiki Updates

2014-08-28T15:44:27Z

Nick Taylor: /* Ritual Corrections */

Blood and Salt

2014-08-28T15:41:48Z

Nick Taylor: Increase additional target magnitude

==Rules==
{{Season|Spring|12}}
===Performing the Ritual===
{{Casting time|2}} {{Target Resource|[[fleet]]}}

{{enchantment}}

===Effects===

The target fleet earns additional profit during the next season, but only if it engages in piracy. The effect of the ritual increases the level of the target fleet by 5 ranks, which is sufficient to effectively double the production of a starting fleet.

The character who controls the target resource is under a [[roleplaying effect]] for at least ten minutes after the ritual is performed: they feel unrestrained and unconcerned about the consequences of their actions, with an urge to take what they want; they feel uninhibited about using violence against anyone who gets in their way.

{{Season Duration}} {{Downtime buff}} If the fleet does not engage in piracy during the next downtime, the ritual has no effect.

===Additional Targets===
This ritual can affect additional fleets belonging to characters in the same [[Groups#Banners|banner]]. Each additional fleet increases the magnitude by 8. The character who controls each fleet must be present throughout the ritual.

==Description==

This ritual is sometimes called ''Blood in the Water'', ''The Shark Amidst the Nets'', ''The Corsair's Cruel Smile'' and other equally poetic names. It helps to ensure that a [[Resource_overview|fleet]] will get good weather and excellent tides, and fires the crew up with vigour and primitive strength. The more aggressive the crew is, the more the magic of Spring encourages them and strengthens them; if they engage in the relatively bloodless pursuit of trade, the [[enchantment]] will quickly fade.

A crew enchanted by this ritual does not turn on itself (although there are stories of crews who were already mutinous who tore each other apart once the enchantment began to erode their inhibitions and restraints); nor do they become monstrous (although there are also stories of cruel, merciless men and women who lost the last vestiges of humanity under the influence of this enchantment); they are, after all, possessed of free will. If a fight does break out they are less likely to offer or accept quarter or mercy, and likely to fight with wild, terrifying abandon. In many cases, the sheer ferocity of the sailors in the enchanted fleet is enough to convince the prey to give up without a fight.

The ritual is obviously most common among the [[The Brass Coast|Freeborn]] [[The Brass Coast military concerns#Corsairs|corsairs]] and adventurous [[The League|Leage]] privateers; there are also plenty of reports of the [[Grendel]] using similar enchantments. It is common for those who receive the benefit of the spell to offer a portion of any plunder they gain in the coming season to the ritualists, although this is by no means mandatory - not least because some ritualists prefer to be paid in advance rather than trust to the short memories of corsairs and privateers.

==Common Elements==
The ritual both influences the weather and fills a crew with both vigour and bloodlust. Ritual performances often include the evocation of [[Mawrig|the rune of storms]] or the constellation of [[The Claw]]. Blood is often shed during this ritual, often mixed with a cup or bowl of water or spirits and shared by the targets. Sometimes the ritual involves the targets cutting themselves with a blade and swearing oaths to be merciless in pursuit of their prey. There are often invocations of sharks or [[Mundane beasts#Kraken|kraken]] during the performance of ''Blood and Salt''.



[[Category:Spring Ritual]]
[[Category:Rituals]]
[[Category:IC Text Required]]
[[Category:Economic]]