A Goblet of Stars

This ritual is part of Urizen lore rather than Imperial lore.

Rules

Urizen Lore

This ritual is part of Urizen lore rather than Imperial lore. Any Urizen character with the appropriate lore can master or perform this ritual. A character from another nation who mastered the ritual before it became part of Urizen lore may still perform it, but does so under the usual rules for performing a ritual learned from a ritual text.

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. This ritual targets a character, who must be present throughout. The target character must possess the physick skill.

This ritual is an enchantment. A target may only be under one enchantment effect at a time.

Effects

The target of this enchantment gains the ability to use a dram of any healing herb - bladeroot, cerulean mazzarine, Imperial roseweald, or marrowort - as if it were a dram of true vervain when using the physick skill. This means they can use any of the five herbs with thirty seconds of appropriate roleplay to restore a target to full hits.

They also experience a roleplaying effect: you see death as the ultimate enemy whose victory must be prevented at all costs. You feel an urge to offer assistance to anyone who is on the brink of death and the idea of killing any person or animal makes you nauseous.

Note that the enchantment does not apply to other uses of true vervain; an apothecary could not use it to substitute another herb for true vervain when making a potion for example.

The effect lasts until the start of the next Profound Decisions Empire event.

Additional Targets

This ritual can affect additional characters from the same coven. Each additional character increases the magnitude by 6. Additional characters must be present throughout.

Description

I think few people really consider that the herbs we rely on so much - roseweald and bladeroot and the rest - are possessed of natural magic. How else could a physick perform such miraculous healing with a handful of plants? Perhaps the most valuable of the herbs is true vervain - a plant that has nothing less than the power to preserve life. A fraction of that power is intrinsic to all the herbs and a true master, empowered by this enchantment, can unlock that potential. Is it the herb, the enchantment, or the arete of the physick that does the most work? In truth it is a combination of the three I think.

Cassirra Greenwell of the Bleak Tower

Each of the five herbs used by physicks and apothecaries contains an amount of healing power. That power allows a trained herb master to restore vitality, purge venom, and other miraculous effects. The Goblet of Stars enchantment allows a physick to capture the healing power of a herb and turn it to another use - specifically to heal wounds as True Vervain does. The benefits are obvious, if a little niche. Generally, keeping a patient alive is the first and most important step of any medical procedure; venom or weakness can be treated at leisure, while most traumatic wounds allow a generous window for an injury to be addressed. In situations where True Vervain is not available, the enchantment allows another herb to be substituted without loss of potency.

Historically, this ritual was beneficial for the same reasons rituals related to the cultivation of food were valuable. While Urizen has always made us of healing herbs, growing them on the mountainsides of the nation has not always been a straightforward matter. Wonders such as the Gardens of Pallas and the Gardens of Morrow, destroyed by the Druj, were important because they ensured that healers across Urizen had access to the valuable herbs they needed. In the absence of such great works, the Urizen make use of enchantments such as this to allow their reserves of healing herbs to go further. After all, when fighting an opponent who does not make use of venom, it can be beneficial to find other practical uses for Imperial Roseweald for example.

This ritual became part of Urizen lore in 383YE alongside Fountain's Bounty, Woven Strands of Life, and Wellspring of the High Peak. All four rituals were contained in The Well of Nine Stars, a grimoire belonging to Cassirra Greenwell, a refugee from Grendel-occupied Spiral. The book was given to the founders of Fountainhome Spire in the reign of Empress Richilde and handed down from generation to generation. It contained a wealth of Spring lore relating to green growing plants. The survivors of Fountainhome Spire proposed that the book be entered into lore as much to reconnect their fellow Urizeni with their pasts as to swell their understanding of the realm of Spring. Arbiter Cyrus of the Bleak Tower agreed, and worked with Cassirra and her fellows to arrange for the rituals contained within to be shared with the rest of URizen.

As with the other groups with rituals to propose for Urizen lore, however, The Well of Nine Stars did not come without complications. As a requirement before the book can become part of Urizen lore, Cassirra Greenwell and the members of Bleak Tower wanted the then-newly formed Silver Chalice Conclave order to make a significant change to its manifesto. Specifically they wanted it to officially remove the statement that it existed to "Look into supporting long term efforts to aid the infrastructure (and foundations) of the Empire." Both were quick to make clear that they and their spiremates bear the Order no ill-will. On the contrary, they are concerned that the Silver Chalice has erred by choosing four goals rather than the traditional three. Three is an ideal number, claims Cassirra Greenwell; more than three and the order risks becoming unfocused - especially with a goal that is so open ended as to be functionally meaningless. For the order to be truly successful it must have focus. The Senate ultimately modified the manifesto, and the Well of Nine Stars became part of Urizen lore shortly thereafter.

Common Elements

The traditional method of casting A Goblet of Stars involves an evocation of the constellation of the Fountain, although the Chalice also has resonance with the ritual. Blood and water are potent elements to include in the ritual, both for their connection to the Fountain and the Chalice, and their wider symbolism around healing and the giving of life. For a similar reason, fire is also resonant with the ritual, given its symbolism around purification (in the medical sense), but also its connection to the idea of transforming or refining base materials. The presence of the five healing herbs also helps to capture the resonance of the enchantment, although some more traditional Urizeni would also recommend the use of magical items such as a Staff of Life.

Urizen practitioners of rune magic would point to Rhyv in particular, although both Hirmok and Xun connect with the magics involved. Painting these runes on the hands of a target, or working them into gloves or rings worn on the hands, is an uncommon way to enact the ritual. Likewise, the firebird - which handily is also seen as a symbol of Urizeni mastery of academic subjects such as herb lore - might be invoked.