Rhythm of the Tempest
Rules
Spring Magnitude 16
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 have the battle mage skill. The performance must include an evocation of the eternal Siakha by at least three well-known names.
This ritual is an enchantment. A target may only be under one enchantment effect at a time.
Effects
This enchantment draws on the power of Siakha to fill a battle mage with the irresistible power of the tempest. It grants them the ability to cast the repel spell four times each day as if they know it without spending any mana, provided they are wielding a staff.
They also experience a roleplaying effect: you feel a strong desire to show your prowess by hurling anyone who gets in your way, literally or metaphorically, away with the magic of this enchantment. It is easy to lose control of your temper and physically strike anyone who annoys you, although you may stop short of actually killing them.
If the target regains all spent personal mana by resting in a magical aura such as that provided by the Chamber of Delights, or drinks an Elixir of Empyrean Art, they also regain all spent uses of this ability at the same time. Other methods of restoring personal mana that are not listed as restoring it all in one go do not restore uses of this ability (for example drinking multiple Mageblood or Philtre of Heavenly Lore).
The effect lasts until the start of the next Profound Decisions Empire event.
Additional Targets
This ritual can affect additional battle-mages from the same coven. Each additional character increases the magnitude by 11. Additional characters must be present throughout.
Assurance
This ritual loses all power and stops working if the Senate ever dissolves the Conclave order of the Rod and Shield, or alters their manifesto to remove the idea that The Empire's enemies are capable of using magic, and the Empire must be able to counter them.
Description
Along with Blood-dimmed Tide and Shark's Rampage, this ritual became part of Urizen lore after the Autumn Equinox 387YE. The original ritual was part of a water-damaged ship's logbook, filled with cryptic poems in praise of the unceasing sea, the power of the storm, and the admirably simple life of the shark. Interspersed between the poems were crude drawings of sea monsters, and what seemed to be actual prayers in praise of the Mother of the Maelstrom asking for her to send her children to torment the unknown author's enemies, or begging her to fill them and their crew with the power of the tempest. These sections become increasingly difficult to read, and the last few pages are almost entirely obscured by old blood splatter. Scrawled across the cover - carved into the thick leather with a knife - was the message “at the mother’s command, a gift for Ibiss Briarheart”.
The ritual is an enchantment that draws on similar power to that used through Call Down Lightning's Wrath. It channels the irresistible power of the storm and the tempest, the fury of nature itself, but channelled through the bloodthirsty power of Siakha. In some ways it mirrors the abilities of some of her better-known servants, the heralds referred to as tempests who can hurl their foes away with gale-force winds. It comes with an innate danger in the relatively subtle urge the magician feels to wield this power to assert their dominance over others. Making those who wield the destructive power of Spring magic even more volatile and unpredictable rarely ends well.
Common Elements
The original text detailed only one method of performance - invoking the "goddess" of the Maelstrom and asking her to fill the targets with her devastating power. The text also calls for vicious bleeding cuts on the forearms of the war wizards who are to benefit from the enchantment. The blood of the magicians was collected in a bowl and used to draw a crude spiral on their foreheads, and on their staves.
The Urizen magicians who have studied the ritual since - cautiously given the various reasons as to why it is entirely illegal - have theorised that the rune Mawrig, or the constellation of the Claw would also resonate with the magic invoked here. They note however that while these elements might prove useful in raising and corralling the magic invoked, it is impossible to perform the rite without calling openly on Siakha and quite apart from the other reasons to be cautious of this magic, that also makes its performance problematic.