Crown of Phoenix Fire
Rules
Summer Magnitude 32
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 up to five characters. Each character must be present throughout.
This ritual is an enchantment. A target may only be under one enchantment effect at a time.
Effects
The ritual targets up to five characters from the same banner. Each target gains two additional ranks of endurance.
While under the effect of this enchantment, each character experiences a roleplaying effect: you feel driven to take responsibility for others, to take charge, and get things done. You are supremely confident in your ability to achieve your goals if you simply apply yourself, and are willing to take risks to get things done.
The effect lasts until the start of the next Profound Decisions Empire event.
Additional Targets
This ritual can affect additional characters from the same banner. Every additional character increases the magnitude by 5. Additional characters must be present throughout.
Options
Any caster who has mastered the ritual may choose to substitute Orichalcum for crystal mana when contributing to it. Every 2 ingots of Orichalcum spent counts as 1 crystal mana when contributing to the ritual.
Special
A magician who is bonded to a Captain's Mask gains two ranks of lore for performing this ritual, subject to the normal rules for effective skill
Description
This ritual was developed at the Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun under the direction of Luke of the Shattered Tower. Work was completed shortly before the Winter Solstice 381YE. The original work to create this ritual was undertaken by the Urizen Ioseph, building on concepts embodied by the Splendid Panoply of Knighthood. The ritual was the first to be completed while Eleonaris was the patron of the Icy Crag. Several of her heralds contributed suggestions, and in some cases their support helped the scholars at the college to find ways to incorporate more streamlined versions of elements from the Splendid Panoply into the final version. They were particularly helpful in adapting the ability to use orichalcum in place of crystal mana to the more powerful ritual.
It functions much like the Splendid Panoply of Knighthood, but is easily twice as powerful. If it has a drawback it is that the magic encourages each individual enchanted to consider themselves a hero or champion - with an urge to take charge and get things done. This can easily lead to problems when performed on a group, particularly if that group is intended to work together and especially if those individuals have the changeling or cambion lineage, or are naturally driven to seek opportunities for glory or heroism.
As part of the codification, a subsidiary body of lore about the legendary phoenix was collected and studied. Although the creatures are not themselves invoked in the ritual - assuming they even exist - it provided a pleasant diversion especially for those practitioners of heraldic magic involved in the codification of the ritual.
Performing the Ritual
As with many enchantments, common elements include the consumption of wholesome food and drink (especially red wine), and the use of tokens and gifts. With this ritual, the image of the crown is especially resonant – much of the original work included the use of a crown or circlet, sometimes of red or whtie flowers, as part of a girding ceremony performed on the warriors who will bear the power of the ritual. Painting a rune on the forehead, or anointing the brow with the blood of a champion, ruler, or general are also highly resonant with this ritual.
Unlike similar rituals, the power used here is resonant with majesty and nobility rather than the raucous songs of warriors or quaffing of beer and mead. This ritual grants strength and potence, but it is the strength of the focused champion not the common soldier. For a Summer ritual, it lends itself well to a more restrained, quiet ritual – in which nonetheless great oaths and vows are made as the targets commit themselves absolutely to a desired course of action.
Any or all of the runes of Summer – Feresh, Jotra, Tykonus, and Verys – might be evoked, or painted carefully on the forehead or shield. Likewise the constellation of the Oak or the Stallion may be used – but the most resonant constellation is likely the Stork (rather than the Phoenix). The Stork represents choices, and in this ritual it empowers the choices of heroes.
One of the options with this ritual is the use of orichalcum in place of crystal mana; some of the contributors to the formulation of the ritual suggested that first working the orichalcum into the form of a circlet or crown and using it as part of the performance, was particularly resonant.