Dripping Echoes of the Fen

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 10 minutes of roleplaying. During the ritual the casters must be in a strong Night regio. The ritual must include a map of the target region.

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

Effects

The ritual targets a single region of marsh.

Over the course of the next few days a powerful enchantment settles over the region which offers protection to armies belonging to the force that controls it. A defensive force in the region gains a bonus roughly equivalent to that provided by ten additional military units; there does not need to be an army present for the region to benefit from this defensive boost..

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

Description

This enchantment shrouds troops belonging to the force that controls the region; in places it pools to create fortification-like enclaves of mist that actively mislead and confuse attackers. In other areas it encourages marsh-creatures to attack patrols and causes scouts to become lost - sometimes permanently. A sense of creeping dread settles over forces belonging to an invading army and they are likely to become more cautious.

The marsh becomes more dangerous; bogs are deeper and harder to spot; waterways shift and change without warning; the weather worsens, and at night a sinister mist settles over the region full of dancing lights and flitting shapes. Under the influence of this spell, a marshland or fen can become a lethal deathtrap; invaders find themselves following phantasmal echoes and witch-lights that lead them into ambushes, while the fen-paths seem to open for the defenders and the same witch-lights may guide them to safety when needed.

Some reports speak of odd creatures emerging from the mists to assault enemy forces - shadowy warriors, disturbing phantasmal mirages, and even the rare report of a beasts such as drakes, dire crocodiles or even the occasional wyvern roused to assault the attackers. The ritual is effective at turning the natural predators of a marsh against an army, encouraging creatures such as catoblepas or marshwalkers to attack rather than retreat. On a few occasions it has also reportedly riled up some unliving spirits that lie in restless slumber beneath the marsh waters.

This ritual increases the difficulty a hostile force will have in claiming a region, even if there is no army to oppose them directly, Local militia and the like are able to take advantage of the defensive enchantment (once they recognise it for what it is) to engage in effective guerilla tactics, harrying and confusing a much larger force, at least for a time.

The ritual can occasionally backfire; the ritual always aids the force that claims the region. Occasionally Imperial ritualsts have inadvertently aided the enemies of the Empire when a dramatic shift has allowed a barbarian force to claim an area of land while the Dripping Echoes of the Fen was in effect.

Common Elements

The map that forms the focus for this ritual is an important element. It is often obscured during the casting, or even destroyed in water at the completion. Sometimes the map is created from sand or painstakingly drawn with salt or coloured powders, so it can be washed away at the culmination of the ritual. Some ritualists allow clouds of incense to blow over it to symbolically create ensrhouding mists, while others create designs with blood or ink to confuse and mislead invading armies.

The rune Wyr is commonly used during this ritual, and the constellation of The Wanderer is often invoked.