Sift the Dreamscape's Sands

Rules

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 magician skill.

The performance must include eating or drinking a ritually prepared consumable.

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

Effects

During the ritual, the target character must eat or drink a ritually prepared consumable such as a goblet of wine or fruit-juice, a square of chocolate or a mushroom. This may be a special item such as a potion or drug, or it may be something created during the performance of the ritual.

The target feels a spreading warmth, and experiences a roleplaying effect; colours appear more vivid, and on the edge of hearing they can hear a sound like a murmuring crowd, a windy forest, or the crashing of waves on a beach. The sensation fades after a few moments but may recur at dramatically appropriate moments while the character is enchanted.

The next time the character sleeps overnight they will experience vivid, extremely symbolic dreams.

At sunrise the next morning after being the subject of the ritual, the target finds their minds are flooded with images and ideas that provide an intuitive understanding of a single realm lore of their choice for purposes of performing rituals. They gain an additional rank of effective lore of their choice for purposes of performing rituals, provided they already possess at least one innate skill rank of that Realm Lore|realm lore]]. This additional rank does not grant any additional mastered rituals, and a character's total effective rank can never be more than three times their innate skill (the number of ranks of the appropriate Realm Lore they have gained by spending experience points).

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

(OOC NOTE: In essence, the enchantment gives the target an additional rank of Realm lore the day after it is performed. It is not possible to gain the bonus earlier by having a nap.)

Additional Targets

This ritual can affect additional characters from the same coven. Each additional character increases the magnitude by 12. Additional characters must be present throughout, and must consume the same type of preparation (drink the same liquid, eat the same kind of food or whatever). All characters who are targeted by the ritual gain an additional rank in the same realm lore.

Description

This ritual uncovers secret and mysterious lore, and provides an intuitive understanding of the magic of one of the six Realms. The vivid, almost hallucinogenic dreams that it causes are remembered with utter lucidity. Comparing stories of those who have experienced the dream, there seem to be many common elements, supporting belief that the ritual connects the dreamers to a specific mental 'place'.

The dreams place them in a strange, dark, place of lost secrets; dunes and valleys of dust and tumbled stones, littered with ancient tablets, strange containers, looming towers of alien aspect and great, trailing metal chains roping from place to place. Scattered through the dreamscape are oases of colour and wonder; patches of lush jungle inhabited by loquacious tigers, erudite pythons and garrulous rainbow-hued birds surrounding clear crystalline pools. The boughs of the trees creak with heavy, succulent fruit. Many ritualists warn the dreamers not to eat the fruit, because the experience (which can never quite be recalled) invites comparison with every other taste. Those who eat the fruit of dreams often find that they consider all other food and drink to be a little disappointing in comparison.

Sifting through the sand and picking over the ruins of the dreamscape of lost secrets can provide incredible insight, but that insight is fleeting. While a dreamer may recall reading a tome of magic, or deciphering a ritual in a long-dead language, they can never remember the specifics on awakening. On rare occasions, someone who is undergoing the dreams provided by this ritual simply disappears. The only explanation is that they consider the dream world to be superior to the material world, and choose to stay there forever. Very rarely, dreamers claim to have encountered figures in the dreamworld that resemble and believe themselves to be, magicians who have experienced this ritual and chosen to stay behind.

(OOC Note: If you ever want to retire a character who has this ritual then you can choose to have had them disappear while casting this ritual. If you do this, please, let us know for our campaign notes. Thank you.)

If the ritual is performed on a group, they share the same dream experience. They can converse, and details of the dream when they are all together seem to match up. If they separate for even a few moments, however ,they are unable to locate one another again and experience solitary dreams from then on.

A lot of speculation exists around this ritual. A common belief among students of Night magic is that the dreamscape is the Realm of some unknown and mysterious Night Eternal; perhaps the Eternal is one of the serpents encountered in the oases, or perhaps it is the city itself. Regardless, nobody has yet encountered an Eternal believably connected to this ritual, nor a Herald that claims to represent it.

(OOC Note: You should feel free to create details of your vivid, lucid dream using the information presented here as a starting point. A referee will not provide additional specific information about the dream beyond what is presented here.)

Common Elements

The key component of this ritual is the food or drink used to inspire the dream-like state. Wine or fruit-juice mixed with soporific herbs are common, but some ritualists prefer honeyed milk. Chocolate and sweets are also used - anything with a strong taste, preferably something a little luxurious. When the ritual is performed all the targets consume a little of the same substance, which links their dreams together. The substance may be prepared during the ritual, or consumed at the start and the ritual performed as it takes its slow effect.

The ritualists are usually masked, cowled or veiled, and there is often slow, dreamy music. The ritualists might describe the elements of the dreamscape, offering advice and warnings about the mysterious place the dreamers will visit, or they may weave tales of wonder and arabesque adventure. Incense is commonly burnt, the more strongly-scented the better.

Mirrors are often used as part of this ritual. Some ritualists capture the reflection of the targets with the intention that if they become lost in the dream they can find their way back by remembering the mirror, and the more distinctive it is the better.

The runes Diras and Wyr are a common element, as are scenes of wonder and imagination and the constellation of The Door.