Solace of Chimes

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. The ritual must be performed in an enclosed area such as a tent or building.

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

Effects

This ritual imbues an area with an aura that creates a powerful roleplaying effect: they feel calm, relaxed and focused; they find meditation and rational discussion preferable to physical action. All emotions and pressing concerns are muted; physical action and behaving in an impassioned way are both tiring. Violence requires a major effort of will.

Anyone in the area can choose to roleplay being calm and focused in response to any other aura they are experiencing, for as long as they remain in the area.

The {{{1}}} can provide a source of supernatural strength to anyone in the area, allowing them to overcome an unwanted roleplaying effect. This ability requires the character to roleplay {{{2}}}, and to remain in the area. If they leave, the unwanted roleplaying effect returns assuming it has any duration left.

A character who engages in at least fifteen minutes of {{{3}}} in this location aura recovers all lost personal mana. There is no effect if the character is on a battlefield or in a similar stressful environment. If the character makes or suffers an attack during this time, or spends any personal mana, then the fifteen minutes is interrupted and must be begun again from scratch. This magic is not sufficient to allow recovery of personal mana to any character who is under an effect that prevents recovery of mana overnight - most obviously, it will not help someone who is under the effect of Dreamscape of the Endless Hunt or similar curses.

This enchantment is a location aura, similar to that created using the consecration ceremony. A location can only be under one aura at a time. This ritual will replace any standard location aura (including those created by similar rituals), but is not powerful enough to remove a strong location aura . Likewise, any consecration can replace (or remove) this enchantment. A detect magic spell performed in the area determines the realm and magnitude of the effect. The insight skill will not detect any spiritual element to the enchantment.

The enchantment lasts until the next sunrise.

Additional Magnitude

You may choose to create a more powerful effect to overcome another magical enchantment that creates an aura in an area, and to make this enchantment harder to replace with another similar effect. You may increase the magnitude of the ritual by any amount. This does not increase the difficulty of removing or replacing the aura with exorcism or consecrate.

Description

Like The Chamber of Delights, The Solace of Chimes creates an aura similar to, but distinct from, the kind of aura a priest can create with the ceremony of consecration. It differs in several key respects.

Most obviously, it is not created using Liao, but is a construct made using magic. This is not a spiritual aura drawn from the Labyrinth or the spiritual strength of humanity; it is an enchantment that evokes the same feelings of calm and clarity that surround many Eternals of Day.

The strength of the aura does not vary; like all such enchantments it is quite fragile and can be removed from an area by even the most basic ceremony of exorcism. The magnitude of the enchantment has no effect on the strength of the aura; it appears to be impossible to use magic to create an enchantment that is resistant to exorcism.

Some priests are quite skeptical of this ritual. They claim that it invokes a false virtue, or even a malign spiritual presence. It encourages inaction rather than action, contemplation rather than Ambition. At various points in history some magicians have used their ability to create these auras to support claims that the ceremonies used by priests of the Way are just magic, or even to found small cults based around the worship of Eternals. Scholars of magic, especially those associated with the Sevenfold Path of the Imperial Conclave have proved repeatedly that consecration and area-enchantments such as these are different on a profound level, but this does not silence critics on both sides of the debate. In practice, most priests tend to treat The Solace of Chimes much as they would any other enchantment - it influences the minds of mortals, through magic. It may be a useful tool, or a test for the faithful, but the context in which it is encountered is the most important thing.

This ritual is sometimes used to create meditation chambers, or areas that encourage for quiet contemplation and relaxation. Many Urizen spires have a location specifically set aside for invoking this ritual, and a few have areas permanently enchanted with The Solace of Chimes through the use of ilium. Some doctors and healers find the ritual useful for treating patients who are in a great deal of pain or have terminal illnesses - the quiet and calm created in the aura cal also be a boon to convalesence, albeit an expensive one due to the need to perform the ritual every morning.

Common Elements

This ritual is designed to create feelings of calm and inspire meditation. It is often performed with soothing music, especially the sound of wind-chimes. Soothing incense is often burnt, and where possible the area is dressed in neutral colours and decorated with patterns designed to help focus the mind (mandalas, depictions of the runes of Day and so on). Crystals, mirrors and other reflective surfaces are often scattered around the area. Invocations are almost invariably performed in quiet voices, and may involve participants sitting and staying as still as possible.

The area is often dressed in ways that highlight and reinforce the culture of the nation to which the ritualist belongs. A Highguard Magister performing this ritual is likely to ensure that there is a suitable vessel for washing the hands and face. A Navarr vate is likely to decorate the area with complex, swirling designs that can be studied and followed during meditation.

The rune Cavul is almost always evoked with this ritual.