Ties that Bind

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 also contribute to the performance of the ritual.

Effects

This ritual allows one contributor, chosen as the target, to divine information about an item that they have personally bonded to a person with either the create bond spell or the artisan ability.

The target character discovers who is bound to that item currently, gaining a shadowy image of their face and possibly other information (such as their name perhaps, the identity of the person who bonded them to that item, or when the bond was created).

If the object or the character it is bonded to is protected by an enchantment such as Masque of the Blinded Weaver, the caster merely learns that the item is protected by a spell, and what realm or magnitude it has unless the magnitude of Ties that Bind equals or exceeds that of the concealing enchantment.

The item must still exist or the ritual reveals only that the item no longer exist. If the item has been re-enchanted since the target created a bond, the ritual treats the item as if it has been destroyed.

Additional Magnitude

You may increase the magnitude of the ritual to penetrate more powerful shrouds or masks.

Description

This simple divination allows a ritualist to use their fleeting connection to a crafted item to find out who, if anyone, is bonded to it at the time tr ritual is performed. The existance of this ritual is one reason that some people seek out an Autumn ritualist (or an artisan who is also a ritual magician) to create their bonds for them. While the ritual does not prevent valuable bonded items being stolen, it may at least give some idea of who is now in possession of the item.

Magic that misleads divination is quite effective at confusing this ritual - in some rare cases, both the item itself and the person it is now bonded to will be protected with Masque of the Blinded Weaver, and only partial information will be gained as a consequence. An item whose enchantment has expired, or that has been re-enchanted (OOC: effectively re-created) since the target ritualist used create bond on it reveals the same lack of information as a magic item that has been destroyed with an effect such as Words of Ending or Tribute to the Thrice-Cursed Court.

A few magicians have made some use of this ritual for espionage purposes. By bonding an item once, they gain the ability to reliably check who is bonded to it at any given time. In this way the ritual has been used to discover unexpected connections between apparently disparate individuals - especially when it occasionally provides information about who has bonded the item. In the latter case, it has occasionally proved invaluable in rounding up underworld fences and dealers in stolen goods. This has lead to the ritual being dubbed The Thief-taker's Questing Gaze in some quarters.

Common Elements

As a divination, runestones and cards may be employed, or the ritualists may reflect the contributor in a mirror or other reflective surface, or study the magical auras around him or her with lenses or crystals. A lone ritualist performing Ties that Bind will often stare into a bowl of water, often with a golden coin at the bottom, while a Wintermark or Navarr magician might spatter blood or ink onto a surface and study the shapes the ink makes when it falls.

The rune Queros is often evoked with this ritual, because it helps to track the ties between individuals and items. Sular and Diras may also be commonly used.