A wizard did it

Ripples spread from a single drop of water, as consequences spread from a single decision.

Overview

Magic fills the known world. It rides the winds, it rises with the sun and the stars, it flows in great currents through the forests and the seas and the sky. It is part of the rivers and the forests, the seas and the skies. It is studied, mastered, examined, and debated. It is mysterious, enigmatic, unpredictable, and yet follows its own strange laws. All mortals practice magic, and yet they are not the only sources of magic in the world. It comes from rattling runes, from the heavens, from the wellspring of blood, from the shapes and symbols of creation, and while it can be bidden it cannot always be restrained. Wonder is all around, an endless wordless tune that winds and weaves around all things.

This wind of fortune rounds up a roundup of assorted strange events, some arising from mortal actions some with less explicable causes. There are several companion pieces to this wind. The keys of blood deals with things relating specifically to the eternals of the six realms while Ambassadors of death addresses the plenipotentiary messages of the archmages.

Magical Chaos

• The astronomantic constellations continue to exert strange influences on the Empire
• Territory-scale magic is much more likely to have additional unlooked for effects when performed at the Summer Solstice
• These effects will never invalidate the listed mechanical effect of a ritual

The magical chaos that began shortly before the Winter Solstice, and continued through the Spring Equinox, has not abated. The good news is that the immediate effects of that chaos have reached a plateau - they don't seem to be actively getting worse at least at the moment. The bad news is that they are still going on. There are stories from across the Empire of magical rituals going wonky, especially those that are cast over a large area such as Rivers of Life. They still work, but as well as their expected effects there are side-effects nobody could have predicted.

Broken

• It remains impossible to enhance ritual lore using the Imperial regio
• Other properties of the Imperial regio are unchanged

The Imperial regio at Anvil remains "broken", despite another slew of divinations performed during the Equinox. The key power that so many Imperial magicians have relied on for nearly four centuries - to improve their realm lore while working a ritual at the regio - is no longer available. Attempts to draw on that power simply find... nothing. Interestingly, there was at least one incident during the Equinox that spoke of a powerful regio outside Anvil that provided the ability to draw strength for performing rituals of a single realm, and there are stories that there are other regio that still have that power. Some members of the Unfettered Mind (left in the Empire while so many of their fellow magicians are in Jarm and the Commonwealth fighting Cold Sun) speculate that a given regio can only have one special property, and that the bonus strengthening of ritual lore by the Anvil regio at the same time it connected to all realms and the entire Empire, was an aberration. They've no evidence for that, just worrying speculation. If it was an aberration its one that lasted nearly four centuries, after all.

In other respects, the regio continues to function as normal. It still allows rituals that in other circumstances would require ten minutes to cast to instead be performed in five minutes. It is still a "strong regio", connected to all six realms of magic. Rituals that must be performed at a strong regio can still be performed using the Imperial regio, and it still remains connected to every Imperial territory. It can still be used in conjunction with the Citadel Guard to focus magic and channel rituals through the Urizen army. Bargains with eternals that allow magicians to use operate portal to send or receive boons function normally although its not clear exactly how they are working. Rituals that specifically require the Imperial regio to work such as Whispers through the Black Gate still operate normally.

Any ritual that targets a territory or the Empire as a whole performed during the Summer Solstice is much more likely to have unexpected effects. All magic used on the territory scale can have unlooked for side effects - circumstances constantly influence what happens and all such rituals are mentioned in the winds of fortune or the winds of war (or both). This season, those side effects will be much more pronounced. They will never prevent the ritual having its mechanical effects; that will always happen as described in the appropriate ritual.

Light in the Dark

• Magicians using the Imperial regio find a peculiar source of spiritual strength

Magicians who perform a ritual at the Imperial regio during the Summer Solstice experience a roleplaying effect: You sense that what you are doing is important, and that as long as you continue to believe in yourself and embrace action, you can succeed even though the way may be hard.

While contributing to a ritual, this sensation provides a source of spiritual strength that allows a magician to overcome any other roleplaying effect, if they wish to use it. The strength fades within a few minutes of the ritual being completed, and any roleplaying effect that was overcome will reassert itself, but for the duration of the peformance and a short time therafter, negative roleplaying effects are suppressed. There is however a lingering effect.

Until the next sunset or sunrise, whichever comes first, any magician who contributed to a ritual at the Imperial regio can expend a point of personal mana at any time to justify remaining calm and collected when exposed to a roleplaying effect (as if they had spent a hero point). The ability to use mana in this way has the same restrictions as casting a spell.

Bonded

• During the Summer Solstice covens can cooperate with other covens in their own nation without needing additional assistance

The effects marked by astronomancers before the Winter solstice, allowing different covens within the same nation to cooperate when casting powerful rituals, still persists. Any coven can work with any other coven or covens from their own nation without needing anything to facilitate it. Of course the universal magical law that prevents covens and magicians from different nations cooperating are still in place, and these limitations show absolutely no sign of weakening.

Participation: Working Together
During the Summer Solstice any number of covens from the same nation can work together to perform a ritual as if they were using the Belt of Stars. Cooperative rituals count as a daily ritual use by every coven involved. While they may be performing a ritual together, they are still treated as separate covens for all other purposes (for example, a ritual that affects an entire coven will only affect one target coven). Each coven can use their own paraphernalia while performing this joint ritual. The effects of the Volhov's Robe seem to be unchanged; they still allow a magician who is not part of a coven to work with any other coven without difficulty.

Anyone cooperating in this fashion experiences a notable sense of connection to members of the other coven, along with a strong sense of being bound together or united by a common cause. It is hard to put this sensation into words and it takes many different forms. Early experimenters spoke of feeling a familial bond to strangers they barely new, as if they were cousins or siblings they had not seen in many years. Others felt an almost physical connection, their breathing and heartbeats synching up so it felt as if they were many people with one body. Still others talk of an almost precognitive sense, as if they instinctually knew what another contributor to the ritual was going to say or do moments before they did it.

Rains in Mareave

• Mareave has become verdant for possibly the first time ever

Talking of magical chaos... there was only a single performance of Rivers of Life in the Empire at the Spring Equinox, targeting the Imperial Orcs territory of Mareave. While war raged in the south, the magic protected those fighting there from all save the most serious injuries. Elsewhere in the territory, however, the magic rather ran amok, filling the scarse waters of Icarion, Nadir, Eoradal, and Sinfoyard. For the first time possibly in forever, the arid lands here turned green. Creepers and grasses erupted around lakes and secluded wells, sweeping outward to the surprise and chagrin of the orcs living there. They brought with them unfamiliar fruit, and also sparked a wave of fertility in the cattle of the regions... but also in the drakes that prey on them. Hunters in Nadir in particular have done a roaring trade capturing and killing young, hungry lizards that would otherwise be preying on the farms and on the Great Southern Herd.

The greenery cannot last - and as the magic of Rivers of Life fades so too does the supernatural vitality of the vegetation. A week or so before the Summer Solstice, all this fecund plant life has died and dried out in the sun. Some of it is collected for agricultural use - it's still rich with nutrients that will serve the soil - or to feed to herd animals. For a few brief months, northern Mareave was a garden, something that inspires wonder but also a sense of sorrow in those who know that it was just a fleeting mirage of what will never be.

Among the random greenery, however, there are a number of rare and precious plants and fruit that are truly remarkable. An Yerende magician who examines some of them is excited to note that they were donahorti - plants from the Spring realm itself - that have magical properties. There aren't a huge number of them, but they seem to be most common around mana sites, farms, and herb gardens. Unfortunately, they're short-lived, and as the magic of Rivers of Life begins to die so do the donahorti. Although, as the Yerende magician realises, they are hardier than more mundane vegetation and there is still a chance to preserve them...

Provided a territory-effecting enchantment or curse of Spring magic is performed again on Mareave at the Summer Solstice, there will be another opportunity to take advantage of the donahorti. Every herb garden, farm, mana site, and business in the territory will receive two donahorti at the Autumn Equinox. The problem is that these fruits of the Spring Realm are drawn from the domains of the eternals of those realms. Some are known by the Empire - those from the realms of Yaw'nagrah and Llofir in particular - but others are not. Worse, there are legal considerations around those drawn from the domains of entities who are under the enmity of the Conclave. There's also the question of which magic to use, if any, to secure this bounty. Rivers of Life is a curse, after all, and the magical chaos caused by the stars is still ongoing. The other large-scale magic of the Spring realm tends to be indiscriminately destructive. Regrow the Land's Heart seems the safest choice, but that may cause problems of its own...

Because unfortunately there is a downside to the magic infusing Mareave this season. The greenery also appears around the many ruins and abandoned structures of northern Mareave, and does what Spring magic-infused vegetation so often does. It tears them apart. Across the northern regions the story is the same every time - the greenery swallows up the remnants of Skoura and the Grendel, and of Urizen, and when it finally dies and collapses it takes the ruins with it. The effect is perhaps most pronounced in Icarion - the ruins of abandoned spires are left as little more than rubble covered in scrubby grass and odd yellow- and orange-petalled flowers. The greatest loss is the ruined lighthouse that stood for centuries on the cliffs above the Bay of Catazar.

Serenus Starsong, Astral Arcanist

Key of the Stars

• Stargazers, astronomancers, diviners, and seers have reported odd dreams since the Spring Equinox

Since the Spring Equinox, strange dreams have been experienced by practitioners of astronomancy, stargazers and star watchers of all kinds, skilled diviners, seers, dedicates of Wisdom, and readers of omens of all kinds. Anyone with a focus on exploring the unknown, on charting mysteries, on trying to discern the future, report similar dreams. The details differ wildly but they all contain the same element.

A merrow with pale blue and turquoise scales, attired in a beautiful blue gown in the style of Urizen, holds a key of silver set with a single sapphire. When the dreamer notices them, they turn their eyes upwards toward the heavens. The dreamer follows their gaze, and immediately sees a new star in the heavens - one that matches the colour of the merrow's outfit. When they look back, both merrow and star are gone and the dream resumes its usual course.

Those who knew them are certain that the merrow is Serenus Starsong, who was the first and only Astral Arcanist. Attempts to learn more about the dream with magic have uniformly failed, and the dreams themselves fade away as the Summer Solstice approaches. Given the reported death of Serenus Starsong at the Spring Equinox, there is some discussion as to whether this might be their ghost haunting the dreams of Imperial citizens, or given the prop they are conspicuously holding, a magical vision of some kind, perhaps created with subtle ritual magic. This would not be the first time in recent years that Night magic was used to send seemingly portentous dreams.

Painted Caves

• A powerful enchantment has been permanently laid over the Painted caves in Miekarova
• It would take a casting of Piercing light of revelation at magnitude of at least 60 worth at least 60 rings of illium to remove
• The magic appears to have angered the Thule

At the Spring Equinox, there was a certain amount of furore about magical mists that had settled around the Painted Caves in Miekarova. The Thule in particular were rather put-out about this, as the caves are in a region ceded to them as part of a treaty with the Empire. Dire consequences were hinted at should the mists persist... which they did.

Apparently, the enchantment was not only been empowered by invocation of the First Ward as some cabalists name it, but it has been bound up with a significant parcel of ilium. Whether this is solely the result of the ongoing magical chaos surrounding the stars, or something else, or a combination of factors, nobody can say. But what's clear is that the shrouding magic preventing access to the Painted Caves is now permanent, and removing it will require a significant investment of star metal. Cautious estimates suggest that only a performance of Piercing Light of Revelation targeting the caves with a magnitude of at least sixty coupled with sixty rings of ilium will end the enchantment prematurely. This could be attempted from the Imperial regio, but the amount of ilium required means that it would be a significant magical endeavour if it were.

The orcs of Otkodov are unhappy, to put it mildly, and intend to raise the matter during their meeting with the Ambassador to Otkodov Kindra Surefoot.

Rants and Roses

• Last summit, Queen Igraine's Regio in the Castle of Thorns was acting strangely
• Imperial magicians cast Align the Celestial Net and realigned it to Summer as it should be
• The situation seems to have grown worse, some thing has caused it to align to Spring again
• There is a conjunction to the regio at 6.30pm on Friday for a small number of people
• The Senator for Astolat is once again responsible for dealing with this problematic regio

For a time after Align the Celestial Net was cast, the garden in the Castle of Thorns returned to normal. However, over the next season, snow once again began to appear and the thorn bushes are back with a vengeance, hard as iron and envenoming anyone who is pricked by their thorns. Strange noises have also been heard in the vicinity of the regio, though due to the thick and impassable foliage nobody has been able to investigate further.

Sometimes, there is the sound of wailing and crying, and other times a woman has been heard ranting and raving about something, though nobody has been able to make out her words. It seems casting divinatory rituals such as Bright Lantern of Ophis, Clear Lens of the Eternal River, and Shadowed Glass of Sung prompts these unusual sounds to occur with more frequency, though no information seems to be learned these rituals.

The area that these enchanted roses are growing seems to be expanding, and if unchecked they may begin to damage the walls of the Castle of Thorns or worse.

The Song Remains The Same

• The magical song that has echoed throughout the Empire is slowly beginning to fade

After a peculiar opportunity in Autumn of last year, the song Painted began to resonate along the trods and throughout the Empire. Astonishment at the spread of this magical effect only grew when the song persisted into the Spring. There were questions about how long this would persist for, yet as Spring turns into Summer, it seems that the crescendo has passed. The song still echoes, yet the power of it seems to slowly be fading. Some express disappointment, but wiser heads point out that most magic is temporary. Unless ilium was infused into the casting, the chorus was always going to come to an end.

Yet the diminuendo does not come quickly. For all its power is fading, the work of Idwynn Splitroot still plays in the dreams of many. It simply remains to be seen how long this will last.

Participation

• Any character may have heard the echoes of the song
• Navarr characters who embrace the song may choose to experience a roleplaying effect

Any Navarr character may choose to have heard the song, experienced the dreams of singing voices either directly or via half-remembered echoes, or to have seen what appears to be Lashonar. Those who do experience a roleplaying effect during the Spring Equinox: You feel a sense of immense pride in the oaths that you have sworn and the tattoos and other marks you wear to commemorate them. It feels good and right to celebrate this element of your culture, and to encourage others to follow suit.

Characters who are not Navarr, but who feel a personal connection to that nation, to the trods, or to the fight against the vallorn are also free to roleplay having had the dream or heard the echoes of the music. They do not receive the roleplaying effect however.

Heads or Tails

• A number of traders in the northern Empire have developed odd superstitions around accepting cash

Those buying and selling goods within the Northern areas of the Empire may have noticed some traders treating their money with suspicion. Wintermark merchants are often found whispering of soot within their purses, with no clear purpose or reason behind it. But while it isn't unheard of for a scrupulous Wintermark shopkeeper to ask to see the coins before payment, the habit seems to be spreading.

Some Navar, League, and Varushkan merchants have also begun to ask customers to place their money on a counter before it can be counted and accepted in return for goods. When asked, there is rarely a clear answer as to why the behaviour is necessary, except for vague mentions of tip-offs from fellow colleagues.

Certainly, if there is some underlying problem with the mint, it hasn't yet caught the attention of the Civil Service.