Balanced Scales of Lann

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 Autumn lore skill.

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

Effects

The target gains one effective rank of the Autumn lore skill for purposes of performing rituals, subject to the normal rules for effective skill. In addition, they gain the ability to trade valuable materials for additional power. When performing an Autumn ritual they have mastered, they can substitute ingots of orichalcum, weltsilver, tempest jade, or green iron for crystal mana. Every 2 ingots spent counts as 1 crystal mana when contributing to the ritual.

While the enchantment lasts, the target character experiences a roleplaying effect: you sense that people who want you to do something for them without offering appropriate recompense are trying to take advantage of you. It is difficult for you to engage in even the most trivial social interactions without seeing them in terms of an exchange of influence and favours.

If the target is a cambion, the roleplaying effect is especially pronounced. A cambion may also choose to temporarily add to or increase physical trappings of their lineage. These changes are temporary and do not last more than a few hours after the enchantment ends.

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

Additional Targets

This ritual can affect additional characters from the same coven. Each additional character increases the magnitude by 15. Additional characters must be present throughout.

Option

Any caster who has mastered the ritual may choose to substitute ingots of tempest jade, orichalcum, or weltsilver, or green iron for crystal mana when contributing to it. Every 2 ingots spent count as 1 crystal mana when contributing to the ritual. The ingots need not be of the same type.

Description

This enchantment grants a magician improved facility with Autumn magic. It draws on a formal agreement between mortal magicians and the eternal Ephisis, enhancing their ability to perform rituals from Autumn lore. Furthermore, the enchantment allows the magician to directly exchange ingots of valuable material for raw magical power; the ingots are claimed by Ephisis (or more correctly her agents). When using this additional facility, magicians usually place all the ingots they intend to use in their ritual in an opaque container such as a box or bag and formally offer them to the eternal at the beginning of the ritual.

Unlike some similar rituals, the enchantment only allows a magician to trade materials for power when contributing to an Autumn ritual they have mastered. Magical scholars suggest this is a consequence of the way that creativity can create dissonance when working with Autumn magic. When Spring magic encourages spontaneity, and Summer magic delights in magicians taking risks, Autumn magic often favours a more rigid, considered approach to wielding power.

The enchantment makes up for this rigidity by offering greater opportunities to trade raw materials for magical power. When using ingots to power a ritual, the magician formally offers them in trade for the raw magical potential they can then forge into the finished magical effect. In a nod to rituals such as Ephisis' Scale or Before the Throne of Estavus, the materials a magician will exchange for magical power are often placed in a sealed container and presented to Ephisis in return for the agreed upon magical affinity.

There are a few rumours of more potent versions of this ritual that permit a magician to trade ingots for magical energy to perform any mastered ritual, not just those of Autumn lore. There are also a few accounts of a similar ritual that revolves around an agreement with the eternal Prospero allowing magicians to instead trade measures of ambergelt, beggar's lye, dragonbone, and iridescent gloaming for raw magical power.

Common Elements

The ritual often involves some sort of symbolic exchange or balance. A target may begin with something representing their understanding of Autumn lore in one hand and transfer it to another hand, or they may trade it to one of the ritualists in return for a symbol of their new mastery. In other versions a symbol representing Autumn magic, often Lann is inscribed on the skin - a blood mage will often use blood donated by a cambion to paint such a symbol.

In many cases, the crystal mana or materials intended to be used with this ritual will be sealed in an opaque container - often one that has been used to perform Ephisis' Scale. When the mana is used in such a fashion it is usually characterised as a "payment" to Ephisis in return for the power the enchantment provides. Some magicians include contracts in which they agree to always use a certain portion of ingots to perform their Autumn magic in the coming season - while the legal status of these contracts is unclear they often disappear during the performance of the ritual.

Unsurprisingly Ephisis (or one of her named Factotums) is usually evoked as the ritual is performed. A theurgist will often evoke paragons or exemplars of Prosperity or Wisdom when the ritual is performed - the exchange of wealth in return for a reward, or the idea of applying understanding to enhance skills both resonate well with this ritual.