Doctor's Attire
Description
The Doctor's Attire is a suit of magical clothing infused with a little of the power of the dramaturgical persona of the Doctor. A ritual magician who wears this clothing can draw on the power it contains to empower their ability to perform Winter magic. In addition to providing additional magical power, the robes also infuse the wearer with some of the personality of the Doctor.
In dramaturgy, the Doctor is sometimes a fearful figure. Doctors and physicks are innately tied to the resonance of death, and difficult choices – yet their Wisdom also serves to stave off the Labyrinth and bring an end to suffering. This magical garment allows a bonded magician to touch that dichotomous power, and use it to strengthen their ability to wield the dangerous might of the Winter realm. It must be said, however, that using the robe is not for the faint-hearted – only those who have an intimate understanding of the paradoxes at the heart of the Winter realm should risk using the power of the Doctor's Attire.
Yet that is not to say that this raiment is some nightmarish cultish robe infused with madness and suffering. Far from it – the power of the Doctor reminds the magician that even the darkest urges can be harnessed to do good, helping them to remain centred and to resist the temptations personified by certain malign entities of the Winter realm. To do the greatest good at the cost of the least harm is sometimes seen as the highest calling of the Winter magician.
Unlike other ritual raiments, the Doctor's is rarely brightly coloured. The material is bleached and dyed with sober, contrasting colours, favouring sable, argent, and deep crimson. The decoration is understated and restrained, with small quantities of dragonbone and dark tempest jade used to complement the stark and severe cut of the garment. Supple gloves are almost always included – the Doctor invariably wears gloves in dramaturgy.
The raiment is heavily inspired by the rich dark fabrics favoured in Holberg, and among the Highborn. Less common designs also exist however – the Vate's Semblance and the Cabalist's Robe. The former hints at the practical aesthetics of the Navarr apothecary, with short sleeves, leather bracers, and sturdy trousers. The latter is a dark coloured hooded robe, lined with rabbit fur, and equipped with sturdy boots perfect for performing complex rites in the freezing cold of the northern Empire.
Rules
- Form: Armour. Takes the form of a robe. You must be wearing this robe to use its magical properties.
- Requirement: You must have the magician skill to bond to this item.
- Effect: Once per day you may use this robe to gain two additional rank of Winter Lore for the purposes of performing a single ritual, subject to the normal rules for effective skill.
- Roleplaying Effect: While wearing this robe you feel an urge to punish people who break their promises.
- Materials: Crafting a Doctor's Attire requires five ingots of weltsilver, five ingots of tempest jade, seven measures of dragonbone, sixteen measures of beggar's lye, and seven measures of iridescent gloaming. It takes one month to make one of these items.
This is one of six sets of ritual robes designed by House Bourné, a Sarvosan guild formed by the union of League master-artisans and a Dawnish weaver cabal. Their unique designs combine the power of dramaturgy with a deep understanding of the hearth magic of girding. During Winter 380YE, in conjunction with popular publication The Looking Glass, the Merchant-Prince Genia Bourné di Sarvos announced that the guild would allow any Imperial artisan to visit their estate in Sarvos and study the schemata detailing the six raiments, free of charge.
Any character can learn how to create this raiment following the normal rules - either by selecting the robe as one of their starting items, or learning it as an extra item pick. The only restriction is that anyone who knows how to make one of these robes must have spent a week or two studying at House Bourné in Sarvos - there is currently no other way to master the patterns which remain the proprietary knowledge of the Bourné guild.