Gift of Knowledge

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. This ritual targets a single opaque container in which are placed a book, pamphlet, scroll, or similar written work, and five ingots of weltsilver that must be present throughout.

Effects

When the ritual is complete, the target written work and the weltsilver disappear and are received by the attendants of the Great Library in the realm of Day who then use the weltsilver to make a copy of the written work.

Once the copying is complete - even the longest tome will take only an hour - the book will be returned to the container along with a single vial of prismatic ink in thanks for the gift of knowledge provided. The exception is that a book containing a ritual text will not be returned, or will be returned with the pages detailing the ritual excised. Those rituals will then become part of Urizen lore.

If the book is considered particularly fine - especially if it contains new verifiable information that either is not already included in the library, or that confirms such information - the eternal may dispatch an additional token of its appreciation.

Description

This ritual was received as a gift from the eternal Phaleron, also known as the Celestial Library. It was proposed for inclusion in Imperial lore during the Winter Solstice 383YE by the Archmage of Day, Skywise Gralka (following a failed proposal a year earlier).

Prior to the creation of Gift of Knowledge, magicians were able to send books and scrolls to the Celestial Library using a very different ritual. Following from the events of Autumn 382YE (after an apparent "attack" on the Library using the earlier ritual was discovered), Phaleron withdrew support for that ritual. Instead, it provided Gift of Knowledge to then-Archmage Gancius della Notte di Sarvos in its place. Phaleron now seals books sent by the former ritual away, and has them destroyed, while offering appropriate payment for tomes delivered with the correct ritual.

Though the Celestial Library has drawn closer to Urizen, it should also consider the legacy of the whole, the Empire is defined by its nations.

Skywise Gralka, Conclave, Winter 383YE

There is some concern about this ritual's inclusion in Imperial lore. During the Spring Equinox 383YE, in the lead up to a parley between Imperial magicians and the magicians of Urizen, Phaleron specifically requested that this ritual not enter Imperial lore. The parley included only magicians from Urizen, and the Archmage of Day, and during the meeting the foundations of what would later become Urizen lore were laid, culminating in the enfolding of the Grand Library of Canterspire. The ritual has a particular significance for this unique magical technique, allowing texts to be submitted to the Library that are then available only to Urizen magicians. As of the Winter Solstice 383YE, it remains to be seen how the eternal responds to the ritual entering the main body of Imperial lore.

While there is no specific assurance associated with the ritual, the Library will presumably choose to withdraw its support if it is used to launch another attack on the eternal - although what form such an attack would need to take to cause harm to a magical building of incomprehensible size is difficult to imagine.

Common Elements

As with the earlier version of this ritual, the most important element of the magic is the written work to be transferred. It is often wrapped in fine silk or cotton, and usually forms the focus of the ritual; sometimes it is passed from hand to hand before being placed in the container, sometimes it is placed prominently in the centre of the ritual. Invocations of great scholars, paragons and exemplars of Wisdom, and the rune Aesh often accompany the ritual, as do Sular and Ophis.

Likewise, the opaque container can be an important focus for the magic; some magicians or covens might have a specially prepared box or chest that is specifically designed for use with this ritual, decorated with runes or astronomantic constellations, and often inlaid with weltsilver.

Some ritualists wrap the book in a chain, and seal it with a lock during the ritual - the constellation of the Lock is unsurprisingly a common element of such rituals. Other ritualists seal the item with a wax seal, often marked with the Rune of Discovery or Rune of Revelation, as appropriate to the nature of the work.

The completion of the ritual is often signalled by sprinkling seawater on the container.