Swords in the Noonday Sun

This ritual is part of Urizen lore rather than Imperial lore.

Interdiction
While the practice of enchanting armies to make them savage is interdicted, it is illegal to perform this ritual.

Rules

Urizen Lore

This ritual is part of Urizen lore rather than Imperial Lore. Any Urizen character with the appropriate lore can master or perform this ritual. A character from another nation who mastered the ritual before it became part of Urizen lore may still perform it, but does so under the usual rules for performing a ritual learned from a ritual text.

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 10 minutes of roleplaying. If the ritual is cast using the Imperial Regio it requires at least 5 minutes of roleplaying instead.

This ritual targets an Imperial army. The general responsible for the army (or the egregore if the general is not at Anvil) must be present throughout.

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

Cut Them Down

• Attacking order
• Casualties inflicted by this army are increased by three tenths
• Casualties suffered by this army are increased by a fifth

The army takes every opportunity to engage with the enemy to try and cut them down. They may claim some territory, but this is secondary to their goal of slaughtering as many of the enemy as possible. This emphasis on engaging the enemy means that the army loses more troops itself; but the commitment to fighting and preparations it takes mean that it suffers comparatively less than the opponents it engages.

Effects

This ritual enchants a campaign army, filling the soldiers with a passionate fervour to see their enemies defeated. The army loses any existing quality and gains the Relentless quality for the duration. For the duration the general can issue the order cut them down when attacking.

While the enchantment persists, the general responsible for the army experiences a roleplaying effect: you are filled with confidence and assertiveness, and are driven both to take responsibility for others and to “get things done”. Anyone who stands between you and your goals should be dealt with swiftly and without mercy.

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

Options

Any caster who has mastered the ritual may choose to substitute Orichalcum for crystal mana when contributing to it. Every 2 ingots of Orichalcum spent counts as 1 crystal mana when contributing to the ritual.

Description

This ritual was one of the very first to become part of Urizen lore, following the Autumn Equinox 383YE. Contributed by Mord Thorntarry of the spire of Auric Horizen, the ritual was one of those contained in the book Meditations. Written by Callus Strategos, Dean of the Lyceum during the reign of Empress Britta, the book also contained Good Green Oak, Hook of the Hoarfrost Guardian, Eyes of the Hills and two rituals that had already become part of Imperial lore - Find the Best Path and Hammers of the Brilliant Shore.

Soldiers in the army enchanted by this ritual are filled with a passionate fervour, driven by a desire to absolutely crush their enemies. These powerful emotions are harnessed to their will however; they are no more likely to fight among themselves than normal, reserving their passion for their enemies. A soldier can switch between calm detachment or pleasant demeanour to murderous intensity in a moment, and then return to their normal disposition just as swiftly once a threat is overcome - something which can be quite unsettling to observers who do not know what is going on.

Meditations records that the eternal Meraud offered helpful advice during the formulation of the original ritual, but the magicians of the Lyceum chose not to directly involve any eternal in its creation reasoning that giving an eternal another method to influence the Imperial armies was not ideal. When the ritual was originally codified, General Clarisse de Rhenai of the Golden Sun and Gundal of the Green Shield reportedly fought a duel for the right to be the first to be enchanted with it. The Dawnish general was the victor and the first target of the ritual. According to Callus, there was some concern among members of the Sevenfold Path that the passions inflamed by the enchantment might be seen as inspiring a malign spiritual presence, and indeed the magician was eventually called to inquisition over its effects. He was acquitted however and the ritual went on to be used several times during the campaigns of Empress Brennan against the Druj.

Common Elements

This ritual enhances a campaign army, and the general of the target army serves as a vital focus for delivering the magic. IA banner or standard that will be used by the target force makes an ideal additional focus for the ritual. The magic involves unleashing powerful emotions that urge an army to violence, and as such the general should be urged to maintain their poise - to harness the destructive passions to the will so that they may be used with precision rather than risk overflowing and turning against those who experience them. As such, a form of guided meditation may be employed in which the target is inspired to view the raging will for victory that the magic inflames as a weapon to be wielded only against their enemies.

The astronomantic constellation of the Mountain has a strong association with this ritual, but The Drowned Man also has resonance - the ultimate aim of the enchantment is to end a conflict in an absolutely decisive fashion after all. Those Urizen who make use of the runes may find Jotra and Tykonus resonate with its power, but the Rune of Thought an the Rune of Passion is also applicable - the one harnesses the other in pursuit of the general's goals.

While their power is not directly involved in this ritual (indeed, according to the original source the magicians of the Lyceum made a conscious decision to decline offers of direct assistance from the inhabitants of the Summer realm), the names of Eleonaris and Meraud might be evoked as part of the performance.