What regulates the wheel?
Set over the candle was a beautifully delicate little pot of water, already steaming gently, held in place by a tripod of deceptively sturdy legs. She held her finger a few inches above the surface of the water, waiting until the steam was just the right temperature. She breathed in and out slowly, repeating a simple mantra over and over in her head that helped centre her thoughts on the days that were to come, putting aside the days that were past, locking the concerns of the day away behind an imaginary door wrapped in strong chains. Then, with quick and sure movements, she decanted four drops of thick midnight-blue liquid into the pot. As it slowly dispersed through the gently steaming liquid, she held the little clay bottle to her nose and inhaled deeply. Others found the acrid smell unappealing, but she privately found she enjoyed the way it made her nostrils tingle and her breath catch. It reminded her of the high peaks of home, where the winter wind could steal ones breath away.
Then she leant forward and breathed in the cerulean-tinged steam, drawing it deep inside her lungs. She held her breath for thirty seconds, counting them out slowly in her head, and then exhaled. She settled back on her cushion, and let the vision wash over her.
Three minutes later, Aquillia burst into the common room of the inn, eyes wide. There were perhaps a dozen people staying here - the inn was run by an Urizen who knew the importance of giving everyone a little space - and so she easily found Vaanes. She grabbed her friend by the shoulder, poise in tatters. Vaanes knew something was wrong immediately, his brow creasing as he looked up. He put his hand on hers.
"Aquillia," he said in his surprisingly deep voice. "What's wrong? What..."
She didn't wait for him to finish. "We have to leave!" she announced. "Right now. We have to get to Anvil before sunrise. Something... the behemoth shifts in its sleep! Mountains rise like talons from the waters! Do you see? Do you... the shepherd drowns, Vaanes! The wheel clicks, the key turns in the lock! Don't you understand? There is blood in the bowl, and the bowl is cracked, and the... flames! Flames on my face! All is..."
By now everyone was looking at her. When she had gone upstairs she had been the very picture of Urizen reserve, polite and well spoken, civil without inviting intrusion. Now she looked like another person entirely, eyes wide but seemingly not seeing the same world as before; lips and fingertips stained the palest of blues; barely coherent wrestling with an almost overwhelming tidal wave of fear.
"It's breaking!" she cried out at last, her voice splintering with despair. "It's all coming down!"
And then she collapsed, and chaos erupted around her.
Overview
Something bad has happened at Anvil. The Imperial regio, the site of countless thousands of rituals across the history of the Empire, seems to have cracked. The endless well of power it once represented seems to have run dry. There are signs and portents, and a surfeit of mysteries, and no indication of what it may mean not only for Imperial magicians, but for the Empire itself. At the moment many of its properties still seem to be intact but one key attribute has vanished, leaving magicians across Anvil anxious about what it might portend.
But we mustn't run ahead of ourselves, that will just increase the worry. Instead let's start at the beginning, two weeks ago, with the matter of the new entrance to the Hall of Worlds...
Hall on the Run
- The connection between the hall of worlds and the Imperial Regio has been severed
Previously the Hall of Worlds has always been accessed via the Imperial regio. It was possible for any magician to use the operate portal cantrip to step out of the mortal world and into the chamber between the Empire and the eternal realms. Two weeks before the Winter Solstice, the constellations of the Door, the Lock, and the Key come into conjunction and that door... disappears.
Predictably this disappearance prompts a rising panic. The Hall of Worlds is instrumental to the operation of the Conclave and serves as a reliable way for heralds to enter Anvil from the eternal realms. Before things can spiral completely out of control, a Freeborn magician uses dowsing and portal divination to rediscover the Hall. It seems that the portal that used to lead to the magical location has indeed separated from the Imperial regio, but it has not gone far. It lies a few minutes travel from the Imperial regio itself. To help magicians find it, the civil service have erected two obsidian standing stones marked with constellations to indicate the location of the new portal. It can be used to access or leave the Hall of Worlds in the usual manner, with the only difference being it is the marker stones that should be touched rather than the stones of the Imperial regio.
Preliminary divinations indicate that for purposes of rituals such as Pakaanan's Iron Shutters, the door to the Hall of Worlds acts just like any portal to a chamber. Oddly, though, there does not seem to be a regio connected to this portal, which means it is not effected (presumably) by rituals cast on the Imperial regio. Just how independant of the Imperial regio this portal is cannot easily be determined at this time. It's not common but it's not unknown for a portal connecting a regio and a chamber to be offset within that regio, connected to specific structures, or even hidden. It may be that this portal is simply "offset" from the regio - but it may also be that the door has for some reason disconnected entirely.
Investigation of the portal is put on the back burner shortly before the Winter Solstice when something significantly more concerning occurs.
Broken Regio
- It is no longer possible to use the Imperial regio to empower rituals
The Imperial Regio, for nearly four hundred years, has been a centre of Imperial magic. It serves as the beating heart of the Empire's dominion over itself. Three days before the Winter Solstice, that changes. A Dawnish coven, early arrivals to Anvil, attempt to draw on the Imperial regio to enchant several knights and discover that the traditional enhancement power offered by the regio is... just not there. Several other covens attempting to use the regio themselves report the same thing. By the time the civil service get involved, news has spread throughout Anvil and begins to run wildfire to those travelling through Casinea to attend the summit.
The magicians at Anvil are able to determine several things.
- The regio will still allow rituals to be cast more quickly; specifically those rituals that in other circumstances would require ten minutes to rouse the power and bind it to the magicians' wills can still be cast 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. That unique property seems unchanged. If anything some of the covens report it as feeling stronger, somehow. Not in any way that facilitates the performance of magic but in a palpable way that anyone who draws on this property can feel. Urizen magicians are also able to confirm that it is also possible to use the Imperial regio in conjunction with the Citadel Guard to focus magic and channel rituals through the Urizen army. Again, the feeling of strong connection is palpable, and a coven who attempts to test this report receiving an odd sense of connection to the sentinels and magicians of the army that they have not felt before.
- Bargains with eternals that allow magicians to use operate portal to send or receive boons still seem to function normally although its not clear exactly how they are working. Some members of the Celestial Arch speculate it is because whatever else has happened the Imperial regio remains connected to all the magical realms. What the operate portal spell can't do is locate or open any gate at the Imperial regio leading to a chamber.
- Rituals that require the Imperial regio to work such as Whispers through the Black Gate will still operate normally.
- The biggest problem is that the key power that so many Imperial magicians have relied on for nearly four centuries seems to be inaccessible. Since it was first discovered, the Imperial regio has been used to enhance rituals cast within it. Harness its power allowed ritual magicans to improve their realm lore to allow them to wield more powerful magic safely. This property does not seem to be available; attempts to draw on that power simply find... nothing.
Obviously, this is a cause of significant consternation. There are any number of enchantments, consumables, potions, and magic items that can be used to empower magicians to wield their realm lores more effectively but none of them are as easily available as the Imperial regio - and few of them can be acquired for free. It is likely that there will be a significant increase in the demand for apothecaries who can craft elixirs such as Dragon's Blood or Sorrow's Mask. Covens able to enhance ritual magic with spells such as Sift the Dreamscape's Sands or Fire in the Blood may likewise find themselves in demand. If whatever is going on with the Imperial regio persists, it's likewise likely that there will be additional markets for magical foci.
Participation: Using the Imperial Regio
Magicians who use the regio to target a territory in the Empire, experience a supernatural sense of connection. The magic seems to flow more easily, they feel a sense of confidence that they can handle the challenge of performing a ritual. They also experience an almost numinous sense of their position in the Empire and within Imperial society, and how they are connected to the territory that they target. If they are familiar with the territory memories of the locations they have visited there will flood their thoughts; even if they have never been there they will dream of visiting the territory next time they sleep. Anyone using the Imperial regio to target an Imperial territory is encouraged to refresh their memory of that territory on the wiki.
The same effect is experienced by anyone using the Citadel Guard connection to perform magic, but in addition they feel a physical connection to the Urizeni that make up that army. They may experience flashes of displacement that cause them to imagine for a moment they are a soldier in the army, or they may experience sensory phantoms related to the territory. The Citadel Guard are in Semmerholm at the moment - sensory phantoms might include the taste of good Dawnish wine or food, a chill scent of winter blossoms or a hint of snow in the air, or afterimages of a Dawnish castle or manor, or distant woods. These phantoms persist for a few minutes after the ritual is completed.
Determined But Difficult
- Initial investigation of the Imperial regio has been cautious and limited
- It's proposed that further information might be discovered through the use of key divination rituals
- A powerful shroud lies over the regio, it's source unclear
- The civil service have asked the Grandmasters of the Unfettered Mind and Shuttered Lantern to take the lead on supporting the investigation of the regio
So far the magicians at Anvil have restricted themselves to the simple divination allowed by the detect magic cantrip and attempting to cast simple rituals such as Strength of the Bull. Their detections have confirmed that there appears to be a shroud over the Imperial Regio - one that prevents detect magic alone from discovering anything useful. The Unfettered Mind are confident that the Hakima's Glass ritual could penetrate this shroud if performed at magnitude thirty, or it could be broken with Piercing Light of Revelation performed at magnitude sixty. Given that it isn't possible to draw on the regio to enhance these castings, it's clear that this is not going to be easy.
The main value of using the Hakima's Glass divination is that it can determine what other methods, if any, can determine information about the effect on the Imperial regio. There is a consensus that some rituals that might be of use include Bright Lantern of Ophis, Shadowed Glass of Sung,Clear Lens of the Eternal River, and perhaps Wisdom of the Balanced Blade. Wilder speculation suggests Dreams in the Witch House or Eye of the High Places performed on Casinea could give some hints, given the Imperial regio is such a historic place. There is even more wide-ranging discussion of the possibility that more obscure rituals such as Skein of Years or Gralka's Gift to the Lost Seeker might find something. The main problem is that, without a successful divination first there's no way to be sure which methods will yield useful information. The second problem is that unless the shroud is first removed these rituals will need to be cast at serious magnitudes.
Realising that many of the Empire's most proficient magicians are arriving at Anvil for the Winter Solstice, the civil service are concerned about the Imperial regio devolving into a free-for-all as covens perform rituals that might be counterproductive or even dangerous. They have asked the Grandmaster of the Unfettered Mind and the Grandmaster of the Shuttered Lantern to take the lead on keeping everyone calm; they have no legal power to prevent anyone performing rituals but at the very least they are in a good position to organise powerful covens to perform rituals to assess the situation and to ensure that whatever is discovered is made known to the Empire's magicians as quickly as possible.
Bound Together
- During the Winter Solstice covens can cooperate with other covens in their own nation without needing additional assistance
At the same time magicians are definitely not panicking about the situation at the Imperial regio, something else becomes apparent. Astronomancers and sky-watchers have been observing an emerging conjunction of the Chain, the Three Sisters, and the Web. The day before the summit begins, these constellations move into alignment with one another and something unprecedented occurs.
In the past magic items such as the Web of Celestial Attunement or the Belt of Stars have been used to allow disparate covens within the same nation to cooperate when casting powerful rituals. During the Winter Solstice it appears that these items are no longer necessary. Any coven can work with any other coven or covens from their own nation without needing anything to facilitate it! News rumbles through Anvil quickly, and experiments support the rumour. Magicians can perform rituals with their fellows, apparently drawing on the subtle connections formed by their nation.
Participation: Working Together
During the Winter 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 each 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.
Eternals
- Sung confirms that Clear Counsel of the Everflowing River will function as normal
- Leviathan has let it be known that he will need to meet Imperial magicians at midday rather than one in the afternoon
As mentioned it still seems to be possible to use the Imperial regio to engage in trade with eternals. Two eternals in particular are connected to the regio via rituals they lend their power to - Swim Leviathan's Depth and Clear Counsel of the Everflowing River rely on Leviathan and Sung respectively. Sung has let it be known that she will continue to speak of mysteries as normal, assuming the situation does not get worse. "Things can be seen as well as hidden," says her herald during a visit to the Imperial regio. "Nothing goes unbeheld, and mortals will always seek to learn." Not especially helpful, as one civil servant opines.
Leviathan is less flowery. His herald indicates that the eternal will continue to swim the turbulent waters and connect to the Imperial regio as normal. Those waters are very difficult to navigate, however, even for one such as the Great Fish of Why. For this reason, Leviathan has had to alter his itinerary for the Winter Solstice. He will turn his attention to the regio at midday, rather than at one in the afternoon as is normally the case. The reason for this appears to be that the waters around the regio are easier to navigate when the sun is at its highest, although even the herald has to admit they don't know exactly what their master is talking about. While it will hopefully only matter for the Winter Solstice, Leviathan is concerned this may be a permanent shift and hopes his associates in the Empire will understand the need for such a shift.
Hidden Things
- Two other magical effects have been connected to whatever is going on with the Imperial regio
- Every Penumbral Veil and Vale of Shadows across the Empire has collapsed
- Something is interfering with Imperial divinations
At the same time as chaos is slowly spreading through Anvil with regard to the Imperial regio, a group of stargazers from Urizen are quickly spreading some equally unsettling news. It seems that at sunrise two weeks ago, on the same day that the Dawnish coven discovered the Imperial regio was malfunctioning, every Penumbral Veil and Vale of Shadows throughout the Empire collapsed. They've been unable to divine what happened, and it does not seem to have affected shrouds anchored with ilium. Likewise, the shrouds that are connected to the eternal Sung in Spiral seem to be fine. Other large-scale shrouding and concealing magic seems to have been wiped away in a single movement.
There's more to come. At sunset on that same day, while the covens at Anvil were discovering the change to the regio, something else settled not only over the Empire but over the entire area around its borders. Shrouds of magnitude 30 now cover every Imperial territory, and preliminary investigations suggest they are also settled over every territory adjacent to an Imperial territory. This includes Bregasland and Liathaven, the entire Mallum, almost all of Otkodov, and all Jotun lands the Empire has maps of - Skallahn, Tromsa, and Hordalant. After spending some time talking with their colleagues in the Conclave, these stargazers put forward one possibility - it is as if the shroud is covering the Empire and Imperial magicians in some conceptual way rather than being anchored solely to the territories of the Empire. They're confident that these shrouds can be removed, but they suggest that before doing so the Imperial Seer consider trying to divine them directly to see if they can learn anything about where they came from.
OOC Note
The sheer size of the new site means that for the first few events at the very least, we need to move the entrance to the Hall of Worlds away from the regio for reasons to do with event logistics. We wanted the regio to be central for all players, but we need the Hall of Worlds closer to the crew area, so that we can run plot into it more easily. Given the layout we have, the best way to achieve that was to separate the entrance to the Hall of Worlds from the regio.
We've taken the decision to take advantage of the plot that is happening in this wind of fortune and use it as the in-character justification for that change. The changes affecting the Anvil regio are a consequence of player action and plot - they remain for player-characters to deal with. The shift in the entrance to the Hall of Worlds is a purely OOC rules update that we've taken for logistical reasons - there is no in-character way to put it back.