Wellspring of the High Peak

Interdiction
While Ossegrahn is subject to the enmity of the Conclave, it is illegal to perform this ritual.

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

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 2 minutes of roleplaying. This ritual targets an opaque container that contains fresh, pure water.

Effects

When the ritual is performed, the ritualists put ten measures of ambergelt in an opaque container that also contains fresh, pure water. At the completion the ambergelt disappears, presented to the eternal Ossegrahn.

It may take up to an hour for anything to happen, potentially longer. After this time, when the box is opened, it will contain two pieces of vital honey. Each piece can be used as part of a Spring ritual as if it were up to three crystals of mana. The entire piece is consumed regardless of how much is needed, but it can be passed among multiple magicians who are contributing to the ritual if desired.

Vital honey has no use in spellcasting, or in the rituals of other realms.

Additional Targets

The ritual can affect additional measures in the same container. Each additional ten measures included in the ritual increases the magnitude by 4, and provides an additional two pieces of vital honey.

Assurance

This ritual trades with the eternal Ossegrahn. If that eternal is placed under enmity it would be illegal to perform, and there may be repercussions if the eternal feels slighted by its use. As with most rituals that bind an eternal to respond in a certain way, there is an agreement that certain behaviour will cause it to become non-functional. It loses all power if a location called the Spring of the Grey Falls in Caeli is ever harmed. While that region was briefly occupied by the Druj, and a great deal of destruction wrought, it seems that the Spring (whatever it is) was not harmed, as the ritual continues to function.

Description

Spring is too primal to be a realm of transaction and trade. Yet some of the eternals of the green world understand the idea of reciprocity, and of symbiosis. Sometimes it is possible to secure an agreement based on this principle and it is as binding as any accord reached with an eternal of any realm. In this case, we are able to offer a handful ambergelt to an eternal and in return receive the vis that lets us perform our most potent workings.

Cassirra Greenwell of Bleak Tower Spire

This ritual trades ambergelt to the eternal Ossegrahn; in return the magicians receive an amount of Vital Honey. The vis is invaluable when performing rituals of Spring magic. Lord Rain apparently cooperated in the creation of this ritual long ago, well before the foundation of the Empire and his initial "falling out" with the Conclave. The intention was that the warm honey would be used to fuel healing magics, and to help certain isolated spires provide themselves with enough food and healing herbs to be able to survive bad winters and bouts of ill health among their people.

While Brother Harvest has the enmity of the Conclave, it is illegal to perform this ritual. While Ossegrahn may have "withdrawn from the Empire", however, the ritual still works however and will continue to do so unless the assurance is breached.

The ritual became part of Urizen lore in 383YE alongside A Goblet of Stars, Woven Strands of Life, and A Goblet of Stars. All four rituals were contained in The Well of Nine Stars, a grimoire belonging to Cassirra Greenwell, a refugee from Grendel-occupied Spiral. The book was given to the founders of Fountainhome Spire in the reign of Empress Richilde and handed down from generation to generation. It contained a wealth of Spring lore relating to green growing plants. The survivors of Fountainhome Spire proposed that the book be entered into lore as much to reconnect their fellow Urizeni with their pasts as to swell their understanding of the realm of Spring. Arbiter Cyrus of the Bleak Tower agreed, and worked with Cassirra and her fellows to arrange for the rituals contained within to be shared with the rest of URizen.

As with the other groups with rituals to propose for Urizen lore, however, The Well of Nine Stars did not come without complications. As a requirement before the book can become part of Urizen lore, Cassirra Greenwell and the members of Bleak Tower wanted the then-newly formed Silver Chalice Conclave order to make a significant change to its manifesto. Specifically they wanted it to officially remove the statement that it existed to "Look into supporting long term efforts to aid the infrastructure (and foundations) of the Empire." Both were quick to make clear that they and their spiremates bear the Order no ill-will. On the contrary, they are concerned that the Silver Chalice has erred by choosing four goals rather than the traditional three. Three is an ideal number, claims Cassirra Greenwell; more than three and the order risks becoming unfocused - especially with a goal that is so open ended as to be functionally meaningless. For the order to be truly successful it must have focus. The Senate ultimately modified the manifesto, and the Well of Nine Stars became part of Urizen lore shortly thereafter.

Performing the Ritual

The ritual draws on the power of Ossegrahn, and so any invocation should include a reference to the eternal by at least one of his (many) common names. As with any magic associated with "trading" the container that is used to gift ambergelt to the eternal can be a useful focus for the magic of the ritual. Natural materials such as wood or cloth are preferable, and marking them with the rune Lann or an image of the Chain might both help the magic flow more easily.