Shadowed Glass of Sung

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. This ritual requires a mirror, reflective surface or similar tool that is studied during and after the performance.

Effects

This ritual divines information about the surrounding location.

The ritual is most effective at discovering secrets, pointing to mysteries, and providing emotional or intuitive details about a locale. For example, if a sorceror has murdered several villagers as part of a ritual at a circle of stones, and left a valuable scroll behind, the ritual might reveal that: "several people died in agony"; "powerful magic was invoked here recently; the magic was carried away"; "you get an impression of a woman laughing exultantly"; "this place is connected with a great green spirit of immense size"; and that "there is a record of secret thoughts nearby."

Any character who contributed to the ritual can use the mirror to study the area and gain information about it from a referee; they should roleplay looking at the things reflected in the mirror, and the referee will often give information only about what is reflected in the glass. The effects persist for at most ten minutes, and end prematurely if the ritualists leave the rough vicinity where it was performed.

The kind of information the ritual provides is influenced by the locale. If cast inside a building it will provide information about that building. If cast in a graveyard, it will provide information about the entire graveyard, and possibly specific points of interest such as a nearby mausoleum or a specifically interesting grave.

At the very least it always provides information about enchantments in the immediate vicinity on places, structures or items.

OOC Elements

As with Clear Lens of the Eternal River this ritual is designed to help ritualists quickly survey an area for points of interest; it is not usually a substitute for interacting with the environment, but it often provides additional details, significance and context to the history of a location. This ritual tends to provide sensations and impressions, rather than precise facts. Interpreting the details is up to the players.

Description

The reflective surface used in this ritual can be passed from ritualist to ritualist; only the characters who participated in performing the ritual can see anything special reflected in the glass. It is only really effective when examining a location - it rarely reveals information about objects smaller than man-sized that are reflected in it, and it has limited effectiveness when revealing information about people.

One potential use is to identify shapeshifters; the mirror can often recognise a shapechanger or a herald for what it truly is. The more enmeshed in their role they are, the harder they are to identify however. A shapechanger that does not know it is a shapechanger is the least likely to be revealed by this spell.

Rituals like this have been used since time-out-of-mind by groups as diverse as the Kallavesi mystics, the Navarr vates, Freeborn seers and League diviners. The information it provides is often fragmentary, and interpreting it can prove quite challenging. It is most often performed when the ritualists encounter a mysterious or magical location - while it can provide some details about events in places like Anvil it is rare to learn anything of significance there.

The ritual is popular in the League, drawing as it does on the hearth magics of mirrors. It is also somewhat popular in Varushka, where a talented volhov who can perform the ritual solo can gather vital information about the places she visits.

This ritual is named for the Night Eternal Sung, a winged serpent who seeks after mysteries and enigmas. Her name is often invoked during the casting. Some magicians prefer not to mention her name, instead referring to this ritual as Through the Glass Darkly" or The Mirror of Enigmas.

Common Elements

This is a divination ritual, and often involves runestones or cards as well as the reflective surface that serves as the focus. The mirror, is often painted with runes during the ritual. Swirling red and black designs painted around the eyes of the ritualists are another common element, marking their attunement to the specially preapred mirror. Some magicians employ this ritual with the use of lenses such as those found in a spy glass, claiming the magic allows them to focus their attention on details they might otherwise miss.

The rune Xun and Diras is often used with this ritual, as are scenes of divination and magic involving characters such as The Bishop or The Doctor, or the evocation of the virtues of Wisdom or Vigilance, or of wise animals or creatures such as sphinxes.