381YE Spring Equinox winds of fortune

Interlude

The Spring Equinox winds of fortune will come out shortly before the next event (which is June 16th, 2017). However, there are a number of significant things arising from the Winter Solstice that may affect some players' Downtime actions - primarily effects on personal resources.

As a temporary measure we'll be outlining, and offering some context for, these various effects on this page. In each case, there will be further information in the Spring Equinox Winds of Fortune - once they're ready, they'll replace this content.

As always, these are quick OOC summaries to explain effects such as large-scale enchantments and curses. We'll cover all these and more when we start to present the Winds of Fortune for next event.

Warfare

As usual, players who control a military unit have several options to choose between. Anyone who chooses the option to support an army will be able to review the in-character orders given by each general, as well as learning where each Imperial army is deployed over the downtime period.

The Imperial Senate has given the Quartermaster General of the Imperial Armies the power to control where the Imperial guerdon applies and that power has been employed. Until and unless the Quartermaster amends the list only military units supporting the following armies will receive a share of the guerdon:

• Black Thorns
• Hounds of Glory
• Wolves of War
• Liathaven Spy network

This means that a military unit that supports any other army, or that chooses to defend a fortification or assist a special project such as a spy network, will receive nothing other than their standard 18 rings personal income, and will not be counted in the guerdon calculation.

The Ritual Raiment of House Bourné

With the aid of the Empire's leading fashion-and-gossip magazine The Looking Glass, a Sarvosan guild called House Bourné has revealed the existence of six schemata, each providing a pattern for a magic robe that empowers ritual magic from a single realm, through the combined power of dramaturgy and the hearth magic of girding. Each raiment also comes with a potent roleplaying effect tied to the Persona it draws power from.

Following an announcement in the Imperial Conclave on Friday night, the House has thrown open its doors to any Imperial artisan who wishes to visit and study one or more of the schema, to learn how to duplicate their effects. The six ritual raiments are:

• The Bishop's Ensemble, which enhances the practice of Day magic.
• The Captain's Garb, which enhances the practice of Summer magic.
• The Doctor's Attire, which enhances the practice of Winter magic.
• The Mountebank's Guise, which enhances the practice of Spring magic.
• The Prince's Raiment, which enhances the practice of Autumn magic.
• The Semblance of the Witch, which enhances the practice of Night magic.

The schema remain the property of House Bourné - the only way to learn them is to spend some time visiting their estate in Sarvos - but mechanically any character can learn one or more of these recipes in the normal way - when they pick the artisan skill, or when they buy the extra item skill. It is not possible for someone who knows how to make one to simply teach someone else - although House Bourné is not placing any restriction on who can learn the patterns as long as they are Imperial citizens.

With these robes, it is now possible for a ritual magician to be bonded to three magic items, greatly enhancing their ranks of ritual lore (within the limitations of the normal rules for additional ranks).