Hands of the Healer

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. This ritual targets a character, who must be present throughout. The target character must have the magician skill.

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

Effects

When the target swift casts the heal spell, they need only spend 1 mana rather than the usual 2 mana. The target does not gain any additional knowledge of, or ability to cast, the heal spell if they do not know it.

They also experience a roleplaying effect: your empathy for other people is greatly enhanced. When you see a living creature in pain, you feel an urge to alleviate that pain - regardless of how you feel about that person.

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

Additional Targets

This ritual can affect additional characters from the same coven. Each additional character increases the magnitude by 15. Additional characters must be present throughout.

Description

Where Fountain of Life allows a magician to perform healing spells, Hands of the Healer allows a magician who is already proficient with magical healing to use their power significantly more quickly, and removes the possibility that they can be interrupted. The ritual accelerates the use of items such as the Acolyte's Mercy wand, as well as the spells cast by a magician under their own power.

Unfortunately it does not allow a magician to use an item such as a Bloodwoven Braid, which does not allow the spell to be swift cast, any more quickly.

The ritual also explicitly does not grant the target the ability to perform the heal spell; the target must already know how to cast the spell to be able to gain any benefit from the enchantment. Speeding up the use of the heal spell has obvious applications in dangerous environments; it allows a magician to provide magical healing on the front-lines without fear of being interrupted, or requiring their patient to stop defending themselves.

Magicians who experience this enchantment speak of feeling as if the magical energy they draw on is eager to be unleashed. They recount an almost instant connection between themselves, their magic, and their target. The magic leaps easily across the gap from caster to patient; indeed, it is nearly impossible to hold it back. Experiments have shown that while a magician can choose to perform one of their healing spells in the usual manner while under this enchantment, doing so can cause them physical discomfort - one waggish hakima likened it to having a particularly full bladder.

If the ritual has a drawback, it is that it greatly increases the ability of the magician to feel sympathy for those who are in pain. Some magicians find the experience of being on a battlefield especially upsetting; some especially sensitive magicians even speak of feeling the wounds inflicted on their allies and their enemies as if they were inflicted on themselves.

It is important to note that this ritual does not affect the performance of rituals - The Hands of Sacred Life is not affected for example. The enchanted magician must be in some way "casting" heal to draw on this power.

Common Elements

As with many healing rituals, blood and water are common elements. Washing the hands with water or wine is common, as are invocations using the names of famous or legendary physicians and healers. The firebird, which heals itself instantly with the power of flame; the herbs true vervain or cerulean mazzarine; and the constellation of The Fountain are all popular images to use with this ritual.

Runes such as Rhyv or the rune of thought may also be evoked - the first in its role as the rule of healing as well as bloodshed, the latter in its aspect as the rune that is concerned with education and mental skills.

Some Dawnish and Wintermark rituals paint the rune of majesty on the hands of the target, seeking to imbue them with consummate healing skill.