Auras of Vigilance

Latest revision as of 02:06, 12 July 2017

A soul warned is half saved.

Marcher Proverb

Overview

An aura is a persistent spiritual effect on a person, location or item. The auras listed here are created by priests dedicated to the virtue of Vigilance who use the relevant ceremonial skill. A character who is dedicated to Vigilance must pick one of the following auras when they perform the relevant ceremony. A priest of the Way may also use the Dreams of Vigilance when they use the dedication ceremony to provide a pilgrim with a visionary dream.

The names used for each aura are simply the most common ones used in the Empire. For example, the Preparations of Vigilance may be called Gathering the Spears by a Navarr guide.

Study of these auras helped the founders of the Way to create the Path of Vigilance. Some lay persons assume that the Imperial Synod created these auras in some fashion to encourage adherence to orthodoxy, but according to theological scholars the situation is the other way around. The auras came first, then the tenets of the Path of Vigilance.

Anointing

Anointing involves a short ceremony to create a personal aura on a mortal being. Anointing always requires the consent of the subject.

The Demands of Vigilance

You feel an urge to probe the claims, motives, and actions of others. Refusal to cooperate inspires feelings of suspicion.

Description: This is an anointing favoured by inquisitors, Illuminates and other priests who desire to get to the truth behind deception and dissembling. It is less popular with citizens who have had their privacy invaded as a result, though the innocent have nothing to fear from the Vigilant. Priests of Vigilance have also used this to help citizens question assumptions, and whether individuals or groups are actually worthy of their loyalty.

The Price of Vigilance

You feel an urge to end the threat you named when anointed. Morals and scruples feel like distractions that will prevent you from taking action.

Description: The threats that beset the Empire are wily and cunning, and few will ever provide absolute proof or solid evidence of their intentions before it is too late. Yet doubts about the consequences of acting, or feeling that there is insufficient information, can bedevil the pilgrims of Vigilance and discourage them from doing what must be done. Priests use this anointing to ready the virtuous and strengthen them to act with confidence and certainty. This anointing is popular in empowering priests and pilgrims to overcome other effects that cloud the mind, including malign auras.

The Merits of Vigilance

You feel driven seek the source of a threat. You feel an urge to work with those who share your certainty and bypass those who procrastinate.

Description: This aura encourages pilgrims to try to address the source of the dangers that threaten them, rather than directing their efforts against the most visible or immediate threat. The Vigilant understand the importance of rooting out a threat to ensure that it is completely destroyed. This aura is popular with some Urizen priests who draw parallels with the Net of the Heavens, arguing that the aura drives pilgrims to find the pivotal node, the most effective point to act against the danger.

The Preparations of Vigilance

You feel a need to prepare for the threats that are to come. You feel an urge to call out the complacency of those who are blind to the dangers.

Description: Many priests of the Path of Vigilance use this anointing as a call to arms, especially for those who they feel have become complacent and are unready for the dangers that may come. Other Vigilant groups or sects may use this anointing more regularly to encourage regular drilling and practicing of skills.

You don't own it unless you can defend it.

Marcher Proverb

Consecration

Consecration is the ceremony used to create an aura on a clearly defined location. There is only one aura for each virtue, and all priests create the same one when they use this skill.

In Deepest Consequence

You feel a profound desire to protect the things you truly care for. You know your decisions are crucial to ensure their safety.

Description: This powerful aura of Vigilance fills those who experience it with a passion to protect the things they care most about. Although it can be an unsettling aura, it gives pilgrims an unshakable sense of the significance of their own role in averting danger. It is often used to create places of contemplation, a place for pilgrims to be reminded of the importance of Vigilance when making difficult judgements.

Dedication

Dedication is the ceremony used to link a pilgrim's soul to the virtue. It can also be used to create vivid oracular dreams.

Dreams of Vigilance

The next time you sleep you experience a vivid dream concerning known threats and likely dangers. The dream will often show ways in which you might take action to confront and defeat them. Sometimes the dream will show you a new threat, it appears ominous and foreboding in the vision even if you have not encountered it before. The dream will often include symbolic elements that seem to provide some hint of the source of the dangers that threaten you.

Hallow

Hallow is used to create an aura on an item, such as a weapon, implement, shield or suit of armour. It is not possible to use hallow to create an aura on large immobile objects. Hallows do not provide a source of supernatural strength, but are durable and can last for a year (or potentially forever in the case of an artefact hallowed with true liao).

Hallowing of the Torch

You feel an urge to root out and expose corruption among the powerful.

Hallowing of the Bell

You feel an urge to rouse others to deal with a threat or danger you have identified.

Hallowing of the Scale

You feel driven to uphold the law to ensure the innocent are protected.

Hallowing of the Scout

You feel driven to investigate danger to find the source of the threat.

Hallowing of the Archivist

You feel an urge to decipher secrets and unravel mysteries to identify hidden threats.

Hallowing of the Unconquered

You feel an urge to act decisively to eliminate potential dangers before they can threaten you.

Hallowing of the Arbiter

You feel an urge to simplify complex situations; ultimately everything significant is either a threat or something to protect.

Hallowing of the Sentinel

You feel an urge to take strategic actions to defend your homeland.

Commentary: Strategic actions often include things such as raising armies, building fortifications, creating large-scale enchantments and curses, hiring mercenaries, encouraging generals to remain wary for unexpected threats, and similar actions.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Category:Religion Review]]
+<quote by="Marcher Proverb">A soul warned is half saved.</quote>
 ==Overview==
-These roleplaying effects are created by priests dedicated to the virtue of Vigilance who use the relevant ceremonial skill. A character performing an anointing or hallow must pick one of the appropriate roleplaying effects when they perform the ceremony.
+An [[aura]] is a persistent spiritual effect on a person, location or item. The auras listed here are created by priests dedicated to the virtue of [[Vigilance]] who use the relevant ceremonial skill. A character who is [[dedication|dedicated]] to Vigilance must pick one of the following auras when they perform the relevant ceremony. A priest of the Way may also use the [[#Dreams of Vigilance|Dreams of Vigilance]] when they use the dedication ceremony to provide a pilgrim with a visionary [[dedication#Dreams|dream]].
+The names used for each aura are simply the most common ones used in the Empire. For example, the [[#The Preparations of Vigilance|Preparations of Vigilance]] may be called ''Gathering the Spears'' by a [[Navarr]] [[Navarr_religious_beliefs|guide]].
-==Consecration of Vigilance==
+Study of these auras helped the founders of the Way to create the Path of Vigilance. Some lay persons assume that the [[Imperial Synod]] created these auras in some fashion to encourage adherence to orthodoxy, but according to theological scholars the situation is the other way around. The auras came first, then the tenets of the Path of Vigilance.
-* ''In this place, you are acutely aware of that which you value; you are strongly inclined to speak and act in a way that eliminates any threat to that which you value.''
-==Anointings of Vigilance==
-The following are a range of auras that can be summoned onto a living soul, with their consent, by priests whose own souls are dedicated to Vigilance:
+==Anointing==
+[[Anointing]] involves a short ceremony to create a [[Aura#Personal_Aura|personal aura]] on a mortal being. Anointing always requires the  consent of the subject.
 ===The Demands of Vigilance===
-* ''You feel a desire to challenge deceptions and facades that may conceal a threat, which includes an urge to question and analyse the motives and claims of those you encounter. This feeling is amplified if the person in question is in a position of power and authority. Any respect you have for privacy and confidentiality is lessened.''
+* ''You feel an urge to probe the claims, motives, and actions of others. Refusal to cooperate inspires feelings of suspicion.''
-'''Description:''' This is an anointing favoured by Inquisitors, Illuminates and other priests who desire to get to the truth behind deception and dissembling. It is less popular with citizens who have had their privacy invaded as a result, though only the guilty have cause to fear. Priests of vigilance have also used this to help citizens question assumptions, and whether individuals or groups are actually worthy of their loyalty.
+'''Description:''' This is an anointing favoured by inquisitors, [[Urizen_religious_beliefs#Illuminates|Illuminates]] and other priests who desire to get to the truth behind deception and dissembling. It is less popular with citizens who have had their privacy invaded as a result, though the innocent have nothing to fear from the Vigilant. Priests of Vigilance have also used this to help citizens question assumptions, and whether individuals or groups are actually worthy of their loyalty.
-===The Cutting Edge of Vigilance===
+===The Price of Vigilance===
-* ''You feel a sense that threats must be addressed by any means. Any feelings or attitudes that may prevent you from taking action against any threat to that which you desire to protect are muted, and you find it easier to do what you feel must be done.''
+* ''You feel an urge to end the threat you named when anointed. Morals and scruples feel like distractions that will prevent you from taking action.''
-'''Description:''' The threats that beset the Empire are wily and cunning, and few will ever provide absolute proof or solid evidence of their intentions before it is too late. Yet doubts about the consequences of acting, or feeling that there is insufficient information, can bedevil the pilgrims of vigilance and discourage them from doing what must be done. Priests of the path of vigilance use this anointing to ready the virtuous and strengthen them to act with confidence and certainty. This anointing is popular in empowering priests and pilgrims to overcome other effects that cloud the mind, including malign auras.
+'''Description:''' The threats that beset the Empire are wily and cunning, and few will ever provide absolute proof or solid evidence of their intentions before it is too late. Yet doubts about the consequences of acting, or feeling that there is insufficient information, can bedevil the pilgrims of Vigilance and discourage them from doing what must be done. Priests use this anointing to ready the virtuous and strengthen them to act with confidence and certainty. This anointing is popular in empowering priests and pilgrims to overcome other effects that cloud the mind, including malign auras.
 ===The Merits of Vigilance===
-* ''You feel the importance of being vigilant. When you take an action that you believe will eliminate, or reduce, a potential threat, you are rewarded with a sense of satisfaction, even if the action does not ultimately accomplish this.''
+* ''You feel driven seek the source of a threat. You feel an urge to work with those who share your certainty and bypass those who procrastinate.''
-'''Description:''' The path of vigilance is rarely kind to pilgrims. Dangers and evils can slip past even then most tireless efforts, or actions taken in good and virtuous intent, may backfire. Priests of the path of vigilance are able to use this anointing to reassure their pilgrims that it is the intentions that are marked on their souls, and which will ultimately aid their passage in the Labyrinth of Ages. The desire for vigilance and efforts to this end are what marks a pilgrim from a citizen.
+'''Description:''' This aura encourages pilgrims to try to address the source of the dangers that threaten them, rather than directing their efforts against the most visible or immediate threat. The Vigilant understand the importance of rooting out a threat to ensure that it is completely destroyed. This aura is popular with some Urizen priests who draw parallels with the [[Net of the Heavens]], arguing that the aura drives pilgrims to find the pivotal node, the most effective point to act against the danger.
 ===The Preparations of Vigilance===
-* ''You receive a brief vision of the immediate consequences of being ill-prepared. You feel a desire to prepare yourself, and those around you, for possible dangers to come. Your tolerance for laziness and complacency is greatly diminished.''
+* ''You feel a need to prepare for the threats that are to come. You feel an urge to call out the complacency of those who are blind to the dangers.''
-'''Description:''' Many priests of the path of vigilance use this anointing as a call to arms, especially for those who they feel have become complacent and are unready for the dangers that may come. Other vigilant groups or sects may use this anointing more regularly to encourage regular drilling and practicing of skills.
+'''Description:''' Many priests of the Path of Vigilance use this anointing as a call to arms, especially for those who they feel have become complacent and are unready for the dangers that may come. Other Vigilant groups or sects may use this anointing more regularly to encourage regular drilling and practicing of skills.
+<div style="float:right;"><quote by="Marcher Proverb">You don't own it unless you can defend it.</quote></div>
-===The Omen of Vigilance===
+==Consecration==
-* ''The next time you sleep you experience vivid dreams concerning known threats and likely dangers, and the ways in which you might take action to confront and defeat them. You awaken with renewed optimism and a strong desire to move decisively against your enemies, and to make sensible precautions for potential future dangers.''
+[[Consecration]] is the ceremony used to create an [[Aura#Location_Aura|aura on a clearly defined location]]. There is only one aura for each virtue, and all priests create the same one when they use this skill.
+===In Deepest Consequence===
+* ''You feel a profound desire to protect the things you truly care for. You know your decisions are crucial to ensure their safety.''
-'''Description:''' Sometimes it is easy to overlook the current danger because you are worrying about a potential danger to come. The pilgrims of vigilance are aware of this, and work to consider likely avenues of danger and known threats in order to prepare for them, and ideally prevent them coming to pass. Priests of the path of vigilance seek to use this anointing to help their congregations and pilgrims contemplate threats and to make themselves ready for them.
+'''Description:''' This powerful aura of Vigilance fills those who experience it with a passion to protect the things they care most about. Although it can be an unsettling aura, it gives pilgrims an unshakable sense of the significance of their own role in averting danger. It is often used to create places of contemplation, a place for pilgrims to be reminded of the importance of Vigilance when making difficult judgements.
+==Dedication==
+[[Dedication]] is the ceremony used to link a pilgrim's soul to the virtue. It can also be used to create vivid oracular dreams.
+===Dreams of Vigilance===
+* ''The next time you sleep you experience a vivid dream concerning known threats and likely dangers. The dream will often show ways in which you might take action to confront and defeat them. Sometimes the dream will show you a new threat, it appears ominous and foreboding in the vision even if you have not encountered it before. The dream will often include symbolic elements that seem to provide some hint of the source of the dangers that threaten you.''
-==Hallows of Vigilance==
+==Hallow==
+[[Hallow]] is used to create an [[Aura#Item_Aura|aura on an item]], such as a weapon, implement, shield or suit of armour. It is not possible to use hallow to create an aura on large immobile objects. Hallows do not provide a source of supernatural strength, but are durable and can last for a year (or potentially forever in the case of an artefact hallowed with [[liao#true liao|true liao]]).
+===Hallowing of the Torch===
+* ''You feel an urge to '''root out and expose corruption''' among the powerful.''
+===Hallowing of the Bell===
+* ''You feel an urge to '''rouse others''' to deal with a threat or danger you have identified.''
+===Hallowing of the Scale===
+* ''You feel driven to '''uphold the law''' to ensure the innocent are protected.''
+===Hallowing of the Scout===
+* ''You feel driven to '''investigate danger''' to find the source of the threat.''
+===Hallowing of the Archivist===
+* ''You feel an urge to '''decipher secrets and unravel mysteries''' to identify hidden threats.''
+===Hallowing of the Unconquered===
+* ''You feel an urge to act decisively to '''eliminate potential dangers''' before they can threaten you.''
+===Hallowing of the Arbiter===
+* ''You feel an urge to '''simplify complex situations'''; ultimately everything significant is either a threat or something to protect.''
 ===Hallowing of the Sentinel===
-* ''You feel an urge to ensure that preparations are made against threats, current or potential, and that these measures are checked to ensure they are ready.''
+* ''You feel an urge to '''take strategic actions''' to defend your homeland.''
+'''Commentary:''' Strategic actions often include things such as raising armies, building fortifications, creating large-scale [[enchantment|enchantments]] and [[curse|curses]], hiring mercenaries, encouraging generals to remain wary for unexpected threats, and similar actions.
-===Hallowing of the Whetstone===
+{{Auras further reading}}
-* ''You feel an urge to test yourself in order to identify, and compensate for, any weaknesses you possess. This urge includes an impulse to use this item in that testing, if appropriate.''
+[[Category:Religion]] [[Category:Ceremonies]]
-===Hallowing of the Inquisitor===
-* ''You feel an urge to investigate, and scrutinize, the affairs of those you have dealings with to ensure their integrity.''
-===Hallowing of the Unconquered===
-* ''You feel an urge to take immediate action to address, or eliminate, something you regard to be a potential threat before it gains further strength, or manifests its danger fully. If you deliberately pass up an opportunity to do so, the feeling changes to one of revulsion and rejection that flows from the item to you for as long as you are bonded to it.''
-===Hallowing of the Bellringer===
-* ''You feel an urge to rally others to deal with a threat or danger you have identified. This impulse includes an urge to use this item in raising the alert, if it would be appropriate to do so.''
-===Hallowing of Vardas===
-* ''Any warmth, affection, empathy or mercy you feel toward others is lessened. You find it easier to perceive the world by that which may be a threat, and that which is not.''
-[[Category:Religion]]