Noble Mien of the Hawk Lords

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 possess the Summer Lore skill.

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

Effects

The target gains one effective rank of the Summer lore skill for purposes of performing rituals, subject to the normal rules for effective skill.

They gain two effective ranks (total) to the appropriate ritual lore if they are contributing to the performance of any ritual of magnitude 100 or greater. The ritual does not need to be part of Summer lore, but the normal rules for effective skill still apply. The additional power cannot be used if another effect such as a Chain of Aesh is used to reduce the magnitude of a ritual below 100.

While the enchantment lasts the target experiences a roleplaying effect: You feel supremely confident in your abilities; it is hard to imagine that you could fail at something you set your mind to. When others disrespect you, ignore your opinions, or suggest you might fail, it is hard for you to remain calm.

If the target is a changeling, the roleplaying effect is especially pronounced. A changeling may also choose to temporarily add to or increase physical trappings of their lineage. These changes are temporary and do not last more than a few hours after the enchantment ends.

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

This potent enchantment strengthens the recipient's ability to wield Summer magic. It may share a little power with a novice, or allow a master of Summer lore to draw on even more power. Those experiencing the enchantment are able to take a much deeper draught from the bottomless well of Summer magic, and wield that power with greater confidence and to greater effect.

It further strengthens any magician that contributes to the performance of an ambitious, powerful ritual. The enchantment enhances the will of the magician so that they can personally draw on deeper reserves of whatever realm is used to weave their magical effect. Those who experience the magic of the ritual speak of a constant awareness of a source of great power that they can simply reach out and claim whenever they want - but doing so is not always an easy feat. Occasionally the magic resists, an they must exert every iota of their new strength and confidence to bend it to their will lest it twist out of their control. Some recipients describe it as a flood, or tide, that seems to carry them along in its wake - only by exerting their will can they master the magic and make it perform as they wish it to. Changeling magicians in particular find this enchantment appealing, and over time it can result in the influence of their blood exerting a more pronounced effect on their personalities.

The ritual has a number of variant names. These named generally make some reference to the changeling lineage; it may be Crown of the Majestic Stag, Lore of the Spiral Dance, Wrathful Visage of the Ladies of Summer, Heartbreaking Song of the Swan Maidens or Wise Eyes of the Twilight Councillor. For some time, Imperial magicians considered this ritual to be something of an anomaly - unlike Fire in the Blood or Sorin's Rite of Agony it did not appear to draw magical power through the auspices of a particular eternal of the Summer realm. During Autumn 381YE, as part of an ongoing study of these rituals by scholars at the Lyceum, the question of how the ritual worked was finally answered. Originally codified under the name Lore of the Golden Spiral by the Earl of house de Casillon in pre-Imperial Dawn, it represents an agreement with the eternal Meraud - an eternal well known for his enthusiasm for especially powerful magic. The ritual's common name was transcribed as Mien of the Hawk Lords by the early conclave following a complex disagreement between magicians of Dawn and Urizen, who (unsurprisingly) favoured the name more evocative of their high peaks.

The same group of scholars that uncovered the origin of this ritual have found several references to a similar enchantment called Fire from the Heavens that allows a magician to wield even more Summer magic. The references are quite old, dating from shortly after the foundation of the Lyceum. They contain an account of a coven called Star of Evening ,associated with Willstone in Redoubt, who made use of this ritual to increase their ability empower Imperial armies during the Consolidation. Drawing power from Meraud, it apparently allowed the magicians to tap into "the power of the stars" - it has been suggested this might represent an ability to consume ilium in place of large amounts of crystal mana. Historical research commissioned at the Winter Solstice 381YE by Ioseph of Phoenix Reach, the Minister of Historical Research delved deep into the nature of this ritual; the resulting text is easily available.

There is also some documentation surrounding a ritual associated with either Adamant or Cathan Canae (it is not clear from the context which eternal is involved). Called Throne of Stone in the document, it is allegedly practiced by the Thule and the magician-princes of Jarm. The scroll claims that the ritual empowered an entire coven with mastery of Summer magic, but required the construction of a large stone structure to "contain" the power. The story has previously been dismissed as nothing more than fanciful imagining, but recent discoveries by Imperial scouts in Hordalant of structures that appear to be "embassies" to certain Summer eternals have led to the story being reviewed with new interest.

Common Elements

The ritual often involves symbols of Pride and majesty. Music and dance are often included in this ritual, especially slow stately music that inspires feelings of majesty and confidence. A target may be crowned in some literal or metaphorical way, or given a mantle of feathers as part of the casting, The rune Feresh is often marked on the target, often with pigment to which a changeling has added blood or tears. A blood mage will almost always perform this ritual with the use of changeling blood.