Wondrous Forests of the Night

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 10 minutes of roleplaying. Unlike many rituals, it is not possible to use the power of the Imperial regio to reduce the casting time of this enchantment.

This ritual targets the entire Empire. It must be performed at the Imperial regio at Anvil. The ritual requires a map of the entire Empire which is used to harness and focus its power.

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

Effects

The ritual enchants the entire Empire flooding every Imperial territory with energy drawn from the Night Realm. The precise effects of this flood of magic are unpredictable, but will always create certain effects.

Firstly, every forest in the Empire will produce two additional measures of special material over the next season which match the base production chosen when the forest was created.

In addition, many inhabitants of the Empire experience especially vivid dreams of fantastical vistas, mysterious encounters, romance and adventure.

Finally, while the enchantment persists encounters with the Night realm will become more common. People are more likely to encounter Night regio or finding existing Night regio have increased in potency; heralds of Night eternals and indeed the eternals of Night themselves will become more active following the performance of this ritual, and become more interested in the activities of Imperial citizens.

In addition to these expected effects the enchantment may create any number of effects in keeping with the resonance and dissonance of Night magic.

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

The shadows beneath the boughs are deeper, and more dangerous.

Description

This dramatic ritual enchants the entire Empire for a short time, causing energy drawn from the Night realm to spread uncontrollably across every Imperial territory. It affects every forest in every territory within the Empire, significantly increasing the production of the magical resources they produce. Much like Verdant Bounty of the Twilight Bayou, the ritual is more about helping the people who tend forests to gather rare ingredients than it is about increasing fertility or producing more trees. It also causes the inhabitants of the Night realm to become more active and more interested in the Empire, and adds potency to regio aligned with Night. It may also have any number of other effects - although they will always be in keeping with the resonance and dissonance of Night magic. At the very least it causes people within the Empire to experience powerfully vivid dreams - there are reputable historical records from previous castings of the ritual where these dreams seemed to be visionary in nature or leave those who experienced them inspired and passionate about new projects or old ambitions.

There is a superstitious belief that more naga are born during (or shortly after) this enchantment has been enacted, but as with most things to do with the lineaged it has proved impossible to secure any hard evidence for this belief. There is anecdotal evidence that some naga - especially high-lineage naga - experience a heightened influence of the Night magic in their blood that makes them more gregarious, passionate and so forth.

Wondrous Forests of the Night was the first of the three existing "Imperial enchantments" to be formulated at the Lyceum. Much of the original design work was undertaken by a group of Urizeni stargazers scholars of the omnihedron theory. Work began in 118YE and took an impressive four years requiring the combined efforts not only of the entire Lyceum but the aid of magicians from across the Empire before it was completed. It was performed for the first time in 124YE by a coven from the Arch of the Sky during a grand conjunction of the Great Wyrm, the Door, and the Spider. According to historical records, its impact was unprecedented; the first time a single enchantment had covered such an immense geographical area. The ritual vindicated certain previously fringe magical theories concerning the existence of the Empire as a "greater nation" composed of numerous smaller nations and was seen as proof of the omnihedron projection. The ritual helped cement the Lyceum as the heart of magical research in the Empire and inspired a wave of enthusiasm for codifying potent magical rituals. It is also credited by some historians as helping to raise a groundswell of support for the creation of new magical colleges and ultimately paving the way for the establishment of the Halls of Knowledge in Zenith.

Prior to the reign of Empress Lisabetta the ritual was cast no more than half a dozen times. More recently it has been cast twice - during the Winter Solstice 380YE and the Spring Equinox 383YE.

Following the Autumn Equinox 384YE, the magnitude of this ritual was discovered to have shifted upwards from 160 to 200. Magical theoreticians believe that this is a result of the growth of the Empire, and may have been heralded to some degree by a subtle conjunction of the esoteric constellations of the Key and the Lock during the Equinox. Shortly before the Autumn Equinox 385YE, the magnitude had againshifted, to 210. Scholars suggest this may have been a result of the Barrens becoming part of the Empire.

Common Elements

This is a powerful ritual, and few covens can perform it by themselves. When this ritual has been performed in the past, it has usually been achieved with the use of at least one Web of Celestial Attunement and with supplies of crystal mana from the Imperial Conclave. A coven that plans to perform it often spends several days in preparation, knowing that the eyes of the Empire are likely to be on them.

Symbols of change and Night are used throughout. Ritualists are often hooded, masked or veiled. The map that is a central focus for the ritual is often marked with blood or painted or inscribed with the runes of Night. it is common for one or more of the ritualists to recite the names of the Imperial territories or even regions throughout the casting as a counterpoint to the ritual invocation. Music is common, often gentle and mysterious, to further counterpoint the invocation. The names of Night eternals may be used, but this is less common than invocations of popular fictional characters from around the Empire, especially those whose stories are concerned with mysterious locations.