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

The target can cast the heal and restore limb spells with a few words of appropriate roleplaying, rather than taking the standard 10 seconds. In addition, the casting is not interrupted if the caster or target are attacked, or if the target makes an attack.

The target does not gain any additional knowledge of, or ability to cast, spells they do not know. Other requirements of casting a regular spell do not change - the caster must still be unarmoured, and they must still be capable of touching the target with their casting hand throughout the performance of the spell.

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 9. 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 spells 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, or a Bloodwoven Braid, as well as the spells cast by a magician under their own power. Indeed, the ritual explicitly does not grant the target the ability to perform either heal or restore limb; the target must already know how to cast one or both of these spells to be able to gain any benefit from the enchantment.

Magicians who experience this enchantment speak of feeling as if the magical energy they draw on is eager to be unleashed. They speak of experiencing 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 causes them physical discomfort - one waggish hakima likened it to having a particularly full bladder.

Speeding up the use of the heal spell has obvious applications in dangerous environments; it allows a magician who has not mastered the swift heal spell to provide magical healing on the front-lines without fear of being interrupted, or requiring their patient to stop defending themselves. Likewise, a magician who has mastered the ability to restore maimed limbs can apply that magic almost instantly, to an ally who is still in harm's way.

Some magicians have suggested that the use of this ritual may have eventually lead to the creation of the swift heal spell. They further argue that it should be possible to create a similar incantation that replicates the restore limb spell, although the practical applications for such a spell seems to be significantly fewer than that for swift heal or purge. A few magicians argue that using this ritual enchantment, or a magic item such as a Trollsweave Vest, is actually more efficient than mastering the swift heal incantation - after all, the heal spell draws on significantly less personal mana than the more offensive spell.

Likewise, there has been some discussion among those unfamiliar with the lore of Spring regarding the fact that the ritual does not allow a magician to perform the purify spell with additional alacrity. Those more versed in such magic point out that "purification" has much less resonance with the healing and vitality that is such a core element of the Spring realm than the concepts of restoring broken and damaged physical bodies.

It is important to note that this ritual does not affect the performance of rituals - neither The Hands of Sacred Life nor Blood of the Hydra are effected for example. The enchanted magician must be in some way "casting" heal or restore limb 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.