Call Winged Messenger

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. The ritual targets a single letter which must be present throughout; the letter should be addressed as clearly as possible to the person it is intended for.

Effects

At the completion of the ritual the target letter vanishes, as if grabbed by a fast-moving unseen presence. The ritualists will often hear the swift beating of wings, or the clatter of claws immediately before or after the letter vanishes.

The letter is conveyed to a single character who the ritualists clearly identify by name, location and (if appropriate) title, who lives on the mortal Realm. It can take anywhere from several hours, to several days, for the letter to be delivered. There seems to be no relationship between the physical distance to the target and the time the letter takes to arrive.

OOC Elements

This ritual is much more successful for sending a letter to a non-player character than sending anything else, or sending something to a player-character. While it could be used to deliver a message to someone on the field at Anvil, it may not arrive until the next event depending on our ability to actually deliver the letter. In almost all cases, when sending a letter to a player-character the ritualists would be better served paying someone to deliver it by hand on their behalf.

Description

This ritual appears to create or conjure an invisible, incorporeal messenger that will carry a letter almost anywhere in the mortal realm. The letter targetted by the ritual must be in the open - if it is in a box or a pocket the ritual fails. It is usually placed on a table between ther ritualists, or held up in one hand for the spirit to 'grab' as it flies past. Ritualists have reported sudden winds, whipping breezes, the sound of fast-beating wings and the 'awareness of an invisible presence' at the completion of the ritual, and recipients have reported similar sensations on occasions where they have been aware of the letter arriving.

There is some disagreement among ritualists as to whether the spell literally conjures an invisible, incorporeal spirit or if it simply transfers the letter directly. Attempts to catch or spot the spirit, assuming it exists, have proved universally unsuccessful.

The ritual does not create any special ability for the recipient to reply. If the letter is important enough, the recipient may arrange for this spell or a variant to be used to deliver a message of their own, or they may (depending on how far away they are) ask a merchant, or dispatch a messenger or courier to deliver a letter on their behalf.

Using the ritual to send a message to an Eternal has proved ineffective; the letter appears to just vanish. There is a theory that the letter is simply dropped somewhere random, possibly at an appropriate regio; regardless that are no verifiable reports of someone discovering that their letter has reached the target Eternal.

Attempts to transport goods with this ritual have met with mixed results. Anything much heavier than a pamphlet or a dozen sheets of paper may cause the ritual to fail. Anything that is clearly not a written message, such as a box or pouch, also tends to cause the ritual to fail. Some minor success has been achieved at sending a few items around the size of rings, coins or a handful of ingots of material, provided they are carefully wrapped inside a well-addressed package, but anything heavier or larger tends to cause the ritual to fail.

Common Elements

A letter, pamphlet, folded or rolled scroll or stack of documents is the focus of this ritual. The letter should be held together firmly - held together with ribbon or string, carefully folded, perhaps even made into a small, light package and sealed with wax. It should be clearly addressed, and the address recited loudly and clearly during the ritual. The runes Queros or Sular are often evoked with this ritual, as are totemic spirits of fast or winged creatures such as ravens or hawks, or legendary beasts such as gryphon or some form of winged beast.