Sorin's Rite of Agony

This is a placeholder page for content that PD are actively working on.

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 Winter Lore skill.

During the ritual the target must be cut with an edged weapon, sufficient to cause the loss of 1 hit.

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

Effects

When the ritual is complete, after the target has lost 1 hit, they gain an enchantment that grants two magical benefits. They gain one additional effective rank of Winter Lore for purposes of performing rituals, subject to the normal rules for effective skill. In addition, they gain the ability to draw additional power from bladeroot. When contributing to a Winter ritual, they can substitute bladeroot for crystal mana. Every 2 doses spent counts as 1 crystal mana when contributing to the ritual. Unlike many similar effects, they can draw on this ability even when contributing to rituals they have not mastered. As always the amount of crystal mana they can contribute is limited by their ranks in Winter lore.

They also experience a roleplaying effect: You are painfully aware of the dangers that threaten you and those you care about. You feel an urge to prepare for those dangers, and to ensure that you have sufficient resources to overcome them. It is difficult to feel sympathy or empathy for strangers, or to consider their well-being when making plans.

If the target is a draughir, the roleplaying effect is especially pronounced A draughir 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 wound created by this ritual will not heal while the enchantment persists, meaning that the character's maximum hits are effectively reduced by one. At dramatically appropriate moments it will burn painfully sending waves of feverish pain through the character's body. The would can only be healed through treatment by a physick, requiring a dose of marrowort, and using the rules for treating a traumatic wound. If the wound is healed in this manner, all effects of the enchantment end immediately. Once the duration of the enchantment has ended (or the enchantment is removed or supplanted), the wound can be healed normally.

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, and each must inflict a wound on themselves.

Option

Any caster who has mastered the ritual may choose to substitute Bladeroot for crystal mana when contributing to it. Every 2 doses spent counts as 1 crystal mana when contributing to the ritual.

OOC Elements

The wound inflicted by this ritual continues to bleed; even if the character is a briar, it will not scab-over normally. One possible way to phys-rep such a wound would be with bandages wound around and treated with colouring or fake blood. Applying a little more liquid from time to time will help to maintain the illusion that the wound is continuing to bleed.

Description

This ritual creates a pact between the target and the winter eternal Sorin; in return for increased mastery of Winter magic, the target suffers a lingering wound. Some magical scholars are of the opinion that the pain and discomfort somehow feeds Sorin's desire for suffering, while others claim this is a misunderstanding of the eternal's motives. Rather than feeding on pain, these scholars claim, Sorin simply reinforces his belief that all true strength comes from suffering. Either way, if magic is used to heal the enchanted wound the enchantment ends immediately.

Magicians using the gifts granted by this enchantment find themselves strengthened - they are able to endure much greater exposure to Winter magic than normal. They are also able to draw power by consuming doses of the bladeroot herb. Using bladeroot in this fashion is not a pleasant experience; the herb is mildly toxic when used in this fashion. During the ritual they experience a cold numbness that spreads quickly through their bodies slowing heartbeat and breathing but also focusing the mind on the magic being worked to a preternatural degree. After the ritual is complete, a magician using the power of bladeroot is often left nauseated and dizzy. These symptoms can persist for up to an hour unless treated with the purify spell, or a mug of Imperial Roseweald tea.

Magicians using the power of this enchantment find themselves strengthened - they are able to endure much greater exposure to Winter magic than normal. They are also able to draw on the magical potential of bladeroot, a herb that . When using weltsilver in a ritual, it is often presented as a formal offering to the eternal, cast into fire or dissolved in vitriol. The method of destruction does not matter, but it is the act of sacrificing the material wealth the weltsilver represents that allows the magician to draw additional potency from the Winter realm itself to power their magical working.

Even though Sorin is often invoked with this ritual, there is no actual communion with the eternal. As with many similar rituals, Sorin's Rite of Agony seems to represent an agreed-on pact with the supernatural entity. If the ritual is performed in the correct way, then the enchantment is created; Sorin himself has no direct interaction with the ritualists or the target. Still, there is some evidence that those who make extensive use of this ritual may eventually attract the notice of the eternal himself.

It is not impossible that other eternals of the Winter realm may be prepared to honour similar bargains. A trade that weakens someone in one way while strengthening them in another is a key theme of the Winter realm, as is a sacrifice that brings power. If these rituals have been formulated, they are not part of Imperial Lore.

Similar Rituals

Magical scholars occasionally come across references to a ritual known as The Bargain of the Black Stone which provides a more significant increase to the amount of magic the target can wield. Details of the ritual are scarce, although it does seem to have some connection with Sorin; it represents a tantalizing enigma for magicians interested in Winter lore.

A variant of this ritual is known to have been practiced among several inter-connected covens of League mountebanks in Sarvos in the second century of the Empire. Called Surut's Burning Brand it required the target to be burnt with beggar's lye and was connected to the Burnt Knight of the Thrice-cursed Court. Eventually the mountebank societies became embroiled in acts of malicious arson, performing increasingly extreme acts in return for more power from Surut. Eventually they were arrested and the majority executed for multiple murders. If Surut's Burning Brand were to resurface, anyone practicing it would likely attract the attention of the Imperial Conclave and the Imperial Magistrates.

Common Elements

This ritual always involves inflicting a bleeding wound on the target. Some covens who use this spell regularly have a specific knife (or sometimes a sickle) that they use to inflict the wound. Some covens require that the target inflict the wound themselves, as an act of self-sacrifice, while others require that one of the ritualist strike the important blow. Some Varushkan covens accompany the wound with a promise or oath to use the additional power wisely, while the Highborn prefer an oath to remain vigilant against the machinations of Sorin or the other Winter eternals. The location and shape of the wound is important as well; a magister is likely to be a little suspicious of a target who wants to conceal the wound beneath clothing, for example. A Navarr caster is likely to carve the wound into a specific shape or design to increase its power, while among Marchers a common method of performing the ritual is for the target to clasp both hands around a sword-blade, inflicting deep cuts on each palm.

The runes Kyrop and Irremais are often used with this ritual.

If the ritual involves the use of Bladeroot, the bitter and mildly poisonous herb is usually ground into a fine paste which is applied to the hands and face of the magician, often mixed with pigment or blood to trace runes. Magicians who use the herb in this manner often experience a spreading numbness that dulls their sense of touch for as much as an hour after the completion of the ritual. In one recorded case, a magician suffered serious burns when they were unaware that their sleeve had caught fire thanks to exposure to the numbness caused as part of the ritual.