Mantle of the Golden Orator

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. This ritual targets a congregation. The character who controls the target personal resource must be present throughout.

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

Effects

The target congregation swells over the next season and is assessed by the civil service to provide an additional 3 doses of liao and an additional 6 votes in the Imperial Synod at the next event, in addition to normal production.

If the owner of the resource does not attend the next event, then the additional production provided by the resource is still added to that character's inventory.

Additional Targets

This ritual can affect additional congregations provided the congregations are all controlled by characters from the same sect. Each additional congregation increases the magnitude by 5. The character who controls each congregation must be present throughout the ritual.

Description

This ritual targets a congregation and the community that surrounds it. Although the people influenced by this enchantment are likely unaware, it works through the web of friendship, family and acquaintance among the people near the congregation, gently encouraging them to attend that

As with rituals such as Rivers of Gold, this ritual is very subtle. The enchantment is very difficult to spot without magical means, unless one knows it has been cast. Regardless of the influence, the enchantment does not make the targets embrace the words of their spiritual leader without question; it helps the priests involved with the congregation to understand the people who come to them for advice, or to hear them speak about their faith, but it does not make people more credulous.

The ritual swells a congregation both by attracting the faithful and by influencing the choices of those who are perhaps less devout, gently nudging them towards seeking spiritual support. People in the area who would have sought a place of worship or prayer will tend to choose the enchanted congregation to join. The effects are reasonably temporary; a few of those influenced might continue to attend their new congregation, but the ritual is no substitute for the hard work required to permanently increase the size of a congregation.

Some priests in the Imperial Synod are sharply divided over this ritual. Some view it as a sinister plot to undermine the Way, others as simply a way to encourage the faithful to attend one congregation or another - generally a prosperous or ambitious congregation. The civil service do not make a distinction between a congregation that has temporarily increased in size through the influence of this ritual and one that has been increased by other means - the faithful are still worshipping and receiving spiritual advice, and the rules are quite clear that this means the congregation in question gains additional allocation of liao and votes.

Common Elements

This ritual deals with the Imperial faith, and as such it is usually performed to the accompaniment of a sermon, and with symbols of the Imperial Virtues. The target priests usually make a special effort to attend the ritual in their full finery, and often bring along any members of their congregation or sect who are present.

The invocation is likely to focus on the connections between the priest and their congregation, or the role that a church, temple, shrine or cathedral plays in the lives of the faithful. The constellations of The Web and The Chain may be evoked, especially in Urizen and the runes Queros, Feresh and Irremais may be evoked (especially in Wintermark).