Pakaanan's Iron Shutters
Rules
Winter Magnitude 8
Performing the Ritual
Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. The target portal must be nearby; if it is part of a regio the ritual must be performed within or within arm's reach of that regio.
Effects
This ritual temporarily seals a magical portal so that it cannot be used in either direction by any character, item or force.
A magician casting the Magical skills#Operate portaloperate portal will find that the spell fails but they do not expend any a mana.
The seal lasts for 10 minutes.
Description
This ritual has two primary uses. Firstly, it can be used to seal access to the Hall of Worlds for a short time. The ritual can be perfomed on either side of the portal at Anvil, and prevents anyone from entering or leaving the Hall for the duration.
Secondly, it can be used to temporarily seal a portal encountered as part of a regio. It is most often used in this way to stop creatures entering or leaving the portal while a more powerful ritual (perhaps Wind of Mundane Silence) is used to permanently deal with the regio, and by proxy the portal.
Pakaanan's Iron Shutters is named for a volhov who first used it to seal a regio ahead of a fleeing monster that was terrorizing a nearby vale. He and his apprentice Ijena beat the beast back to the regio it was using as it's lair, and sealed the portal before the beast could pass through, allowing the pursuing schlacta to capture and dispatch it. After this initial success, Pakaanan used his influence with the Rod and Shield order to have the spell researched and codified; over the rest of his career he used it several times to vaiously hold a portal closed while a [{Varushkan magical traditions#Cabal|cabal]] dealt permanently with the regio; to prevent an angry Herald following him after a disastrous negotiation; and on at least two occasions with ilium to create permanent seals that (to this day) imprisoned monsters in their mystical lairs.
Experimentation by members of the Unfettered Mind order has demonstrated that this ritual has no effect on The Sentinel Gate because, while it transports people from one place to another, it is not a portal as such.