Bound by Common Cause

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. The target general of the campaign army must be present throughout.

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

Effects

This ritual uses a general to deliver an enchantment to a campaign army. The campaign army gains a boost to it's combat ability dependent on the number of additional military units that are assigned to fight alongside it. Each military unit adds the equivalent of another 50 soldiers, in addition to the bonus it would normally provide.

While the enchantment persists, the general used to focus this ritual experiences a roleplaying effect: they are never satisfied with the size, strength, military readiness or agreed tactics of their army, band, nation or Empire; they seek to improve things, doubting the opinions of others and being driven to fine new ways to improve their army and the capacity of the soldiers under their command..

The effect lasts until the start of the next Profound Decisions Empire event.

Description

This ritual empowers and enhances an army, using the Imperial general as focus. The enchantment improves the internal logistics of the campaign army, and harmonizes it with the logistical needs of smaller units. The net result is that it becomes easier for independent units to join that campaign army and fight alongside it with enhanced ability. Nobody misses a meal, nobody goes hungry, everyone has dry clothes, good boots, sharp weapons, clean armour ... the ritual serendipitously arranges things so that temporary auxiliaries fight effectively alongside the main body of the army. It even serves to minimize and quell inter-unit rivalries, or at least turn them towards a desire to fight the enemy better than a rival, rather than engage in drunken fistfights. Consequently, this ritual is something of a boon to mercenary commanders, whether serving as generals or leading smaller units. The ability to integrate disparate military units into a larger body helps keep the Imperial troops cohesive and this magic enhances that even further.

This ritual is both the weakest and the most powerful enchantment known in the Empire when it comes to enhancing the effectiveness of an Imperial army. Weakest because it provides no advantage at all to an army that has no auxiliary units attached to it; strongest because with enough negotiation or money, there is no limit to the additional power the army can gain.

Common Elements

This ritual enhances a campaign army, and the general of the target army serves as a vital focus for delivering the magic. It is common to include a banner or standard that will be used by the target force as a focus for the ritual. Other common elements include the invocation of Paragons and Exemplars of Wisdom and Loyalty. Other elements include girding or crowning the military leader, the rhythmic beat of military drums, the presence of warriors from as many different nations as possible as witnesses especially if those warriors swear oaths to fight alongside the general in battle.

The rune of bargains, Lann, is favoured for this ritual as the Day rune Aesh which represents thought and clarity. The constellations of The Chain and The Three Sisters might be invoked, as might the character of The Prince, especially in a scene set on The Battlefield or The Counting House.