Cyclic magic

Overview

This is the improved quality the Urizen Citadel Guard developed as a consequence of the Unmade trove. It cycles through six options over the course of six events, then comes back to the start. Once set in motion, the cycle can't be interrupted and continues to run forever. The cycle was begun during the Winter Solstice 379YE, appropriately enough with the technique of the Bond of Tears.

In addition to all the benefits of cyclic magic, the Citadel Guard continue to enjoy all the benefits of the magic quality.

Cyclic Resonance

The ilium-infused mage armour and mage weapons have empowered the Army of the Citadel, known as the Citadel Guard, with additional opportunities to bring their magic to bear during a campaign.

This is an enhancement to our natural magical capabilities; it does not alter the ability of the general to empower ritual magic using the Law of Dominion.

Likewise, it does not impede our ability to gather crystal mana when undertaking arcane consolidation.

The army is not attuned to a single realm – rather the energies tapped by the ilium-infused weapons and armour shift and change in a predicable cycle. The cycle should be familiar to any mage who has studied the night magic ritual Align the Celestial Net.

Day leads to Winter, Winter leads to Spring, Spring leads to Night, Night leads to Summer, Summer leads to Autumn, and Autumn leads to Day again returning the cycle to its starting point.

The energies are implacable once the cycle begins; there seems to be nothing that can be done to impede it, speed it up, slow it down, interrupt it … the cycle will progress regardless. This means that the onus is very much on the General to take advantage of the advantages each realm provides through superior strategy.

These powers clearly go beyond those achievable with ritual magic alone- they arise from the superior ability of Urizen magicians to harness and wield all sorts of magic with true excellence to achieve a specific end.

In each case, the General employs the power of the realm by issuing appropriate orders. Each order – the techniques that are employed by the army – requires the Citadel Guard to be actively seeking out opportunities to engage enemies. They are all aggressive, energetic orders that will precipitate armed engagements if enemies are present.

There is of course no requirement to draw on the realm-aligned powers in any given season. This is especially important given the need that any army faces to be resupplied from time to time.

The six techniques are summarized here, along with the assessment of what effect they will have during a campaign. Part of the process of disseminating the ilium-infused mage armour has been to train our magicians in the techniques for harnessing the resonances and ways they can be used to supplement their existing magical abilities – as well as working with the sentinels to prepare methods for combining the additional magic with more mundane tactics and strategies.

Once the general has decided on where the cycle will begin, it will be a matter of perhaps six hours to set it in motion and the order granted by the chosen first resonance will be available durng the coming campaign months.

A word of caution – no other army in the world possesses mastery of Cyclic Resonance. There may be unlooked for interactions between these techniques and the power of enchantments, curses, or even the actions of other armies, that we cannot take into account so we must be prepared for occasional unlooked for results when employing these strategies.

The Six Techniques

Technique of the Celestial Key

• Resonance of the Day Realm
• Preceded by: Autumn; Succeeded by: Winter
• Allows use of the Enlightened Scrying attacking order

Day resonates strongly with the symbols of divination and revelation. Even the merest apprentice beginning their journey to magical masters learns first how to divine the nature of magic before ever they touch it. There are few secrets hidden to the great masters of the Day realm. With this technique, binding the resonance of day to support the art of gathering and sorting information, the magi of the army can accumulate an awe-inspiring amount of intelligence in a short time.

Enlightened Scrying

• The army generates a map of the territory they are in.
  
• Casualties inflicted by this army are decreased by two fifths.
  
• The ability of this army to capture territory is decreased by a fifth.

This attacking order uses divination magic to discover extensive details about the territory within which the army is campaigning. In addition to the map of the territory, it provides details similar to those acquired by a spy network including the location and size of fortifications, details of regions, and the presence of any actively operated bourse resource.

Technique of the Bond of Tears

• Resonance of the Winter Realm
• Preceded by: Day; Succeeded by: Spring
• Allows use of the Winter's Mantle attacking order.

Winter resonates with symbols of cruelty and survival. It preserves, but for all great powers of the winter magic there is a cost to be paid. At the same time that magic averts harm to the Citadel guard and allows them to press forward, their suffering falls on the allies of the army who take the injuries that might otherwise have crippled Urizen magicians. The technique is of limited value unless there is another allied army present to take any losses the Citadel Guard might otherwise suffer.

Winter's mantle

• The ability of this army to conquer territory is increased by a fifth.
• If the army is fighting alongside any allied army, then all casualties received by this army are divided up between the other allied armies

Winter preserves, but not without a cost. With powerful enchantments, crippling injuries are averted – but must be suffered somewhere. The army can afford to press forward to victory, secure in the knowledge that for a short time at least any losses will fall on their allies rather than themselves.

Technique of the Transcendent Claw

• Resonance of the Spring Realm
• Preceded by: Winter; Succeeded by: Night
• Allows use of the Onrushing Storm attacking order.

Spring resonates with symbols of destructive energy unleashed, with both storms and natural erosion by plants and weather. By channelling this resonance, the walls of a fortification can be overwhelmed either by a slow green tide or with devastating weather phenomenon.

Onrushing Storm

• The army must be attacking a region in a territory containing a named fortification or else the order defaults to cautious advance. The fortification need not be in the region being attacked, and this order will not cause it to be involved directly in the campaign.
• All casualties inflicted by this army are directed at the named fortification.

This order damages and potentially destroys a fortification; it is especially powerful in that it can be used from a distance – the Citadel Guard do not need to engage the fortification and can indeed be involved in a campaign in an entirely different part of the territory.

Technique of the Shadowed Threshold

• Resonance of the Night Realm
• Preceded by: Spring; Succeeded by: Summer
• Allows use of the Walk hidden paths attacking order.

Night resonates with symbols of myteries, secrecy, obfuscation, and inspiraction. Binding the resonance and weaving night magic, the army can evade sight in a limited way, and take advantage of hidden or perilous routes through dangerous territory. One use for this power might be to pass through an area infested with vallorn without attracting it's attention.

Walk Hidden Paths

• During this season, the army can move through one territory, regardless of whether it is in Imperial Control, without stopping.
• If the army uses this ability to pass through a territory containing an enemy force then the ability of this army to capture territory is increased by one-fifth.

Any effect that would harm or impede travel through the chosen territory is greatly reduced in effect and may be nullified. This attacking order allows the army to move through a named territory as part of their normal movement while avoiding dangers such as enemy armies.

Technique of the Mountainous Ascent

• Resonance of the Summer Realm
• Preceded by: Night; Succeeded by: Autumn
• Allows the use of the Irresistible Spear attacking order.

Summer resonates with symbols of prowess and triumph. This technique allows the army to identify key strategic objectives, and helps to secure those objectives, allowing the army to quickly establish safe camps. At the same time, summer magic is used to infuse temporary fortifications to grant them extra strength, providing tactically significant locations which can serve as centres from which the army to expand outwards.

Irresistible Spear

• The army suffers no penalty to victory points generated to capture a region which is not adjacent to a controlled region in the same territory.

Summer magic strengthens and supports the army allowing it to swiftly establish a beachhead in a new territory, or to make an unexpected strike deep into enemy controlled areas.

Technique of the Coiling Chain

• Resonance of the Autumn Realm
• Preceded by: Summer; Succeeded by: Day
• Allows use of the raise the glass labyrinth attacking order

Autumn resonates with symbols of travel, communication, and binding. Channelled and focused, magicians warp synchronicity and serendipity to interfere with the command structure of opposing armies, impeding their ability to coordinate. The lingering effects of the magic warp the ability of enemy soldiers to move away.

Raise the Glass Labyrinth

• Opposing armies or navies may only move one territory in the season following the one in which this order is taken.

This attacking order weaves autumn magic around opposing armies, entangling them with a barrage of curses that interfere with the chain of command in subtle ways. It also creates a cumulative warping of chance that makes it difficult for them to withdraw or advance.