Combing the Beach

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. The ritual targets a written document of no more than two hundred and fifty words on a single subject.

Effects

This ritual sends a document of no more than two hundred and fifty words to the eternal Roshanwe. The document should detail facts, conclusions and beliefs related to a single topic. It is important to be clear about what single topic the ritualists wish to know more about, and what they already know.

The eternal will respond with a document of their own which details a question about that topic that may help the petitioners with their investigations. To receive Roshanwe's answer, one of the ritual contributors should perform the operate portal at a regio aligned with the Day realm one hour after the ritual was performed.

Description

This ritual was developed at the Halls of Knowledge in Zenith under the direction of Octavius of the Spire of the Auric Horizon, Provost of the Halls of Knowledge. The initial work was undertaken by the eternal Roshanwe, or one of her agents – she presented the arcane projection from which the ritual was developed as a gift to the Empire.

The ritual was initially subject of a Declaration of Imperial Lore, under the name “Unknown Unknown”. The Imperial Conclave agreed that the ritual would be entered into Imperial Lore before it had been formulated at the Halls of Knowledge – a risky proposition as the ritual may have changed in any number of ways during the process of codification.

Rather than providing direct answers to questions, the eternal Roshanwe favours guiding seekers to find their own solutions. Unlike rituals such as Swim Leviathan's Depths and Clear Counsel of the Everflowing River, this ritual does not deliver answers to questions posed by the ritualists. Rather, it is a tool to help find a question that may have been overlooked, or to suggest an avenue of investigation that might not have occurred to the petitioners. In this way, Roshanwe can aid the magicians of the Empire to find their own answers to the mysteries that vex them.

Performing the ritual requires the creation of a clearly written document that lays out the things that the questioners already know. This will be challenging within the limited number of words – it encourages the questioners to be precise, as well as concise. There is generally little need to include information that is common knowledge across the Empire (OOC Note: That is included on the public wiki). Roshanwe knows as much about the Empire as any Imperial citizen and assumes that the wise among them know that much at least.

The response from Roshanwe will likewise be concise. The eternal will suggest a question that the petitioners should ask themselves about the information they have provided, one that may help them to find a path to the answer they seek. There is no direct communication – the answer is received in written form.

It is important to understand that while this ritual sends a message to Roshanwe, it is not a method of communication with the eternal per se. Roshanwe agrees to review the findings of the document they are sent, but nothing more. Attempts to use it for purposes other than this – to send a missive to the eternal for example, or to ask for their aid in a different manner – will prove disappointing. During codification, experiments along these lines resulted in Roshanwe responding with the question “Do you understand how this ritual works?”

Common Elements

This is a divination ritual, that involves a form of limited communication with an eternal. The target of the ritual is a document, no more than two hundred and fifty words, that lays out as much as possible (within the limits) about a situation or problem. At the completion of the ritual, the document vanishes.

As the focus of the ritual, it makes sense to adorn the document itself the rune Sular, whose nature is Discovery. It may be sprinkled with droplets of fresh or salt water, evoking the imagery of the eternal ocean of the realm of Day. Unsurprisingly, Roshanwe is evoked, but so might be the names of Paragons or Exemplars of Wisdom. Indeed, the ritual has several elements that seem to have been informed by the Imperial understanding of that Virtue – that brevity is a tool of the wise, that locating the correct questions are more important than the wrong answers. Invocations related to Wisdom are very appropriate elements even for magicians who do not normally employ the theurgic tradition.

A recitation of the document is a logical inclusion in the ritual so that every member of the coven performing it knows the nature of their communication with Roshanwe. After the document vanishes, and the ritual is thus complete, one of the participants should return to the regio where the ritual was cast roughly an hour later. They then perform the operate portal spell, calling out to Roshanwe by one or more of her many names.