Align the Celestial Net

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 10 minutes of roleplaying. If the ritual is cast using the Imperial Regio it requires at least 5 minutes of roleplaying instead.

During the ritual the casters must be in a strong regio. The ritual targets the regio in which it is performed.

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

Effects

This ritual shifts the Realm quality of a regio for purposes of the next ritual cast using that regio.

The regio can be shifted one step in either direction along a fixed progression.

Day <-> Winter <-> Spring <-> Night <-> Summer <-> Autumn <-> Day

The enchantment lasts until a ritual is performed using that regio, or the next sunrise, whichever comes first.

Additional Strength

The ritual can be used to shift a regio two steps along the progression in either direction by increasing its magnitude by 50.

Description

As with The Eight-spoked Wheel, there is a great deal of mystery around how precisely this ritual does... what it does. Align the Celestial Net should in theory only transform a Night regio, or only allow a regio to be aligned to Night. Instead it allows transformation around a 'wheel' and is equally effective at targeting regio aligned to other realms, or aligning a regio into any realm. Despite its versatility, it is often easier to use this ritual to align a Night aura than any of the others - perhaps because Night auras are so imbued with the energies of transformation, more likely because a Night regio is likely to enhance Night Realm magic performed within it.

The Urizen claim that the ritual draws on the power of astronomancy, specifically on constellations such as The Wanderer and The Door. The runesmiths of Wintermark claim it relies on the convergence of Wyr and Xun. The Highguard prefer to imagine that it is the result of human magical strength bending the power of the supernatural Realms to their will. It may well be that none of them, or all of them, are right.

The ritual is at its most effective when used on a battlefield. With it, a regio attuned to Spring might be shifted to Winter to allow a powerful curse to be invoked, or a regio attuned to Autumn might be shifted to Summer to allow the creation of a vital enchantment. Either way, mastery of the ritual is not common - its use is circumstantial - but when it is needed it dramatically increases the battlefield options of an Imperial strike force.

The ritual is believed to have minimal effect on the regio-aura at Anvil; that regio is already attuned to several realms. The Imperial Conclave has specifically interdicted the use of this ritual at Anvil, for fear that it may have unforeseen repercussions for the Sentinel Gate, the Hall of Worlds, or the settlement of Anvil.

Common Elements

The performance of this ritual depends largely on the realms involved. To shift a ritual from Spring to Winter, symbols of entropy and declining energy might be used. To shift from Autumn to Day, images associated with building order and hierarchy through influence and rational thought might be more appropriate. The ritualists must be inside the regio, and often subject to any roleplaying effects.

As previously mentioned, this ritual often involves the runes Xun and Wyr, the constellations of The Wanderer and The Door, and the invocation of eternals of Night associated with mystery and transformation.