Raise the Dragonsworn Cohort
Rules
Summer Magnitude 20
Urizen Lore
This ritual is part of Urizen lore rather than Imperial Lore. Any Urizen character with the appropriate lore can master or perform this ritual. A character from another nation who mastered the ritual before it became part of Urizen lore may still perform it, but does so under the usual rules for performing a ritual learned from a ritual text.
Performing the Ritual
Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. This ritual targets a mine. The character who controls the target personal resource must be present throughout.
This ritual is an enchantment. A target may only be under one enchantment effect at a time.
Effects
This ritual calls forth a band of koboldi from the depths of a mine. They form a powerful military unit under the control of the character who owns the target mine, and fight under that character's command during the coming season.
The target mine produces no special materials during the coming season; they are claimed by the eternal Adamant. At the end of the season production is returned to normal.
The military unit created consists of supernatural troops that can be assigned any of the tasks that a normal military unit can undertake. While they are effective at all these tasks, the warriors are especially well suited to defending a fortification and receive a five rank bonus (equivalent to an additional 100 fighting force) when they do so.
Additional Targets
This ritual can affect additional mines in the same territory. Each additional mine increases the magnitude by 15. The character who controls each mine must be present throughout the ritual, and each receives control of their own military unit.
Assurance
The magic of this ritual is sufficient to summon heralds of Adamant even if the Imperial Conclave has declared enmity with the eternal but doing so not only has legal implications but is likely to anger the Throne of Stone.
The ritual loses all power and becomes useless if there is ever a season where there are no fortifications in Urizen territory. For the purpose of the agreement only permanent fortifications created with white granite count - magical citadels such as those created by Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae do not count. The ritual's power might be restored by renegotiation with Adamant but it is by no means certain it would function the same way.
Of the three rituals in A Year of Perfect Stillness, I think that this one is the most useful. In return for the right to claim the magical metals produced by a mine, a cohort of koboldi come to serve the owner in battle. While they may be short, they excel as defenders of a fortified position. They are also delightfully friendly, polite company, with a boundless capacity for wonder, which is certainly a refreshing change for those more used to the... difficult... personalities of some other inhabitants of the Summer Realm.
Architect Cadamar of DelvingDescription
This ritual became part of Urizen lore during Winter 383YE along with Stone's Unyielding Defiance and Vital Strength of the Earth. All three rituals were contained in A Year of Perfect Stillness, a tome of magic owned by the magicians of Delving, a spire known for their expertise in working stone, in engineering, and in mining. They are also on good terms with Adamant, and Raise the Dragonsworn Cohort draws on that eternal's power. By all accounts the King Under the Mountain is inclined to help the people of Urizen. The creation of the Three Watchers and the public thanks issued by the Urizen assembly, as well as the mandate encouraging Urizeni to work with eternals all apparently factored in to the architects of Delving receiving his blessing to share the magic he helped to create.
Home to a number of respected architects, they were among the first to see the potential benefits of sharing some of their personal lore with their fellow Urizeni. Arbiter Severus presented the opportunity to gain access to the book's rituals in return for an appraisal commissioned by the Imperial Senate to identify sites for new fortifications in Urizen. When the Senate did so, representatives of the Spire delivered the scrolls that make up A Year of Perfect Stillness to Anvil and it was duly added to Urizen lore.
The ritual works differently to similar rituals such as Carve the Crystal Guardian or Conclave of Trees and Shadow. Rather than drawing on the magic of the resource to embody spirits from the Summer realm, Raise the Dragonsworn Cohort is significantly more transactional in nature. Adamant dispatches a unit of koboldi soldiers to fight for the person who owns the enchanted mine, while the Stone Dragon claims everything it would have produced over the season for their great hoard.
The size and experience of the koboldi warband is directly proportionate to the size of the enchanted mine, and they excel at defending a fortification. They are also, by all accounts, unfailing polite, pleasant, cheerful, and upbeat even in the face of defeat. They are also endlessly fascinated by the mortal world, and possess an almost child-like capacity for wonder... while at the same time being skilled and terrible combatants equipped with a wide variety of fine quality magical armour and weapons.
A note in the ritual remarks that the colour of the koboldi seems to be related to the primary material produced in the mine. An orichalcum mine sees golden- or emerald-scaled koboldi arrive to fight on behalf of the owner. Weltsilver seems to result in silver- or crimson-scaled warriors, while green iron leads to bronze-, copper-, or sable-scaled koboldi heralds appearing. Tempest jade appears to invariably produce azure-scaled koboldi who express a particular enjoyment in shattering the weapons, shields, and armours of enemy combatants.
(OOC Note: Under most circumstances, the koboldi summoned during Profound Decisions events will, unfortunately, have to remain primarily as a downtime or plot resource rather than something that can be used on the field. At player events, this might not be the case; but we cannot commit to phys-repping koboldi at short notice nor can they be used in uptime battles due to their inability to pass the Sentinel Gate.)
Common Elements
The ritual often involves a map of the mine to be enchanted; in the case of the Urizen a map of the entire area may be studied, and that information woven into the invocation itself. Where possible the ritual is performed using materials that come from the mine in question although this is not a requirement. If the ritual is performed with the intent that the koboldi protect a particular fortification, maps of that castle's location might also be an element. Unsurprisingly, the eternal Adamant is almost invariably invoked as part of the performance.
Other common features include minerals from the target area; valuable crystals of gemstones; symbols of Loyalty; or weapons and armour (or implements and mage armour), especially enchanted version of those items.