Distill the Serpent's Stone

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Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. Performing this ritual requires a single ring of ilium.

Effects

During this ritual the ring of ilium is transformed into an egg-sized mass of dark material known as a shadow egg.

The material is stable and permanent once created. A magician can consume the shadow egg to temporarily boost a single Realm Lore skill by 6 effective ranks for purposes of performing a single ritual, provided they already possess at least one innate skill rank of that Lore. These additional ranks do not grant any additional mastered rituals, and a character's total effective rank can never be more than three times their innate skill (the number of ranks of the appropriate Realm Lore they have gained by spending experience points).

Description

TBC

Common Elements

This is an alchemical mystery, and almost always includes elements such as fire; beakers, bowls and other pieces of alchemical equipment; water and other liquids, including blood (some ritualists use a little blood from one each of a human, a changeling, a briar, a naga, a cambion, a draughir, and a merrow); charts and diagrams; and the other trappings of this ancient magical lore. The ritual requires the ritualists to combine eight ingots of special material and an ingot of ilium, and consequently a vessel such as a crucible or cauldron is often the central focus of the magic.

Many ritualists wear masks or veils when they perform this ritual - not least because there are occasionally noxious byproducts of the transformation. This ritual is often performed in private; the serpent's stone is powerful, and can be a highly coveted treasure.

The forces of the heavens are often referenced in alchemical rituals. If the theory that the stars represent in some way the tools of the Creator are true, then evoking the power of astronomancy seems entirely appropriate to the practice of enacting permanent transformation. The constellation of The Great Wyrm in particular is likely to be evoked. The names of the Eternals Murit and Soghter are sometimes used, especially in their aspects as the Azoth, a theoretical compound that provokes miraculous transformation.

The rune Xun which represents transformation is usually evoked with this magic, although it is common to include Wyr, Diras and even Zorech to show that this ritual is near the pinnacle of the study of Night magic; it is also a mystery, and the material it creates comes as much from secrets as the passion for alchemical mastery. Some alchemists also include Aesh for the power of the mind, or Cavul to represent the idea of purifying materials into higher forms.