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Between madness and monsters(A bronze age fantasy nobility quest)

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Known Rituals
  • Informational
    • Rite name
    Required ingredients
    description of the most basic version of the ritual
    effects
    additional steps
    (Note: All of the knowledge within is either observation or speculation done by nauseam and may not be true. Also rite and ritual are being used interchangeably)


    Rite of the split soul
    The rite of split soul requires a ritualist, a recipient(the recipient can also be the ritualist) and a gemstone of sufficient value appropriate for the recipient. The gemstone will be consumed.

    The ritualist draws a circle and a line separating it into two halves. A pedestal with a gemstone representing the person whose soul is to be split. the ritualist will first smite the gemstone in half with an implement of separation(such as a knife). After this the ritualist will strike the recipient in the torso before slicing down.

    The rite of split soul will possibly split the recipients soul in twain. You theorize that souls, as objects signifying great unity, do not wish to be separated into pieces and will thus keep themselves somewhat attached even after being split.
    A person who has a weak constitution of the soul may not survive the process.

    The rite may be eased by the addition of other resonant objects to be split, creation of more separation between the two halves of the physical location, addition of elements of mutability into the circle.

    Once the soul has been split it is in a state of mutability and can be changed through further ritual.


    Pacification of the stranger god
    The ritual requires two ritualists and a set of glyphs drawn onto the ground.

    One ritualist will begin to pray to the god beyond the soul wound while the other will begin to dance. Once the dance and the prayer are complete the Stranger God will be pacified for some time.

    The dance, prayer and glyphs likely pacify the strange god through a form of prayer.


    Cleansing of the wine

    The rite requires a bowl with Umman's mark of the gate in it, a shadowy room and an amethyst.

    The wine will be placed in the specially prepared bowl alongside an amethyst. The ritualist will take the bowl into a darkened room where they will pray over it. After coming out of the room the wine will have gained a slight iridescence.

    The wine will no longer taste like wine. It carries with it the blessing of Umman, protecting any who drink it from the whispers or any other maladies of the mind.


    Anoint the watchers mark

    The rite requires the mark of Umman the watcher inscribed above a threshold and the blood of any creature, the blood will be consumed.

    The ritualist will anoint the mark with blood while delivering a small prayer to Umman.

    The mark will prevent any creature with intent to harm those residing inside the space the threshold leads to.

    Using human blood empowers the ritual further, causing pain to those that it would deny entry.

    Ward of the gods

    The ritual requires appropriate offerings for all the gods used in the wards construction, the offerings will be consumed.

    The ritualist carves the visages of gods onto a wall before giving the appropriate sacrifices to each. After this the ritualist will carve ever thinning lines of protection emanating from the gods while beseeching them to protect all those within the walls.

    The ward causes pain to all creatures that approach the walls.

    Soul Ward

    The ritual requires appropriate incense to be burned, Silver wire, 8 small gems of good quality carved with glyphs and a ritual circle made for the ritual.

    The ritualist creates the ritual circle and places the 8 gems carved with runes of rebuke at the eight points, from these points the ritualist draws eight arrows pointing at the center of the circle.
    The recipient of the ward will kneel at the center of the circle, tied to the eight gems with strings of silver while the ritualist burns incense to ease the coming change.
    Once the preparation is done, the subject of the ritual will begin to chant a prayer to uluru and umman to protect the soul. The ritualist will begin to shatter the gems, one by one.
    With the gems broken and the prayers finished, the ritualist will move to the center of the circle. They will strike the center of the subjects chest. Implanting the ward onto their soul.
     
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  • Informational
    • @fearsome hill How can we create magic items with a permanent expiration date?
    For example, if we want to create a vessel in which the blood will always be fresh, what ways can we achieve this?

    Do Umman rituals work against us?
    For example, if someone wants to protect themselves from us with a blood mark, will it work?
     
    H2F2 said:
    @fearsome hill How can we create magic items with a permanent expiration date?
    For example, if we want to create a vessel in which the blood will always be fresh, what ways can we achieve this?

    Do Umman rituals work against us?
    For example, if someone wants to protect themselves from us with a blood mark, will it work?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    To answer the latter question: normally yes but you could ask umman to make an exception. As this ritual wasn't created by umman himself and written into his divinity so fully he can choose to ignore it occasionally though it would cause him great moral pain to do so.

    To answer the former question....it's complicated.
    In essence there are three types of magical items that nammu could imagine:

    Items with some sort of complicated power given to them by unknown means. These would be items like the starlit key. She has no idea how one could create such items.

    There are items simply inundated with a certain type of magic so strongly that they become magical. She believes that she could make these though how well she could make ones outside of Ummans domain is questionable. An example would be a spear that is so inundated with shadow magic that it dissapears when in darkness.
    The effects these items would have would be quite unpredictable.

    Finally we have items that are blessed by gods or haunted by spirits. These are created by having the god or spirit invest themself or a part of their power into the item. What effect these items have is fully dependant on the spirit or god in question though the one creating the item could probably affect it somewhat by beseeching the higher power or changing the makeup of the item to be more condusive to certaint effects.
    The ward placed upon the wall is an example of this sort of magical item.

    For ways to achieve a vessel in which blood will alaways be fresh?
    Theoretically simply seeping it with some form of life force ritualistically might work. This would be the second option
    Alternatively one could make it sacred to a god of life and pray that they would deem it fit their power and simply cause the blood to stay fres. This would be the third option.
     
    fearsome hill said:
    Theoretically simply seeping it with some form of life force ritualistically might work. This would be the second option
    Alternatively one could make it sacred to a god of life and pray that they would deem it fit their power and simply cause the blood to stay fres. This would be the third option.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Given our skills, which way is more likely to give us what we want?
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • "We could take a small walk around the walls, i assume you have seen the great carvings, the gazes of many of our gods crafted into stone."
    "I have seen them, they are quite beautiful"
    "Do you know the reason they were made?" you ask curiously. The wards laid upon the walls by your uncle are not known by most and you are fairly certain Sakan doesn't know of them either.
    "Ah" Sakan seems confused. "I don't think i understand. Are they not dedications to the gods?" Sakan ask almost worriedly.
    "They are that, and more. let us go see them. i will explain more" You explain while looking at the alchemist, malachine eyes staring back at you.
    "Of course lady Nammu, lead the way"

    You both begin to walk towards the outside of the walls, a slight limp in your gait. Soon enough you are facing the great visage of the son of rivers, the features of a handsome man carved into the stone with lines radiating out from him in ever thinning waves.
    "My uncle carved these visages to protect the village but he did not do so by merely calling upon their power, asking them to protect the village as the priest might. No, he channeled the power he called from them into a field of protection. It is the reason why so few beasts and spirits have given strife unto us in the recent years."
    "I did not know this" Sakan says, he is both confused and awed
    "my uncle is simply a humble man who needs no praise for his work and so has kept their true purpose hidden."
    "I understand. You sound quite proud of him."
    "I am, though my mother taught me sorcery, my uncle taught me rituals. He taught me how to turn the power of the world into greater forms" Your words seem to ignite a wonder in his eyes.
    "Oh, what have you created then? Your creations must be just as wondrous as this" Sakan looks at the wall again "So many times I've seen it and never did i realize they had a true purpose."

    "There are indeed many rituals that i have created myself. One that i created quite recently is the anointing of the watchers mark. The god Umman is a new god, a watcher of threshold. Similar to the maiden of the onyx gate but where she watches over the gate to the land of the dead, Umman is the guardian of the mortal thresholds. The ritual i created calls upon him to prevent those who would harm from passing through a threshold where his mark has been placed."
    "That is quite amazing. What are it's limitations? Can you create such rites for other gods?" Sakan launches into a barrage of questions as his eyes shine with greed for knowledge.
    "My, you seem quite interested in this." you point out causing Sakan to once more get embarrassed.
    "I Uhm, yes i am quite interested in these rituals. It's simply that the things they seem capable of are quite remarkable. Is the creation of them something that anyone can learn?" He soon recovers.
    "It is although it is quite difficult. Why do you ask?"
    "Well...It would be greedy of me to ask this lady Nammu but would you be willing to teach me ritual work?"
    []"Yes, i would be happy to"
    []"No, they are too dangerous."



    Some days after your meeting with Sakan, you are once more looking over Shalman as he trains with the creature he summoned. The fields of grass near the town walls are being torn up by the black furred beast.
    It seems that Shalman has gained true control over the creature. Though it still disturbs you the beast seems to be working finely alongside your cousin. Unlike the ones uncle Lugal
    "Shalman, have you a name for that...thing"
    "Oh yes, actually it already has a name. It's" Whatever name Shalman attempts to say was clearly not meant to for human throats, you listen as attempts to hack out some gods forsaken mixture of sounds. "phew. That is it's name"
    "Would you know a name that anyone else could pronounce cousin?"
    "Fine" Your cousin seems annoyed at the idea of calling the creature anything other than the jumble of sounds that came out of his mouth "Black, it can be called black"
    You stare at your cousin flatly. "Black, you called the black furred creature Black?"
    "It is a fine name!"
    "Very well cousin, very well. I am actually interested in trying something out. You know uncle Lugal's glyphs?" You continue in defiance of Shalman's clear confusion about what you just said" He says that they repel the creature that live beyond the wound in our souls. I wish to see if black is also rebuked by them"
    "So these glyphs can repel the creatures I can summon"
    "That is what I believe"
    "We can try it once but if you hurt Black then we will stop"
    "Cousin, i feel you may be becoming too attached to this creature. You do remember my lesson right?"
    " 'Never forget the danger and never succumb to the fear'. Yes i remember what you said but Black is not like other creatures, I can communicate with it. It can communicate with me"
    "Shalman you do know that spirits can talk just fine but they are still dangerous?"
    "I...Fine but Black is different."
    "If you believe so cousin but still, be careful." You wait a bit for your words to sink in "So, glyphs?"
    "Yes"
    You quickly draw a crude facsimile of the glyphs into the soil with a knife. Shalman commands black to approach them but the creature stops in front of them.
    "Apparently they 'were not made for him' apparently they still cause it pain and crossing them would damage it but not as much as whatever they were intended for"
    "why is that?"
    "Apparently while they all share some traits the creatures from beyond the wound are quite different."
    "I see, that is good to know. Thank you Shalman"
    "It was good to help. Oh and i must thank you for the wine. The nightmares, they...they still happen but i am in control now, i can truly choose how to traverse the labyrinth instead of simply wandering it in a terrified haze."
    "That is good to know, hopefully i can help uncle too."
    "Oh are you offering the wine to him as well"
    "Oh no, there is a certain ritual he developed that I will be acting upon him. We hope that it will aid him with his problems"
    "Ah, good luck Nammu. I hope you succeed"
    "Thank you Shalman." After the conversation Shalman continues to practice commanding his beast whilst you leave. The time has come to prepare yet unnamed rite that uncle created.

    Will you use A Shadow's Price to substitute the ritual reagent.
    []Yes: you will lose access to your shadow for two months
    []No: Lose 2 funds.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X]"Yes, i would be happy to"

    Well, we were definitely able to impress him, and I don't see the point in not teaching him the ritual. He has studied the rituals of Umman and thus will become an assistant in spreading faith in her.

    [X]No: Lose 2 funds.
     
    [X]"Yes, i would be happy to"
    [X]No: Lose 2 funds.

    I think teaching him family secrets is basically committing to marry him, but since he's some kind of potions prodigy that's fine by me. Just don't let him get distracted, creating rituals is our thing. He can learn enough to know what's possible so he can make decent requests of us and help us out.
     
    Turn 15, Floodtide
  • Threadmarks
    • "I would be happy to teach you. Let this be your first lesson: Rituals are dangerous things, they mean meddling with powers greater than yourself. My uncle lost a finger while working on the ward because he accidentally marred the face of..." You point at the extremely beautiful woman carved next to the face of the son of rivers, careful not to name her. "A small mistake cost him a finger, you can imagine what a greater one would cost. You will need to be careful, always wary of mistakes and expecting the worst"
    "So studying rituals is like studying alchemy?" Sakan says, breaking your flow and seriousness.
    "Yes" You recover yourself.
    "Then i believe my study shall be a prosperous one. Thank you lady Nammu for teaching me of these things. I hope we shall converse again soon."
    "Let us meet again soon"
    With that you both leave the walls and enter the village once more.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------



    Heading to uncle's room you begin to hear a faint hiss and popping sound. Upon opening the door you notice it's source, the glyphs that uncle has been protecting himself with cover the walls. They smoke and crackle and you feel as if you can hear the forces bearing down upon them, the oppressive weight palpable in the air. Uncle sits by his table with a piece of bark in his hands, his nose bleeds slightly.
    "Uncle! Are you alright." You yell out, his condition has been getting worse but it has only been in fits, the spirits presence hasn't been so constant as before.
    "No Nammu, i am not but it is good you are here. The ritual is ready" He shows you the drawing he created, a circle with eight smaller circles along it's rim from which eight arrows point to it's center. "I used the same principle we used when making the rite of the split soul. Gems seem to be a fine medium for affecting the soul but i feared that there would be none grand enough to carry the whole of the string of glyphs, thus i split it into eight parts, each carved onto a single gem. Cords of silver will connect me to the gems along with the arrows in the circle. This should be enough to drive the glyphs into my soul. It will hurt, of that I am sure, perhaps some incense would ease the transition"
    You look at uncle's plans for the ritual, as he said it relies on the same principles as the rite of the split soul: the gems are a stand in for the soul, by crafting the glyphs onto the gems before destroying them the silver cord will carry their power to uncles soul, carving the glyphs onto it.
    "I have gems to use for this. " You say as you grab the bag of gems from your shadow "The incense and silver have yet to be acquired i presume?"
    "Yes, i have been unable to leave the room and so gaining the required items has to fall to you. I will be carving the required glyphs" uncle says while taking eight of the black gems from the bag and beginning to quickly carve into them.
    "Very well uncle. Good luck"
    "Good luck to you as well"
    You leave quickly to purchase the required items. Firstly visiting Ishar's apothecary to buy the required incense.
    "Come in come in" the old woman yells
    "Hello Ishar, I've come to purchase incense"
    "Well child, what kind?"
    "Something to ease a change"
    "Hmm, i think i have something" The old woman searches trough a small chest before taking out four small pieces of incense "For the birth of children, to ease the pains. Will that do. And what the hell do you need something like this for anyway?"
    "That will do, thank you Ishar. I cannot tell you what it is for sadly." You take out the bag of gems and give her a few in return before rushing out of her apothecary.
    "Damn children" Ishar mutters while you leave.

    Silver cord is quite expensive and costs the rest of the gems in your bag, leaving you poorer but with the required items in hand. You rush back to the house.
    (2 funds lost.)

    Coming back, uncle has finished work on half the gems and so you begin to prepare the ritual circle. First you must get mother to agree to you using the main hall again.
    "Dear child, what has my harebrained brother and you come up with this time?" your mother says.
    "It is a...ritual to ward uncles soul from the spirits haunting him?"
    "Nammu you cannot solve all your problems by messing with someones soul. They are gifted unto us by the gods, do you not understand this?"
    "Would the gods have made our souls so mutable if they didn't wish for us to change them?"
    Your mother puts her hand to her face and sighs
    "Fine, it worked once, perhaps it will work again."
    "Thank you mother, it will work I swear upon the watcher"

    You get to work, taking out a piece of chalk from your shadow and beginning to draw the circle with divine precision, soon the circle is ready along the gems as uncle comes in while clutching his head.
    You take the gems from him while he goes into the middle of the circle and begins to chant prayers to both Uluru and Umman. You place the gems around the circle before lighting the incense, a pleasant dull scent fills the air. With the preparations complete you take a small breath before taking a wand from your shadow.
    You begin at the gem in front of Lugal, the small glyph written on it smokes slightly as the spirits from beyond bear down on it. You tap it lightly with your wand, the gem begins to melt into nothingness, slowly disappearing along with the string of silver connecting it to Lugal. You hear a slight pause in uncles chants but he quickly picks back up again. You move on, repeating the process with the other gems. Each time a gem melts the others begin to smoke more and more, small cracks appearing in them. Each time one is added to the ward to come the pause in uncles chants becomes longer and more pained. By the time you reach the final gem the pain has caught up to him, he no longer chants, merely fighting against the pain in order to stay still.
    With the final gem melting away, you turn back to your uncle, the wand is still in your hand.
    "By the watcher of the outer gate, may your soul be warded. By the maiden of the onyx gate, let your soul be safe" You tap uncle Lugal on the chest and he begins to scream as smoke pours off his body.
    With your divinely imposed calm broken, you drop the wand and grab onto your uncle. While other members of your family watch, only Udan and Adam step forward, watching as their father writhes in agony.
    "Father!" The two men yell nearly in unison as they hold his writhing body.
    "What did you do!" Udan demands
    "Driving away the spirits that haunt him." You almost yell
    "Why didn't he tell us?" Adam asks
    "I do not know, perhaps he did not want you to worry"
    "Damn him, damn him"
    You wait, listening to Lugal's screams as they slowly abate and finally stop. Slowly uncle Lugal opens his eyes.
    "Uncle" "Father" All three of you say
    "I'm...I'm fine! They are gone! ahahahaow. Alright, no laughing yet" as you hear your uncles hearty laugh you breathe a sigh of relief.
    "Father why didn't you tell us?"
    "I'm sorry. I thought you might try to stop me and i... i couldn't live like that anymore" Uncle looks almost ashamed.
    The brothers and their father sit in silence while mother walks up to uncle.
    "So you madman, you did it?"
    "I did, i wonder what mother would think?"
    "She would hit you"
    "Yes, yes she would."

    After a weeks recovery, uncle is back on his feet and he seems to be in better form than you've ever seen him. You are also starting to feel better.
    (Healed 1 aggravated damage, Nammu is now heavily wounded and suffers -2 dice on all rolls)


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Springtide is coming to an end. How have you grown?
    Created the watchers mark: 2 exp
    Talked with Sakan: 1 exp
    Training with Shalman: 2 exp
    Warding uncle Lugal's soul: 3exp
    Total Exp: 2+1+2+3+2=10exp
    No exp spending this turn


    The banks of the black river overflow. It's murky waters diverted away from the fields by great moats turning the ground around Ebonbrook into a marsh.
    you have 4 ap and 1 research action.

    (Ap can be used on normal actions or research but research actions cannot be used on normal actions.)

    Available actions:

    []The mountainfolk have been spotted upriver, one among their kind seems to command the power of the god within. Go along with the party to talk to them.

    []You wish to once more join the miners in one of their expeditions. See what you can find in the deep below.

    []You wish to hunt with Akshy and his band once more, go and see if they are amenable to the idea.

    []Ishar finally found some more of the herbs she needed and is now creating a strange alchemical concoction. Help her test it out.

    []Attempt to divine the intentions of the mountainfolk.

    []Though you have grown to become much more capable in the social parts of ruler ship mother still believes you would do well to observe her as she resolves disputes and conducts her other duties.

    []It's been a long time since you last sought out someone in need of aid, perhaps you will find something to do.

    []Spend time with your family, you should probably explain what you have been doing and what you could do for them.

    []You promised to train Sakan in rituals, begin that training.

    []You have your first follower. Try to find more.


    Research:

    []The hides are yet to be tanned, you will have to wait until they are to work with the leather.(This action unlocks on turn 16)

    []You have an idea for a rite, figure out how it would work(Write in what the rite does)

    []Going into Umman's realm and back is a mentally painful experience but your god self clearly has more knowledge than you. Attempt to get some of his knowledge.(Write in 1 question to ask.)
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan: Family and divine affairs.
    -[X]Attempt to divine the intentions of the mountainfolk.
    -[X]Spend time with your family, you should probably explain what you have been doing and what you could do for them.
    -[X]You promised to train Sakan in rituals, begin that training.
    -[X]You have your first follower. Try to find more.
    -[X]You have an idea for a rite, figure out how it would work(Create a ritual of turning to the god of life to make a huge vessel in which the blood will always be fresh. So that the whole village can protect itself with our mark every day.)

    We still need to find out what the highlanders forgot here, as well as explain ourselves to the family and start building relationships with Sakan.

    Also, now that we have useful rituals, we can start spreading faith in Umman. But it would also be nice to give our village the opportunity to use the ritual every day to increase its protection and our importance with Umman in the eyes of its inhabitants.
     
    Plan: Insight Galore
    [X] Ishar finally found some more of the herbs she needed and is now creating a strange alchemical concoction. Help her test it out.
    [X] Attempt to divine the intentions of the mountainfolk.
    [X] You promised to train Sakan in rituals, begin that training.
    [X] You have your first follower. Try to find more.

    [X]You have an idea for a rite, figure out how it would work(Unseen lore - a ritual to comprehend past and creation and changes of item submited, essentially invoking all tresholds item had to transend in order to became what it is curently. Cattegory and detail of outcome highly varies.)

    edit: need to revise

    ...
    That was Catarthic.
    Time for mountainfolk
     
    Last edited:
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