Rites

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It is known by all priests, most lay worshippers and any unbeliever who cares that there exist spiritual effects that aren't the standard miracles, and that the way to achieve these is to pray with the correct form of words and actions. These forms are known as 'rites'. Some priesthoods make heavier use of them than others, and it known that it is possible - though skirting the borders of heresy - to invent new rites. A rite is always at least partly a public act (though it is not always recognisably an act of worship), and it may require that some of it be performed on ground that is sacred to the God. Most rites will have at least some component that *must* be performed in uptime; doing public rites in downtime is possible, but it's usually difficult to book time at one of the regular temple services at short notice.

Rites come in two kinds.

The first kind of rite is generally for things that are so fundamental to the task of a priest of the God concerned that they will be done regardless of a priest's station or how much of their authority they have used on any given day. These rites are generally short and to the point, very like the casting of a miracle to the untrained eye, but involve no expenditure of Spirit. They tend not to use any consumable material components - though they all require the use of the priest's holy symbol - and they tend to have only small game mechanical effect. These rites require at least one witness in order to work.

The second kind of rite is a method of ceremonially casting a miracle in order to extend its usefulness in some fashion. These rites will require one or more witnesses, may require consumable material components, will require a holy symbol, may require a sacrifice (of time, money, rare materials, blood etc), and may require more than one priest in order to be effective. Their effectiveness is generally variable.

 

Eyes of Faith

• Granted primarily by: All deities
• Requirements to perform: Spiritual Awakening
• Witnesses required: One
• Description: Make the sign of your deity in the air in front of you and call upon them to show you the true nature of that which lies before you.
• Material component: Holy symbol only required.
• Effect: Call RECOGNISE SPIRIT upon something within 6", within ten seconds of performing this rite.

 

Lay to Rest

• Granted primarily by: Azrael, Humact, Balance
• Requirements to perform: Spiritual Awakening
• Witnesses required: Dead body with attendant soul, or unresisting undead.
• Description: After thirty seconds of appropriate roleplaying, grasp holy symbol firmly and look into the eyes of the corpse. Call upon the true lord of life and death to lay this soul to rest.
• Material component: Holy symbol only required.
• Effect: The body ceases to respond to DETECT or RECOGNISE SPIRIT, as its soul is allowed to pass on.
• Note: This rite is intended for a funeral service or similar. The general skill Undeath Lore grants the ability to lay to rest after combat to any priest who takes it.

 

Power Meld

• Granted primarily by: All deities
• Requirements to perform: Spiritual Power I or Spiritual Blessing I
• Witnesses required: Target only
• Description: Grasp firmly the hand of the donor and look into their eyes. Call upon the spirits to aid you, for your power is insufficient for the work of your God this day; ask that they assist you.
• Material component: Holy symbol only required.
• Effect: Enables the priest performing the rite to transfer Spirit from a willing priest of the same god to himself/herself. The donor may determine how much Spirit is to be transferred. If the total resulting Spirit of the priest performing the miracle then exceeds their allowance, the excess is lost. Spirit-wracked priests may not give or receive power. If you attempt to Power Meld with a priest of another god, please get a ref.

 

Spirit Siphon

• Granted primarily by: All deities
• Requirements to perform: Spiritual awakening, the ability to perform an execute.
• Witnesses required: One concious (not including self, can be a conscious victim)
• Description: Execute the target (who must be an awakened priest) while calling on your god to witness the death of their enemy.
• Effect: You gain spirit equal to the amount of spirit the target had remaining; this cannot put you over your maximum. The target is effectively laid to rest.
• This fails if the target was not an awakened priest.

 

Empower the Righteous Servant

• Granted primarily by: All deities
• Requirements to perform: Ability to cast a miracle of Blessing
• Witnesses required: One per level of miracle you wish to cast
• Description: Have the subject of the rite kneel before you on holy ground. Accept a symbolic donation, the form of which is up to you, from the subject. Charge them with a specific task which you believe can be completed within a week. They must promise or swear to undertake this task in front of all the witnesses. Make some sign that you believe they will keep this promise or oath. Then cast a miracle of Blessing.
• Material component: Holy symbol; donation, the form of which is to be decided by the priest
• Effect: Appends to the end of the Blessing miracle call: "This blessing will persist for one week."

 

Reward the Faithful Servant

• Granted primarily by:  All deities
• Requirements to perform: Ability to cast a miracle of Blessing
• Witnesses required: Seven, including the target
• Description: This rite may only be performed upon one who is worthy in the eyes of your deity - worthiness being either determined by a significant material sacrifice, or acts of heroism in your deity's cause (mere spiritual awakening is not enough here, as that is its own reward). Have the subject of the rite perform some suitably impressive and symbolic act of endurance (fasting, sleep deprivation, physical exertion, et cetera). At the cessation of this act of endurance, place both hands upon the forehead of the target and in the presence of all the witnesses vouch for the subject's impeccable character and worthiness for this great honour. Then cast a miracle of Blessing.
• Material component: Holy symbol; usually also a large donation, though exemplary service may serve instead.
• Effect: Appends to the end of the Blessing miracle call: "This blessing is permanent."
• Note: This rite is not guaranteed to work; the granting of a permanent blessing is a great honour and only the deity can decide if the recipient is worthy of it

 

Closing the Eyes

• Granted primarily by: Bast, Luca
• Requirements to perform: Spiritual Awakening
• Witnesses required: One
• Description: Place the subject (this requires free, conscious and express permission) in a comfortable position. Call upon your deity as you see fit, and place your hand over their eyes.
• Material component: Holy symbol only.
• Effect: Call "INFLICT 1: You fall asleep, and may be woken normally."

 

Sending

• Granted primarily by: Luca
• Requirements to perform: The ability to cast the miracle 'Spirit Speech'.
• Witnesses required: One, though they need not know you are performing this rite.
• Description: Before one witness (who does not have to know what you are doing), say the word 'dream' three times in a minute. Then, when nobody is paying you any attention, whisper the word 'nightmare' three times. Cast Spirit Speech upon the target, the text of the message including the name of your deity.
• Material component: Holy symbol only.
• Effect: Notify a ref. You may send a dream or nightmare of any length to the target, which will be experienced the next time the target sleeps; this has no mechanical effect.

 

Protecting the Loyal Flock

• Granted primarily by: Crofter
• Requirements to perform: Spiritual Awakening
• Witnesses required: Two
• Description: The priest calls upon his deity to protect his flock, inscribing a circle around them all. Each person to be protected by this rite much pledge his protection to the priest's deity. Then the priest closes the circle with the subjects inside and starts praying. No weapons may be brought inside the circle.
• Material component: Holy symbol; circle drawn in the dust or otherwise indicated; a *lack* of weapons.
• Effect: For as long as the priest prays aloud to his deity no being possessed of a spirit can enter the circle. Anyone may leave the circle at any time, but they cannot re-enter if they are possessed of a spirit. Should the priest stop praying for more than ten seconds or leave the circle for any reason the rite is ended.

 

Bless the Striking Weapon

• Granted primarily by: Morvana, Azrael
• Requirements to perform: Ability to cast the miracle "Bless Weapon"
• Witnesses required: Three
• Description: On holy ground, declare "I dedicate this weapon to the slaying of [name]", strike something representing the named target (a hair, part of their body or something soaked in their blood is acceptable, as is a personal possession) and cast Bless Weapon upon the weapon.
• Material component: Weapon; holy symbol, if different; item representing the named target.
• Effect: Until the next noon or midnight, the blessed weapon will be a holy weapon of your deity; all damage dealt with it will be Spirit damage, and it will add an unnatural + 1 degree of damage; it will cause SPIRIT SINGLE once every ten seconds to any person other than the caster who touches it for any reason. If at the end of that time the named target is still alive, the weapon will turn against the caster and cause SPIRIT SINGLE once every ten seconds to any person who touches it, including the caster.

 

The Good Death

• Granted primarily by: Azrael
• Requirements to perform: Ability to cast the miracle "Spiritstrike"
• Witnesses required: One
• Description: Look into the eyes of the target, whose free, conscious and express permission has been given, and pronounce: "In the name of the true and everlasting Death I send you to your rest." Or look into the eyes of the witness, who need not know you are performing the rite, and pronounce "In Azrael's name I depart."
• Material component: Holy symbol only.
• Effect: In the former case, call SLAY; the target is laid immediately to rest. In the latter case, you die and are immediately laid to rest. The use of this rite is a blasphemy against Humact.

 

Arm of the Peerless Servant

• Granted primarily by: Azrael, The Light, Crofter, Humact, Mallan, Morvana and Balance
• Requirements to perform: Empower Spirit Weapon skill and ability to cast any Valour miracle
• Witnesses required: Ten, at the casting of the miracle
• Description: At noon or midnight, raise your spirit weapon above your head and in your deity's name dedicate each life you take this day to them. Do not allow the weapon to leave your possession until the next noon or midnight. At that time, cast a Valour miracle upon the weapon in the presence of ten witnesses.
• Material component: Holy symbol; empowered spirit weapon; many dead foes
• Effect: The miracle effect will persist for as many days as lives you have taken (that is, beings possessed of spirits that you have personally dealt the killing blow to; undead count, but elementals do not). The authority to perform this rite is granted directly by one's deity as a reward for truly exemplary service; attempting to perform it without having been granted the authority to do so is inadvisable.

 

Eyes of Suffering

• Granted primarily by: St. John, Sordan
• Requirements to perform: Ability to cast any Healing miracle
• Witnesses required: Two, at least one of whom must be in some way injured
• Description: Dip one finger in blood. Place your hand over your closed eyes, and whisper 'My lord, reveal their suffering'. Take your hand away and open your eyes.
• Material component: Holy symbol; blood of a sentient creature
• Effect: You may call RECOGNISE WOUNDS up to once for each person within three metres of you; the first call must be made within ten seconds of performing this rite, and then each subsequent call must be made within ten seconds of the end of the response to the previous call.

 

Cleansing

• Granted primarily by: Azrael, The Light, Crofter, Justice, St. John and Balance
• Requirements to perform: The level N (where N is odd) Purity miracle
• Witnesses required: N, where N is the level of the miracle to be cast
• Description: Call upon your god, before witnesses, to cleanse the soul of the target (who must be present, and may count as a witness if conscious). Symbolic cleansing by fire, or blood, or water is often but not always performed as part of the rite.
• Material component: Holy symbol only required - fire, blood, and water optional.
• Effect: When you cast the Level N Purity miracle at the end of the rite, the system call of the miracle is replaced with "Purge N". The Lay on Hands rules apply.

 

There are other rites (of course) - your playerguide may contain additional rites if you know them but they are secret.

New rites are very unlikely to be received by praying or asking your god for them. People at your temple may know of other rites that were not immediately available to you if you ask around, or you may be able to find these in temple libraries. If you want to get a better result from a rite, you can try using more witnesses than is needed, getting them to commit more to it and generally making a more impressive show of it.

Rites that are a simple modification of an existing miracle granted by your god are more likely to be successful than rites that are entirely freeform.

If you want to invent a rite, then you are free to simply get as many witnesses as you think you need and try it. You'll need to tell the refs in advance so they can prepare a result. In character, you'll be aware that trying to make up a new rite is risky and could be considered disrespectful depending on your god.