DelHemar's Ritual for the Blade of Variance
Make a rough circle with sand, place the box inside the circle along with everything else. Sword in the center. Have Shiek start playing her drum in a war rhythm.
"We gather now, in spring, a season of change, at sundown, a time of change, in lands newly captured, a place in transition from one power to another. So that we may change the powers of this blade to suit our needs."
“I call to the Spirit of the Blade of Variance. I am DelHemar, Fennar Dunn Sorbus. Captain of the Night Lance. I call to you, one warrior to another. I was born to be a soldier undying. To go where others could not, and face foes that others could not. To fight and die and fight again, until my foe is no more.”
“I honor you, oh blade. You were made to hunt your foes, to change and adapt your power to each form of prey. I offer you my hand to wield you, my arm to swing you, my eyes to guide you. I offer you the dance of battle, and chaos of war.”
“My foes are many, I call upon you to strike fear into their hearts and ice into their souls. The drums of war are playing. The horn of battle sounds. Today we battle Aspis. This week, we kill a god. I offer you a part to play in this war, and call upon you to be the reaper of snakes.”
"I do not stand alone, I am one of many. An army of allies gathers for the hunt. Bring forth the bones."
"Who will stand beside me to break the enemy's power?"
First ally brings a snake bone and places it in the circle.
First ally: I am [name] and I will stand with you against the Aspis.
"Then help me to crush their power."
Have them hold the blade with me and crush the bone beneath the pommel.
Repeat with second and third allies, replacing power with will and strength.
“You who look on, will you stand with us against the aspis?”
“Blade of Variance, these are our allies. We do not stand alone. I’m told it has been long since you’ve hunted, I will offer you you a taste of the blood to come”
Open the box and reach in, grasp the snake,slip the blade into the mouth and thrust it through.
“Drink deep, oh blade, this is our foe, the god of serpents and snakes, and his mortal followers, the Aspis. Drink deep, and make yourself ready for the battle yet to come.”
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Fern's Ritual Calling Upon The Gray Man
[Set out candles, circle of sand around ritual area, plate with candle, salt, lavender.]
Before we begin, there is a ritual about to happen within this circle that I am making. We will be calling upon some gods to help ferry the souls of ALL who have died to their final resting place. If you would like to participate, please step forward now so that I can include you in the circle. If you would not, please step away now, and you may return once the circle is closed.
[Begin tapping ritual stick in a circle, light the candles.]
We have created this ritual space to be our own. Apart from our own will, spirit, souls, no gods, spirits, or powers have yet touched this space.
The god we call upon into this space is the Gray Man.
We are gathered here at the end of our long battle to retake Darkvale and defeat Rexan. We have lost many to this battle, as have our enemies. Of all the gods, you know best that all things come to an end, even deities. We also know that many followers of Rexan were defeated, and their souls may not know where to go. We ask that you ferry the souls of those who fought for Rexan, either through their own will or his, to their afterlife.
Some of our allies, friends, and countrymen have died their final deaths as well. [Lay down tabard scraps.] We ask again that you carry their souls to where they must go. Many people who would never consider themselves heroes have died recently, people whose names and sacrifices may go unknown to many. Nevertheless, their sacrifices are as noble and heroic as any of ours, and we gather in their memory to honor their sacrifices and lives, and present this offering to their memory. [Pour one out] We also symbolically offer two coins for The Ferryman to represent secured passage for the dead.
[present]
All who have fallen in this war have died as heroes, regardless of who they have followed into battle. As such, each who has died deserves the afterlife of their choosing, including the Summerlands. To facilitate this, we offer a song, as any who choose this must be sung into the Summerlands.
[Kovaks Sings]
I thank you for your sacrifice, we thank you for your sacrifice, Chimeron thanks you for your sacrifice, and the Realms thanks you for your sacrifice.
Thank you all for attending this ritual.
Effects Witnessed & Specific Actions Taken
3. DelHemar begins tapping Katsuie’s ritual staff around the circle, and we all begin to feel the soul-beats resonating within our own souls, and this feeling was amplified throughout the thousands who have died in this land. We could feel them all. Kovaks asked us whether we could feel the ground moving. [OOC, as of right now: They could feel the souls of all who had been born, lived, and died within Darkvale over the past twenty five years.]
Magus Rosetta and Crispin are chanting and channeling their powers throughout.
5. The spirit of Chan had been watching, but fades away at this point.
7. Margaret pours out the mead from the tankard bearing the Ferryman’s symbol.
8. Ryu and Elora each place one of the coins on the main ritual plate.
10. Kovaks’s Song
You, yes you, were a father
A daughter, a mother, a son
Now your family must go on without you
They mourn that you are gone
As you fought bravely on
You, yes you, were a soldier
An army, together as one
But you fell defending your homeland
Fighting in Chimeron
As you fought bravely on
You, yes you, were a hero
You are the reason we won
And so I offer this prayer
May their memories live on
As they fought bravely on
11. After this is said, we all become aware of the souls around us. The sand circle breaks in dozens of places, and many of these souls filter out and away. We each see visions of afterlives, and for some of us, some of them are more prominent than others. There are still some floating multicolored souls left around us, and we become aware of a presence gently and calmly collecting the souls. We know that they are going to where they need to go.