Magick Rituals and Augmentations

"A spell is only as strong as the silence around it, the symbols beneath it, and the soul willing to be changed by it." -Vesrin Dalewatch, hedge-mage of the Graverow Steps.

Magick in Everwealth is not simply cast, it is summoned, shaped, and sometimes begged for. While raw spellwork is possible for those with proper talent and training, the greatest feats of magick, those that scar land, reshape flesh, or breach the veil, require more than a spoken word or flick of the hand. They demand sacrifice, precision, and the proper ritual conditions to anchor power and prevent catastrophic backlash. These ritualistic augmentations act as metaphysical amplifiers. Some are simple: a chant repeated under moonlight. Others, such as blood-bound glyph circles or leyline alignments, may take days of preparation and a soul willing to risk permanent alteration. The Arcane is always flowing, invisible and omnipresent, but rituals allow mortals to catch it, if only for a moment—and bear the scars of having done so.
Common Augmentation Elements:

• Leylines — Invisible rivers of Arcane energy running beneath Gaiatia, leylines are the oldest and most potent ritual enhancers. Some intersect beneath cities, others flow wild through forest and ruin alike. Performing rituals at these crossings, known as arc-nodes, can multiply spell effects, extend duration, or even breach the limitations of normal magick, though always at greater cost. Guild mages and Scholar's Guild surveyors guard leyline maps with their lives.

Temporal Conditions:
Magick is deeply reactive to time. Spells cast under a full moon, in the final breath before dawn, or during celestial alignments often take on enhanced or unexpected qualities.

• The Ember Hour (the last hour before dusk) boosts fire-based magicks.

• Solstice Rites tend to lengthen enchantment lifespans.

• During blood moons, necromantic and possession magicks surge in potency, sometimes uncontrollably.

Sacrifice & Anchoring:

• All true rituals demand payment. Blood, memory, sleep, identity, all have been spent to power magicks that no will alone could sustain.

• Anchor Tokens, often made from bone, hair, or ichor, tie a spell to its caster or target, preventing disruption.

• Blood Marks bind spells to bloodlines, a favored method of long-term warding or vengeance among nobles.

Spatial Amplification:

• Certain structures, crypts, libraries, shrines, have latent effects on spellwork based on what lingers in them. Performing a divination in a ruin steeped in regret may twist its results, while a healing spell cast within a chapel to a benevolent god may bind deeper and cleaner. Geomantic shaping, such as carving ritual circles in sacred earth or atop ancient battlegrounds, can heighten a spell’s reach or reliability.

Advanced Practices:
Ritual Possession: A forbidden rite wherein the caster invites a spirit, willing or otherwise, into their body to act as a channel for power beyond their means. It is used by desperate clerics, blackblood witches, and certain All-Faith exorcists. Success may bring miraculous results. Failure usually results in death, or worse, partial soul-displacement.
Arc-Branding: Rare among Magi and Paladins, this permanent augmentation involves inscribing runes directly into the flesh using ichor or soul-ink. These brands serve as instant ritual anchors, allowing faster casting in high-stress situations. However, they degrade the body’s resistance to Magebane and sometimes whisper in the night.
Ritual Lichdom:
The ultimate augmentation, Lichdom is a transformation rather than a spell. Achieved through a complex rite involving soul-binding, body shedding, and Arcane sealing, it is the rejection of mortality in exchange for endless power and a frozen will. Banned in Everwealth by the Arcane Coalition, yet whispered of in certain tomes still shelved, albeit hidden, within Scholar’s Guild vaults.
Philosophy and Restrictions:
To some, rituals are science. To others, faith. But to all, they are dangerous. The Coalition forbids unsanctioned ritual use within city limits, citing the risk of environmental contamination, magickal destabilization, or summoning events. Some rituals, particularly those involving possession, resurrection, or soul-division, are capital crimes. But rural villages, hedge-witches, and desperate wanderers rarely abide by such laws. When the only healer is three towns away and a child's fever rises with the dusk, sometimes a circle of salt and a whispered prayer are the only hope left.