Godcrafting

by John William Waterhouse, public domain

A highly personalized ritual that any would-be magic user in Ostelliach must undertake in order to access The Web and cast magic after the events of The Breaking severed existing ties to the gods and The Web.
Godcrafting was proposed as a way to reconnect with The Web after the Finite Architects spent nearly 2 years sequestered in the Scriptorium Soiram researching ways to stem the cataclysmic magic ravaging Ostelliach.
(The name was a sensationalist one proposed some time when news of the ritual was first spreading and much like many inaccurate but sensational names it had a way of sticking before anyone could propose something better.)
The general understanding of a Godcrafting is that it allows the one undertaking it to discover a way to reconnect with The Web through attuning themself with focus, dedication, and personal sacrifice.
Examples of Godcraftings people have taken include:

• A time of sequestered study into a specific area of arcana, often done during a pilgrimage to the Scriptorium Soiram

• Intense physical trials meant to push the body to uncovering new talents, such as arduous journeys or combat trials

• Deep prayer, meditation, or vision quests (with or without mental stimulants or hallucinogens)

• A complete change of lifestyle including location, profession, or other factors, thought to jar the person's energy into better connecting with The Web

• Voluntary physical trauma through ritual, such as sacrificing an eye or one's tongue "in exchange" for gifts (usually thought to work specifically because of the intent behind the action and the ritual itself rather than what specifically is given up)

• Communing with a greater magical creature and exchanging one's service in a contract (the warlock's route)

Notes on Godcrafting

• The nature of the Godcrafting is specific to the person, not the type of caster or magic the person seeks to work with (ex: evocation, divination, or wizard or cleric).

• Godcraftings are not always successful; some people find they cannot connect with The Web no matter how they try.

• Godcraftings are not regulated by any law or mandate, though tale of anyone impeding godcraftings (selling snake oil "godcraft in a bottle" for example, or specifically targeting people on pilgrimages for their godcrafting) is met with swift fury and retaliation from any number of individuals or groups (usually magic users themselves who consider the practice extremely sacred).

• Those who fail their initial Godcrafting can try again, and many report trying a few things before they found what actually "awoke" them. Similarly, it is rare but not impossible to hear of those who were "awoken" accidentally, through some trauma or vision in their everyday life.

• Godcraftings are seen as something that one does to connect to The Web but there is no known way to increase that connection and additional Godcrafting attempts are generally seen as greedy, foolish wastes of time that will get a magic user sneered out of any self-respecting magical community.

• Not every person will undergo a Godcrafting; some are afraid to, uncertain of how to start, or simply feel no pull to test themselves in order to try awakening new powers.

• Different communities may encourage/foster specific types of Godcrafting journeys more than others (such as citizens of Rowa being encouraged to try using the Scriptorium Soiram for theirs given the readily-available resource of a massive arcane library). However, it is very rare (and extremely frowned upon) for any community to downright discourage Godcraftings and tales of such things happening are very rare...especially given that magic users tend to frown heavily on such closemindedness and will often intervene on behalf of the person seeking the Godcrafting, giving them the supplies they need or (consensually) whisking them away when everyone's asleep.

Note for character creation:

Magic users will be asked to describe their Godcrafting from their backstory to the DM, as it is a wonderful way to help develop your character. Players who decide later for their character to multi-class in a magic user profession will work with the DM to plan a Godcrafting, either during main campaign play or as a side story. Players with a non-magic character are welcome to have had their character "fail" their Godcrafting in their backstory if they choose.

If a player decides to have their character multiclass later in a way that has the character gaining magical abilities for the first time, they will need to incorporate a Godcrafting into this event as part of their story.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane