Havarna (Seeing the Threads)
The Order of the Starseers have an important task in the Borderworld Exodus. It falls upon them to divine and track threats that might attack the elves in their home realm, and they are willing to go to extreme lengths to fulfill this core mission. Among the more hazardous is the practice of Havarna, a ritual where a Starseer brews collected tissues and blood from a slain or captured demon into something that can be ingested, and then falls into a trance.
This allows the Starseer to witness the threads of cosmic power that pass to and fro in the Borderworld, threads which many of the most dangerous inhabitants of the Borderworld can step into and travel along to wherever they wish to go. Though a Starseer cannot emulate this ability, they can see the signs of a demon's passage, and thus make predictions on where they have gone and where they might appear.
Symptoms
Havarna is dangerous to the caster, as the bodies of extraplanar entities tend to be extremely toxic when ingested. Engaging in the practice can be described only as poisoning oneself, and there tends to about a 20 minute period approximately half an hour after the brew has been ingested that the Starseer has any meaningful cognitive or physical function. After that, as the toxic brew begins to metabolize further, the Starseer typically succumbs to intense delirium and shaking fits, though sometimes the deluded ramblings of a magician too deep into Havarna may also provide some insight on the movements of the creatures of the planes.
Treatment
Starseers never induce Havarna alone, for the help of another tends to be required to bring the the magician back. Attendant magicians and physicians prepare another concoction designed to induce vomiting and force-feed it to the Starseer in Havarna as they begin to succumb. Often, the Starseer has to be physically restrained to ensure that they do not resist this step. Once most of the foreign material has been expelled, the Starseer is made to drink water and then allowed to rest for as long as needed.
Prognosis
Havarna that is not interrupted by vomiting out the offending material tends to be fatal. If the condition is allowed to progress, the sufferer will eventually lose consciousness and their abdomen will begin to swell. Within hours, they will suffer acute liver failure and die. Even the poisoning caused by partially metabolizing the concoction may cause an elf to have stomach troubles and hallucinations for hours and sometimes days afterwards. Generally, The Starseers select the most physically hardy of their number to perform Havarna when it is necessary.
Though the long-term effects are poorly understood, it appears that engaging in Havarna repeatedly may cause physical changes in an elf, such as discolored skin and eyes. It is not well understood whether repeated Havarna also affects the elf's mind, but many in the profession fear that it does.
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