Sing a song

Hywel gestured to Iseult indicating his fellow vate should extinguish the light stone. He waited until she had done so, before moving to the opposite side of the room, picking his way carefully through the pools of light and shadow cast by the remaining lightstone. Reaching out, he touched his hand to silver filligree that enclosed the other stone, feeling the magic respond to his touch, as it joined its brother in darkness.His eyes tried to adjust to the light, but there was none. Just inky still blackness that consumed everything whole. Their breathing was the only sound in the still chamber.A minute passed by before Iseult broke the silence. "What exactly am I supposed to be looking at? It's pitch black"."Be patient!" he called back, "You'll see soon enough.""I can't see anything you Spring-addled idiot. Let me turn this lightstone back on, then you can show me whatever it is..."But before she could do anything she realised it was not quite true. She could see something. From somewhere the near the centre of the room, she could see the faintest outline of the bowl on the table. Something had happened, something had changed. Something was illuminating it in the darkness, so faintly she could barely make it out. The dull tarnish had turned strange colours, like oil on water.With a start she realised that the light wasn't scattering off the bowl, it was coming directly from it. Swirls of colourful light were rising from the bowl, like steam from a bubbling cauldron. The colours roiled in the air, turning over and over as they drifted down the sides of the metal. It was this that was giving the tarnish its strange chromatic hue.As she watched the light continued to spill out of the bowl, falling until it met the table where it spread out across the surface like fog drifting in from the sea. Finally it tumbled off the edge of the table, dripping onto the floor below.It was so strange, it ought to be terrifying, and yet all Iseult felt was an overwhelming sense of serenity."Watch your eyes" came Hywel's voice from the other side of the room, but she was captivated by the beautiful colours clambering out of the bowl and his meaning seemed somehow far away. At least it did until he restored the lightstone."Ahhh!" she screwed her eyes up to blot out the blinding light. The lightstone wasn't that bright, but the sudden change had caught her off-guard. In a flash everything was returned to normal. The bowl was just a bowl, the table just a table. The colours were gone and with them the silent whispers that had suggested that someone, some thing, had been here but a moment ago.

Overview

In 369YE the Assembly of Wisdom called for a true consecration of the Great Library of Hacynian, seeking to create a sacred site, a blessed location that would resonate with the Virtue of Wisdom.

The site is arguably the perfect location for such a consecration. It has a deep history that stretches back centuries and beyond. The Great Library is located in Mourning Hollow, an old battlefield on the south-eastern borders of Summersend, in Hercynia. It incorporates parts of an older Terunael structure that once stood here, a library of some kind, but also a "Temple" to the eternal Phaleron. Built in a peculiar regio that once cycled between Day and Night realms, there is only the faintest touch of the Night realm here now.

Initially a very modest structure, it was expanded to create the Great Library, the first of its kind built since the burning of the libraries by Emperor Nicovar. The library was dedicated to gathering knowledge about the vallorn in one place in the belief that it would finally reveal a way to defeat the enemy. Citizens from all over the Empire contributed what resources they had to support the project and in 385YE the results of the work were formally presented to the Empire. After a thousand years, the Great Library had helped the Navarr crack the problem of how to deal with the vallorn once and for all.

In a philosophical sense the Great Library was already dedicated to Wisdom - scholars who are interested in the vallorn come from all over the Empire to study here. It is a place of meditation and peaceful study with arcane roots in divination and wisdom, a mystic connection to Night Singer and the Archives of Silence. Now that it has been consecrated with true liao, there is a powerful aura here that inspires all who visit. It also provides the Singer of the Silence with a part of unique abilities.

They could go further however, if the Singer of the Silence can persuade the Imperial Conclave to agree...

Find the Right Question

A true consecration usually has a profound effect on those who experience it, providing deep and enduring inspiration to strive for Virtue. As a Dawnish troubadour once said, it is the closest a mortal can come to feeling the hand of the Creator upon them. The effects of a true liao aura are no more powerful than any other, but they are more numinous and for those who spend time there they often bring fresh inspiration.

Because of this, some priests encourage their congregation to make a pilgrimage to sites of true consecrations, in the hope that it will help them reflect on the virtues and find new motivation. Such pilgrimages are expensive and arduous; even with roads, trods, and roadwardens travelling the Empire can be dangerous for the common citizen. People often need inspiration just to find the commitment to attempt a pilgrimage.

For the next year, until the end of the Spring Equinox 388YE, any congregation leader is able to select "Encourage pilgrimage to Hacynian" when preaching. Priests who take this option are assumed to be making use of the liao they receive to inspire congregants to make the difficult journey to the Great Library. After those who are brave enough to make the journey experience the awe-inspiring power of the true aura in the shrine, they will return to their home inspired to embrace Wisdom and pursue it, in the certain belief that inaction is the only true mistake.

A congregation that preaches this special action will receive three fewer liao each season (assumed to have been spent on creating auras or used to provide patronage), but four additional votes in the Imperial Synod (representing the swelling of their congregations). The priest leading the congregation will become part of the Wisdom Assembly if they were not already.

Night And Day

The Singer of the Silence benefits from the existence of the curious regio at the heart of the Great Library at Hacynian. This regio cycles between Day and Night, shifting from one realm to the other as the sun rises and falls. Scholars who have studied the regio believe that its strange pattern is no coincidence, it works that way because of pacts made hundreds of years ago, presumably by the Terunael magicians who once ruled here. Those pacts were made with two eternals, Phaleron, the Celestial Library and Sung, called the Nightsinger.

Inspired by the power of the true consecration the Singer has been able to access some of the power flowing from the regio - and has gained some unusual benefits thereby. Some of the benefits are simple and practical - the Singer gains four pawns of vis each season, two each of Prismatic Ink and Crystal Fire.

More esoterically their personal aura is now completely obscured and cannot be read with insight or similar methods (Ravenwing Infusion for example). It is possible that true liao would penetrate the strange layer of obfuscation that clouds their aura but that seems like an expensive experiment. Even more strange, they can draw on the power of the regio to empower their aura, with odd effects on anyone attempting a thorough insight.

More practically the Singer of the Silence can access the power of the regio to use materials in place of crystal mana when casting Day or Night rituals they have mastered. All these abilities depend on old pacts negotiated with Phaleron and Sung which the Singer of the Silence now benefits from. These benefits would be available even if Sung nor Phaleron had emnity but of course they would be illegal to use in that case.

Full details of the abilities gained are listed on the title page for the Singer of the Silence.

Give and Take

The Singer has completed delicate negotiations with the representatives of the eternals in question, but those arrangements must be confirmed with the Imperial Conclave before the abilities they offer can be used. In each case, the eternals, Phaleron and Sung respectively, are asking for the Conclave to use a Declaration of Alignment to "align" the regio at Hacynian to them. Normally a regio can only be aligned with one eternal, but the Celestial Library and the Rainbow Serpent are amenable to a deal in which the Library controls the regio during the day and the Serpent controls it at night.

These are unusual arrangements to put it mildly. Not just the shared nature of the deal, but the idea of using a Declaration of Alignment to achieve it. It seems that what is happening is that Alignment is having unlooked for effects - a phenomena that has been seen before. Rather than grant Alignment of the Empire with a specific eternal, the Conclave can effectively use the declaration to align a single regio to an eternal. They can do this because the Conclave has dominion over the regio in the Empire - so they can choose to agree a pact that grants an eternal command of that regio.

If the Conclave use a Declaration of Alignment to align the regio at the Great Library at Hacynian to Phaleron during the day (which is what the eternal has requested) then the effects will be as if the eternal had amity at that regio. Phaleron has amity currently, so there would be no immediate consequences of this, but it could be an issue if the eternal ever lost amity. Even if the Conclave declared emnity on Phaleron, that wouldn't break the agreement to align the regio with the eternal - they would retain the ability to employ the full range of their powers there.

The same thing will happen if the Conclave use a Declaration of Alignment to align the regio to Sung at night. That will grant Sung the equivalent of amity at that regio. That will represent an immediate change, since Sung doesn't currently have amity, (though they do have a fane which is being built for them in Apulian in Spiral), but it could be an issue if the Conclave ever placed Sung under emnity, as the Lord of Illusions would retain their ability to act freely at the regio.

If the Conclave grants Phaleron's wishes then the Singer of the Silence will gain the ability to exchange ingots of weltsilver with visiting heralds of the Archives of Silence to purchase Librarians Incense. This heady aromatic incense releases a pale smoke when burned that boosts the power of any ritualist who breathes it in. It acts as a tonic that increases the power of a magician granting them one additional rank of day lore and one additional rank of night lore subject to normal rules for effective skill.

In addition, Phaleon would allow the Singer of the Silence to call on the power of Celestial Library - once - if the Great Library was ever attacked. The eternal has demonstrated an impressive ability to protect a library in the past, so this offer is no idle gesture. Of course it also hints at what could happen if the Empire came to blows with the eternal.

If the Conclave grants Sung's wishes then the Singer of the Silence will gain the ability to give measures of iridescent gloaming to heralds of the Lady of Mists who move through the Library after dark. In exchange they will leave doses of Pearlescent Wine, a milky substance with a bitter taste that allows a magician to use up to five personal mana as crystal mana when performing a divination ritual.

In addition, Sung would allow the Singer of the Silence to call on the power of the Liege of the Song - once - to hide a single commission the Empire controlled in Hercynia from any spying eyes. This commission could be the Great Library itself, but it could by anything, a fortification or even an army. The Whispering Wind would enfold the commission hiding it from any that might seek to find it. Sung's shroud could be penetrated by a massive Day ritual of magnitude 200, but nobody nearby except the Thule or the Empire could ever manage a ritual that powerful. While shrouded the commission would have no effect - it wouldn't affect a campaign, produce resources, or anything similar - but could not be damaged in any way. As with Phaleron, the Rainbow Serpent's offer implies what Sung could to hide something in the territory from the Empire, were they so minded.

There is no particular time limit on these declarations; the eternals involved are patient. It is important to note, however, that granting dominion in this way is not something that can be easily reversed. Gifts cannot be taken back - while it requires only a Declaration of Alignment to make the bargain, it will take a lot more effort to revoke it.

Further Details

Playback Speed