To follow on from the information we have put out around the Archive, we are moving on to cover the second of the three big artefacts that you, the players, presently control. The Akashic Spire is a freeform way of gaining access to new Lores and Rites. Most Lores will be learned from going out into the world and interacting with things: exploring new places, uncovering powerful relics, and conversing with eldritch beings are all ways of finding lost secrets. However, sometimes you may be unsure how to find certain information or may want something very specific to help resolve an issue you’re currently facing. (Maybe you found a ruined city filled with a gigantic, unstoppable army of skeleton warriors and really need to find out how to blow them up). That’s where the Akashic Spire comes in. four times a weekend at set times the Spires will activate and allow the casting of the ‘Grand Rite of Knowing’, which gives you a previously-unknown Lore based on what was done in the Rite.
A Grand Rite to allow the knowing of the great truths of the world.
Cost: 9 Ribbons of any colour
Actions: The caster and their assistants attempt to demonstrate the properties of an unknown magical Lore or Rite that they wish the target Awakened to learn. They may do this by describing and acting out as many of the Lore’s (or Rite’s) properties as they wish, trying to create the most accurate representation possible and invoking the winds of magic that are to be used in this new Lore and its Rites.
The caster imbues the target with the magic that has been demonstrated who ends the Rite by placing their forehead upon the orb of the Akashic Spire and Gazing With the Third Eye.
Effect: The winds will swirl around the target and a storm of magic will enter their mind. When the target has come to understand this roiling swirl of knowledge, they will discover a new Lore that will also enter the Unfinished Tome.
The Lore will be based on the magic demonstrated.
If there was harmony between the Lore that was found and the Rite performed, then Lingering Power may spill forth. If there was dissonance between the Lore that was found and the Rite, then the target may find themselves confused or overwhelmed with a misunderstanding of magic.
The caster becomes an Acolyte of the Spire and a record of their casting will be forever bound to their Tome. The Rite is taxing however, and they will be unable to cast it again safely soon.
The Grand Rite of Knowing can be used in a couple of ways. Firstly, you could try to describe something that you have seen named or described in documents or in conversation with other beings. Secondly, you could try to describe something you aim to achieve, such as: “we are looking for a Lore that will make someone incredibly strong”. Once the power of the Rite settles, the Lore the Spires discover is automatically added to the Archive, and whoever puts their head on the anvil has a copy added to their Tome for free (overwriting another Lore of their choice if they are at their maximum).
Some parallels can be drawn between the Grand Rite of Knowing and systems like rites, rituals and other freeform performance sections in other LARP systems. Some important things to make clear:
You are not “marked” as part of this, there is no score to a Grand Rite of Knowing and there is no concept of doing a better Rite to get a better Lore.
However, demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the world is rewarded. If you do a Rite that is heavily on theme, using the correct colours of ribbon for the Lore you are asking for, and so on, then you will receive a larger refund of Lingering Power.
We do try to keep as close as possible to what has been requested as feasible, if not in specifics then at least in the general vibe of what you were aiming for. In-character, the Grand Rite of Knowing doesn’t make Lores from scratch: it finds Lores that already exist (even if they’ve never been used or discovered before).
You cannot use the Grand Rite of Knowing to make or change something directly, it is a tool for finding information. You can use it to find a Lore that lets you make someone into a weird ghost person but the Spires won’t directly make someone into a weird ghost person.
What you actually do in your Knowings is up to you, and we look forward to seeing what you come up with. As a starting point, however, we reckon there are a few broad categories of how the Rite can be performed:
Asking for a Rite or Lore by name. If you read in an ancient manuscript about the “Rite of Numerical Multiplication”, you could try and simply Know that Rite by name. It’s probably not going to result in a lot of ribbons, and you’d better hope that “Rite of Numerical Multiplication” isn’t a colloquialism, but you’ll almost certainly get a Lore that gives you a Rite of that name.
Same for Lores. Asking for a Lore by name should also work.
Recreating a Rite you’ve seen evidence for. If you find instructions for some unnamed Rite in an ancient manuscript, or spy on a group of awakened performing what you’re certain is a Rite, then you can probably learn what it is by performing it during a Knowing.
Same with a Lore. If you’re confident that you’ve seen people with a Lore that does XYZ, you can ask for that.
Demonstrating/describing a thing you want to be able to do. It’s usually worth being clear whether you think there’s a Rite that does the thing, or whether you think there’s a Lore that gives you the benefit you’re after.
Extrapolating from partial information. If you’ve got disconnected clues, such as the existence of other Rites, mentions of a particular thing, a logical leap from known information, and so on, you can try and build that jigsaw in a Knowing and see what the completed picture ends up looking like.
Fishing expeditions. Got a metaphysics theory? Curious to see if a given character has a Lore associated with them? Demonstrate a wild guess or outlandish theory in a Knowing and see what falls out. Even if you’re completely 100% wrong about everything, the result is a datapoint in the form of the closest thing that actually exists. Are there Rites that use previously unheard-of colours? Try demonstrating one and see what happens!
The only way to fail a Grand Rite of Knowing is to do something that we literally don’t OOC understand a thing about. I don’t think any of the refs speak Afrikaans, so if your entire Knowing is you giving a speech in Afrikaans, we’re going to be limited in our ability to interpret what the hell you did. Other than that kind of last-resort null result, the absolute worst that can happen is that you get something completely unexpected as a result, and you feel really crap from magical dissonance for a few hours.
That’s actually not true. The worst that can happen as the result of a Grand Rite of Knowing is that you get exactly what you want and it is terrible. You will get a complete, functioning Lore. That Lore will be entered into the Archive where any player can get it. The fact that you went looking for that Lore will be recorded in your Tome.
If you do not want horrible things to result from Knowings, do not ask for them.
(...or accidentally communicate that you’re looking for horrible things while trying to do something else, I guess)
A limited number of times per weekend, any player can pay 9 ribbons of any colour to perform a Grand Rite of Knowing.
This will result in the discovery of a new Lore.
The caster of the Rite will become an ‘Acolyte of the Spire’, and a record of their casting will be recorded in their Tome.
The caster will be unable to perform another Grand Rite of Knowing that event without heavy consequences due to the strain.
The Rite involves describing and/or demonstrating a desired Lore, explaining its features, properties, and the metaphysics behind how it works.
There are no formal limits on what actions can be involved in a Grand Rite of Knowing.
There is no formal time limit.
The Rite will result in a new Lore being entered into the Archive, and a copy will be entered into the Tome of the Rite’s target.
This cannot be prevented. You cannot hide a Grand Rite of Knowing from the Archive.
Knowings are not marked. No Knowing is more or less ‘powerful’ than another. The magnitude of the abilities and Rites bestowed by the resulting Lore have nothing to do with how well you performed the Grand Rite of Knowing.
If you ask for the ability to clean your teeth, you get a Lore that gives you the ability to do that. If you ask to be able to kill a million people, you get a Lore that lets you do that. The question, not the method, determines the result.
The more accurately you describe and demonstrate what you want, the more likely it is that the result will do what you thought you were asking. If you perform a Grand Rite of Knowing that is vague, muddled, and nonspecific, we’ll do our best to interpret your gibberish but you’ll get our best interpretation of what happened. There are no follow-up queries or clarifications and we will not use any OOC knowledge to help work out your intentions. The only thing taken into account is the performance itself.
However, performing a Grand Rite of Knowing that is immersive, entertaining, and accurately describes a Lore that could (or does) exist and the metaphysics of how it works will be rewarded. After a Knowing, you may receive a number of Lingering Power ribbons. The better and more accurate the Knowing, the more ribbons you will receive. You may very well be able to pay for the Rite you end up receiving with the ribbons you get from Knowing it.
Also, the colours of the ribbons you get are intended to be clues. Figuring out why certain Knowings result in certain ribbon colours may well be fruitful.