Rites

Battle of the Mind III

True battles unfold within...

Is a person born virtuous as others are born wicked?

Does a tiger's nature to hunt sheep make sheep inherently good?

You face twin trials of virtue and vice, feeling torn between opposing forces...

But was this predetermined? Were you originally virtuous or wicked?

ID: 5004820

Type: Enemy

Tips: None

Duration: 1 days

Waits For: 3 days

Marked as New Only on First Occurrence: 0

Starts Automatically: No

Triggers Result Automatically: No

Tag Tips: None

Tag Tips Up: None

Tag Tips Text:

Random Text: None

Random Text Up: None

Actions When Wait Expires

Action:

Slots

Slot #3
Your Own Thoughts

Locks: No

Is Key: No

Is Empty: No

Is Enemy: No

Conditions:

Pops: None

Slot #4
Your rationality can help, if you possess it

Locks: No

Is Key: No

Is Empty: Yes

Is Enemy: No

Conditions:

Pops: None

Slot #6
Consider the people and events around you for inspiration

Locks: No

Is Key: No

Is Empty: Yes

Is Enemy: No

Conditions:

  • Any
    • All
    • All
      • Type = Character
      • Card = Nayla
  • Not Slot #5 = 1
  • Not Slot #4 = 1

Pops: None

Activation Conditions

This rite has no activation conditions.

Outcome

Prior

This rite has no prior outcome.

Regular

Fate's Marionette
The Magician haunts your dreams, whispering. Her teeth grip your destiny's thread, her tongue transmitting her voice directly to your heart - you're her favorite toy in centuries.

She suspends you like a puppet. You struggle desperately until striking the bedpost, awakening to sharp pain.

The next day, you discover a tiny wound on your wrist, as if something minute pierced through, leaving a darkened hole in your skin.

Careful examination reveals identical wounds on your other wrist, neck, feet, and over your heart.

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Lost Path
You foolishly seek to resolve your spiritual crisis through the absurd gods of the cultists.

You pray, plead, beg... only to be answered by cold laughter from the darkness.

Perhaps you still need to prove your worth to the chaotic gods.

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Impurity
You attempt to resolve your inner conflict through the god will of the Purist...

A white light surges into your mind, piercing your spine and triggering waves of agony - this is the Purist's response to your prayer -

"You are unworthy," says the pain. "Think again, consider what you could do for the Purist."

It "helps" you ponder for quite some time before gradually subsiding.

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Moral Balance
Who created good and evil? Surely humans invented these concepts themselves?

Perhaps virtue and vice are merely standards humans impose on themselves... rewarding desired behaviors with "Renown," punishing unwanted actions with "Infamy."

Like twin strings controlling a suspended ball - drift too far left, the right string pulls; too far right, the left restrains. Ultimately, these are reward systems driving most people along a middle path, neither extreme.

You sigh with relief. Your confusion resolves: good and evil aren't predetermined - they're human constructs evolving with each generation. Naturally, you may establish your own moral standards.

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Darkness Illuminated
You must be inherently good - born virtuous.

You've earned this claim. When the entire court remained silent, you alone confronted the Sultan.

You've defined your own goodness; you're already that singular light in darkness.

Now you must burn brighter, illuminating others with your radiance!

Your spirits lift, finding courage to face tomorrow.

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Corruption's Seed
Only fools believe anything predetermined - except that the weak inevitably fall to the strong.

Sultan, gods, demons - all simply greater forms of violence. If violence embodies evil, then power is evil, wealth is evil, everything pleasurable or exciting is evil!

Becoming more corrupt than they... you could defeat them, claim their power, even replace them!

As this ambition surfaces, darkness spreads through your heart... like distant ink drops falling into your soul's ocean.

The stain shifts, revealing everything you desire - power, wealth, authority, pleasure, even destruction itself.

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Flawed Idol
You consider Faraj.

He worships you almost blindly, but does he understand your essence? Even as you wield the Sultan Card, even committing unforgivable acts, doesn't he follow faithfully?

For Faraj, "good" simply means "what [player.name] does," and "evil" is "what [player.name] wouldn't do." These concepts didn't exist before he met you and apply to no one else - they're even imposed upon you. You can only remain his idol, however imperfect.

This realization lifts your burden. Each person appears as unbearable filth to some eyes, yet perfect treasure to others.

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Les Fleurs Du Mal
You contemplate Nayla.

No one would call her "good," and she likely cares nothing for the word. Yet people acknowledge her beauty. Many far kinder than her possess much less allure.

Evil doesn't contradict beauty, then. Nor strength, nor happiness... Perhaps least of all, "justice."

You smile, observing courtyard flowers tended by your servants. They root in foul manure yet adorn ladies' hair as treasures.

Good and evil matter little - or rather, distinguishing between them matters not at all.

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Illusory Lines
Weighing your actions, you realize the boundary between good and evil may never have existed - rendering the struggle to distinguish them pointless.

Serving the Sultan loyally should represent virtue. Yet when his actions harm people and country, opposing him becomes righteous. Contemplating rebellion - is this virtuous or wicked? Impossible to determine.

The issue isn't morality, you realize... but whether you follow your inner truth, unwavering despite temptations, solely pursuing your heart's purpose.

As for what this "purpose" might be... each person, each god likely holds their own understanding.

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Dark Blessing
You beseech the ancient darkness for answers.

At your first forbidden prayer, dark visions overwhelm your imagination.

You witness the Sultan stripped of power as you write sacred words determining his fate.

You see the Magician torn apart by darkness, shifting forms - dog, viper, sea monster, enchantress - begging mercy through countless guises, repeatedly tortured and erased by your hand...

This coveted power arrives. In the dark vision, ink droplets fall from heaven like sweet rain... You joyfully open your mouth, letting darkness penetrate your essence...

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Frost Vision
You purify yourself, light incense, recite prayers... seeking the Immaculate Purity's guidance.

As meditation deepens, reality fades, but enlightenment remains distant - darkness surrounds you.

When confusion and terror overcome you, the yearned-for light finally descends.

They rebuke your weakness while lamenting mortal foolishness. A mighty hand grips your heart, transmitting icy will, like iron tongs locking your bones, igniting purifying flame to forge your courage.

Upon waking, physical pain accompanies a strange icy calm.

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Extra

Rebuking Darkness
You dare invoke the most unholy name before the Immaculate Purity!

They thunder through your mind, Their light a spear piercing heaven and earth, a ruler lashing the world...

Until the next day's sunset, whenever your focus wavers, everything before you shatters into light and flames... This divine punishment They foretell... fortunately, They cannot execute it immediately.

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Ancient Enmity
Darkness boils as you mention Their enemy's name before a god.

Their anger transforms into a dark forest, intending to make you lost forever... Fortunately, you still pray for light in your heart. This beam, like a faint lamp, illuminates your path back to the mortal realm... it also reveals the monstrosities the evil god created from your fears. Masterpieces crafted from your inner terrors... about death, betrayal, failure, love... After waking, these images linger.

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Spiral of Destruction
Two gods, two enemies both craving world destruction, meet unexpectedly in the depths of your mind.

Here is an excellent battlefield where They can destroy each other... destroy your mind... again and again.

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