Rites

Battle of the Mind VII

True battles unfold within...

Since gods notice you through magical power... what is this power's essence?

Brute force manifests through muscle and teeth, wealth through rare metals, but magic? Is it soul-based?

Why do gods particularly value this human power?

ID: 5004824

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 = Iman
  • Not Slot #5 = 1
  • Not Slot #4 = 1
  • Not Slot #7 = 1

Pops: None

Slot #7
Or perhaps aether itself

Locks: No

Is Key: No

Is Empty: Yes

Is Enemy: No

Conditions:

  • Type = Item
  • Card = Aether
  • Not Slot #4 = 1
  • Not Slot #5 = 1
  • Not Slot #6 = 1

Pops: None

Activation Conditions

This rite has no activation conditions.

Outcome

Prior

This rite has no prior outcome.

Regular

Observer's Nightmare
No answer emerges.

Worse, your search process seems godly observed. Attempting to mobilize spiritual power for ascension or descent triggers either mocking laughter or icy scrutiny.

This god observation exhausts you. You dare not think freely, speaking thoughts aloud as if spoken words offer more privacy than mental ones... You frequently utter disconnected statements, startling those nearby. Sleepless nights bring nightmares filled with eyes and ears upon waking.

Friends recommend rest, but you know rest cannot save you.

You've endured god observation too long.

Conditions:

Result:

Action:

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.

Conditions:

Result:

Action:

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.

Conditions:

Result:

Action:

Distant Voyage
Reason resembles a small boat easily consumed by waves, yet you navigate toward distant darkness.

Without god assistance, you carefully analyze, extensively read, exhaustively calculate.

Often when frustrated by mental barriers, tempting voices beckon from the void...

Let me help you...

Let me elevate you.

You deserve easier...

The path lies before you.

Harvest...

Sow.

Sink...

Ascend.

...

You refuse Them all.

At thought's frontier, you finally grasp magical power's source: if gods can only reach you through magic, it means possessing magic makes you partially "real" to Them, somewhat Their kind; in god eyes, you resemble a slender, newly-luminous vertebra.

Conditions:

Result:

Action:

Ice Firmament
You contemplate, allowing magic and thoughts to soar, expanding consciousness outward...

Invisible hands grasp yours, guiding upward until you touch an icy firmament.

They show you a dream, enticing your complete devotion.

The dream begins with firmament. Looking down, you see only your feet upon transparent clouds. You cannot perceive earthly affairs or hear human words, but beside you, poets recite...

Now someone dies somewhere on earth,

Dies for no reason on earth.

Looking at me.

You count involuntarily. The impure, dead. The arrogant, dead. The unbelieving, dead.

For no reason, dead.

...

Awakening from this cold dream, the Immaculate Purity's enticing answer becomes clear: power's essence is authority over life, held firmly in Their hand.

Conditions:

Result:

Action:

Still Waters
You allow your thoughts to dive deeper, deeper, deeper into boundless seas...

Entangling, slippery things wrap around you, caressing your body intimately before showing a dream to entice your complete devotion.

...

The dream begins. You sit atop something massive, surrounded by darkness preventing clear vision. Then an enormous pen - larger than houses - dips into this object, releasing strange scents and black liquid splatters. Ah, an ink bottle! You sit atop an ink bottle - naturally blackened, but unconcerned.

Somehow the pen becomes yours, now appropriately sized. You write feverishly, creating seductive women who emerge from ink stains, unwitnessed spectacular landscapes, logic-defying miraculous creatures - whatever you write, exists.

Writing joyfully, you gradually fill the page, leaving no space. What now?

...

Awakening from this Cultic God's enticing dream, Their answer shines clearly: power's essence is creation. Ceaselessly creating fulfills life's purpose; those who stop creating deserve extinction.

Conditions:

Result:

Action:

Wondrous Delight
You consider Badriyyah.

What powers her abilities? Likely those gods she draws from other realms? Those entangled limbs and redundant sensory organs, incomprehensible words and perverse desires... None previously existed in this world. Her power's essence is "creation."

Making nonexistent things exist, making impossible things possible, making vanished things reappear.

This represents tremendous power indeed.

Conditions:

Result:

Action:

Solemn Weight
You contemplate Iman.

What powers his abilities? Those bloody wounds on his back? No, true power comes from order: "this action produces this result." Priests know suffering brings healing, followers know offerings bring rewards, cultists know the Cult bring retribution...

"Acting thus, I know the outcome" - this order supports the Purist's entire faith; "purity" means "nothing exists except order."

This power indeed represents a solemn burden.

Conditions:

Result:

Action:

Essence's Power
You examine the precious essence liquid, shifting beautifully in its bottle like liquid diamonds.

No need for grand philosophies or god dreamscapes; power's essence appears obvious... it's aether.

Now this power resides in your hands. With it, you resurrect the dead, manifest miracles.

Perhaps gods want humans following Their paths, but unfortunately, you've discovered a shortcut.

Conditions:

Result:

Action:

Sultan's Vision
You sought answers from the gods of chaos and clarity. You surrendered your senses, opened every orifice, and welcomed their descent into your body.

They were pleased.

They rewarded you with a dream.

You sank.

...

You appeared within the Sultan's harem...

Beautiful women of every complexion reclined before you—playing instruments, arranging hair, seemingly ignoring yet acutely aware of you.

Extending your hand, you noticed blackened fingers wearing enormous Magic Ring. Then, a faceless beauty took your finger into her mouth, skillfully working her tongue around it before letting it slip free—a thin thread of silver saliva stretching between you.

Moving your other hand slightly, a eunuch immediately placed an ivory tablet in your palm. Before you stood countless alluring figures; without thinking, you idly struck at them.

...

Your question received undeniable answer:

Like all power, magic's essence is ultimately authority.

Conditions:

Result:

Action:

Priest's Vision
You invoke the most pure, most immaculate sacred god. Your mansion is cleaned, jasmine water sprinkled everywhere, your finger cut to the bone.

Through pain, god blessing arrives as promised.

They rewards you with a dream.

...

You stand at a remote Purist altar.

Extending your hand, you notice pale, delicate skin. You wear no ornaments, but your arm bears golden-powder markings.

Standing, taking one step, impure ground retreats like mice fleeing cats, revealing white stone beneath.

Another step brings more stone, pushing impurity further.

You notice a mud-trapped white bird. You exhale toward it. Mud retreats, freeing the bird, which joyfully flies to your shoulder, softly singing in your ear...

You feel light, soothed, proud, and peaceful.

...

At dream's end, your question finds clear answer: magic's essence lies in restoring things to their proper state, pursuing purity, whatever the cost.

Conditions:

Result:

Action:

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.

Conditions:

Result:

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.

Conditions:

Result:

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.

Conditions:

Result: