The page discusses the lore of ritual magic, a universally accessible magic created by Ritual, Edeia of Ritual. 

Quick Reference

• Anyone can create rituals, but Ritual (the Edeia) chooses which ones to empower.

• In general, sharing knowledge weakens rituals. The more people know, the weaker it gets. If people forget by passing away or knowledge being lost, power may be restored. 

• All rituals require payment: materials, sacrifices, or elaborate processes.

Ranks of Rituals

• major ritual: a ritual with powerful effects and strict rules. Their effects fade slightly if others gain knowledge of the ritual's existence. There is a fairly drastic drop in the ritual's power as others properly learn how to conduct the ritual.

• minor ritual: a ritual with subtle or weak effects and flexible rules. Their effects only fade if an individual properly learns all the details of how to conduct the ritual, and the effects still fade slowly. 

Terminology

• Keeper: an individual who holds the metaphysical status of a ritual's knowledge-keeping. This individual holds exact subconscious knowledge of how to conduct the original ritual. 

• spell: a specific magical effect. 

• enchantment: a spell with lasting magical effects.

• blessing: an enchantment with beneficial effects. 

• curse: an enchantment with negative effects. 

Ritual magic has existed in the Ideation universe since approximately 10,000 BCE. Though this is not known, Ritual gained the cooperation of Firmament and conducted a ritual that allowed them to gain awareness over all rituals in the Ideation universe. Wherever a ritual existed, Ritual would know… and they could imbue their power into it. No longer did they need to travel the world themself to have their power touch everywhere in the universe that rituals existed.

In the Age of Magic, it was something of a legend or rumor, depending on the society, that one could devote a ritual to the divine presence of "rituals" and achieve magical effects. Many individuals created various rituals that Ritual imbued with power without ever realizing the nature of the magic, though there was an instinctive sense of the magic being provided by an external source, rather than any of them thinking that it was their own magic. 

During the Age of Secrecy, that pattern continued for magical societies. In mundane societies, there are various myths about rituals that can cause supernatural phenomena, but there are never any overt effects. During this time, Ritual deliberately chose to imbue rituals with more subtle effects so as to comply with Secrecy. 

When Ritual reveals themself in 2035, in the Age of Reunion, it is made known that anyone can create a ritual—but that it is extremely difficult given Ritual's particularity about choosing which rituals to empower. Several spells and enchantments were then properly classified as minor ritual magic, though Data was forbidden from recording any details in their database, with individuals needing to seek out others who know about these rituals to learn them properly. 

To the twins, rituals are elaborate, involved, and impressive things—and with a price to pay for using them. The process of the creation and usage of a ritual is as follows: 

1. Creation - Someone designs a ritual with aesthetic appeal and appropriate difficulty for its desired effect. 

2. Empowerment - Ritual (the Edeia) weaves magic into it, making it functional.

3. Usage - The ritual can now be performed by anyone who meets requirements.

The knowledge of how to conduct a ritual can be shared or passed down to an "heir" who will inherit the exact subconscious knowledge of how to conduct the original ritual; the one who holds that knowledge is known as the Keeper of the ritual, and there is only up to one for each ritual. If no heir is chosen, then the original knowledge may be lost unless Ritual designates a new Keeper themself; some Worshippers are chosen as Keepers for several major rituals. Choosing an heir may be a subconscious choice for minor rituals. Without the Keeper's subconscious knowledge, one must properly learn the steps of how to conduct a ritual.

Others may learn rituals through word of mouth, especially through Worshippers or Keepers. There may be a few ancient texts, but these are often difficult to acquire. 

Note: There is always a way to undo blessings and curses, whether through another ritual or simply through an Edeia's manipulation of the magic weave. Some Edeia may be more skilled at unraveling applied magic than others.

Major Rituals

A major ritual has powerful effects and strict rules. Their effects fade slightly if others gain knowledge of the ritual's existence. There is a fairly drastic drop in the ritual's power as others properly learn how to conduct the ritual.

Examples include soul binding, time travel, teleportation, curses, summoning, creating children. 

Characteristics include:

• Powerful and obvious magical effects.

• Extremely strict requirements and rules.

• Must be treated with dignity and reverence.

• Power fades rapidly when shared.

• Ritual sometimes personally appears when they are created. 

Major rituals are rare and very difficult to create. Please consult Auspice if you wish to make one. 

Minor Rituals

A minor ritual has subtle or weak effects and flexible rules. Their effects only fade if an individual properly learns all the details of how to conduct the ritual, and the effects still fade slowly. 

Examples include luck enhancement, convenient enchantments (like a waterproofing enchantment), health blessings, peace of mind, mild misfortune. 

Characteristics include:

• Subtle or weak effects. Some may not be noticeable, while others are apparent but weak, such as those that improve "quality-of-life." 

• Flexible requirements.

• Knowledge fades slowly when shared

• Easy to create (most people make several in their lifetime)

Minor rituals can be used freely without consulting Auspice. 

 All rituals are under a number of "laws," which the creator of a ritual will instinctively know, though those who create minor rituals may never know they have done so and only have a vague sense of the laws. 

Core Laws

These laws affect all rituals.

• Anyone can perform rituals, but they must meet all requirements exactly. 

• The fundamental knowledge of rituals can be passed from a Keeper to an heir. 

• As more people learn how to properly conduct the ritual, the ritual's effects will grow weaker. If a ritual is documented in written records, its effects will decay with every individual who sees it. As fewer people know how to conduct the ritual, the stronger its effects become. 

Major Ritual Laws 

These laws only affect major rituals. 

• Reverence is required. No casual use, no mass harm. Ritual takes no issue with personal grudges and vengeance, but they are not fond of meaningless cruelty and malice. 

• If a ritual is misused or abused, there will be a backlash (failure of the ritual in addition to harmful effects) as a warning the first few times. Ritual may then take notice and curse the ritual, making it fail in all cases and do considerable harm to those who intended to misuse it.