[Amendment] Naztherak: You aren't important enough to talk to Zar'rokul

[Tentoa 3160]

Narthruzka
OLD:

Spoiler

The Prince must prepare a cistern filled with rakir and around it, the corpses of the four animals which represent the other lords who have not chosen the False Prince should be laid present,  embellished with candles and other occult objects if one desires. A Naztherak already in possession of Pacting who is teaching a student should assist in assembling the ritual to demonstrate each step and such will not impact the ritual itself.

 

Into the cistern, the Prince must offer their own blood such as by cutting the palm. This need not fill the cistern entirely, but the offering must not be wanting. The rakir will then shift and bubble as if being heated, until pale plasma-like fluid overtakes it entirely. This swirl of plasma will then form the likeness or name of the Zar’rokul who has chosen the Naztherak. The Naztherak must then completely submerge their grimoire in the substance, allowing their striith to enter the High Hells and commune with the Lord so that they may be summoned.

 

At this point, the Zar’rokul will answer by either manifesting as an avatar before them or speaking through the bodies of the sacrificed. Drinking their fill of the Warlock’s pool of maleus, the Rokul will then acknowledge the Prince, will make their offer, and then will name their price. The Naztherak may agree or refuse, the latter will cancel the ritual and the Prince receives nothing for their spent blood, maleus, and rakir.

 

Upon striking their bargain a fresh page within the Prince’s Grimoire will mysteriously become inscribed with the pact. Written entirely in Ilzakarn, it details the terms agreed upon, including the price: a further sliver of the Prince’s soul, allowing the Zar’rokul into their mind, and one permanent mutation. It also lists the prizes one has paid for: the Rokul’s own Malice and the knowledge of and ability to use Boons and Banes.

Redlines:
-  Performing nizarhuk requires the ritual described above, in a minimum of four good-quality multi-line emotes, which may not take place during combat.
-  The TA-holder teaching the Pacting subtype must be present throughout the ritual and guide the student through the process.
-  Players are encouraged to have various flavourful supernatural phenomena occur during the ritual, and are permitted to be creative so long as it is not abused to seriously harm bystanders.
-  In their bargaining with the Zar’rokul, the Naztherak must allow them to consume the entirety of their pool of maleus, no matter how full or how large their maximum pool is.
-  The Rokul will always demand a further sliver of the Prince’s soul, permanently slotting Pacting and costing [1] magic slot, which should be noted on one’s MA.
-  As a result of further corruption of their soul, the Naztherak will inherit a permanent mutation unable to be hidden, which bears a likeness to their patron. Such things may include scales, a bat-like nose, a forked tongue, fangs, cat-like eyes, vestigial wings, etc., but may not grant any combat or mechanical advantage.
-  The practitioner must allow their patron into their mind, wherein they may permanently observe the day to day operations of the Naztherak.
-  Upon successful completion of Nizarhuk, the practitioner must also adopt the Malice associated with their patron. Gluttony from Velkuzat, Dread from Drazhana, Venom from Kiiztria, Pestilence from Kholidav and Misfortune from Zathairn.
-  Nizarhuk may be performed again for flavor roleplay after acquiring Pacting, or used for ST events where the practitioner wishes to consult with their patron.
- An accepted Naztherak MA, and T3 is required to perform this ritual and thus acquire Pacting. After the pact is complete, the player must notify the ST to update their MA appropriately.
- The teacher is permitted to play the Patron only for the purposes of their student acquiring the Pacting subtype.
- One may teach Pacting to another Naztherak after possessing it for 1 OOC month. A TA may be updated accordingly.
- This communion with the Zar'rokul is symbolic and personal in nature, their presence made known by mental images of a snake / bat / cat / goat / crow and respective feelings of sickness / dread / anxiety / hunger / fatigue. The Zar'rokul do not speak directly with the Naztherak or become physically present (even by proxy of an avatar) except with express ST Manager approval.

Narthruzka
New: changes outlined in BOLD

Spoiler

The Prince must prepare a cistern filled with rakir, and around it, the corpses of the four animals which represent the other lords who have not chosen the False Prince should be laid present,  embellished with candles and other occult objects if one desires. A Naztherak already in possession of Pacting who is teaching a student should assist in assembling the ritual to demonstrate each step, and such will not impact the ritual itself.

 

Into the cistern, the Prince must offer their own blood, such as by cutting the palm. This need not fill the cistern, but the offering must not be wanting. The rakir will then shift and bubble as if being heated, until pale plasma-like fluid overtakes it entirely. This swirl of plasma will then form the likeness or name of the Zar’rokul who has chosen the Naztherak. The Naztherak must then completely submerge their grimoire in the substance, allowing their striith to enter the High Hells and commune with the Lord so that they may be summoned.

 

At this point the Zar'rokul will send a Striith to negotiate on their behalf, this creature will manifest as a vision only observable to the ritual's participants, and to outsiders having only minor effects on the environment in line with those outlined under Princes' presence can range in appearance from a demon, descendant, cursed child, demonic animal, gatrov, or some shadowy formless figure, and negotiate on behalf of their Zar'rokul master. 

 

Upon striking their bargain, a fresh page within the Prince’s Grimoire will mysteriously become inscribed with the pact. Written entirely in Ilzakarn, it details the terms agreed upon, including the price: a further sliver of the Prince’s soul, and one permanent mutation. It also lists the prizes one has paid for: Their Patron's own Malice and the knowledge of and ability to use Boons and Banes.

Redlines:
-  Performing nizarhuk requires the ritual described above, in a minimum of four good-quality multi-line emotes, which may not take place during combat.
-  The TA-holder teaching the Pacting subtype must be present throughout the ritual and guide the student through the process.
-  Players are encouraged to have various flavourful supernatural phenomena occur during the ritual, and are permitted to be creative so long as it is not abused to seriously harm bystanders.
-  In their bargaining with their patron, the Naztherak must allow them to consume the entirety of their pool of maleus, no matter how full or how large their maximum pool is.
-  The Rokul will always demand a further sliver of the Prince’s soul, permanently slotting Pacting and costing [1] magic slot, which should be noted on one’s MA.
-  As a result of further corruption of their soul, the Naztherak will inherit a permanent mutation unable to be hidden, which bears a likeness to their patron. Such things may include scales, a bat-like nose, a forked tongue, fangs, cat-like eyes, vestigial wings, etc., but may not grant any combat or mechanical advantage.
-  Upon successful completion of Nizarhuk, the practitioner must also adopt the Malice associated with their patron. Gluttony from Velkuzat, Dread from Drazhana, Venom from Kiiztria, Pestilence from Kholidav, and Misfortune from Zathairn.
-The Naztherak is forever changed by this bargain, afflicted with the malice of the Zar'rokul patron which will be present even if disconnected from the magic.
- Nizarhuk may not be performed again for flavor roleplay after acquiring Pacting, and must be used only for ST events where the practitioner wishes to consult with their patron. beckoning the attention of a Rokul is dangerous, and the offerings must be sufficiently enticing for even a striith negotiator to be sent.
- An accepted Naztherak MA, and T3 is required to perform this ritual and thus acquire Pacting. After the pact is complete, the player must notify the ST to update their MA appropriately.
- The Teacher assisting with the ritual is permitted to play the Striith only; the Zar'rokul will NEVER deign to give a mortal prince their full attention for the measly price of a soul sliver.
- One may teach Pacting to another Naztherak after possessing it for 1 OOC month. A TA may be updated accordingly.
- This communion with the Prince's patron never involves the direct intervention of the Zar'rokul, their presence made known only by mental images of a snake / bat / cat / goat / crow and respective feelings of sickness / dread / anxiety / hunger / fatigue. Only ST are permitted to play Zar'rokul at the behest of ST management.

Malices
The following redline will be added to Malices:
- Malices are permanent and persist even through disconnection from Naztherak.

Reasoning: I can see no reason why an intensely powerful archdevil of the hells would deign to divide even a moment of their attention from their schemes, wars, and plans upon plans to pay attention to a mortal speck looking for power. They have far more important matters to attend to and endless numbers of Striith to handle their grunt work. It also doesn't make sense for them to be constantly observing Naztherak, as it treads too much on Seer's toes thematically; instead, it should afflict the mortal practitioner with its malice and change them fundamentally. (edit) The Redlines are also not very clear and run contradictory to the main lore text for the ritual. They should be written to leave no wiggle room for word-of-mouth ruling or misconception to arise, as we try to do with every other magic. 

[Navigator 4260]

This shit got me out of my ban-induced departure to say that this is... already the case?

I remember when I was teaching my students and both Pallodium and Leyd told me that it was never the Zar'rokul themselves that did Nizarhuk, it was always a Striith representing the Zar'rokul. Ig the amendment would make this written into lore as opposed to being a word-of-mouth ruling, but, tis already the case.

[femurlord 3751]

Tentoa, this is already a redline under Nizarhuk:

 

"This communion with the Zar'rokul is symbolic and personal in nature, their presence made known by mental images of a snake / bat / cat / goat / crow and respective feelings of sickness / dread / anxiety / hunger / fatigue. The Zar'rokul do not speak directly with the Naztherak or become physically present (even by proxy of an avatar) except with express ST Manager approval."

[Tentoa 3160]

39 minutes ago, femurlord said:

Tentoa, this is already a redline under Nizarhuk:

 

"This communion with the Zar'rokul is symbolic and personal in nature, their presence made known by mental images of a snake / bat / cat / goat / crow and respective feelings of sickness / dread / anxiety / hunger / fatigue. The Zar'rokul do not speak directly with the Naztherak or become physically present (even by proxy of an avatar) except with express ST Manager approval."

This is an adjustment to the redlines for clearer wording and to disavow the means for players to represent a Zar'rokul/repeat the ritual even if symbolically, because it's contradictory to the main body of lore explanation and should be brought into a state where one cannot 'well actually' the text versus the redlines. 

+ I got rid of NSA spying that leaned toward Seer involvement/went nowhere IRP in exchange for a permanent affliction for performing the ritual. 

40 minutes ago, Navigator said:

This shit got me out of my ban-induced departure to say that this is... already the case?

I remember when I was teaching my students and both Pallodium and Leyd told me that it was never the Zar'rokul themselves that did Nizarhuk, it was always a Striith representing the Zar'rokul. Ig the amendment would make this written into lore as opposed to being a word-of-mouth ruling, but, tis already the case.

If it's word of mouth it's not in the lore.

[Navigator 4260]

2 minutes ago, Tentoa said:

 

If it's word of mouth it's not in the lore.

[christman 3529]

 

1 hour ago, femurlord said:

"This communion with the Zar'rokul is symbolic and personal in nature, their presence made known by mental images of a snake / bat / cat / goat / crow and respective feelings of sickness / dread / anxiety / hunger / fatigue. The Zar'rokul do not speak directly with the Naztherak or become physically present (even by proxy of an avatar) except with express ST Manager approval."

This redline was added with the intention of stopping players from roleplaying the zar'rokul following an amendment Mordu and I pushed for. However at the time, we forgot to amend out other redlines as well as the body of the ritual which implied Nizarhuk was still direct communion with a naztherak's chosen patron.

 

I think Tentoa has done a good job at cleaning up what we intended 👍

[The King Of The Moon 7016]

Go get 'em Hawk-Toa

[PrimnyaQuorum 3999]

4 hours ago, Tentoa said:

-The Naztherak is forever changed by this bargain, afflicted with the malice of the Zar'rokul patron which will be present even if disconnected from the magic.

Since this is new and likewise changes how secondary malices work, this should be added to the malice section in general imo

 

I dunno. It doesn't impact anything bc end of day all this was is a roundaboutway to get pacting [cursing is still just LArp for 3 emotes] but afaik, Naztherak are only a thing on aos/eos and only servants of the zar'rokul directly. Unless that was never true, or has be removed/retconn'd, it feels off to try and minize the role of the rokul to naz

[Slorbin 2932]

I don’t know man. If you get ST permission to somehow talk to such a powerful being without being immediately killed maybe that’s good. I think if people get to interact with cool lore characters at extremely rare events this is good. Like you don’t need a wraith redline saying they can never meet with Mordring because he won’t care about petty ghosts you just. Roleplay that out 

[Tentoa 3160]

21 hours ago, Slorbin said:

I don’t know man. If you get ST permission to somehow talk to such a powerful being without being immediately killed maybe that’s good. I think if people get to interact with cool lore characters at extremely rare events this is good. Like you don’t need a wraith redline saying they can never meet with Mordring because he won’t care about petty ghosts you just. Roleplay that out 

This isn't relevant or equivalent at all; this is to follow up on a redline amendment that was passed but didn't change the body of the ritual text nor add further redlines to bring it in line with the standard for current lore. Clerics and Templars don't get to RP Tahariae or Malchadiel. This allows you to continue the freeform ritual of pacting without the weird caveat of being able to call up an ancient evil for a casual chat with them for the price of some Rakir and your ability to cast naz spells for the day, as the lore currently allows. Beings of immense power should hold immense weight, and the current lore doesn't reflect that well. 

The ability to present a Striith in any way you want keeps the creativity, but also pushes the idea that the Zar'rokul are powerful entities that should largely be left up to Lore Team Management to depict, and not just anyone with a TA. As it currently sits, you're allowed to use this ritual to self-RP communication with them and have them say whatever you want. 

 

21 hours ago, PrimnyaQuorum said:

 

Good point on the malices, I'll adjust the amendment to include secondary Malices.