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Occult Rituals


Occult Rituals

It’s a common belief that only those initiated in the rites and practices of arcane, divine, or psychic magic can cast spells, but this is not strictly true. Hidden within dusty libraries and amid the ramblings of lunatics lie the mysteries of another form of spellcasting—occult ritual magic. These spells are rare, coveted by both those eager to gain their power and those wishing to hide their existence. Most traditional spellcasters consider these rituals dangerous and uncontrollable, something to be avoided or used as a last resort. They fear the power these ceremonies grant to the uninitiated, as the rituals allow those with only a glimmering of understanding the ability to interact with the underlying fabric of magic.

While anyone can attempt to cast occult rituals, the process is fraught with peril. The strange and intricate incantations are often challenging to perform with precision, and failure can weaken the casters or even unleash horrors upon the world. Even when successfully performed, each occult ritual has a price—a backlash that affects at least the caster leading the ritual, and often those assisting in its performance.
Click here for the full rules on Occult Rituals.

Divert Soul

Source Concordance of Rivals pg. 46
School necromancy; Level 9
Casting Time 9 hours
Components V, S, M (black diamond worth 25,000 gp), F (a forked metal rod attuned to the destination plane, as that used for plane shift), SC (at least 6, up to 12)
Skill Checks Knowledge (planes) DC 26, 4 successes; Knowledge (religion) DC 26, 3 successes; Spellcraft DC 26, 2 successes
Range touch
Target one helpless creature or soul (such as a soul imprisoned by soul bind or trap the soul)
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash For 1 week following the performance of the ritual, every psychopomp within 10 miles of a caster knows the distance and direction to that caster and is aware that the caster was involved in a ritual to thwart a soul's natural progression.
Failure A helpless creature is automatically freed and whisked away to a place it considers familiar and safe, as word of recall. An imprisoned soul is automatically freed. In addition, a memitim psychopomp appears adjacent to each caster and attacks the caster to the best of its ability. The memitim disappears once its designated caster is slain or after 10 minutes, whichever comes first.

Effect

This powerful ritual attempts to shunt the target's soul to a plane determined during the preparation for the ritual. A key component of the ritual is a forked rod, just like that used for a plane shift spell. Any other device suitable for use as a focus component for plane shift is also suitable for use with this ritual. The casters form a circle around the target, each touching the shoulder of the caster to his left to form a ring representing the multiverse as a whole. The primary caster stands inside this ring with the target, holding the diamond in one hand and the forked rod in the other. As the casters chant, the primary caster walks around the target in a circle. At the conclusion of the ritual, the primary caster touches the forked rod to the black diamond, which shatters. If the ritual is performed successfully, the target's soul is immediately sent to the designated plane and manifests there as a petitioner or another appropriate outsider, just as if the designated plane were the soul's appropriate reward and regardless of the soul's actual alignment or outlook. If the target is a helpless creature, it is slain by this effect (no save). If the target is a soul trapped inside an object, the object is emptied when the soul departs to its designated destination.

As this ritual bypasses the soul's judgment and natural passage to the afterlife, it is considered anathema to the psychopomps. Agents of the psychopomp ushers actively attempt to suppress knowledge of this ritual wherever they find it, but the psychopomps' enemies—such as daemons and sahkils—work hard to disseminate knowledge of the ritual to inquisitive mortals.