Shadowbane Incantation

"If you go, please see Brother Malachi and have him give you the proper blessings. Or if you know an arcanist with the proper knowledge of the shadowbane wards... that will do too."

— Brother Haralan

  The Umbral Realms are not safe to travel, least of all because of the toll it takes on the mind and the spirit. The House of Arrivals is perhaps the only safe place which can be expected, though being an enemy of Myrisia could make it significantly less safe. Protection is required, and over many years there have been breakthroughs about how to protect against the effects of the Umbral Realms on living entities. Myrisian Sages have developed a spell which can weave a ward around the spirit of an individual, functioning as a personal warding circle, though it cannot last forever. It is believed the effect lasts roughly one lunar cycle in time, before it starts rapidly decaying. Devout priests have studied the Sages' work and recreated their own versions of the incantation, utilizing different materials and terming them "blessings" instead. Whichever method of application is chosen, there is no notable difference in the effect or its duration. It is simply a matter of whether the subject trusts the individuals performing the proper magic.

Arcane methods utilize several varied materials to serve as components for the magic to function properly. The most common version requires silver which had been purified by leaving it under the light of a full moon in a bowl of clear water. Then the silver is ground into a powder and mixed with white salt with a small measure of iron filings. The resultant mixture has been termed "shadowbane powder", and has other direct applications with arcane magic. White chalk is used to draw a geometric shape before the powder is laid atop it. An ink made from Valian Blue dye and oils from oak trees is used to draw the spell runes, with the subject inside the circle having the final runes painted on their palms. The incantation takes one hour to perform, and the final component of the magic is an enchanted quartz crystal which goes from cloudy to clear as the spell's power diminishes.

Divine spellcasters instead utilize Blessed Aurium in their efforts, usually by presenting the subject with a holy symbol made of it. Holy water or blessed oils are used to anoint the individual, after which an hour of meditation is performed to properly allow the gods to determine if the subject is worthy. This is not to say there are differences for the incantation between different faiths. A standard variation used by the followers of Apira Horizos has the subject bathing in a prepared tub of water and have their skin scoured clean with reed brushes, be dried with woolen cloth, before being brought to a sanctuary and anointed as mentioned before. The followers of Athienne have been known to instead use the blood of the subject and a blessed aurium powder to create a paint which is applied to the backs of each hand and the forehead with a brush. The less which is said of those who follow darker powers, the better.

Elven enchanters have developed a method of weaving the incantation into garments, usually taking the form of an ash-grey cloak with decorative silver thread woven around the edges. This cloak has a semi-precious stone in the clasp which starts to blacken as the cloak loses its effectiveness. When the spell loses power, the cloak unravels itself and ceases to exist; it is believed this is a method of keeping denizens of the Umbral Realms from finding ways of bypassing or corrupting the incantation itself. Other garments exist which utilize multiple layers of the incantation, but these are not available to those other than trusted emissaries on official business. The cost of one cloak is enough to cause any sane adventurer to pause, and many reckless ones to go without. Reckless adventurers are often dead adventurers, though in the case of the Umbral Realms death is not necessarily assured.

The incantation is sufficient to hold off the most severe effects of shadow fugue during its active time, but after it begins to falter the effects of the Umbral Realms will start to corrode the body and mind. With enough time unprotected, the fugue will become irreversible and the individual is lost for good.

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