Russel's Ritual of Binding

First stage of the ritual: establishing the magical circle perimeter around the grove.

1. Must lay down a circular boundary of raw magical energies in the ground around the center of the druid grove (60-foot radius circle). The purpose of this circle will be to contain the magic that will be released during the ritual proper, so it can be all be directed where it needs to go and not escape into the surroundings.
2. In practical terms, the participating casters will need to spend the duration of this stage slowly walking the circle, focusing on directing their magic into the earth as they go.
3. Mechanically, if initiative were being tracked, for the entire duration of this phase you have to move at no more than 10 ft/round, concentrating on the ritual as if on a spell, and using your action on each round to continue the ritual.
4. The more different types of magic that can be woven together to create this boundary, the more effective the circle will be (and the more quickly it will be able to be established).
5. The base casting time requirement for this stage for one Treant alone would be 24 hours. Each additional spellcaster who participates in this stage, if they meet the requirements and pass a DC 10 Inteligence (Arcana) check, halves the time required by this stage (to a minimum of 1 hour, which is roughly 10 circles).
6. If any participant loses their concentration during this stage, it must be restarted from the beginning.

Second stage of the ritual: establishing the Lines of Binding.

• The Treant will animate two trees, and the three of them will position themselves at the points of an equilateral triangle circumscribed by the perimeter established in the previous stage.
• Three (no more, no less) additional spellcasters, who also meet the ritual's requirements, may optionally participate as channelers, dedicating their powers to enhanced Lines of Binding. Channelers may have participated in Stage 1, but are not required to have. These additional spellcasters will position themselves at the midpoints of the three sides of the equilateral triangle formed by the Treant and the two Animated Trees.

Note: participants in creating the Lines of Binding will be effectively incapacitated for the remainder of the ritual, and therefore will be unable to actively participate in any actual Bindings to be attempted.

If these additional spellcasters are used, the DC of subsequent ability checks made as part of the ritual will be decreased by 5.

• The three (or six) participants in establishing the Lines of Binding, once in position, will begin channeling their magical energies to the other two members of their respective triangle. They must all maintain concentration as if on a spell for one minute, during which they must not move or take any other actions. After that minute, until the end of the ritual they will be unable to move or be moved, to have their concentration broken by damage, or to take any action other than to end their channeling.
• The Treants will channel the magic of Nature into one another, creating bidirectional, overlapping vortices, which will pick up the energies of the additional participants, if they are present. After the first minute, they will be locked in to the Lines of Binding, which must be allowed to strengthen for at least one hour before the next stage is attempted.
• Once the Lines of Binding are empowered, the channelers can choose at any time either to activate them to facilitate a binding, or to release them, ending the ritual. Either decision must be made unanimously.
• Aside from the channelers simultaneously releasing the Lines of Binding, the ritual can be ended in the following ways:
Loss of one or more of the channelers (e.g., due to unconsciousness, death, banishment, or similar). This could cause a dangerous backlash of uncontrolled power.Disruption of the perimeter circle. This would unleash the constrained vortices in a bad way.Potentially by failed bindings, especially repeatedly.Successful binding of the grove itself.

Third stage of the ritual: Bindings

• While the Lines of Binding are empowered, other spellcasters that meet the above requirements can - with the consent of the channelers - attempt to funnel the swirling energies into the center of the ritual for a Binding. The precise nature of the Binding stage depends on the desired outcome - whether the target is to be simply restrained in itself, or tied to another, or bound to another’s will.
• The caster doing a Binding will have to stand inside the Lines of Binding and concentrate on the ritual for one minute. At the end of the minute, they will have to make an ability check using their spellcasting modifier. A proficiency can be applied if the caster describes how they would be using it.

• Must draw the magic they contribute from a source that isn’t already represented in the participants (e.g., a different deity, patron, element, or arcane practice).
• Must be capable of casting spells of at least 6th level from the source that will be contributed.