Rituals

Rituals are mighty spells and prayers, so powerful that they cannot be cast without thorough preparation. It is the preparation that takes the most time, while the casting itself then goes relatively quickly.

Ritual preparation

Ritual preparation requires focus, but not the total concentration of the actual invocation of a spell or prayer. Preparation naturally differs by school:

Sorcery

For a sorcery ritual, the preparation consists mainly of reading from a book describing the ritual and the caster. Many sorcerers draw the spell's runes in the sand until they are completely convinced of their correctness. Some help themselves with various props, such as candles arranged into patterns, self-torment, loud repetition of the ritual's verses, use of various magical items and fetishes. It is largely up to you which way you choose, because it may influence the success or failure of the preparation.

Elementalism

For elementalism, the preparation consists mainly of contemplation in places from which you want to draw power, examining the flows of power and general mind cleansing.

Prayers

For priests, rituals take the form of a series of meditations and contemplations, in which they try to cleanse the mind and prepare to present their humble request to the god (because a ritual is always a request for a great intervention). Other priests favor the method of saying loud prayers in which they explain the justification of the request. The priest may kneel, or on the contrary stand for whole days and refuse sleep. In many cases priests bring various offerings (in accordance with the god's principle), such as lit candles, throwing food into the fire, sacrificing animals, self-flagellation, immersing themselves in water, etc.

Concentration during preparation

Although the preparation itself is not as demanding on concentration as the actual casting, it is certainly not something you would want to undergo every day. The preparation is mentally and physically demanding (during this time your fatigue does not decrease and your mental state does not improve, priests cannot meditate.

You cannot even think of traveling, reading or preparing two rituals at once; you can sleep and eat. A short disturbance (for example by combat) does not disrupt the preparation, but injury or exhaustion may have fatal consequences (because you practically do not heal or rest, your penalties remain).

The casting itself

As soon as you are inwardly prepared (see invocation time), you can proceed to the actual casting of the ritual, which takes 10 minutes. It proceeds like casting a spell / prayer and requires total concentration.

Skipping the preparation

Only a true grandmaster can afford to skip the preparation, because he gets a -20 penalty.