[witnesses] The Valkin'vi Ritual of Knowledge

1. The time of the Past –
a. Who were you…
‘Let the stars bear witness, lend their ears to the hearing of what was, and what shall never again come to pass. So the weave is made, and we offer up these tales as tribute to what might yet be Seen.’

2. The time of Foretelling
a. All must join hands and focus on the portal within… listen to the song of the winds and the stars, who see all things.
b. What is seen:
There are two stars where once there was one,
One born from the other yet both brighter than the one.
The light shines in a deep, rich darkness,
as if in competition over the same prize.
I see a great river arising from a spring and lush and green were all things that have grown there.
There were a people who settled along the river
and there was a child who would be a great general, yet it fades, as if a dream.
It is a river of many forks,
some leading to decay,
others to riches and a solitary figure on a boat,
making choices for the masses.
There are storms from the mountains and from the seas,
from the forests and from the swamps,
colliding into each other,
and the man who is not a man,
the child who is not a child with tears or rain in their eyes,
either calming or fueling the storm, perhaps both.
At once, there is peace and war, life and death.
The sky grows dark, and all I see are two eyes which stare at me.

3.The time of Becoming –
a. To join in this rite, one must be Valkin’ Kin. The blood of one must be the blood of all, joined in the sacred rite. In this Telling, all things are shared, the right of all present. There are no secrets.
b. The painting.
c. The melding of blood.
‘Let the Moon bear witness… for this covenant has been made of self and of kin. Here in this circle, this rite, we are made on folk, a coven of the Mistriellia’s lost children.’

4. The Lighting of Lights
a. 4 must sit at the cornerstones of all things. Earth, Air, Fire, Water.
c. Hear us, ye powers. Yield unto us your strength, wisdom, and Sight. Light the way for what must be Seen.
d. Call upon each of the Elements
-Unto the Earth that creates and nurtures.
-Unto Water which maintains and nourishes.
-Unto the Air of storms and Change, growth.
-Unto Fire, which purifies and makes way for the new.
‘Hear us, ye Elements of old. We who walk the ways ask you to open the Door and by the light we bring, the truth we seek, illuminate what must be known, the Knowledge that will Damn or Save us all.’

5. The Tribute of Stones
a. 4 must work in concord with the bearers of light. They represent the guardian forces of magic: Order, Chaos, Life, and Death.
b. Hear us, ye powers. Yield unto us your Courage, Fortitude, and Grace. Grant the strength to bear what must be Seen.
c. Call upon the Powers:
-Unto Order which governs the heavens and the lands.
- Unto Life which is the light in all things upon the world.
-Unto Chaos, change which makes way and renews.
-Unto Death which is the rest and rebirth, the calm and quiet.
‘Hear us, ye Powers of old. We who stand beneath the sky Call upon you to show us the way by the strength we lend, the truth we seek, call fourth what must be known, the Knowledge that will Damn or Save us all.’

6. And now… we summon fourth Knowledge of what is to come:
Water to Fire
Earth to Air
Reveal what must be Seen…
Order to Chaos
Life to Death
Show us what has never been…
(repeat over and over… faster and faster… holding hands… pitch grows fevered… )

“The star of Inesa has never been!” She who it was was a Valkyn'Vi, one of the first who fought for freedom from the Valkin. She died heroically and became a star in the sky, a star that one day would be able to be seen from Phanterra, a star that would shine, signifying The Returning, lighting our way back to Mistriallia.”