Rites

Little is known definitively about rites, other than that with the right Pigment and Rite-Paper, a Ghost can be sharpened with useful results. Only now that the fish have stopped biting has this risky business again come back into fashion, with the most qualified in the village being the Scott family in general, Wax Griffiths and Colletta Jones. (And of them, the Scotts tend towards wild experimentation, rather than teachable principles.)

Colletta Jones has been shocked by the hazardous effects of some Rites, which motivated her to start a gallery for safety purposes. She has since become quite pleased with the idea of a gallery in general, and is accepting any and all submitted art pieces, regardless of hazard.

Rite-paper is specially prepared paper, with the outline of (part of) a circle on it, in which the rite is drawn. Example rite-paper is shown below:

And Pigments can be made of all sorts of things, though impressive results will be derived from impressive ingredients. If you have an ingredient that can be made into a Pigment, that ingredient will say so, as shown below:

As a Rite involves modifying your own Ghost, there will always be Consequences, and sometimes more serious side effects still. However, the effects can be spectacular. Below are examples of Rite Effects (though, notably, not how those rites are carried out, as that knowledge is somewhat harder to come by):

Below is an example of Rite-Paper with the artwork already drawn to perform the Bridge-Blessing:

How to do a Rite

The actual carrying out of a rite is relatively simple: one or more Pigments are used to produce a piece of artwork on the rite-paper, which is then applied to some part of the subject's body to transfer it to their Ghost. This is an involved process, requiring at least two minutes of role-playing (which can be spent producing the artwork). There is no required form or level of complexity to the art, though Coletta Jones insists that clean lines and clear meaning is safest. Explaining the meaning of the artwork to those around you (and making sure that a ref knows your intent when doing the Rite) can help to clarify the meaning.

Once you have completed the two minutes of role-playing, a ref will tell you the results of the Rite and provide you with some Consequences.

If you find or receive a piece of Rite-Paper with a pre-drawn Rite on it, you can apply it. If people are planning to explore across the bridge, their relatives might help by preparing Bridge-Blessings in advance, for example.