Where Divination magic reflects the connections between things on a broad scale, Binding magic forges those patterns on a personal, individual scale. The forms taken by binding magic are as varied and diverse as the mundane promises people make to each other, from the incredibly simple and blunt, to the arcane and convoluted.
The core of Binding Magic is the Oath; a promise made with magical intent. By itself, an Oath does nothing, and it continues to do nothing for as long as the one who made it abides by their promise. When the Oath is broken, however, Fate – the same mysterious force that creates Omens – responds by punishing the oathbreaker and those in their vicinity with subtle but brutal efficiency. For this reason, Oaths are not entered into lightly; every oath is a binding commitment that invites unpredictable supernatural retribution if not followed through.
However, Oaths are not simply a means to create a sword of Damocles over a magician’s own head; most serious magical projects – those that draw on multiple of the methods detailed here in complex ways – require Oaths as a foundation for the next stages; Oaths form a magical scaffold that sophisticated magic can build on. As an immediate example, the creation of the Administrators and their Summit – and their neat, orderly magical properties – are built on an underlying grid of extremely powerful Oaths sworn by the mages responsible.
Binding Magic in Play
Binding magic allows you to swear an oath that the forces of fate will enforce.
An oath must be sworn in front of at least one witness (as well as an appropriate Administrator to record the oath). Simply state the task that you will perform, in as much detail as you wish. Some rituals call fro written oaths, these also count as Binding Magic oaths.
(The Administrator will record the wording for the plot team’s reference).
Once you’ve sworn the oath, if you break it, inform an Administrator, who will see to it that Fate enforces its consequences. However this
manifest in the game fiction, the mechanical effect will be to make a single Project 1 point harder. It will be open knowledge that it became harder because of a broken oath, and who broke the oath to cause it.The plot team will select whichever Project will make things worst for you as the one affected.
You may specifically swear an oath to somebody: if you do, when you break the oath, the Administrators will inform them as quickly as possible that the oath is broken.
You can swear the same oath multiple times, if you wish. If you do this, fate will punish you multiple times for the same transgression. Unless the wording of an Oath puts a time limit on its duration, it lasts indefinitely and will still be in effect at future events.
Binding magic doesn’t make you stronger; it only makes things worse for you when you break your word. It does, however, allow people to make magically binding promises, meaning you can probably trust that somebody you negotiate with will keep their promises to you.
Further, some more complex acts of magic – such as the creation of the Summit – will require Oaths to create the framework the magic is built on.