Rites of Prime Banishment

Fan art of Vecna's Banishment, by Elaine Tipping.

The Rites of Prime Banishment describe the ritual used to exile a god from the Material Plane.

History

The ritual has only been used twice in the history of Exandria.

Official art of the Dawnfather battling the Chained Oblivion, by Svetoslav Petrov from Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 4.

First, during the events of the Calamity, the Prime Deities sought to re-imprison the Chained Oblivion. Ioun baited the mad god to her central temple, where it dealt her a near-fatal blow; it then took the full might of Pelor, with the blessing of Avandra, to defeat the mad god and complete the ritual.

Long afterward, as Vecna sought godhood, Ioun granted the long-unused knowledge of this ritual to her champion, Scanlan Shorthalt. Scanlan then, along with the rest of Vox Machina, confronted Vecna in his Ascended form atop the tower of Entropis, and together they completed the ritual to seal him away beyond the Divine Gate.

Components

The Prime Trammels

These long, javelin-sized spikes of platinum can be attached to a wounded god to aid in the Rites; the more wounded the god, the easier they are to attach. Originally forged by the All-Hammer on his Core Anvil, each Trammel is made from a fragment, or "bead", of divinity, and a large amount of pure platinum. To craft a single Trammel requires "the strength of a titan" and "the ingenuity of a madman."

Vox Machina traveled to the All-Hammer's abandoned workshop to craft three Trammels of their own. They used one bead of divinity from Pelor, one from Ioun, and one from the Raven Queen. Grog, using his Titanstone Knuckles, provided the strength to work the hammer. Percy, aided by knowledge from Ioun, provided the ingenuity to engrave the surfaces of the Trammels.

Vox Machina succeeded in crafting their three beads of divinity into three Prime Trammels, though one was more fragile than the other two due to difficulties during its construction.

Properties

This twisting, javelin-like spike of glittering platinum is covered from tip to base in intricate runes that pulse with divine energy.

This trammel can be thrown or thrust into a foe (an improvised weapon attack using Strength or Dexterity, attacker's choice) at a range of 20/40. Upon a hit, if the target has taken enough damage to leave an open wound, the trammel may embed itself within the weakened opening.

The Tome of Isolation

Fan art of the Tome of Isolation, by Ekaterina Victoria.

This book, which has no title on the spine and is filled with blank pages, was retrieved by Scanlan to prove himself worthy as Ioun's champion, whereupon she gifted it to him for the fight against Vecna. The book describes the method to invoke the Rites.

With their three Trammels, Vox Machina would theoretically be able to attempt a Rite of Prime Banishment with a DC of 25 when they confronted Vecna, though they would have to attach the Trammels first.

Properties

This thin, grey leather-bound tome appears damaged and ancient. The cover and pages read as blank.

As an action, you can expend a spell slot of any level higher than 3 into the book. The cover and the internal pages glow with the hidden text of the Rites of Prime Banishment. This text remains for 1 hour.

While legible, you can spend an action to invoke the Rites of Banishment against a target. The target must make a wisdom saving throw (DC 10, +5 for each Prime Trammel fused to the target). On a failure, the target is banished and sealed, and this book is immediately teleported to the Endless Atheneum. On a success, the text becomes blurred until the end of your next turn.

References

Art: