A Stallian Ceremony - Magnitude 10 - The Labyrinth
Performing the Ceremony
Performing this Ceremony takes at least 2 minutes of roleplaying. This Ceremony targets a character who must be present throughout, but need not be one of the priests performing the Ceremony. They become the Prophet as described in the rules about Curses.
This Ceremony is a Curse, and therefore interacts with anything that would remove or affect Curses.
Effects
The character affected by this curse cannot read or write. Words they read or write simply read “You are not permitted”, over and over again.
Individuals trying to get around this by spelling things out letter by letter inevitably find themselves somehow spelling out the same phrase, letter by letter.
The roleplaying and mechanical effect lasts for a full year.
Description
Whilst Curses are all experienced in a personalised manner, this one is rather more uniform than most, and one of the most frustrating. Individuals affected by this particular Curse can recognise things as language, and can write out individual letters, but even when directly instructed about which letter to write down - letter by letter - they find themselves naturally spelling out the same frustrating words even whilst they think they are doing something else.
This is, unsurprisingly, a very distressing and disruptive thing to happen to someone, particularly since there are no outward signs of it affecting someone, and it therefore can be overlooked just how incredibly debilitating this is. There are cases of individuals pretending to have been afflicted by this Curse to get out of their responsibilities, and in nearly every occasion this has led to fierce community retribution; this has led to it being nicknamed 'Blindfold of the Foolish Layabout' in some circles due to the parables written that were based off real (or at least apocryphal) events.
Performing the Ceremony
Hard as it is on Priests of Stallia, this Ceremony works best when performed utilising the destruction of written works. These are, therefore, usually written specifically for this purpose so that their destruction is less of a perceived sacrilege - commonly these are burned or shredded by hand in the Sanctified Square amidst muttered prayers of veneration and apologies listing all the many things that the performing priests will write in recompense.
While the Prophet is typically restricted of sight in one form or another (particularly when the Prophet intends or is intended to keep the Curse themselves), it is more a matter of tradition and symbology than something which seems to have particular necessity. The Curse is so straightforward in intent and effect that simply calling for it and understanding its Anathemic quality tends to be enough to manifest its dubious blessing.