Blessing

**Blessings** are a form of magic linked to words of prayer. They are performed when one invokes one or more gods by name and channels mana through a conduit, such as a magic ring.

For larger, more intensive blessings a schtappe or a divine instrument is usually required.

# Usage

## Greetings and Responses

Blessings are used when people (at least one noble) meet each other for the first time. Nobles bless their encounter by putting a small amount of mana into their ring, which then flies to the other party, taking the shape of a shower of tiny lights in the divine colour of the god invoked in the blessing. The current season determines the words of blessing, as each season has a different patron god or goddess corresponding to it.

It is protocol for the noble of lesser status to ask for permission to pray, the higher ranking noble to grant this permission, and then the lesser noble to actually do the blessing.
If both nobles are of the same rank, the guest does the blessing.

When a commoner of high enough status meets a noble, it is the commoner who is supposed to speak first and give the words of a prayer to the deity of the current season, to which the noble will respond with a short blessing in return.

The exact wording of the prayers used between merchant and nobles are slightly different from the ones spoken between nobles.

## Religious Ceremonies

During ceremonies held inside the temple, it is the Temple Hierarchy#High Bishop's duty to bless the attending people, while ceremonies outside of the temple are performed by the present Blue Priest or Blue Shrine Maiden.
To perform a true blessing, it is necessary to know the words of the prayer, wear a magic tool to channel mana, usually in the shape of a ring, and be able to wield mana. Since the majority of Blue Robes never attended the Royal Academy, they usually lack the knowledge of how to properly use their mana and were never gifted a ring, which left them unable to give true blessings. This included the former High Bishop Bezewanst.

When the new High Bishop Lady Rozemyne gave true blessings during ceremonies in the temple, it cause quite a stir among commoners and the present Blue Priests alike.

## Enhancing properties

Blessings may have a further effect, however, these depend on the god that is prayed to and the words that are spoken. The strength of the effect is proportional to the amount of mana invested into it. Some examples are:

* Praying to Angriff can gives a blessing that enhances mana and physical stamina.
* Praying to the God of Darkness can bless weapons changing them into black weapons, giving them the property to absorb mana.
* Praying to Schutzaria can grant various kinds of wind shields.
* Praying to Heilschmerz can heal physical wounds.

## Praying to multiple gods

It is possible to pray to multiple gods at once, but doing so will require more mana than a prayer to a single god and carries the risk of such an attempted blessing to fail and do nothing. The more gods invoked at once, the higher the mana cost and lower the chances of success.

Furthermore trying to invoke Ewigeliebe, the God of Life, at the same time as Flutrane, Leidenschaft, or Schutzaria carries a particularly high risk of failure, due to the animosity over how Ewigeliebe treated their sister Geduldh.

The only known instance of someone successfully calling upon all seven higher gods in a single blessing in living memory was Rozemyne's final act in her old life. Such a prayer working is so rare and unusual that even the Commander of Ehrenfests Knight's Order Karstedt remarked how it "weirded him out" despite it being clearly benefical in nature, instantly healing the wounds of the recipients among other things.

# Trivia

* When Rozemyne became the High Bishop, it is said that she gave *real* blessings, thus beginning her legend as a saint in the lower city.
* Rozemyne is quite unique, as she can also give blessing just by playing music and singing of hymns. This can even happen unintentionally for her. Just by praying genuinely to the gods, she will perform accidental blessings, unless she actively suppresses the mana-flow to her magic ring.
* How Rozemyne handles magic is different than other nobles, as casting spells and blessing are the same for her, while other nobles see them as separate. This is because religion is not seen as central in society.

# References

1. ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 4 Volume 2. Chapter 7: Measuring Schartz and Weiss
2. ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 2 Volume 4. Sylvester - Cleaning up the Mess
3. ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 2 Volume 4. Chapter 15: Ripped Apart