Alcazar

An Alcazar is a Visceral ritual that turns an object into a place you can enter, it has a variety of uses such as diagnostics or for handling cursed items.<ref name=":2">“Uhh, a big ritual, turning an object or person or Other into a place you can actually wander around, explore. A diagnostic tool, a way to handle cursed items, or cursed people, or just to figure out an item you don’t know the function of. It can be exceptionally dangerous, obviously. The guest teacher had every student open up an Alcazar with an item that was uniformly pleasant and safe. One of the girls did it with a thing she received as a gift from a boy she liked, who wasn’t in that class to tell her no. It had such pleasant associations for her, it had to be that way through and through, right?”

“What happened?” Verona breathed.

“The item was present when the boy dealt with some bad stuff. His last girlfriend hurting the pet rabbit he got her for Easter. A time one of his first practices got out of control and hurt innocents. His father beat him after that. This girl got a front row seat to all of that, freaked out, lost her footing, and became parts of the scene. The rabbit, the father, others. The lecturer and some older students had to go in after her, along with the boy, who was there to help them navigate. There was a lot of fallout. [...]The boy and the girl both had a hard time dealing with that. The girl flipped out in front of Ray, at one point, and he just walked away from the conversation, texted me to say to go handle it.” - Excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.5</ref><ref>With a major ritual in this line, the Alcazar, one might turn an item into a place the practitioner can enter, so they may explore it, its history, or diagnose problems. - Pact Dice: Collectors</ref><ref>Hazel was nine when she saw her little sister get devoured by a fox statue in her grandmother’s garden. Her research into statues led to her collecting statuettes and storybooks, and when she inherited her grandmother’s house and the statue in the garden sixty years after her sister’s death, she began to decipher the statue itself. She knows enough practice to draw out a diagram and set up the other statues crafted by various Others, and is periodically turning the fox statue into a gateway to the statue’s interior, where she can explore old stories and histories, and try to find a trace of her sister. Every statue she collects is power for her and a tool she can use to dive further in. - Pact Dice: Collectors</ref>

The Ritual

The ritual typically involves a highly complex square diagram with intricate borders and ancillary details and specifics added, the object or person will generally be in the middle. A typical diagram will include a serrated Heraldic square in the center, and the Runes for sun, moon and stars enclosed in the symbol for expanding space.<ref>“Standard Alcazar? Regimented square?”
[...]
The serrated square border was the center of a diagram that got compass points marked out around it; long thin triangles with lines down the center sticking out of each side, smaller, filled-in triangles sticking out of the corners. Then notation, a circle to enclose it, a sun, moon, and star circle each with a ‘comet tail’, like they were shooting outward from the diagram, as celestial expressions for physical space, expanding.

After that, it was ten more minutes of adding small details. - Excerpt from Cutting Class 6.6</ref><ref>“Okay, yeah, let’s get started on the boring part,” Zed declared. “Complicated diagram. You got chalk?”

The diagram was rigid, lots of straight lines, overlapping geometric shapes, and symbols at the intersections. Verona sketched it out, and as she did, she was left with the distinct impression that this could be an artistic rendering of a church or some really fancy architecture, if drawn from above. A circle for a round tower, lines for the walls, but inside it would be something of a mess.

Except for the vast open area that the furs occupied, sitting in the center, inside a two-dimensional cathedral, drawn out in chalk. - Excerpt from Summer Break 13.1</ref> As the ritual activates, the diagram and the object within move and unfold.<ref>The diagram throbbed, the individual parts beginning to move, like gears were turning. The sun, moon, and star part of the circle moved, starting their orbits, and as they turned, the proportion of circle, room, and photograph changed.

The photograph moved as if caught in a wind, then stood up on end. The border blurred white, the photograph expanded as the perspective skew of sun, moon, and star continued in concert with their orbit, and it became like a cube, each face a door, with a lot of two dimensional images on the far side. [...]
“In you go,” Zed told them.

Without really coordinating it, Lucy, Verona, Avery, and Snowdrop each picked one of the sides, stepped carefully across the chalk, and passed through. - Excerpt from Cutting Class 6.6</ref><ref>Smaller parts of the ‘cathedral’ diagram began to lift up off the floor. The furs stirred. [...]
That kickstarted it. Bigger pieces of the diagram lifted up, and as they did, the furs shifted and changed position. Light played on light, shadow on shadow, and the floor vibrated enough that specks of dirt and sand were kicked up. Verona could have swiped a hand beneath some with the height they got. Fans on computers redoubled their efforts, roaring like little jet engines…

And the furs sighed.

Tense, Verona held her position.

Like something alive, the furs moved, lengths of them extending like legs planted on the ground, pushing the body to its full height.

The furs lunged up, the ceiling parted, the sky became visible, and it was as red as anything Verona had ever seen, in multiple shades.

The edifice in front of her wasn’t furry or furred, but it had the same coppery-red gleam. Damaged, it was shored up by ropes that shouldn’t have supported some of the structures that were there. [...] The edifice took up the entire space in front of her, and trees stood on either side of the two-foot wide path before her. [...]
The door was wood, and it resembled the floorboards of the house. Recognizing that point of structure and similarity made it easier to make sense of this world.

She pushed the door open, and there was only darkness inside, hot like a wolf’s breath in her face. It smelled like meat and it stirred feelings deep in her stomach and brain both, where her headaches and stomachaches tended to dwell. - excerpt from Summer Break 13.1</ref>

You can use secondary diagrams as a portal out, or to capture a part of the place and remove it.<ref name=":3">“The Alcazar is a complex tool for any of the practices that use tools [...] It is, at the same time, a crude tool for the beginner who wishes to perform changes with the same care one might employ when swinging a hatchet, and a tool of nuance for the expert who seeks to work with more than mere stone and wood, but with the whispers the wood catches and the heart-impressions laid beneath stone.[ - Excerpt from an unamed book about Alcazars]
[...]
“Good. Okay. Book should have covered something like how, when you’re inside, you need to be very careful what you say or do. Even small actions and sentences will leave their impressions. If this a gift is for Lucy, then be nice and be Lucy-positive.”

Verona nodded. “Cool, alright, book did say something like that, but not in that context.”

“The more of a change you’re doing, the more it’s going to fight you. You’re inside a house and you’ll be rearranging where the rooms are, the walls, some are going to be load-bearing.”

“What do we do about that?” Lucy asked.

“Standard rules. A lot of that is going to be metaphor for spirits transforming, or flooding in, or washing out. Picture being in a spaceship and someone puts a hole in the hull, or you’re in a submarine, same scenario. Standard measures for dealing with spirits work. Barriers, diagrams. Reinforce before you undertake anything big.”

“Circles and lines?”

“Yes. What does the book say about means of escape if things go poorly?”

“There are instructions on a circle we can put inside a paper. It makes a door.”

“Have multiple.”

“There are also some papers for containing and moving certain objects or aspects of objects.”

“Bring more than you need. I never did that ritual, but I know my father did, and he explained it. I was young and too stupid to listen as closely as I could have, but I remember it was tough for him. He had to face his demons, looking inward, and he had a lot. Even in the easiest, most mundane case, I think the regret of not having enough is far, far more than any regret of spending the time to prepare more papers.” - Excerpt from Cutting Class 6.6</ref> These diagrams are fairly simple and can be drawn on a piece of paper.<ref>Verona had sketched out the very simple diagrams while Lucy had gone to find Zed. She handed them out. Three ‘net’ sheets, and one ‘escape’ sheet. All sheets were on pieces of paper that had been folded into quarters. - Excerpt from Cutting Class 6.6</ref> Inside the Alcazar, the diagram for removing items becomes a hole in whatever it was drawn on. It functions best when the Alcazar isn't struggling to represent a scene from multiple angles.<ref>She unfolded it, and it had a hole in the center where the diagram had been, the paper’s edges frayed. She held the paper up, walking around, and elbowed Lucy to get her to follow.

It worked best when they were all together. Snowdrop joined her.

Verona centered the hole on the light from above the rink, then carefully folded the paper. Containing the light within.

The rink was noticeably darker, without those lights.
[...]
Taking little elements out of the scene in the picture, storing them in paper folds. Avery jogged back around toward the ice.
[...]
Lucy held up her paper. She centered the image of Edith, the kids, and the bloody rink in the circle. Verona and Avery moved to help it focus, because otherwise it wouldn’t center right.

“Snapshots of this scene for evidence?” Verona asked. - Excerpt from Cutting Class 6.6</ref> The diagram for portalling out is "a reversal of the expansion sign". It forms a doorway, and the diagram will expands around anyone passing through and shrink down again.<ref>She partially unfolded the escape paper. A reversal of the expansion sign. She waited until Avery had dealt with the gathering negative forces, then finished unfolding to make the door.

The door widened until it passed over them, then shrunk again. It fluttered to the floor once more. - Excerpt from Cutting Class 6.6</ref>

One way to make the ritual safer is to divide the user's exporation of the object into sections, avoiding reaching 12 of them. For example, they might explore for eleven minutes, eleven hours, pass eleven landmarks, hear a bell toll eleven times, etc.<ref>“We’re intentionally avoiding twelve as a number,” Zed said, glancing at Verona, then Lucy, then Avery, before addressing them as a group. “At eleven minutes, I’ll signal you. If you really need an extra moment, extra question, we can stretch it out to eleven thirty. But outside of that, we’re going full-on emergency mode. That’s Jessica coming in, us pulling on connections, me shutting this down.”
[...]
“With these things, it helps to punctuate them,” Jessica said. “It doesn’t have to be time, if it’s very fluid in there. It could be marking out eleven landmarks. You don’t want to get to the twelfth. Or eleven tolls of the town clock.” - excerpt from Summer Break 13.1</ref> Another variation is to do the ritual naked.<ref>“Some people will do this naked, but I’m not going to suggest that,” Zed said. - excerpt from Summer Break 13.1</ref> The practitioner entering the Alcazar may be placed in a smaller, connected circle, purified with water.<ref>She watched as he used a tool to draw a circle around her where she sat. He drew a two-foot wide path between her and the diagram.

“I’m going to pour clear water over you, to cleanse you and this entry-space. It’ll be cold but put up with it.” - excerpt from Summer Break 13.1</ref>

Usage

They are one of the subjects taught at Blue Heron Institute.<ref name=":0">–Immaterial Realms – Visting Ruins, Storm, creating an Alcazar for diagnosis.
[...]
Stickemupp[Avery]:
realms are interesting to me
what’s an Alcazar?

A Literal Cat[Verona]:
a wooble search says it’s a kind of castle.

L♪Ell[Lucy]:
The big question is if its useful for what we’re doing. - BHI Information Packet & text group</ref> The BHI has several materials to make preparation easier.<ref>Cutting Class 6.6</ref>

Can be dangerous if the object in question has a dark past,<ref name=":2" /> whilst inside the practitioner must be careful about what they change and say as the object can resist you.<ref name=":3" />

An alcazar can be used as Demesne, which can greatly expand the capabilities of the ritual.<ref name=":1">Sebastián is a Complex practitioner who finds, creates or encourages the creation of Incarnate Spirits that are enriched by being set on the world, then collected and stored in cards. For him, the Contrivance is the deck of custom-made cards, each card a binding for the specific Other, and the deck as a whole a battery for power he can gather, with the cards taking on color and additional detail as they divide up the power between them. He finds he spends enough time in the Alcazar constructed of his deck that he decides to formalize the arrangement, creating a Demesne where the Alcazar is forever erected.
[...]
The Complex practitioner Sebastián finds that the Demesne space is a refuge. The contrived situations, the deck of volatile Others, and the number of outside parties who want the cards for themselves are a constant onslaught, and the Demesne is a contrast to that; a place of rest and a vault few can penetrate. Because it is an Alcazar, he can spend this leisure time examining the deck for imperfections, taint, and influences, something he cannot do in the hectic day to day elsewhere, and he can remove any taint or alter any cards while within. Rules are adjusted to put the specific requirements of each card on hold while Sebastián and the deck are within. Later he expands this effect to ease the strict requirements for a time after leaving. - Demesnes Text</ref>

They can be used by the practitioner on themselves,<ref>“Alcazar.  Familiar with that?”
[...]
Matthew answered, “I am, but that’s only where you’d be turning yourself into one.  And that’s in a book my dad had me read more than half my lifetime ago.  I’d think guidelines are similar.” - Excerpt from Cutting Class 6.6</ref><ref name=":3"/> specific specializations of Hollow practices such as a Host, Heartless<ref>There are no realms directly associated with the Hollow Practices, but Alcazar practices can be used as a diagnostic tool, opening up one’s own Self and turning into a place that may be explored. When something goes wrong or needs repair, or if a Heartless practitioner creates a void that something else tries to occupy, the Alcazar can be a means of handling that. - PACT DICE</ref> or even Hyde will likely use this ritual or something broadly similar in the course of their careers.<ref>Hydes do not have a realm that they specifically tap into, exactly, but the Self is where their focus turns, and in the throes of a struggle with their Hyde, they may find the stage set not in reality, but in an Alcazar of their own Self, which may be the only place they can have a prolonged engagement with their alter ego.  Such Alcazars could also be sought out by the practitioner themselves as a means of diagnosing or handling longer-term issues. - Hyde document</ref>

A Receiver has a specialized section of The Paths that in many ways apes an Alcazar.<ref>One of the early offshoot practices from the ‘Dreamer’ practices, the Receiver initiates their practice not by putting down items to key into a Path, but by connecting to the Paths by other means and putting down core items to key into themselves. The ritual flings them out onto a structured arrangement of the Paths: first one very personal to them, then a central area, informed in part by their success and choices on the first Path. From this central area, they can explore outward to twelve (sometimes seven) different Paths, with success in one area providing an opening to another. This may be something like a personal Alcazar, replacing the usual symbolic representations with Paths that cover major dilemmas and aspects of character.
[...]

[Aisling] manages to narrowly escape, entering a hotel that the [[the finder doppleganger won’t enter.

The receptionist there told her she could call home if she liked, but she suspected nobody would answer. Still intent on exploring, she wandered the hotel, and found it consisted of a lobby and an elevator with twelve floors, each marked with a symbol. Most of the buttons aren’t lit.

Aisling has found her reception area. Assuming Aisling is a player in a Pactdice game, the GM may not wish to have to make twelve paths all at once, so he sketches out three and leaves the rest unlit. These are easier, introductory ones.

- Receiver</ref>

Alcazar Castellum

An advanced version of the practice involving the alignment of the elements, echos and other fragments within an item (or items) into a more fortuitus alignment to bring out the best aspects of it.<ref>By way of the Alcazar ritual, an item can be turned into a place. Within the ritual, the item may have aspects represented by figures or personalities- echoes housed by the item, representing history and sentiment. These same aspects are what is pulled out with a hatching ritual.

And, for the enterprising practitioner, in what is sometimes called the Alcazar Castellum, aspects within an item already internally divided, or the aspects of multiple disparate items may be found and bound together by some fashion. This is a ritualized practice that involves creating a scenario where the disparate forces can be forced into alignment; succeed, and the items (or aspects of an item in conflict) can be united together. Fail, and they may be sundered. - Wildbow on Reddit</ref>

Notable users

• Verona, Lucy and Avery used an Alcazar ritual multiple times, both when creating Lucy's Implement and on the Carmine Beast's furs.
• Griffin Lyttle uses it to aid in spirit surgery.<ref>“Third, Alcazar.  Purely diagnostic, we turn the patient into a place that can be explored, to have direct eyes on specific areas and functions, with constant communication.”- Excerpt from Let Slip 20.f</ref>
• Alcazar Physicists specialize in such things.
• Placement Test, arguably meant to be a Living Ritual variant.

Trivia

• Alcázar is indeed Spanish for castle,<ref name=":0"/> it derives from the term "al quasar" in Arabic (as can occur with Spanish words) which usually describes the more palatial kind of castle.<ref>Some fun reading material</ref> Conversely the Arabic word comes from a Latin word for types of military encampments.

References

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