Ritual of Purification

The Ritual of Purification was a safety ward developed by the Illefarn empire to destroy, or severely diminish its guardian, who would become the evil King of Shadows. "In ancient times the guardian was created to protect Illefarn. If the time has come to dismantle our great instrument, you will be an agent of its destruction."

- Ritual Statue

History
The Ritual of Purification was created by the dwarf priest Annaeus, who was credited as the creator of "the Guardian". The Ritual of Purification was granted by five different statues, four of which were situated in the ruined city of Arvahn, and the other was located in an Illefarn temple in the Mere of Dead Men. Each statue granted a powerful ritual blessing, which was designed to fight the shadow cast by the Guardian. Each ritual power was capable of causing great harm to the guardian, and able to undo the damage that it inflicted. Also, when the complete ritual was performed as close to the Guardian as possible, it was capable of undoing its basic design (as the Guardian of Illefarn), thus making him vulnerable to permanent destruction.

Annaeus led the priests, sorcerers, and wizards of Illefarn to perform the ritual to destroy the Guardian, however, this failed, as parts of the group were not "united in purpose". This was because some members, who were old friends of the man who became the Guardian, tried to reason with him. Despite what they believed, the Guardian was no longer the man whom they knew. With this division in the group, the Guardian was able to destroy his assailants. The ritual was then performed by the Knight-Captain of Crossroad Keep, and the warlock Ammon Jerro, against the Guardian, who was then soundly defeated and destroyed for all time.

Powers granted
There were five different powers which were used to make the guardian vulnerable to more mundane attacks. Each of the powers was stored inside a statue in the shape of an elf maiden. Each statue could only (bar one) be accessed by passing a specific test in accordance to the specifics of that power. Once that test was passed, the statue would grant the power. Their use outside battling the Guardian was generally more limited and could only be used once a day, though could still be used when there was a need to do so. Generally, the powers were more potent the stronger the individual that cast them.

The powers were known as aurora chain, cleansing nova, shining shield, soothing light, and web of purity. Aurora chain allowed the caster of the ritual, and their allies, to attack more often and cause more damage to evil opponents. Cleansing nova created an immobile cylinder of light that engulfed hostile outsiders and undead, causing them to take minor damage. Shining shield was defensive in nature. It allowed the caster to erect a multi-coloured shield of light, in which those affected would be granted full negative energy protection and some resistance to cold-based attacks. Soothing light allowed the caster to conjure prismatic light that would grant the their allies regeneration. They were also purged of negative energy effects. Web of purity granted the caster the ability to create a colorful, -wide web of light which trapped and held any outsider or undead that failed to resist.

Appearances

 * Video games
 * Neverwinter Nights 2