Secret Keeper Oath

"Ali, I think Nach is -" Raga started but as soon as he saw Nach place a figure for his mouth, and quieted him.
With a gesture, Raga's voice failed and he could not speak.

The Secret Keeper Oath is a ritual that is performed on a person willingly or forcefully and is complicated. The people who use this ritual are often adept at magic as it is hard to use.

Effect

Once the ritual is complete the Secret Keeper will not be able to communicate the secrets of the person that cast the ritual on them in any way. They cannot speak, write, mine, draw or do an interpretive dance about the secret. There are some ways to circumvent this such as talking to other Secret Keepers or finding ways to talk about it coded like Sürl Drün Söchdt Inntser's Crisis Script.

Side/Secondary Effects

The side effects of the ritual are that if a Secret Keeper does write or draw or communicate the secret in paper media the secrets will appear encoded and censored. If they try to speak the secret when not in the presence of the person that made the Secret Keeper they will not be able to. The Secret Keeper will just fall silent as their voice just cuts out and their mouth closes. If the Secret Keeper records a video or audio or crystal the recording will be encrypted, encoded, or outright corrupt. This is all done by the magic from the ritual and is fueled by the Secret Keeper's magic.

Manifestation

On the surface, the ritual looks basic with two drawn circles one large one where the Secret Keeper participant will be during the ritual, and sometimes there will be another circle inside the large one but that is usually optional. A line connecting the large circle or the inner circle will be drawn a foot or so and connected to a secondary circle for the Ritual Master to stand. Those are the basics and sometimes are all that is needed to do the ritual.
If the Ritual Master is feeling spicy or is wanting to use the ritual on someone who may not want to keep their secrets they will need a way to keep the Secret Keeper inside their circle. The Ritual Master will usually tie the Secret Keeper up and toss them into the circle or tie them to a chair. If the Ritual Master knows Necromancy they will use the Secret Keeper's magic to fuel the ritual and use their magic as a reserve.
When the ritual is being done the circles will start to glow a golden color and the Secret Keeper will feel as though there is a weight on them which is the secret or secrets that they are about to be bound to not speak of. Secret Keepers will also hear the secrets being whispered to them and various other conditions about the Ritual Master and sometimes their organization. This can be maddening because, in addition to the whispering, there is the Ritual Master's chanting. The Ritual Master can also add incense to the ritual to engage more senses that will help over power the Secret Keeper and this is also the reason why they may be tied up.

Source

The ritual is done with the magic that comes from the caster and the magic of the ritual is sustained by the magic of the Secret Keeper which by definition makes the ritual a Necromantic Binding Ritual. A Necromancer using this ritual may just use the Secret Keeper's magic to do the ritual and the Necromancer will use their magic as a reserve when the Secret Keeper's magic is almost used up. A Necromancer may just do this to prolong the ritual and to torture the Secret Keeper while they are being bound. This is also why most Necromancers will always tie up their Secret Keepers and might even find a way to use their dagger.

Discovery

Schaudteif invented this ritual so that the patient confidently is upheld. He later figured out the rest of the ritual to make it so that people can't talk about the awful things that he has done and Juhlkschmö.

Public Opinion

In Bridt Sche the Black Wing Flight don't have any rules that govern this ritual as it is a cornerstone of their culture. The Black Dragons believe that people have several different types of relationships with people. This ritual comes into play with private relationships because the Black Dragons believe that those relationships must stay private even if it is a bad or toxic relationship. That alone makes it super hard to get out of those relationships. Although not every Dragon uses this ritual to keep their private relationships a secret instead they use trust which works great with healthy relationships. However, there are still a few dragons that use the ritual.
For the mortals that know about this ritual, it is a reason why they don't trust Dragons because they know that people can be forced to become Secret Keepers. Mortals that live in Bridt Sche also have an idea of the Black Dragons' social beliefs and know that Dragons are more likely to use this ritual. Therefore some Mortals believe that being a part of a Dragon's inner circle will doom any mortal to the fate of having this ritual used on them regardless of how realistic that fear is. This ritual has created some tension between the Dragons and the Mortals.

Related Deity/Higher Power

Schaudteif

Related Organizations

• Juhlkschmö

Material Components

The person that is casting the ritual needs to have the ability to use magic. They will also need chalk or some other form of drawing tool and the ability to draw a circle. A volunteer or a victim is also needed to become the Secret Keeper and if a victim a way to make sure that they can't just run away.

Gestures & Ritual

The Ritual Master must draw a large circle around the person who will soon be a Secret Keeper there must also be a line that connects to a smaller circle where the Ritual Master casting the ritual will be standing. The Ritual Master will then channel magic into the circle and start chanting.

"Gunnhe schlulls fauhackei Wacha Orurdt."

- Draconic

Which translates to, "Oblige/Compel stay silent Secret Keeper."
They don't have to use the Draconic language but most people believe that this is the one used with complex spells because of the Dragons' strong connection with magic. The ritual uses chanting to force the Secret Keeper by overwhelming them.
The chant is repeated until the Secret Keeper says willingly or compelled, "I will stay silent and be your Secret Keeper."
The Secret Keeper can respond quickly if they were on board however if the Secret Keeper is not willing this can take some time and will require endurance on the part of the Ritual Master to keep up the chanting.
When the ritual is done the magic in the circle will dissipate and the Secret Keeper will not be able to tell any of the secrets of the caster that used the ritual.

Related Discipline

Dark

Related School

Alteration & Conjuration

Related Element

Darkness

Effect Duration

Permanent

Effect Casting Time

It can take a minute up to several hours.

Range

Close

Level

Advance

Applied Restriction

"The best protection from being a Secret Keeper is to not be in a dragon's inner circle."

- Mortal Saying

In Bridt Sche, there are no laws that restrict this spell and so there is little to no protection for mortals especially under Knochdtün Gussdt Ügng. The ritual itself requires a dark environment to cast since it is a Dark Aligned spell. There is no way to tell if someone is a Secret Keeper on the surface unless someone brings up something that falls under the secret.