Council of Spirits

The casting shaman stakes out an area up to 100 feet across, marking the boundaries with the skulls of animals, sacred fires, and posts engraved with depictions of the spirits. At dusk, the shaman sacrifices fifty cattle (or their gp equivalent), and waits.

A single group of spirits can be called to this council—all the tribe's heroes for example, or all the ancestors; or the spirits who are the villains of the tribe's legends, or all the totem spirits. If the spirits have reason to distrust the shaman, they may refrain from attending, but usually all those called arrive within one turn after the spell is completed.

Thereafter, the council is convened, the most respected spirit taking the lead in organizing the discussion. The spirits ask the shaman why he or she called them, and debate the issues put before them: Only important matters affecting the tribe's well-being, ancient evils, and epic quests are considered worthy of a council, and the spirits may punish shamans who call them to resolve petty, routine, or personal problems.

Once the council has begun, the shaman (as a mere mortal) is relegated to the sidelines, and is wise to be quiet unless the spirits (as his betters) ask for an opinion or information. The whole discussion often has a dreamlike quality—voices echoing, mists swirling, space and time becoming confused—and when the duration expires, the whole council simply fades away, leaving the shaman alone.

The material components of the spell are the markers that identify the spell's area, which crumble when the spell expires. Although they are not valuable, it takes several days or more to assemble them, and the cooperation of other members of the tribe is usually required (groups of hunters stalking rare animals whose skulls are needed, for example). The only other requirements for the spell are that there are no mortals besides the shaman present, and that the area chosen be on the tribe's own territory.