The Rite of Burning Ash

This ritual was devised by Vael’Zar, the Bound Flame, after studying fragments of the Ascendant Glyphs. Where mortals bind themselves to one another to cheat fate, Vael’Zar sought to bind nothing but fire and death to himself. He succeeded — but only by hollowing out the lives of others and consuming his own vitality like kindling.

Casting Requirements

• Solitary Ritual: Only one creature may conduct this rite.
  
  
• Life Sacrifice: The caster must kill at least three humanoids within the circle of ash during the casting. Their lives are burned into fuel.
  
  
• Vital Sacrifice: The caster immediately loses two-thirds of their current hit points and cannot be healed by any means until they complete a long rest.
  
  
• Aging: The caster rolls 3d6. The result is the percentage of their racial lifespan aged instantly (often decades). If this would exceed their natural maximum lifespan, they must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or die instantly, their body reduced to cinders.
  
  

Effect

• The caster immediately gains one character level, as though advancing normally.
  
  
• Unlike the true Rite, the Burning Ash sears the ascendant’s soul:
  
  
• They radiate a faint aura of smoke and heat, impossible to conceal.
• Their skin blackens with ash-veins that never heal.
  
  

Risks & Consequences

• Failed Sacrifice: If fewer than three humanoids die during the casting, the rite still takes the cost but provides no level gain. The caster suffers 5d10 fire damage and 5d10 necrotic damage as their own body is consumed.
  
  
• Spiritual Burn: Each time this ritual is performed, the caster’s soul grows more unstable. Upon death, their spirit does not travel to its afterlife — instead, it combusts into a Blazing Wraith (undead/elemental hybrid).
  
  
• Cosmic Judgment: Celestials sense this ritual’s use instantly within 10 miles; each casting risks drawing an agent of the heavens to intervene.
  
  

Fate’s Bifurcation

When a creature first completes either the Rite of Ascendant Glyphs or the Rite of Burning Ash, their soul is irrevocably aligned to that path. Attempting to conduct the other version afterwards is impossible — the cosmos itself rejects the theft.

Effects of Attempting Both

1. The Ritual Fails Instantly.
   No level is gained, and the glyph or ash-circle is destroyed.
   
   
2. Cosmic Backlash.
   
   
• All involved take 6d10 radiant + 6d10 necrotic damage.
  
• The ritual site is scarred permanently (burned glass, salt-crusted earth, blackened stone). No other rituals of either type can ever be performed there.
  
  
3. The Brand of Betrayal.
   The caster’s body is marked by jagged fractures of light and shadow:
   
   
• Permanently lose 1d4 maximum hit points.
  
• Disadvantage on all saving throws against divine or fiendish magic.
  
• Glyph-scars (if from Ascendant Glyphs) or ash-veins (if from Burning Ash) crackle painfully in the presence of outsiders who know the opposite rite.
  
  
4. Spiritual Rejection.
   The soul becomes unstable:
   
   
• Resurrection magic automatically fails on the caster unless a Wish is used.
  
  

Upon death, the soul splinters — half dissolves into radiant mist, half into ash. Neither gods nor fiends can fully claim it.