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Book of Rites
May 26, 2026 at 02:01 PM
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The Book of Rites is the crown jewel of House Harborwell and one of the most important artifacts in Embers of the Uncrowned. It is described as the heart of the family, a tome that bestows immense power and knowledge upon its reader. Leopold Harborwell was its wielder; Bella stole it after killing him at the succession ceremony, and it now rests in elven hands.
The Book of Rites bestows immense power and knowledge on whoever reads it. Within House Harborwell, the line of bloodline mages has historically used the Book to amplify their own magic, but Leopold represented a rare type of mage even by Harborwell standards: he could forcibly imbue others with power through the Book of Rites.
This ability is the specific reason the royal family held House Harborwell in such high regard. A lord who could grant magic to his retainers was a lord who could raise an army with the very gift others were born to.
Bella walked into the heart of Goldenhaven during the succession ceremony. Within seconds of her arrival, Leopold's head fell and tidal waves conjured by elven magic devoured the Goldenhaven fortress. With the coveted Book of Rites in hand, Bella vanished into thin air.
The elves regard the Book as a prize and almost certainly as a tool. The full implications of an elven force in possession of Harborwell's bloodline relic are not yet detailed in dev materials, but it is positioned as one of the campaign's standing threats.
The Book of Rites is the connective tissue between House Harborwell's bloodline magic, the player's heritage, and the political weight of the pro-monarchy faction. Recovering it is implicitly tied to the player's long-term campaign: Bloodline Awakening awakens the protagonist's inherited power, and the Book is the family's documented source of that magic.
Leopold Harborwell - the last Harborwell to wield the Book
Bella - the elf who took it
