Ritual of Rejuvenation
This article is for the ritual itself. For the quest, see Ritual of the Mahjarrat.
Every five hundred years, the remaining Mahjarrat on Gielinor gather in The North to take part in a mysterious ceremony in which one of their number is sacrificed to give power to the rest. This ceremony and the events leading up to it are known collectively as the Ritual.
The Ritual
Very little is actually known about the Ritual. What is known comes from a few casual mentions made by several Mahjarrat regarding the subject. The Zamorakian Mahjarrat known as General Khazard has confirmed that the Ritual takes place in an icy region in the far North when certain celestial bodies align in a particular way (known as syzygy), which Azzanadra has attested occurs once about every five hundred years.
Before the Ritual
Before the Ritual itself begins, there is a series of secret alliances and clandestine deals made between various Mahjarrat in an effort to stack the odds unfairly in their favour, going to any length to avoid being sacrificed. A testament to the Mahjarrat’s treacherous, deceitful, and back-stabbing nature, these “Ritual politics” seem to be as important as the events of the Ritual itself, or indeed sometimes more so: no fighting will occur at all if the Mahjarrat can come to a unanimous agreement as to which Mahjarrat to sacrifice. Most Mahjarrat are usually quite content to condemn another if it means their own survival.
The Sacrifice
As the syzygy approaches, the Mahjarrat fight to determine a loser. Azzanadra has indicated that a portion of this fighting may take place at the ruined Zarosian fortress known as Ghorrock, not far from the Ritual site. Only one witness account of this stage exists, made by an unwary Fremennik explorer who happened to stumble upon the Ritual site at the time of syzygy. With no idea of what it was he was observing, his description refers to the skies "dripping with venom and fire" and the earth "twisting into grotesque forms with mouths that chewed at the roots of trees that bled."
Once a loser is decided, they are taken to the centre of the Ritual site, the location of an allegedly powerful stone, and sacrificed. Though the exact details remain unspecified, it is understood that the victim of the sacrifice is killed, releasing a vast amount of power which is absorbed by the other Mahjarrat. This is the secret to the Mahjarrat’s incredibly long lives and immense power. Once rejuvenated, the newly absorbed power slowly diminishes over the five hundred year period until the next Ritual, when the Mahjarrat can restore it once again.
However, not all Mahjarrat gain the same amount of power from the sacrifice. It appears that the closer a Mahjarrat is to the centre of the Ritual site, the more power they absorb. This suggests that the battle preceding the Ritual serves not only to determine the sacrifice, but also to determine how much power each Mahjarrat will receive. The most powerful Mahjarrat manipulate the outcome of the battle beforehand in the “Ritual politics” stage, and in this way the same Mahjarrat gather the most power from the Ritual every time it comes around, much to the weaker Mahjarrat’s resentment.
This historical event carries with it a logical conundrum; what will happen once all but one Mahjarrat have been sacrificed. However, due to statements by Enakhra and Zemouregal, Mahjarrat appear to reproduce sexually. Therefore, it is theoretically possible that the Mahjarrat race could exist indefinitely. Of course, it is more than certain that this will not happen within the playing characters' life times.
Past Rituals
Consequently, some Mahjarrat have endeavoured to find a way around this unfair distribution of power. In the Tale of the Muspah quest, the player aids the Mahjarrat Jhallan in finding a resting place in the tunnels beneath the Ritual site in preparation for Gielinor’s 18th Ritual. Expressing bitter sentiments towards the stronger, corrupt Mahjarrat such as Zemouregal who manipulate the results of the Ritual, he freezes himself in a block of ice in the hopes that he will be able to receive as much power as they will without having to take part in the battle. Unfortunately for Jhallan, his efforts were sadly wasted, and he was sacrificed during the 18th Ritual.
A Mahjarrat known as Lamistard attempted something similar for the 16th Ritual, but instead dug his own series of tunnels below the Ritual site. Unfortunately, he accidentally tunneled into the basement of Zemouregal’s nearby stronghold. When Zemouregal discovered this, he captured him and held him prisoner until the time of the Ritual, when the rest of the Mahjarrat agreed to use him as the sacrifice.
There have currently been 18 Rituals in the history of Gielinor. The following is a list of Gielinor's rituals, including when they took place and who was sacrificed, based on an estimated timeline of Gielinor's history. Mathematically, if the Ritual takes place every 500 years exactly, the first would have taken place in the First Age, despite the fact that the Mahjarrat arrived in Gielinor in the Second Age. This suggests either that the Ritual takes place at an interval slightly below, but not exactly, 500 years, or that the actual lengths of the Second, Third, and Fourth Ages are not as rounded as in most records.
| Ritual Number | Year | Age | Personnel Sacrificed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18th | 169 | 5th Age | Jhallan |
| 17th | 1669 | 4th Age | Ralvash |
| 16th | 1169 | 4th Age | Lamistard |
| 15th | 669 | 4th Age | Mizzarch |
| 14th | 169 | 4th Age | Unknown |
| 13th | 3669 | 3rd Age | Unknown |
| 12th | 3169 | 3rd Age | Unknown |
| 11th | 2669 | 3rd Age | Unknown |
| 10th | 2169 | 3rd Age | Unknown |
| 9th | 1669 | 3rd Age | Unknown |
| 8th | 1169 | 3rd Age | Unknown |
| 7th | 669 | 3rd Age | Unknown |
| 6th | 169 | 3rd Age | Unknown |
| 5th | 1669 | 2nd Age | Unknown |
| 4th | 1169 | 2nd Age | Unknown |
| 3rd | 669 | 2nd Age | Unknown |
| 2nd | 169 | 2nd Age | Unknown |
| 1st | 3669 | 1st Age | Unknown |
Ritual Marker
The Ritual Marker is the massive stone carving the marks the official location for where the Ritual will take place. It is here that the loser is sacrificed. According to Lucien in the Fremennik Saga Nadir, the stone is bound to the ritual site. However, it is revealed at the end of the saga that the stone was moved to the bottom of Daemonheim with Bilrach. How it appeared here and then back at the ritual site during the 18th Ritual is unknown.