Ritual Book

All that glisters is not gold, often have you heard that told...

This article is about The Dark Pictures Anthology's first installment, Man of Medan .

Ritual Book
Found by	Fliss
Location	Ballroom
Chapter	Ritual
Installment	Man of Medan

Ritual Book is a non-collectible item in Man of Medan. It can be found by Fliss in the ballroom. This item appears in Ritual.

Overview

A red book that Fliss hallucinates in place of the Cargo Ship Manual. It describes an occult ritual detailing the sacrifice of a "lady borne of the seas." Its pages are stained with bloody smudges and handprints, and it includes drawings of various sigils and cult-related symbols.

Transcript

(page 1 and 2)

Cabal should silently assemble, and contain no more or fewer than five true individuals of sound Mind and Spirit. It should number three female and two male, first-born, faces obscured with hood.

Know it is important to the Sorcerer and the spiritual wellbeing of his Flock that before the Faestival of Akrammahamari can begin, the ritual of Threskeia is performed to went- away Demons and unwholesome Spirits by means of Cabal.

The Pentangle shall be drawn out, and each Member shall stand at each of the five Primary Points. A lady borne of the seas shall be rendered unconscious and placed at the centre of the Pentangle. It is from there that the Assembled should recite the Incantation of Soras, sword in hand, with all exaltation possible, as is written: We five stand at the furthermost point; we are yet close enough to touch:

The five-starred symbol is with great power. Turning 90 degrees to your right, use the sword to describe the Unicursal Amulet of Be-wah-or and shout

The pentangle is faith.

Turn to face south, thrust the sword forward and using a low, steady voice say

The pentangle is reverance.

Turn a further 90 degrees to your right, use the sword to describe the Ocuvernal Sigil, the sacred symbol that constitutes the Final Seal before the Act can be Finalised. With reverance, recite

The pentangle is church.

(page 3 and 4)

Finally, turn to face North, thrust the sword forward and with exaltation exclaim

The pentangle is sacrifice.

Page 34 Each Member takes a step inwards, and then is still in the stance of ... (unreadable) ... -ram.

Recite in Unison: We are one, and Soras is our Lord. O Soras, with this Sacrifice we ask You to cleanse our aura, to rid us of the Demons that plague us. We still the life of Man in Your honour, that we may prove ourselves worthy of Your trust. Only when the incantation is complete should the five converge upon the Sacrifice and, swords drawn, each Member should in turn use it to rid the unfortunate Body of its Unclean Blood.

The Body should be transferred to a casket of thick wood, with head accessible by your Flock at any time as a reminder of the evil that can infect the unwary, and the unanswering power of Soras to keep us all safe. And so to the ritual of Threskeia will be complete, and no longer should your Flock be troubled by unwelcome spirits. The Faestival may begin. So mote it be.

Location

It can be found on a dining table to the right of the ballroom.

Trivia

• This item explains the appearance of The Grim Reaper as Fliss' hallucination, as well as the Manchurian Gold being changed to a blood-filled casket and the possible appearance of two skulls inside a pentagram.
• The cult that wrote this book is fictional and imagined by Fliss. Soras is not a real deity, though the sigils and rituals described have some real-world context. "Akrammahamari" is similar a similar word to certain magical incantations found in ancient cultures, while "Threskeia" can mean "worship" or "religion" in other languages.
• 'Reverence' is misspelled as 'reverance' twice.
• The design on the front cover resembles an antique drawing compass and is possibly a reference to the anthology's fourth installment, The Devil in Me.
  • The design could also be a minimalist version of the goat's skull drawn on the third page.
  • Additionally, the book has a sentence: "It should number three female and two male, first-born, faces obscured with hood". The underlined words are a reference to the main cast of The Devil in Me.