Žemė (Earth)¶

Deity & zenith¶

Deity: Žemyna. Incantation: Žemė tau laikys (“Earth for you shall hold”), man for oneself. Medium: bare earth. Zenith: Dagotuvės, autumn-equinox dusk (~14–15 September): cost halved. Off zenith: the working is impossible at sea or in the air. Her price for desecration (Book I ch. 20) is a separate matter: an earth-debt, not a working.

Žemė (Earth)


Type	element
Incantation	Žemė tau laikys
Zenith	Dagotuvės
Note	Žemė (Earth): the element of unmovable will, enduring bone, and physical foundation.

Boon¶

Unmovable Will: stillness and endurance, a will that does not bend. Cast on another (tau) it holds him; cast on oneself (man) it “holds more firmly, but only me” (Book II ch. 19).

Minor / major cost¶

Minor: stiffness. Major: petrification for the length of the effect, and a permanent loss of grace. In Book II ch. 19 the last Samogitian žynys Kantaudas turns to river-stone from the hand upward, before the oak the axemen fell at Salynas: “let it take me; let them see what they are cutting”. In ch. 27 Vytautas, fleeing after Vorskla, says Žemė man laikys and goes rooted and heavy; his horse freezes and a patrol’s eyes slide off him.

Limits¶

Impossible at sea or in the air. The Iron Saint’s knights are immune to Earth’s terror. The earth also remembers the working as residue (Memory, magic §5.3).

Uses in the books¶

Book I ch. 3 (as one of the five lines); ch. 20 (Žemyna’s price for a burned village is a red blister under the pouch, and the pebble goes cold); Book III ch. 8 (Henė: blood spilled “where a debt is owed” at Dagotuvės is heard); Book II ch. 19, 27 above.

Relations

Countered by: Iron Saint’s fearlessness

Deity: Žemyna

Used by: Senovės Kalba

Žemė (Earth)

Žemė tau laikys · Unmovable Will, the Earth working

Element: Earth · deity Žemyna. Zenith Dagotuvės, autumn-equinox dusk (about 14-15 September)
Tier: Tier 2 (minor, one element) or 3 and up; the last Samogitian žynys Kantaudas cast it at Salynas (Book II ch. 19)
Casting: Žemė tau laikys aloud. Man for oneself holds more firmly, but only me
Components: Bare earth; true intent
Cost: Minor: stiffness. Major: petrification for the length of the effect, and a permanent loss of grace
Duration: A candle's length to a night
Limits: Impossible at sea or in the air. The earth remembers the working as residue
Counters: The Iron Saint's knights are immune to Earth's terror; consecrated stone doubles the cost; the sea and the air

Effect

Unmovable Will. Stillness and endurance, a will that does not bend. Cast on another it holds him.

Vorskla. Vytautas, fleeing, says Žemė man laikys: he goes rooted and heavy, his horse freezes and a patrol's eyes slide off him (Book II ch. 27).

At greater cost

Petrification. Kantaudas turns to river-stone from the hand upward before the oak the axemen fell at Salynas: let it take me, let them see what they are cutting (Book II ch. 19).

Breaking it

An earth-debt. Žemyna's price for desecration is separate from any working. After a village burns, a red blister and a cold pebble (Book I ch. 20).

Source: Magic rules §3.3, §4.1 · Cosmology §3.1 · Book I ch. 3, 20 · Book II ch. 19, 27

Connections¶

graph LR
  el_earth["Žemė (Earth)"]
  iron_gift["Iron Saint's fearlessness"]
  kalba["Senovės Kalba"]
  zemyna["Žemyna"]
  kalba -->|Uses element| el_earth
  zemyna -->|Element| el_earth
  iron_gift -->|Counters| el_earth
  style el_earth stroke-width:3px