Introduction

 

Learning the Ritual

 
You can start the game knowing how to perform this ritual if, when the First Clan split, your ancestors were the wealthiest. 
 
Otherwise, you naturally learn it by sacrificing to Ekarna. 
 

Rewards

 
Because of Ekarna’s nature as a trade goddess, all the material rewards she offers are in the form of extremely generous trade deals. As such, these rewards will only appear if you have the goods/cows/treasure to offer for them.

• In exchange for 25 cows worth of goods, gain 75 cows. 
   
• In exchange for 24 cows, gain 19 horses. 
   
• In exchange for 25 cows, gain 75 cows worth of goods. 
   
• Exchange one treasure for another. 
  Lose a treasure of your choice, and gain your choice of a small selection of random treasures. Not really recommended. 
   
• Aid in negotiating when Rams are involved. 
  Requires success at the second stage of the ritual (bargaining with Arandanth). Lasts seven years. 
   
• Aid in negotiating when Wheels are involved. 
  Requires success at the final stage of the ritual (Samnal). Lasts seven years. 
   
• Aid in negotiating when peoples of the fringes are involved. 
  Requires success at the first stage of the ritual (the Goose People). Permanent (lasts until the end of the game). 
  Helps negotiating in scenes tagged “outlanders”. I’m not entirely sure which peoples count, to be honest. But you’re likely to run into outlanders if you explore a lot… 
   
• Strengthening of the quester’s abilities. 
  Increases Bargaining and Diplomacy by one level each; if either skill is Heroic level already, Ekarna will increase the clan’s magic the next several times you choose the quester to lead a mission. (Such as a trade caravan!) 
  Definitely my favorite reward. It’s a good way to strengthen a trader or diplomat (aside from the obvious wealth/diplomatic benefits, someone heroic in either skill can get you out of most defensive raids). It can also be worthwhile to strengthen Beren with this ritual; though he’ll never be much of a trader, diplomacy is one of his best skills.

 
 
 

Preparation

 

Sacred Time

 
 
As always, if you put two or more points of magic in particular areas during Sacred Time, that will help certain options in the ritual. 
 
Ekarna’s ritual involves relatively few relevant magic types. 
 
Diplomacy magic (slots granted by Ekarna herself or Hyalor on the circle and by choosing Narva in clan creation) helps in three stages, as does Ritual magic (shaman, Relandar, seven different religions on the circle), and War (Elmal, Osara) is useful in two. (It’s worth noting that the third stage, with the ghosts, is helped only by Ritual magic.) 
 

Asking Riders to Help

 
As usual, if the Cenala schism is active those Rider clans who agree with you on the matter will help the rite almost as a matter of course. (You can lose this support if you make a habit of refusing to help others’ rites in events, though.) 
 
If Cenala isn’t an issue, other clans will agree based on how seriously they think you take Ekarna’s worship. It helps, of course, to have an Ekarna worshipper on the circle! But your clan’s wealth also matters. Because Ekarna is the goddess of trade, surplus goods, cows, and horsesmake your clan look like you enjoy your favor—something other clans will notice. 
 
And of course, a good diplomat on the circle counts for a lot, as does having good relations with Rider neighbors. And Sacred Time Diplomacy magic also helps. 
 

Whooping against Wheels

 
Since Wheel clans disdain the worship of Ekarna, you can’t ask them to help with the ritual. Instead, you can try to strengthen your magic by whooping against them. 
 
If you can, pick a Wheel clan that fears you; failing that, avoid any that mock you. War Magic will help, and the test is Intimidation (Combat + Diplomacy) vs. Confidence (the Turtle Spirit helps), testing your best-skilled circle member. 
 

Other Factors

 
Many choices are significantly easier if you have a worshipper of Ekarna on the circle. Having a female chieftain and having more women than men on the circle can also help, since Ekarna comes into conflict with the patriarchal Wheels. And having a temple to Ekarna can also help. 
 
Taking a treasure sacred to Ekarna can also boost your odds of success, though if the quester is lost in the Gods War that treasure may be lost. 
 
And clans whose Famous Event is the Brass Bazaar will have an advantage in the ritual. 
 
As usual, there’s a penalty if you try to perform the ritual less than seven years after your last success. (Check the interface–if the magic rune/R is framed, or if there’s no rune next to the ritual, you’re good to go.) While there are some rituals that you have to disregard this with sometimes, Ekarna’s really isn’t one of them. Wait it out. 
 
 

Choosing a Quester

 
 
All clan members who are not shamans are eligible to try this ritual, both men and women. The recommended skills are Bargaining and Diplomacy. Ekarna worshippers, of course, have an advantage. (Incidentally, Ekarna is the only member of your pantheon to have both male and female worshippers.) 
 
Bargaining alone can get a quester through three of the four stages of the ritual. Diplomacy can as well, though it helps if the quester also has reasonably high Combat, Magic, or Leadership. And high Magic also provides a path through the ritual, particularly if backed up by Lore. 
 
Every choice in the third stage relies on the quester’s combined Magic and Lore. So it’s good if they’re competent in at least one of those skills, though not essential. 
 
 

Stage 1: The Goose People

 
 
The Goose People are “people of the fringes”, a little like the Weeders or Yeleni in your own place and time. They don’t have warriors to match yours and can easily be too frightened to trade. 
 
Success at any option unlocksEkarna’s aid in negotiating when peoples of the fringes are involved as a reward. 
 
How does your quester overcome their reluctance? 
 

Allaying their fears.

 

• Test: Diplomacy vs. Fear 
• Magic: Diplomacy 
• Personality: Merciful, Peaceful (bonuses?), Warlike, Harsh (penalties?) 
• Other Bonus: Ekarna on circle, Sakkar Spirit. 
• Other Penalty: Ekarna not on circle

 

Extolling the virtues of his/her fox-frightening bells.

 

• Test: Bargaining vs. Customer 
• Magic: Diplomacy 
• Personality: Pragmatic 
• Other Bonus: Ekarna on circle, Trade Wind’s Assess ability 
• Other Penalty: Ekarna not on circle

 

Describing the might of the seven sword nobles.

 

• Test: Intimidation (Combat + Diplomacy) vs. Confidence 
• Magic: War 
• Personality: Warlike, Harsh (bonus?), Peaceful, Waffler (penalty?) 
• Other Bonus: Won your last two raids; Turtle Spirit 
• Other Penalty: Lost your last two raids.

 

Showing the trade rune.

 

• Test: Magic vs. Skepticism 
• Magic: Ritual 
• Personality: GodSeeker (bonus) 
• Other Bonus: Ekarna on circle; Golden Honeycomb treasure; Snake Spirit 
• Other Penalty: Ekarna not on circle

 
 
 

Stage 2: Arandanth the Bold

 
 
Although Thengist the Ram was an implacable foe, the same isn’t true for all his people. In fact, Arandanth is Thengist’s enemy himself… 
 
(That big cat is an alynx, which the the Orlanthi have domesticated to do some of the work that domestic dogs do in the real world.) 
 
Failure or marginal success at this stage can lead to the quester being lost in the Gods War. (It’s one of the easier places to get lost—normally you have to outright fail.) 
 
Success ay any option grants Ekarna’s aid in negotiating when Rams are involved as a reward option. 
 

“Hating Thengist gives us much in common.”

 

• Test: CombatLore vs. Skepticism 
• Magic: War 
• Personality: Warlike, Teamwork (bonus?), Peaceful, Xenophobe, AntiRam (penalty?); might check AntiEnemy if Ram People are your ancestral foe 
• Other Bonus: Snake Spirit; Golden Honeycomb treasure; won your last two raids 
• Other Penalty: Lost your last two raids; Ram ancestral enemy?

 

“Rams worship a god of change, and trading with us would be a very big change.”

 

• Test: WedCultures (Diplomacy + Magic) vs. Skepticism 
• Magic: Diplomacy 
• Personality: Intuitive, Teamwork, Pragmatic, Xenophobe, AntiRam (AntiEnemy and ProEnemy might be checked if Rams are your ancestral foe) 
• Other Bonus: Snake Spirit, Golden Honeycomb treasure 
• Other Penalty: Ram ancestral enemy?

 

“Until you’ve been drunk on kumis, you haven’t been drunk.”

 

• Test: Bargaining vs. Customer 
• Magic: Diplomacy 
• Personality: Arbitrary, Daring, Insecure, Pragmatic, AntiRam; AntiEnemy and ProEnemy might be checked if Rams are your ancestral foe) 
• Other Bonus: Trade Wind’s Asses ability 
• Other Penalty: Ram ancestral enemy?

 

“You will not want to cross the archers who bested Thengist.”

 

• Test: Intimidation (Combat + Diplomacy) vs. Confidence 
• Magic: War 
• Personality: Arbitrary, Daring, Insecure, Pragmatic, AntiRam (AntiEnemy and perhaps ProEnemy might be tested if Rams are your ancestral foe) 
• Other Bonus: turtle Spirit; More Ram clans fear/respect you than mock you. 
• Other Penalty: Intimidated the Goose People.

 
 
 

Stage 3: The Ghosts of Elempur

 
 
The ghosts of Elempur have no use for material things, being ghosts. But that doesn’t mean you can’t trade with them… 
 
This is the only stage that does not have a particular reward associated with it. (There’s provision for it in the code, but the ghostReward doesn’t actually exist.) 
 
This stage is a bit odd in that half the choices are bad, no matter what—your skills are tested on the first three choices here, but that only determines how much odds of a reward decrease. For the sake of completeness I have included the details of these choices (what skills are tested, bonuses, etc),but even if you do it “perfectly” these choices will fail. 
 
The first two options will also age most questers by twenty years. (Bad in that they’re closer to death now, good in that you get to see a new portrait!) Sadly, the aging seems not to work on your heroes—I say this because I love Ayvtu’s old lady portrait and have never ever gotten it to show up in an actual game. This would be perfect if she wasn’t specifically excluded! (It does work on the Former Wheel, though, if you want to see what she looks like old.) 
 
Note: I haven’t checked how this plays out with Dara Happan ancestral enemies; that’s definitely checked. Probably either a blanket penalty, or a penalty for the AntiEnemy trait and a bonus for the ProEnemy one (“Until we make peace with the Dara Happans, I need to stay on the circle”). 
 

Brooches of protection.

 

• Test: Mythology (Lore + Magic) vs. Disorder 
• Magic: Ritual 
• Other Bonus: Spider Spirit? 
• Other Penalty: Dara Happan ancestral enemy? 
• Notes: Always fails. A non-hero quester (i.e. anyone but Beren, Ayvtu, or Yatakan) will be aged twenty years in an instant. As far as I can tell this happens before any actual tests.

 

Feathers.

 

• Test: Mythology (Lore + Magic) vs. Disorder 
• Magic: Ritual 
• Other Bonus: Spider Spirit 
• Other Penalty: Dara Happan ancestral enemy? 
• Notes: Always fails. A non-hero quester (i.e. anyone but Beren, Ayvtu, or Yatakan) will be aged twenty years in an instant.

 

Plaques of gold.

 

• Test: Mythology (Lore + Magic) vs. Disorder 
• Magic: Ritual 
• Personality: 
• Other Bonus: Spider Spirit 
• Other Penalty: Dara Happan ancestral enemy? 
• Notes: Always fails. However, it does not annoy the ghosts into aging the quester, as they consider the idea of trading sun god bones for storm god bones an understandable mistake.

 

The story of Cenala.

 

• Test: Mythology (Lore + Magic) vs. Spirits 
• Magic: Ritual 
• Personality: Intuitive 
• Other Bonus: Quester worships Hyalor 
• Other Penalty: Dara Happan ancestral enemy? 
• Notes: Obviously, you must believe in Cenala’s divine heritage to tell her story to ghosts. If you failed to defeat Thengist, probably the best choice.

 

The story of how Riders left the Golden City.

 

• Test: Mythology (Lore + Magic) vs. Spirits 
• Magic: Ritual 
• Personality: SongQuoter (bonus), Inarticulate (presumably penalty) 
• Other Penalty: Dara Happan ancestral enemy? 
• Notes: A fallback choice if you failed to defeat Thengist and don’t believe in Cenala.

 

The story of how the clan bested Thengist.

 

• Test: Mythology (Lore + Magic) vs. Spirits 
• Magic: Ritual 
• Personality: Intuitive, Warlike 
• Other Bonus: You actually did best Thengist (and are telling the truth). 
• Other Penalty: You failed to best Thengist (and are thus lying) 
• Notes: This choice is probably the best and easiest if you did indeed best Thengist. If not… I don’t technically know if it’s impossible to pull off with a lie, but I’ve never managed it.

 
 
 

Stage 4: Samnal the Wheel

 
 
Samnal, despite being a member of the tribe/family, is also a jerk—and he’s supposed to be. Success here involves provoking Samnal to refuse to trade and to send his incompetent son Rogoros out to fail at replicating Ekarna’s success. Actually convincing him to trade is a failure. 
 
Success in this stage unlocks Ekarna’s aid in negotiating when Wheels are involved as a potential reward. 
 

Deal with him sincerely.

 

• Test: Bargaining vs. Customer 
• Magic: Diplomacy 
• Personality: Matriarchal (bonus); Patriarchal (penalty) 
• Other Bonus: Ekarna on circle; more female than male circle members; chief is female; Trade Wind’s Assess ability 
• Other Penalty: Ekarna not on circle

 

Sing him a song of backhanded praise.

 

• Test: Singing (Diplomacy + Leadership?) vs. Openness 
• Magic: Diplomacy 
• Personality: SongQuoter (two points bonus) 
• Other Bonus: Raven on circle (two points bonus, not the usual one); the Dog Spirit can help with the Openness test.

 

Have Hyalor declare himself Samnal’s equal.

 

• Test: Mythology (Lore + Magic) vs. Openness 
• Magic: Ritual 
• Other Bonus: Temple to Hyalor; your chief worships Hyalor; you spread the Cenala revelation. The Dog Spirit can help with that Openness test.

 

Have Osara show off her archery.

 

• Test: Mythology (Lore + Magic) vs. Openness 
• Magic: Ritual 
• Personality: Matriarchal (bonus); Patriarchal (penalty) 
• Other Bonus: Ekarna on circle; more women than men on the circle; chieftain is a woman; Dog Spirit 
• Other Penalty: Ekarna not on circle

 
 

This is all about Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind – Guide to Ekarna Four Trader; I hope you enjoy reading the Guide! If you feel like we should add more information or we forget/mistake, please let us know via commenting below, and thanks! See you soon!