Binding Oath, the

One of the most powerful strictures in the Speech, the Binding Oath is the basis for almost all promissory statements and wizardly vows; even the Wizard's Oath is derived from it. It is phrased in the Enactive recension of the Speech, and the Binding Oath has so much power inherent in it that any being who swears it -- even the Lone Power itself -- is required to abide by the Oath's terms on pain of the withdrawal of all energy which has been invested in the being by the One.

The Oath begins, "I swear by the One to perform what I promise, fully and without any reservation, nor with any mechanism or execution founded in the intention to deceive; to fully inform the wizards to whom I swear this oath of all manner and matter of things pertaining to their querying and desire; to carry out this information at a speed and in a way best suited to these wizards' desires and the achievement of their ends; and at the end of said achievement, to depart without doing any harm to them or any thing or person affiliated to them in whatever degree, and when the conditions of this swearing are discharged and acknowledged to have been discharged, to go peaceably again into my own place. And all this, by the Power of that One in Which all oaths and all intentions rest, inviting It on my abbroachment of this Oath to withdraw the gifts It allows me to enjoy, I swear -- " There are several more optional phrases setting out any additional conditions and requirements, the fulfillment of which will signal the oath's completion and the release of the being doing the swearing.

A wizard will only be able to use the Binding Oath once in a lifetime. In WH, Nita judges that the right moment has come, and forces Esemeli to take the Binding Oath...with mixed results that serve only to emphasize how dangerous the Lone One is to deal with even when the wizard thinks he or she holds all the cards. Additionally, the Oath is as binding on the administering wizard as it is on the being who takes it. So powerful a stricture routinely demands a high price; the power of the binding (determined by the power of the being which is bound) implies a directly proportional payment in energy by the wizard. Such payments can take years to clear. (WH)

(See also: Adjurations, formal.)