The Trial

The trial's rules as as follows:

BASICS

There exists your group, and an opposition generated by the True Runes.

On the North and West side of the field are five sacred glyphs, representing Purity, Passion, Death, and Ideals, accompanied by a final glyph in the Northwest corner representing their Unity.

On the South and East side of the field are their foils, glyphs representing twisted notions: Hypocrisy, Apathy, Stagnation, and Zealotry, accompanied by a glyph in the southeast corner representing Discord.

At any one time, two Orbs of Growth will exist on the field, ethereal motes of light that encircle and follow the person who touches them. When an Orb of Growth is taken to a Glyph, it activates. To complete the trial, you must activate the Glyphs representing your True Runes, followed by the Unity Glyph before the opposition is able to activate the profane glyphs and Discord.

When you activate a Glyph, the one who activated it and their Pokemon are teleported back to their group's initial position. Other positions on the field are unaffected.

DAMAGE

This is not true combat, though attacks are not forbidden. They will simply deal less damage. All damaging attacks will deal one step less damage (including damage that can't be resisted normally), and have their secondary effects disabled. In the event anyone in the trial is defeated, they vanish from the field, and return to their initial spot one round later, fully healed. Moves that raise combat stages instead boost rolls to certain actions instead (see below). In addition, damaging moves may be charged as a Swift Action with certain effects by Rune Bearers, as follows:

Purity: The target is Slowed for one round (single target only).
Passion: The target Shifts in a direction chosen by the attacker (once per target only).
Death: The target is Untethered from their Orb as if they were disarmed (once per target only).
Ideals: The target cannot use Maneuvers for one round (single target only).

ORBS

To take an orb, you must move into or adjacent to the orb's location sometime during your movement. When this happens, you are considered to be Tethered to the orb, and it will follow the tethered target around.

The Tethered target may pass the orb to an ally within Throwing Range or attempt to throw the Orb into a Glyph (within throwing range) as a Standard Action. Passing may not be intercepted, but attempting to activate a glyph at range CAN be attempted to intercept.

A participant may attempt to steal a Tethered Orb with the Disarm maneuver. If the disarmer is in melee and successfully disarms the orb, they are automatically tethered to it. If Disarmed from range, the Orb lands on the battlefield up to 3 meters in a direction the disarmer wishes.

Attacks of Opportunity gain an additional effect: When an attack of opportunity successfully hits, the target's movement comes to a halt. All other Maneuvers work as normal. Manipulate maneuvers may be used, but do not gain any new rules, so keep that in mind.

If a movement ability is used to move more than the tethered person's highest normal movement speed, the Orb of Growth is left behind in their initial position.

Finally, moves that alter combat stages give the following bonuses instead:

Attack or Special Attack: An equal bonus to accuracy checks for Maneuvers, maximum +6. If the recipient's relevant skill is Novice or less, they also gain this as a bonus to their skill roll.

Defense or Special Defense: An equal bonus to evasion against Maneuvers, maximum +6. If the recipient's relevant skill is Novice or less, they also gain this as a bonus to their skill roll.

Speed: An equal bonus to a relevant movement speed and Throwing Range.

Reflects and Light Screens may be used either as their normal use or to gain a +2 bonus as Defense or Special Defense against a triggering Maneuver.

GLYPHS

As part of the trial, additional requirements may be met -before- activating a Glyph to please the Runes further. Only the requirement for Unity is fully understood - the Bearers must puzzle over the rest with hints given.

Purity: How do you save someone from themselves?
Passion: What might bind one without chains?
Death: Understanding is the first step.
Ideals: A burning light illuminates around the truth.

Unity: Perform a Unison attack sometime over the course of the trial.

These things are optional, but who knows what might come of it should you complete them?