Periodically, the gods will conjure a divine altar with a shining beacon above it. These altars will vanish six minutes after they appear. If you see one, you should immediately perform the anchoring meditation:
Priest One meditates.
Priest Two meditates.
Priest Three meditates.
(Note: The order of meditating on the altar to anchor it does not matter in the actual ritual. The order during the ritual however is important.)
This will anchor the divine altar to our world for about 20 minutes. You will know that the altar has been anchored because the glowing light will vanish, leaving just the altar. During the altar's stay on earth, it can only be used for one purpose: the beacon ritual. The beacon ritual must be performed by the same three priests who did the anchoring meditation.
The three priests who perform the anchoring meditation will each receive a vision. These visions will tell you the steps of the beacon ritual (it is different each time). The visions are vague; you will have to experiment to discover the specifics of the ritual.
The altars are attracted to individuals who meet certain conditions:
Contrary to previous statements, those who have passed the test are capable of attracting a beacon. They are also able to perform the ritual, without hinderance to others who have not passed.
The last condition, the 'favored' activity, is particularly befuddling. About once a week, the gods choose some activity as favored. Their choice of activity seems to be oddly arbitrary. If you want to attract beacon altars, you will need to figure out the favored activity that week. Occasionally, somebody will get a sense that they did the favored activity.
To encourage the altar to appear, you need to first figure out the favored activity. Perform it once per hour whenever you are traveling, or out fishing, or visiting a school, or are away from you camp for any other reason. Chances are, this will trigger an appearance.
If you live in a very underpopulated region, you may have to travel to a place where there are more people in order to succeed. Such is the nature of the discipline of worship.
If you have fulfilled the above criteria, you will attract a beacon within about an hour. You will receive a message in the main chat channel shortly before the beacon appears. If you see this message, you will know that you can no longer attract a beacon for the next week.
Only one person in an area needs to meet the criteria for a beacon to be attracted. Five people can attract three altars in a row, if they take care that only one person fulfills the criteria at a time. (Have exactly one person perform the favored activity; after a beacon has been attracted and three people do the ritual, one of those who did not do the first ritual performs the activity, and so on.)
"A beacon altar was almost attracted to you, because you did the favored activity in the last hour. However, you own too many of the buildings here - you are at home." - The two times DarthBobo got this message, he was unsuccessful at attracting a beacon even after travelling into the wilderness with a posse. Post your own experiences.
The beacon ritual requires two medium gems of different types. Possible types are Diamond, Sapphire, Emerald, and Ruby. Carry one of each when attempting to attract an altar.
There are three parts to the ritual that must be performed at a beacon altar. Two parts consist of placing two medium gems on the altar and then removing them. In the third and final part, one priest meditates at the altar.
One of the three priests will learn what types of gems must be used, and which priest must meditate at the end. Each of the other two priests will learn one half of the ritual itself. This information is sufficient to narrow the possibilities down to four different rituals. You will need to try each one in turn until you hit on the right one.
The beacon altar will have options to redisplay each priest's vision, and to view the last set of actions which were performed at the altar. (The latter can be very useful when verifying what each person has done.)
Try the beacon script generator at http://www.purplefrog.com/~thoth/atitd/beacon.html . Feedback to DarthBobo in game or on IRC, or email atitd@thoth.purplefrog.com.
Make absolutely sure that the steps you call out are the steps displayed in your vision. Doing the ritual four times with no success is very frustrating, and you might not have enough time to find the mistake, correct it, and perform the ritual correctly four mour times.
Priest one receives this vision:
The items used in the beacon ritual are:
Medium Sapphire
Medium Diamond
The two items might not be used in that order. The ritual ends with the third priest meditating.
Priest two receives this vision:
Priest three puts the second item on the right focus.
Priest three puts the first item on the left focus.
Priest one takes the first item from the left focus.
Priest two takes the second item from the right focus.
Priest three receives this vision:
Priest three puts the first item on the right focus.
Priest three puts the second item on the left focus.
Priest two takes the second item from the left focus.
Priest one takes the first item from the right focus.
The order of the priests is arbitrary. Priest 1 does NOT have to be the first person that initially meditated on the altar to anchor it. You can assign anyone to any priest number as long as you keep it consistent throughout the entire ritual. Generally its easier if Priest 3 is the one calling out the instructions (as there will be less instructions to call out then). (Confirmed by Dragyn who has completed multiple rituals always as Priest 3 regardless of anchoring order)
The above steps are enough to limit the possibilities to the following four:
Priest three puts a medium sapphire on the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium diamond on the left focus.
Priest one takes the medium diamond from the left focus.
Priest two takes the medium sapphire from the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium diamond on the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium sapphire on the left focus.
Priest two takes the medium sapphire from the left focus.
Priest one takes the medium diamond from the right focus.
Priest three meditates.
Priest three puts a medium diamond on the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium sapphire on the left focus.
Priest two takes the medium sapphire from the left focus.
Priest one takes the medium diamond from the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium sapphire on the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium diamond on the left focus.
Priest one takes the medium diamond from the left focus.
Priest two takes the medium sapphire from the right focus.
Priest three meditates.
Priest three puts a medium diamond on the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium sapphire on the left focus.
Priest one takes the medium sapphire from the left focus.
Priest two takes the medium diamond from the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium sapphire on the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium diamond on the left focus.
Priest two takes the medium diamond from the left focus.
Priest one takes the medium sapphire from the right focus.
Priest three meditates.
Priest three puts a medium sapphire on the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium diamond on the left focus.
Priest two takes the medium diamond from the left focus.
Priest one takes the medium sapphire from the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium diamond on the right focus.
Priest three puts a medium sapphire on the left focus.
Priest one takes the medium sapphire from the left focus.
Priest two takes the medium diamond from the right focus.
Priest three meditates.
The three priests will have to try each of the four rituals, until they hit the right one. Be warned that while it is possible for the first and second halves of the ritual to be identical, this is often not the case. Check carefully.
To pass the test, you must successfully perform the beacon ritual seven times.
(See also: tests)