Call of the Ocean

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Contents

Ritual

[To be done on the night of the full of the moon - requires two main participants and four assistants. Gender is not actually important, but I use the masculine pronoun for convenience]

As the sun sets, the Guardian waits, still, in the center of the ritual circle, when the Seeker paces impatiently on his boat. In the background, music is playing. Once the last rays of sunlight fade, the Seeker exits the boat, following a map and walking along sandy paths, marked with seaweed and coral, in the circle. From above, the paths look like channels through a treacherous archipelago. The Guardian begins to move, dancing around the Seeker, waiving his hands in front of the map, trying to prevent or distract him off the paths, but to no avail. Eventually, the Seeker finds a conch-shell horn, and blows it for six successes with Cha with Music, and six successes Yang with Magic Ritual (Invoking the Yang).

The Guardian hears the noise, and grows into his Power. Dropping one of the obscuring-things smoke bombs, making it hard to see things in the ritual circle, he pulls a number of large silk cloths from somewhere, and go to hide various places around the ritual circle with them. (6 successes of concealment Dex, Magic Ritual with Yin, Invoking the Yin). He seizes the map from the Seeker to hide.

The Seeker must stay on the paths throughout the ritual, despite the darkness. He blows the horn again, and an assistant enters the circle, removing the silk from a miniature lighthouse, burning standard oil, which begins to spin and shed light on a path, leading the Seeker to the hidden map. (Seeking by Fire) (6 successes of dex with Navigation/Tracking.) [After silks are removed to uncover what they hide, they are placed around the edge of the circle. At the end of the ritual, the entire circle should be surrounded by silks.]

As the Seeker recovers the map he continues following the path towards his boat, but the Guardian seizes the map again, and uncovers a path of sharp rocks and shells which he hides the map at the end of. The rocks are sharp enough to cut the Seeker's feet to ribbons. The Seeker blows again, and a second assistant uncovers a mortar and pestle and comes forward, and grinds the rocks into pebbles/sand, making a safe path forward. (6 successes strength with feats of strength). (Transformation of earth (plus some shells so the final result will have a little earth in it) (NB: This part will probably take longer than the rest of the ritual, but whatever, you have until moonset to finish). The Seeker reclaims the map, and again heads towards the boat.

The Guardian frowns, and seizes the map a third time, hiding it by the edge of another hidden obstacle, a deep pit. At its base are symbols of the sea floor, such as shells, seaweed, a sunken ship, and a kraken. The Seeker blows the horn again, and third assistant enters the circle and uncovers a collection of driftwood that he places to create a pier along the side of the pit (Dex with Woodworking) which counts as a path, allowing the Seeker to skirt down the edge of the pit and the map again. (Mastery of Wood).

By the Rule of Threes, the Guardian can no longer seize the map, and the Seeker finally follows it back to his boat, but when he boards, the Guardian unveils an Anchor and chain, snapping the chain onto the back of the boat, and throwing the Anchor into the sand, trapping the boat. The Horn is blown, and a fourth assistant is summoned. He unveils a hammer and chisel, and must go to the back of the chain and snap it. (6 successes blacksmith). (Destruction of Metal) The assistants as a group push the boat out of the circle.

The Horn is blown a final time as the boat leaves the circle, discharging the Yang into the Horn, and making it a Horn of Create Sea Water. (1 shot pour out sea water with Vast Storms of Area (6 power)). The Guardian tries to follow the boat out of the circle, but the assistants drive him back into it, where the Yin discharges - the next time the Guardian tries to cross the Ocean, his ship will be attacked by a power 6 set of sea creatures.

Third Draft

[To be done on the night of the full of the moon - requires two main participants and up to four assistants]

As the sun sets, two people enter the ritual circle, each reading from a map, not noticing the other. They follow the maps around for a while, walking along sandy paths in the circle. (NB: Is it better if they're the same maps, and one is behind, or if they're different? This is a possible experiment.) Eventually, one finds a conch-shell horn, and blows it for six successes with Yang (Invoking the Yang).

The other hears the noise, and starts, surprised. They pause a moment in thought, and then drop one of the obscuring-things smoke bombs, making it hard to see things in the ritual circle. They pull a number of large silk cloths from somewhere, and go to hide various places around the ritual circle with them. (6 successes of concealment with Yin, Invoking the Yin).

The Hornblower must stay on the paths throughout the ritual, despite the darkness. He blows the horn again, and a third person enters the circle, removing the silk from a miniature lighthouse, which begins to spin and shed light on the path. (Seeking by Fire) (6 successes of navigation/illumination/guide? I'm not sure quite what the right skill is here.) [After silks are removed to uncover what they hide, they are placed around the edge of the circle. At the end of the ritual, the entire circle should be surrounded by silks.]

As the Hornblower moves moves forward, along a path, the Opponent uncovers a patch of sharp rocks and shells and removes the Hornblowers other paths, so he has to go along that one. The rocks are sharp enough to cut the Hornblower's feet to ribbons. The Hornblower blows again, and another person (possibly the same third, possibly a different one?) uncovers a mortar and pestle and comes forward, and grinds the rocks into pebbles/sand, making a safe path forward. (6 successes strength with cooking/alchemy/feats of strength/???). (Transformation of earth (plus some shells so the final result will have a little earth in it) (NB: This part will probably take longer than the rest of the ritual, but whatever, you have until moonset to finish).

The Opponent frowns, and continues removing paths to direct the Hornblower towards another hidden obstacle, which he uncovers to reveal a deep pit. At its base are symbols of the sea floor, such as shells, seaweed, a sunken ship, and a kraken. (Figuring out exactly what these should be is an experiment). The Hornblower blows the horn again, and someone enters the circle and uncovers a collection of driftwood that he places spanning the pit, crossing with six successes of Acrobatics/Tightropewalking/etc. (Mastery of Wood). He carries with him a rope ladder like one uses on large ships, which the Hornblower can use to cross the chasm and continue.

The Opponent is running out of room, and the path leads finally to a boat, but when the Hornblower boards, the Leader unveils an Anchor and chain, snapping the chain onto the back of the boat, and throwing the Anchor into the sand, trapping the boat. The Horn is blown, and another assistant is summoned. He unveils a hammer and chisel, and must go to the back of the chain and snap it. (6 successes blacksmith). (Destruction of Metal) The assistants as a group push the boat out of the circle.

The Horn is blown a final time, discharging the Yang into the Horn, and making it a Horn of Create Sea Water. (1 shot pour out sea water with Vast Storms of Area (6 power)). The Opponent tries to exit the circle, but the assistants drive him back into it, where the Yin discharges - the next time the Opponent tries to cross the Ocean, his ship will be attacked by a power 6 set of sea creatures.

Second Draft

[To be done at the dark of the moon]

As the sun sets, five people enter the ritual circle carrying a large amount of fine silks. At the direction of their leader, they cover the items in the circle so they cannot be seen, getting 6 successes of concealment before the moon rises. (Invoking the Yin.)

As the moon rises, a sixth participant comes up to the edge of the circle, barefoot and carrying a large horn (somehow thematically tied to the sea - conch shell? jade with carvings? this is a possible experiment. Proper phase of the moon is also a possible experiment.). Blowing the horn, they invoke the Yang with six successes of Music, driving the four assistants back, one towards one of the covered items.

The Leader looks at the Hornblower, frowns, and begins to lay a path of sand through the circle. The Hornblower must stay on this path throughout the ritual, despite the darkness. The Hornblower looks over the assistants, points at one, and blows the horn again. That one uncovers his object, a miniature lighthouse, which begins to spin and shed light on the path. (Seeking by Fire) (6 successes of navigation/illumination/guide? I'm not sure quite what the right skill is here.) [As things are unveiled, the cloth is wrapped around/piled atop the Leader.]

As the Hornblower moves moves forward, along the path, the Leader uncovers a patch of sharp rocks and directs the path towards it. They are sharp enough to cut the Hornblower's feet to ribbons. The Hornblower blows again, and another assistant uncovers a mortar and pestle and comes forward, and grinds the rocks into pebbles/sand, making a safe path forward. (5 successes strength with cooking/alchemy/feats of strength/???). (Transformation of earth - deliberately weak, so the final result will have a little earth in it (desirable), and need a little transformation in it (necessary consequence)) (NB: This part will probably take longer than the rest of the ritual, but whatever, you have until moonset to finish).

The Leader frowns, and continues laying the sand path towards another hidden obstacle, which he uncovers to reveal a deep pit. The Hornblower points at another assistant, and blows the horn. The assistant uncovers a collection of driftwood that he places spaning the pit, allowing the Hornblower to continue forward with six successes of Acrobatics/Tightropewalking/etc. (Mastery of Wood)

The Leader is running out of room, and the path leads finally to a boat (on wheels), but when the Hornblower boards, the Leader unveils an Anchor and chain, snapping the chain onto the back of the boat, and throwing the Anchor into the sand, trapping the boat. The Horn is blown, and the last assistant is summoned. He unveils a hammer and chisel, and must go to the back of the chain and snap it. (6 successes blacksmith). (Destruction of Metal)

The Horn is blown a final time, discharging the Yang into the Horn, and making it a Horn of Create Sea Water. (1/book, pour out Vast Storms of Area (6 power), must be filled with pure water to start (to get the transformation bit)). All four assistants are summoned and push the boat out of the circle. At the same time, the Leader discharges the Yin into the Cloth, which becomes soaked and rotten and unusable (destroying X Li worth of fine silks).

First Draft

As the sun sets, five people enter the ritual circle carrying a large amount of fine cloth. At the direction of their leader, they cover the items in the circle so they cannot be seen, getting 6 successes of concealment before the moon rises. (Invoking the Yin.)

As the moon rises, a sixth participant comes up to the edge of the circle, carrying a large horn (somehow thematically tied to the sea - conch shell? jade with carvings? this is a possible experiment. Proper phase of the moon is also a possible experiment.). Blowing the horn, they invoke the Yang with six successes of Music, driving the four assistants back towards the edges of the ritual circle.

The Leader looks at the Hornblower, frowns, and uncovers a large boulder, rolling it to the edge of the circle blocking entry. The Hornblower looks over the assistants, points at one, and blows the horn again. That one moves forward, and the Hornblower hands him a pickaxe. Using the pickaxe, he divides the rock repeatedly, until there is only a pile of sand. (6 successes strength with feats of strength/pickaxe/???). He sprinkles the sand at the edge of the circle, and the Hornblower steps into the circle, onto the sand. (Transformation of earth).

The Leader frowns, and points to the edge of the sand, then pulls the cloth off a small boat (on wheels), and mimes that it is too far from the edge of the sand for the Hornblower to reach. The Hornblower points at another assistant, and blows the horn. He throws the assistant a rudder, and the assistant must sail the boat to the edge of the sand (6 successes sailing), where the Hornblower and the first assistant board. (Mastery of Wood)

As they begin to leave the beach, the Leader unveils an Anchor and chain, snapping the chain onto the back of the boat, and throwing the Anchor into the sand, trapping the boat. The Horn is blown, and the third assistant is summoned. The Hornblower hands them a hammer and chisel, and they must go to the back of the chain and snap it, (6 successes blacksmith) then climb into the boat. (Destruction of Metal)

As the boat begins moving again, the Leader uncovers the rest of the circle, revealing it is full of dangerous ruts, rocks, and reefs. The Hornblower summons the last assistant by blowing on the Horn, and hands them a torch. The assistant must ignite a set of lighthouses, allowing the boat to navigate its way through the circle and out the side opposite where the Hornblower came in. (6 successes Navigation) (Seeking by Fire)

As the Hornblower and the boat leave on one side, the Horn is blown a final time, discharging the Yang into the Horn, and making it a Horn of Create Sea Water. (1/book, pour out Vast Storms of Area (6 power)). At the same time, the Leader wraps himself in the cloth and disappears with it, discharging the Yin into the Cloth, making it Cloth of the Waves (always on, makes gentle murmuring like the sound of the sea (1 power - pleasant)).

Unused Hints

Used Hints

First Hint

The aesthetics of this are more about invoking mastery of a ship and sailing, rather than precisely the sea. Possibly it would work better to have it not all focused on the same boat, but different aspects of ocean (multiple boats, fish, swimmers, etc.

Second Hint

A pickaxe is the wrong tool for creating sand. You really want something (at the final stages) that grinds instead of chops. The rocks used to make the sand should be something very white, like quartz (sparkly!) or maybe limestone is probably best, along with some salt.

Third Hint (from Shen-Ji)

Wrapping the silks around/on top of the Leader as he trundles around the ritual doing things is sort of aesthetically odd. Maybe they should go somewhere appropriate?

Fourth Hint ( from Silks experiment)

Who are the people? Are Hornblower and Leader enemies? Do the assistants work for one of them against the other, or are they more impersonal forces that both can control? Some sort of context to put their apparently plot-ish actions in would be good. (Also - Silk decorations should be: "night waves" - dark aqua, wave shapes, and hints of moonlight reflection without a great big Moon sitting in the middle of the silk.)

Fifth Hint (from Horn experiment)

A pit trap is not a very good peril of the sea - if it's "the deep" perhaps having things in the pit that symbolize the perils of the deep (kraken?) would help. (Also: Horn should be conch)

Sixth Hint (from cooking/sea water)

One way to do this would be to mix your white rocks with white shell, which is not earth; then you don't lose any destruction, and the hole is sea-flavored. (Also: proper ratio is about 1 part shell to 8 parts rocks)

Seventh Hint (from Huian)

The Leader's motivation is confusing - is he the guide along the path, or the bad guy introducing obstacles, or is he more like a sensei, leading the student through obstacles so they'll grow? It seems like a play, with characters, but the characters are mysterious. Like the moon, so maybe that's okay, but then it should be more deliberately mysterious. (Also - ritual is strongest at full moon, but also most dangerous)

Eighth Hint (from Shen-Ji)

Why does the boat have wheels if it doesn't end up needing to move? It doesn't go to a further obstacle, so taking the wheels off and just pushing it a little bit when the anchor chain is snapped is probably aesthetically better.


Ninth Hint (from Fire)

Standard oil. Making it lighthouse-y seems more important than making it sea-y.

Hint: In the penultimate paragraph, who is Leader? Is that Opponent? Or a Hornblower minion?

Tenth Hint (from Wood)

Multiple pieces of driftwood.

Hint: Okay, the Yin soaking is awesome. You get an extra experiment's worth of points for that.

Eleventh Hint (from Metal)

An anchor chain from a not-sunk boat.

Hint: Laura keeps saying that the plot of the play is confusing. She finally realizes, it's not a play, it's more like a dance. So it could use music to make it make sense!

Twelth Hint (from Seeking)

Hmm. Call it Dex with Navigation/Tracking.

Hint: The maps are sort of the starting thing; they could be tied into the rest of the ritual more thematically. The Opponent could add obstacles on the map, the Hornblower counters them. Hey, it's kind of like the Drawing Game.


Thirteenth Hint (from Mastery)

This one is best: >> Agility with Woodworking to put together a solid bridge

Hint: A bridge over a pit is not great as a way to get past a sea hazard - bridges over ocean are a more modern thing. Maybe a pier?

Fourteenth Hint (from Destruction)

Hammer and chisel will do. It doesn't add a lot to the polish towards perfection, but it's fine, and none of the others seem substantially better. The rusted one is a bit more sea-ish, but snapping a rusted chain is less destruction-of-metal because it's already half-destroyed.

Hint:

"As the Hornblower moves moves forward, along a path, the Opponent uncovers a patch of sharp rocks and shells and removes the Hornblowers other paths, so he has to go along that one."

How is he removing the other paths, anyway?

Fifteenth Hint (from Paths Experiment 1)

Hint: Paths like the channels in a treacherous archipelago is more right

Sixteenth Hint (from Paths experiment 2)

Hint: There's no significant aesthetic flaws at this point, it's just polish. It's probably only relevant in terms of the unspecified dance moves, but "hiding the map" isn't quite right, it's more "placing the map beyond obstacles". Not "where is the map, you can't find it!" but "Hah, you can't get your precious map!".

Seventeenth Hint (from Pits experiment)

The aesthetics officially look good. As far as components go, you spent enough to cover the first ritual, but in the future, you'll want to spend a couple of li on buying a good fancy conch.

Points

  • 2 Yang points for the "making sand" experiment.
  • 2 Yang, Silks Experiment
  • 2 Yang, Horn Experiment
  • 2 Yang, Cooking/Sea Water Experiment ("Earth")
  • 2 Yang, Huian ("Moon")
  • 2 Yang, Seeking Experiment
  • 2 Yang, Destruction Experiment
  • 2 Yang, Mastery Experiment
  • 2 Yang, Wood Experiment
  • 2 Yang, Fire Experiment
  • 2 Yang, Metal Experiment
  • 2 Yang, Bonus Experiment for cool Yin soaking
  • 2 Yang, Paths Experiment 1
  • 2 Yang, Paths Experiment 2
  • 2 Yang, Pits Experiment
  • 6 Yang, 3 uses of Li Merit's Library Research Shtick