Changing the Wall

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At this point, you are more likely to be looking for Changing the Wall part two



This is not for discussion outside the party, at Shen Wei Han's request. I make the request out of a general sense of caution, not for any specific reason. Should you need to discuss it with somebody and not have time to talk to Wei Han, please use your judgement.

Out of respect for Master Zhou, please keep the fact that he is the source secret: I would rather consequences of our efforts fall on me than on him. --Ringrose 22:18, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

Sgt. Shen - I think that some version of this needs to be discussed with Dai-Xe, so she can begin a similar process. I have not quite decided how to convince her it needs doing. If you have objections to that, please let me know. Takanata 06:29, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

I do not have a problem with us speaking to Dai-Xe about this. I am doing this for sound defensive reasons; I am not sure Dai-Xe will see her change teh same way.

After a having completed a set of tasks for Master Zhou, he discussed changing Wei Han's nature.

"The second thing you must know is how to change your nature.

"Your nature is as it is now because the Wall is as it is now. For you to resist your own nature through stubbornness and force of will, as you seek to do, will not work - a wall cannot protect itself from itself. You can only be changed externally, and only if you permit it.

"One way to do this is by something akin to a magic ritual. You must invite the Earth of the Wall, Transformation, and the three spirits of Winter.

"First, you must go and get a piece of rock from the North Wall, and carry it with you; ideally in your hand as you do the ritual actions. Concentrate on this rock being a core, and focus that which you wish to change. You must then get another rock from elsewhere in the Empire that you find significant to the change you wish, and concentrate on that rock being a core, and focus of the new specified state. You should keep both rocks until you have completed the actions of the 'ritual'. At that point, the pieces of rock will transform, and so will the Wall."

Master Zhou then goes into a more technical discussion, which I take out of the character context and into the mechanic context:

The ritual must invoke:

  1. Water / Fire / Wood / Metal
  2. Creation / Destruction / Control / Seeking
  3. Tiger / Tortoise / Monkey / Butterfly / Phoenix / Serpent / Fox / Spider / Magpie

There must be sixteen actions (a grid of the elements and the verbs), performed by the nine cycle aspects - so two each from the Summer trio, while for Fall and Spring, two aspects each should do two and one only one. In other words, everyone should do two except Winter (who do none) and Spring and Fall (one Spring aspect and one Fall aspect can get away with only doing one).

As far as what the actions are, each action has to get enough successes to beat Wei Han's Resistance (so at the moment, greater than 10). Destruction is basically just "damage using this element" (and it does have to actually do damage, not bounce off of toughness). Control can include non-damage effects in combat like nerve strike or knockback (though nerve strike doesn't have a clear element), or could involve non-combat effects like greater than ten successes of metal shackles. Creation is easiest to do with a magical effect, but doesn't have to be; Seeking is "find Wei Han using elemental tools or in an elemental milieu". (Using the Knife Returns is seeking him with metal, for example; tracking him through the Strand could be seeking him in Wood or Water, depending on the terrain).

Anyone may do the actions, if they are touched by the appropriate spirit, but before they do them, they need to spend a yin and a yang on each of the two rocks you have acquired, and spend a chi to make the final roll.

Who can do What, by aspect

Each aspect can do at most two steps. Therefore, I've recreated the above list in a table where we can figure out what aspects can be used, have been used, and are needed.

Control of Wei Han with Foo -- I can fairly easily get 11 successes on a persuasion sort of thing. This is pretty flexible with respect to element, if there's a Control you're having special problems with (I put myself down for Wood, because there wasn't a row for Foo). I'm not sure it works if Wei Han knows what I'm trying to persuade him of, though, so it may need to be a surprise. Is there a time limit between when I zap the rocks and when I do the roll? Xian 23:59, 15 May 2012 (UTC)
Takanata says: I can do a sculpture for 11 successes in any of water/metal/wood for creation of x. I could try getting 11 successes on an I Ching reading for "Seeking by wood". I feel like my ring of water breathing should be useful for some sort of control of water roll, but I can't think what exactly. Takanata 06:34, 4 December 2012 (UTC)
Seeking by wood and creation in either metal or wood would be wonderful. Li Merit is already on track for creation in water with a fountain.
Spring (2, 2, 1) Summer (2, 2, 2) Fall (2, 2, 1)
Actions Comments Tiger Tortoise Monkey Butterfly Phoenix Serpent Fox Spider Magpie  ?
Control Fire (a) create an enclosing ring of fire or fireworks around him.
(b) Offer Wei Han a really nice meal to tempt him. (weak)
Creation Fire (a) Cooking something for him. (weak)
(b) make a fireworks display which comes out in the shape of Wei Han, or his coat of arms
(c) Fire an existing clay sculpture of Wei Han (weak)
(d) Personalize Wei Han's armor with a forge (weak)
Destruction Fire (a) Throw a firebolt at Wei Han.
(b) Fireworks bomb
(c) Wrath of the Phoenix
Seeking Fire (a) Have Wei Han hide in a dark dungeon and look for him with a torch
(b) Hide Wei Han in a paper/wood building and burn it down to find him
(c) Hide Wei Han in a field at night and use fireworks to light the area and reveal him
Min Feng
Control Metal (a) Anto grabs without grasping vines
(b) Bind him with strong chains
Hired smith
Creation Metal (a) Hiring Wei Han (creating a role for him) and paying him a bunch of silver (metal) (weak)
(b) create a metal replica of Wei Han (tin soldier)
Master Zhou
Destruction Metal Hit Wei Han with a metal weapon.
Seeking Metal (a) Anto has a lodestone. Maybe come up with a search which involves finding Wei Han by going North, or identifying Wei Han among several people covered with blankets because he's the one wearing armor which attracts the lodestone
(b) Perform the Dagger Returns ritual to find Wei Han
Control Water Row/sail a boat with Wei Han on it (weak)
Bind him in a block of ice (or Ice Chip of Doom)
Master Yun (water sorceror)
Creation Water (a) Brew beer or make soup for him (weak)
(b) Carve an ice sculpture of Wei Han
Li Merit
Destruction Water (a) Does ice count? Stab him with an icicle?
(b) Throw Wei Han in the water or wrestle to hold him down so he partially drowns?
(c) Hire a water mage to water bolt Wei Han
Seeking Water (a) Navigate a boat with Wei Han on it (weak)
(b) search for him among inlets/channels on a coastline
(c) track him via footprints in the snow (d) Track Wei Han via his wet footprints
Control Wood (a) grasping vines from Anto
(b) Bind Wei Han with a written contract
(c) Put him in a wooden cage
(a) was done by Anto with 18 successers. Anto
Creation Wood (a) Craft something for Wei Han out of wood
(b) Or carve a wooden statue of him
(c) Found an organization dedicated to Wei Han with a written charter (weak)
Takanata
Destruction Wood (a) hit Wei Han with a weapon. Wooden, this time.
(b) Shoot him with a wooden arrow.
Seeking Wood (a)Play cards with Cai Wen (he's figuring out what cards you have) or read tea leaves.
(b) Have someone do the Ritual of the Missing One to find Wei Han.
(c) Track Wei Han through dense vegetation, without using footprints
(d) Collate all of Wei Han's written Dragon Army records (Merit, Takanata)
(a) was done, but seems weak Takanata Cai Wen

Who can do What

Trying to come up with actions, and people who could get 11 successes. Foo of Bar is really Foo Wei Han with Bar.

It is important that we balance which aspects are doing what, so please include the aspect of whoever can do it.

Please edit the table, if you can, to add more or put yourself on it. I'm preserving this list in case I missed something. If you have trouble with the wiki table format, just add a note before the top of the table and I'll put it in the right place.

  1. Control of Fire
    1. Maybe create an enclosing ring of fire or fireworks around him?
    2. Offer Wei Han a really nice meal to tempt him (Xiao Fa, Merit)
  2. Creation of Fire
    1. Could this be cooking something for him?
    2. Or make a fireworks display which comes out in the shape of Wei Han, or his coat of arms?
    3. Fire an existing clay sculpture of Wei Han
    4. Personalize Wei Han's armor with a forge
  3. Destruction of Fire
    1. Throw a firebolt at Wei Han. Yang, Phoenix.
    2. Fireworks bomb (Merit)
    3. Wrath of the Phoenix (Yanyu)
  4. Seeking of Fire
    1. Have Wei Han hide in a dark dungeon and look for him with a torch? (Min Feng?)
    2. Hide Wei Han in a paper/wood building and burn it down to find him
    3. Hide Wei Han in a field at night and use fireworks to light the area and reveal him (Merit)
  5. Control of Metal
    1. Anto grabs without grasping vines. Anto, Phoenix.
  6. Creation of Metal
    1. Could this be done by hiring Wei Han (creating a role for him) by paying him a bunch of silver (metal)?
    2. Or create a metal replica of Wei Han (tin soldier)?
  7. Destruction of Metal
    1. Hit Wei Han with a metal weapon. Various. Deng, Crane
  8. Seeking of Metal
    1. Anto has a lodestone. Maybe come up with a search which involves finding Wei Han by going North, or identifying Wei Han among several people covered with blankets because he's the one wearing armor which attracts the lodestone?
    2. Perform the Dagger Returns ritual to find Wei Han
  9. Control of Water
    1. Row/sail a boat with Wei Han on it?
  10. Creation of Water
    1. Brew beer or make soup for him?
    2. Carve an ice sculpture of Wei Han
  11. Destruction of Water
    1. Does ice count? Stab him with an icicle?
    2. Maybe throw Wei Han in the water or wrestle to hold him down so he partially drowns?
  12. Seeking of Water
    1. Navigate a boat with Wei Han on it? Or search for him among inlets/channels on a coastline? Or track him via footprints in the snow?
    2. Track Wei Han via his wet footprints
  13. Control of Wood
    1. grasping vines from Anto. Anto, Phoenix.
    2. Bind Wei Han with a written contract
  14. Creation of Wood
    1. Craft something for Wei Han out of wood? Or carve a wooden statue of him?
    2. Found an organization dedicated to Wei Han with a written charter (Merit, Takanata)
  15. Destruction of Wood
    1. Again, hit Wei Han with a weapon. Wooden, this time. Various. Deng, Crane (wooden sword?)
  16. Seeking of Wood
    1. Play cards with Cai Wen (he's figuring out what cards you have) or read tea leaves. Cai Wen, Fox.
    2. Have someone do the Ritual of the Missing One to find Wei Han.
    3. Track Wei Han through dense vegetation, without using footprints
    4. Collate all of Wei Han's written Dragon Army records (Merit, Takanata)
  17. Seeking of Foo
    1. Grasshopper (Crane) has various foraging skills. He doesn't have a lot of dice to roll on this, though.