Roof of the World Renaming Ritual

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Li Kao's Ritual for How to rename the Roof of the World and break/strengthen the Peace of the Lake:

The country faces a struggle between two great families that now have equal claim to the throne of the land: the Lords Regent and the Lost Kings. And so the problem must be approached from both halves of the Tao, and then unified into the Tao itself.

We have to prime each family, and then bring them together, as Yin and Yang unite in Chi.

  • 1. We must disrupt the Chi and separate Yang from Yin so that they can be primed separately. This is accomplished by causing the Lake to no longer Reflect - a great fog, or a storm whipping the surface into froth (other solutions are potentially good, as long as the lake no longer reflects) - for at least an hour, during which time Xiao Fa must make a Chi with Chi Mastery roll for 12 successes. This step is done

2-4 can be done in any order:

  • 2. To prime the Yin, and tie it to the Peace, cause the current Lord Regent to pardon one who is Banished. Give him permission to live in the land and tell the populace to allow him to stay even in the face of his obvious unsuitability. Then the Lord Regent must be brought to the lake, placed in the waters and tied to the Yin of the Peace. (Yin roll with Chi Mastery for X successes.)
  • 3. To prime the Yang, and tie it to the Peace, cause the current True King to kill one who has been Banished by the Peace of the Lake, condemning him for crimes and forcing him to face just punishment, not banishment. Then the True King must be brought to the lake, placed in the waters and tied to the Yang of the Peace. (Yang roll with Chi Mastery for Y successes.)
  • 4. To prime the Chi, and tie it to the Peace, cause the spirit of the lake to leave the area, taking it away from the lake, and outside the borders of the country, and then bind it to the chi of the empire. (Chi roll with Chi Mastery for Z successes.)
    • Z = N - (X + Y)
    • N is the "Tao" of the spirit of the lake.
    • At first blush, Anto thought the Spirit of the Lake probably has Tao in the mid-to-high 20s range. Will putter with the Spirit and Anto as soon as we can.

To use either of the "rename" options (b or c) that follow, the claimant must have first performed some task in the view of all, (though he himself need not be viewed) in consonance with the new name.

  • 5. At this point we must bring the Lord Regent, the True King, and the Spirit of the Lake together. One of the three must try to kill another, in full violation of the Peace. The one so attacked may then
    • a) restore the name of the country if he be the True King, breaking the peace,
    • b) rename the country if he be either the True King or the Lord Regent, also breaking the peace
    • c) rename the country if he be either the True King, Lord Regent, or Spirit of the Lake, making the Peace of the lake even stronger.
(Xiao Fa currently thinks that making the PEACE stronger is a lose, but strengthening it into the JUSTICE of the Lake, turning it into a tool of the ruler, and not a trap for the unwary, i.e. Dragon-y instead of Spider-y, may just be the way to bring the Selfless Path and the Lake on-board with this plan.


This now means that Xiao Fa is of the opinion that after step 4, the True King should perform some task in view of all in consonance with the new name (or restored name) and that in step 5, either the Lord Regent or the True King should try to kill the Spirit of the Lake, in full violation of the Peace. I think of the three, the Spirit is hardest to kill, and is most likely to survive the attempt. Of course, we could probably easily convince the True King to try to kill the Regent, but we probably want him to survive...