The Armor Recolored
(A ritual which will repaint a suit of armor based on the patterns on painted (or dyed) silk that wraps the armor.)
This ritual is one of Changing of Metal. Bear and Tortoise are brought in to expand the effect to include leather armor; Butterfly is included for the artistic merit. All rolls listed below require two successes.
Invoke the Tao
Lay a square of fine white silk, seven feet by seven feet, (cost: 1 li) in the sunlight. Wait an hour until it is warm, and then pass over it with a lens which focuses the heat of the sun's gaze upon each inch upon it.
Grind the pigments for the inks and paints in a darkened room, mixing them each with just enough melted ice for a thick ink. Make a little bit of each of your inks; don't just make the colors you will need.
Each roll:
- Dexterity roll with the paper and the lens; Resolve roll with Strong Willed and any resisting-boredom skill.
- Yang roll with magic ritual skill
- Intelligence roll (including Calligraphy) to prepare the paints in the dark
- Yin roll with magic ritual skill
must get 2 successes.
Invoke the Elements
Place four small sticks of eucalyptus wood in a pyramid under a metal brazier decorated with cutout patterns of bufferflies, and light them on fire (Creation of Fire). Place a glass container full of water on the brazier, and let the water heat. (Int with Cooking for this step).
Go into the darkened room and find the inks that you previously ground (Seeking Earth), and bring them out together; do not bring out any of the other colors of ink. (Wits with Perception).
Using a tortoise-shell dipper, carefully drop seven drops of water seven times (Control of Water) on each color of ink that you will use. (Dexterity with Artist). Then add more water to make sufficient ink.
Using a hake brush of bear's bristles, paint the silk with the inks you have chosen. Fold the silk about the armor (there is a diagram included). (Int with Artist and Origami). Carry the four burning sticks of eucalyptus over to the silk, and place one on each arm of the armor, one at the neck, and one at the base. This is when the ritualist soaks the Yang as damage - damage is (10 - dexterity successes x 2). Let the silk and eucalyptus burn until the wood and silk are entirely consumed (Destruction of Wood). When the wood and silk have burnt away, the painted pattern will be transferred to the armor.
