Lunar Sacred Time Shenanigans

[Malin]

Well, as my players have currently decided that the best time to do a heist to steal a rival praxian khan's clan regalia (Inire the Red's in fact, invited as a special guest of the governor due to campaign reasons) is during Sacred Time in Pavis (this is pre-cradle), I have been reading up on Lunar rites and what better way to get more input and views than here. After reading through the Lunar Way carefully, it seems that the sacred time rites described there take place over a week, but sacred time is two weeks. Has anybody seen exactly where within these two weeks the rites take place? If done outside the glowline, are they synced with particular moon phases? I'm not as well-read as I'd like on past Lunar publications, so any insights or mentions would be welcome!

[jajagappa]

36 minutes ago, Malin said:

After reading through the Lunar Way carefully, it seems that the sacred time rites described there take place over a week, but sacred time is two weeks. Has anybody seen exactly where within these two weeks the rites take place? If done outside the glowline, are they synced with particular moon phases?

My thought is that the Red Emperor dissolves his body on the 6th day and then returns on the "next day" which is actually the Gods Day of the 2nd week - i.e. his journey is a full week not just a day. Thus, the events of the 2nd week require the continued prayers of the worshipers for his return.

Alternately, the Red Emperor does return on the 1st Godsday, and then spends the next week "rearranging" the world for the year ahead.

I note that the Red Emperor cult notes: "His most important ceremonies are held on the Full Moon days during Sacred Time."

The other option is that the first 7 days are spent performing other local rites (e.g. solar, Pelandan, riverine, etc.) and then the 2nd week is focused on the Lunar rites.

[soltakss]

On 9/6/2024 at 6:26 PM, Malin said:

After reading through the Lunar Way carefully, it seems that the sacred time rites described there take place over a week, but sacred time is two weeks.

Sacred Time is effectively one week doubled. You can interpret that in several ways. Holy Days are in one week but not the other, or holy days are in both weeks, or the week is repeated.

On 9/6/2024 at 6:26 PM, Malin said:

If done outside the glowline, are they synced with particular moon phases?

Yes, I would expect the rites to be on particular phases of the moon.

On 9/6/2024 at 6:26 PM, Malin said:

Well, as my players have currently decided that the best time to do a heist to steal a rival praxian khan's clan regalia

As they are not stealing anything from the Lunars then the rites of hospitality are probably not broken, as I don't think they cover other guests. However, such subtleties are best explored in the game.

[EricW]

On 9/7/2024 at 3:26 AM, Malin said:

Well, as my players have currently decided that the best time to do a heist to steal a rival praxian khan's clan regalia (Inire the Red's in fact, invited as a special guest of the governor due to campaign reasons) is during Sacred Time in Pavis (this is pre-cradle), I have been reading up on Lunar rites and what better way to get more input and views than here. After reading through the Lunar Way carefully, it seems that the sacred time rites described there take place over a week, but sacred time is two weeks. Has anybody seen exactly where within these two weeks the rites take place? If done outside the glowline, are they synced with particular moon phases? I'm not as well-read as I'd like on past Lunar publications, so any insights or mentions would be welcome!

If they attack at the wrong moment they could get caught in a hero quest, perhaps representing Sheng Seleris and his hordes invading the moon. If they succeed they carry away magic stolen from the moon - perhaps magical immunity to some Lunar magic. If they fail, or rather if the Lunar loyalists realise what is happening and correctly enact the return of the Red Emperor and the defeat of Sheng, the raiders not only end up captured and in very big trouble, but they might end up magically damaged in some way, perhaps lose the ability to communicate with their god for a time (isolation in "Lunar hell"). 

But the rival khan winning implies the rival khan placing religious faith and the good of the tribe above temporal power - enacting the ritual defeat of Sheng would require the current leader stepping aside, and appointing a new khan during the heroquest (the returned "red emperor"), who could then magically and temporally defeat the intruders and win magical boons for their tribe. 

Edited September 10 by EricW

[mfbrandi]

7 hours ago, EricW said:

If they fail … the raiders not only end up captured … but they might end up … in “Lunar hell”

Maybe this is their PLAN, and they ensure they get themselves really thrown into a Lunar Hell — the finishing school for the ultimate hard cases — and after what seems like an eternity of pain, they come back harder, faster, stronger. Of course, they will never again know joy or any kind of peace, and they won’t get a signed-and-framed certificate showing their “illumination” to be of the approved sort (just a stamp on their application saying “failed mystic”), but feel the power!

On the other hand, the Lunars might have the last laugh. Their Hell is their supersoldier/WMD factory. “We ripped that hummingbird’s skin off to make it meaner, and when we are finished with you, you will be our new Bats.” It might work. It might go horribly wrong. Think … Daredevil: Born Again? I dunno.

Edited Tuesday at 08:12 PM by mfbrandi