Well then... it seems that things were all set.  It was a quaint little tradition, probably respected by gods of fortune somewhere, and a good way to get rid of old ships while showing off their naval - well, shipbuilding, but soon-to-be naval - prowess.  Burn off the oldest or most weakened ship?  Things small nations tended to hang onto until they sank to their ocean?  THEN bring out the newest, bigger ship they JUST finished making to bless it for the new year?<br/><br/>A good night's sleep, and she was up early to prepare.  She was alone for the first time in a while; her monks were setting up for the celebration, as were the bureaucrats a citizens, which left her to bathe, relax, prepare her own meals... it was nice to be reminded that she could still take care of such mundane tasks, though it was more a mindfulness exercise at this point than true necessity.  Hence why she wasn't really 'dressing up' as it was; her orichalcum armor and weapons in and of themselves were quite visually appealing, as were her tattoos for that matter.  Her monks would be clad in their armor too, weapons as well, two of them up front with the new Dire Lances up front as honor guards.<br/><br/>Speaking of... once she got word that the Sorcerers were in position... well, time to get to work.  Having done her hair in a more ornate braid - confirmed by someone else; she still couldn't see her reflection to confirm - she made her way out of her manse to the sight of all 100 of her Eyes of Roaring Thunder, clad in their best jade and weaponry and organized - she had to assume - by color of Jade that they wore for visual appearances, following a geomantically-appropriate scheme with Wood first, going ascendingly.  With her leading, she would lead the procession with her monks trailing as her honor guard, going through the main streets of town towards the shore as the ship made it's way out to sea.  It would take some time to get to the shore, heading to the actual beach not the docks nearer to the manse, but it was all part of the ritual.  Once upon the shore her monks would spread out, at attention, and it would be her time to address the crowd as the Sorcerers got into position along the shoreline with her.<br/><br/>The speech was not short, but not terribly long, and while she wasn't the greatest public speaker here she was certainly capable of reciting a speech she had done a couple of times before.  Not like she hadn't been reading it again after all...<br/><br/>(OOC: Charisma+Performance: 2 Hits on 8Dice)