For instance, once it was proposed, the Half-Sages of both kingdoms would be forbidden from using any means, directly or indirectly, to interfere in the war. Moreover, neither side could send scholars of the Great Scholar level to fight directly. Great Scholars could still command battles or participate indirectly—for example, by having Craftsmen School Great Scholars design mechanisms or Agricultural School Great Scholars hasten the ripening of grain.
Not only Great Scholars and Half-Sages, but neither kingdom could directly draw upon any external power, such as other kingdoms or the Water Race. They could, however, receive aid in basic supplies, excluding divine objects and treasures of the Half-Sage level.
In the Battle for Prefectures, each kingdom would put forth one prefecture, and the two prefectures had to share a border. All combat had to take place within those two prefectures; neither side could bypass them and launch attacks through non-adjacent regions.
A Battle for Prefectures could last only one year. After a year, if neither side had utterly defeated the other, the territory of the two new prefectures would be divided according to the areas each side occupied.
Since a Battle for Prefectures could not be refused, the side that first initiated one, whether victorious or defeated, would have to wait a year after it ended before launching another. The side forced to accept, however, could launch a new Battle for Prefectures against its opponent consecutively, whether it won or lost.
While a Battle for Prefectures was underway, the Sacred Academy would dispatch Great Scholars and Half-Sage Incarnations unaffiliated with either kingdom to form special supervisory envoys, who would judge and oversee the conflict.
These supervisory envoys possessed considerable authority.
For example, once one side's casualties exceeded twenty percent in a battle, the supervisory envoys would hold a vote. If