As it appears that the discipline of Harmony is based partially around the political and social maneuvering common to many aspects of the game, and there are many, many ways to express that in a separate context, I'm putting down an idea for a 'challenge' of sorts; this will, if it meets with enough support, hopefully become an ongoing attraction throughout the Tale.
The Test of Towers revolves around Architects placing the buildings in out-of-the-way areas, throughout Egypt. This requires a substantial investment in resources, though not so much that it's possible to easily predict just -how many- towers will be placed in a given period of time. As it's been shown, this has ranged from 20 to over 50 in just a few weeks of the Telling, and is probably going to become just that much more variable as time goes on.
The Tower Lotteries are run by an independent guild -- the House of Senet. It's a simple betting game; players put down shares on up to three numbers, of 50 charcoal apiece. Then, players who guess correctly reap the returns. The players must guess for the _hour after the next_, to avoid last minute manipulation, and once the hour beforehand has completed, betting is closed for the next. Simultaneously, it opens for the hour afterwards, and the cycle continues.
Players may place as many shares on the numbers they wish, though they can only choose up to three numbers. This prevents players from 'coating' the field with 2,000 charcoal, though even doing that would be a gamble under unrestricted circumstances. When the Hour bet on has completed, prizes are distributed as follows...
First, 1500 charcoal has been collected total, for a total of 30 shares split between ten players. Three players guessed the number correctly; player A put down one share, player B put down two, and player C put down three. Six shares therefore earn prizes. The house takes 5% for travel costs and effort, or 75 charcoal. This leaves 1425 charcoal in the pot. 237.5 charcoal is distributed per share. Player A gets 237 charcoal, player B gets 475, and player C gets 712, for a total of 1424 charcoal. The one remaining piece is left for the next hour.
Because each of those shares was 50 charcoal, the return was roughly 4.6 times what they put down -- quite a nice return for a simple bet!
The player may only vote on one hour at a time, up to three times. To do so, they place charcoal in the chest, transfer it to the guild, and leave a note with the teller. The chest should, preferably, be labeled with the owner, date and type of the Hour, as well as how many shares are being placed on each number...for example:
Sedelyan, June 6 5.00AM UTC-4, Hand of Man, 3-50, 2-52, 1-38.
The above example means that Sedelyan placed three shares on the number 50, two on the number 52, and one on 38 -- guesses on how many towers would be built in THAT hour. Because of the calendar system, it's important to use UTC for easy reference, to avoid confusion. (A ballpark estimate can nonetheless help with this.)
Chests built over another will disqualify the offending player from any future events, permanently. It's wise to space your chest out just enough from others that, if needed, it can be upgraded to a large chest at your leisure.