Tokyo Holy Grail War

The Tokyo Holy Grail War (東京聖杯戦争) of Fate/Prototype takes place in Tokyo. It differs from that of the alternate world's Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars in that, while it is an informal affair, the ritual is something formally requested by the authorities of the Church. One among the over one hundred Cardinals in the heart of the Holy Church withdrew a specific Imitation Grail with a plan to recreate the miracle in the Far East. Peddling the idea of it being a wish-granting machine to participating magi, he planned to use the souls of seven Servants as the ignition charge, a primer, to summon a being of a higher level of existence, Beast. The Masters and Servants are given Command Spells of different ranks.

History
During the First Holy Grail War of Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Sky Silver, Manaka Sajyou and Saber ultimately defeated the other six Masters and obtained the Grail. Though Manaka had been supposedly acting in her family's interest of reaching the Root, she instead planned to incarnate the Beast by sacrificing people for their souls. She killed her own father, but Saber, disgusted with her and the Holy Grail, betrayed her before she could kill her sister, Ayaka Sajyou. She was stabbed and tossed into the Greater Grail, ending the war.

The Second Holy Grail War of Fate/Prototype happened eight years later, and Ayaka summoned Saber as her own Servant. The nature of the Holy Grail War seemed normal with seven Masters participating, but Sancraid Phahn was not one of the ranked Masters. Manaka was revived by the Holy Grail as a Master, and she brought forth the six defeated Servants of the previous war while waiting for the Beast to fully incarnate.

Procedure
The Minor Grail (小聖杯 (シンボル)) was developed to summon the benevolent souls of Heroic Spirits, and the underground Greater Grail (地下大聖杯 (セイントグラフ)) was developed to store a large number of souls. The features of the Holy Grail are almost identical to that of the Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars other than those differences. The Greater Grail, a three dimensional magic circle and natural furnace, is inside a giant cavern below the city. Sacrifices can be fed to it, and it contains a black, mud-like content reminiscent of the sea. Though participants are made to believe it can grant wishes and lead to the Root, the true use is as a cauldron for the chaotic soup made from souls to incarnate and give shape to the Beast.

The Holy Grail takes the form of a chalice because it is a miracle of the Christian God, a Gauge that proves the mysteries of ancient times. The purpose of a chalice is to carry water and thus acts as a container for water, and the Holy Grail, a chalice forged through the grace of God, is a container for the metaphysical, carrying the thoughts of men. Thoughts are a resource that carry no energy, and they are not physically observable. The Holy Grail is able to grant form to those thoughts to recreate Heroic Spirits, the shared illusions dreamed by humans throughout history, and it can be said that the Holy Grail's role should end there. Heroes are those born from good will, but many humans also wish for an ill will called desire that makes the Holy Grail itself something that was mad from the start.