Festival of Pasiap
Time: Annual, 13th to 15th days of Resplendent Earth.
Location: Realm-wide
Host: Immaculate Order
Invitations: Public
Theme and Activity: This festival is a celebration of the Immaculate Dragon of Earth, Pasiap. The inhabitants of the Realm, from Dynast to peasant, wear clothes (or, in the case of the poor, scraps of cloth tied in hair or as armbands) displaying shades of white or yellow and sometimes imagery of mountains and stones.
The first day of the Festival is traditionally a day of mass prayers (not only to the Elemental Dragon of Earth, but to numerous other deities scheduled to receive their due on this day according to the Prayer Calendar) and reflection on how one might emulate the Earth Immaculate and refrain from approximating the Ostentatious Peasant, taking place at all Immaculate temples and shrines regardless of individual leaning. Monks will walk the streets to gather crowds and read tales of the Earth Dragon from the Immaculate Texts.
The second day (14 Resplendent Earth, the season’s ‘Apex’) is traditionally a day of parades and open celebration, where aspects of Earth are encouraged to flare their animas in public. At dawn, a parade of Immaculate monks leaves each temple, carrying yellow lanterns and placards displaying relevant quotes from the Immaculate texts. These monks chant the hymns of Pasiap as they walk through the streets of their towns and cities. They continue this parade without rest throughout the day and long into the night, before returning to their temples with the next dawn.
Traditionally the final day of the Festival is the most auspicious time to begin a construction project: even for those who have no such resources, it is a day to work on small renovations and improvements in tribute to the Immaculate Architect.
The Festival of Pasiap is a festival of abstinence... most of the Realm’s inhabitants on this day will closely follow Immaculate dietary restrictions and refrain from passionate acts such as violence or sexual activity. The Dragonblooded are not held to high standards in this regard, a fact attributed to their advanced state of enlightenment.
