Festival of Hesiesh

Time: Annual, 14th day of Resplendent Fire.

Location: Realm-wide

Host: Immaculate Order

Invitations: Public

Theme and Activity: This festival is a celebration of the Immaculate Dragon of Fire, Hesiesh. 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 red or orange and sometimes imagery of flames.

Unlike the other Festivals of the Immaculate Dragons, the Festival of Hesiesh is condensed into a single day, to better represent the single moment of perfected action which is His ideal. Most people engage in mass prayer (not only to the Elemental Dragon of Water, but to numerous other deities scheduled to receive their due on this day according to the Prayer Calendar) and reflection on how they might emulate the Fire Immaculate and refrain from approximating the Illiberal Churl, taking place at all Immaculate temples and shrines regardless of individual leaning. Monks walk the streets to gather crowds and read tales of the Fire Dragon from the Immaculate Texts. There are also parades and open celebration, where aspects of Fire are encouraged to flare their animas in public.

Every lamp, candle, and fireplace in the Realm is said to be lit aflame and kept burning during the Festival, and the streets and trees are filled with paper lanterns, for though it is but one day against the three of the other Immaculate Festivals, such is its power that the flames are said to keep Creation alight through the darkness of night, to be extinguished only the next day as the return of the Unconquered Sun marks the close of the Festival.

Though not sanctioned by the Immaculate Order, the Festival day of Hesiesh is often used as a time to launch new endeavours and resolve old grievances... in places where Dragonblooded politicking is thick in the air, it is a day that sees a substantial number of duels.