New Year Celebrations

For most people on the Blessed Isle, Calibration is a dark and somber time, filled with much reason for fear. The first day of Ascending Air marks the end of this time and the beginning of a new year, and the people take to the streets to celebrate the event.

Celebrations begin at dawn, with nearly every person on the Blessed Isle rising to offer prayers of thanks to the Unconquered Sun. Incense sticks, often painted in gold, are burned in his name. This is followed by a grand family meal where people enjoy Golden Pork, a roast pork dish of saffron and yellow shades, and chew upon sugar cane. People then take to the streets, banging boards with wooden batons and tossing the last of their Calibration firecrackers in a noisy conflagration. The evening meal is typically lighter, dominated by fresh fruits, and sticks of red-painted incense are burned as thanks are offered to the Realm (and, by some, to the Scarlet Empress). Friends assemble to enjoy copious amounts of drink and associated games.

At night, as the moon rises, prayers of thanks are offered to Luna, and people snack upon sweet moon cakes, crescent pastries filled with sweet red-bean paste or (amongst the rich) the yolks of duck eggs. These cakes are popular with nearly everyone in part due to their artificial scarcity: the Immaculate Order considers their baking and consumption to be undue worship at all times of year other than New Year's Day. Celebrations continue long into the night, with crowds roaming the streets guiding large costumes & puppets depicting the Elemental Dragons, and coloured lanterns, offering prayers to the Dragons.