Rite of Infinite Sands

In the desert oasis city of Zafir, Mourianji there is a towering hourglass upon a clock tower filled with luminescent sands. As the seasons pass, the hourglass is tilted to match the life and growth of the region. In the fall and winter, as the temperatures cool allowing for crops to grow, the sand is slowed to symbolize how the season stretches the life of the city. In the spring and summer, where the heat is unbearable and crops dry and burn, the sand surges forth.
The hourglass was made upon the direction of a traveling oracle, and once built, a second vision foretold of the city's demise upon the last grain of sand pouring through the hourglass. This methodical turning is a way of ensuring that the hourglass never stops pouring. As thie ritual has continued for decades, it has become a celebration of the city's immortality and a sense of comfort to the denizens of the city.

History

The legend is that an oracle, Corval the Wanderer, had made his way to the city of Zafir where he had a vision upon crossing through the gates. He bade the city to take the sands of the Glittering Dune and place it within a massive hourglass. The beautiful sands would be a beacon of life and prospertiy in the city, protecting them from siege or occupation. After three years, the hourglass had been constructed and the town turned the hourglass. Once it began pouring, Corval was granted another, more haunting vision: the city would fall when the last grain fell in the hourglass. The slow trickle of sand suddenly felt like a torrent. To save their city, on each solstice and equinox, the town ritually rotates the hourglass to various degrees to increase or slow the passage of sand throughout the year.
In present day Zafir, the rite is as much celebration as it is ritual. Games and tournaments are held. Music, food, and drink are shared amongst the populace. The city has been turning the hourglass for decades, and the citizens are filled with pride and a certain sense of invulnerability in their city as the sand has never wavered.

Execution

Similar to the celebration of a new year, the town is full of merriment as they count down to midnight each solstice and equinox. As they count down, the hourglass is slowly turned until it reaches the appropriate angle for each season.

• Summer Solstice Perpendicular to the ground with the fuller globe skyward. The fastest the ever flows, symbolically showing the dangerous heat and the dead season's risk to the city.
• Fall Equinox A 30 degree angle from parallel to the ground with the fuller globe skyward. The slowing of the sand a symbol of the start of the growing season.
• Winter Solstice A 15 degree angle from parallel to the ground with the emptier globe skyward. The sand is moved to a mere trickle during the most fruitful part of the year.
• Spring Equinox A 45 degree angle from parellel to the ground with the fuller globe skyward. The sand begins to surge once more as the harvest takes place and the city prepares for another scorching summer.

Primary Related Location

Zafir

Important Locations

• Mourianji