Blessing of the Fields

The one most important thing that all of humanity relies upon is to have enough food to survive to another day, and, if at all possible, enough food to survive winter and any natural or supernatural complications that the season bring. Without food, there is no survival, without survival, palaces turn to ruins to rocks, to dust.

Blessing of the fields is a unique ritual that brings together all social classes into one big theatrical spectacle that is supposed to bless and start the next harvest season. It is time when nobility accepts and honours the lowest class of people, the humble farmers who toil day after day in their fields, hoping that the next harvest will be better than the previous one. Not attending this ritual can significantly undermine a factions power in any region it holds claim to. It is seen as an open defiance to the will of the heavens and it would be considered as a symbol of corruption and hard times to be.

the most important blessing is the one that the royal family and its descendants attend. Each year a different farmland is chosen, usually from one of the most important clans or minister families that the current monarch favours. The ritual itself consists of chanting and reciting prayers, blessing of the tools used to plant and harvest different types of produce and on some occassions also blessings gfor the farm animals. Each thing is carefully documented and each gesture and word must be carefuly observed as inscribed in the myths or records of the previous generations. If something out of order appears and the harvest is good the next year it can serve as a divine proof that heaven supports the current ruling generation or clan. If not, starvation serves as a great cause for a justified rebellion.