Ruby Moon/Lucifena's Bane Festival

"As if things aren't hard enough for them already, tieflings are particularly vulnerable around this time of year in places where faith is strong. Unless they're smart enough to be loudly critical of the Blood Lord, or are already known and respected by their community, that is. If a tiefling prisoner is already sentenced to death for a crime, the sentence will usually be carried out on this day.
It's sometimes snidely viewed as 'sending them home' by the ignorant among us, regardless of the fact that there isn't the slightest shred of evidence that their souls are always bound for the Nine Hells." - Anuah the Bard, Quel'Maraen Almanac 6th Edition

Unlike the Wardens, the majority of the Betrayer Gods arrived to Asperyon from other places - either parallel realities that overlapped with the Prime Material Plane (as it is currently understood) for too long or too closely, or other planes of existence. The recorded day of their arrival (or else their first recorded instance of contact with a mortal) has become known as their 'Summoning Day', the day when it is easiest to attract their attention with a petition.
The Ruby Moon Festival is a religious event held to summon the attention and potentially make a beneficial contract with the ruler of the Nine Hells or one of it's denizens. It has a Trinitian alter ego that occurs at the same time, known as Lucifena's Bane, which is intended to primarily thwart the bad intentions of the goddess that Trinitians consider the bride of Asmodeus.

History

The first (and every subsequent) Summoning Day of Asmodeus was marked by both moons of Asperyon, usually either a pale white or greenish-gold in colour, shining a blood red colour instead. This led to the association of Asmodeus with rubies and the colour red long before anyone actually recorded what the god's true form looked like.
Attempting to travel on this night is considered particularly unwise, due to the likelihood of attacks by stray denizens of the Hells, as this is the one night a year when even the weakest of devils can cross to the material plane if they are crafty enough. Most communities, particularly rural ones, will get together and take shelter in their local temple or any place with consecrated ground as a precaution.

Execution

While his own cultists use his Summoning Day to bolster the power of their own attempts to secure an audience with a devil - either the Blood Lord himself or one of his many lesser minions - worshippers of the Wardens use the Ruby Moon Festival to abjure the influence of Asmodeus.
Similarly, Trinitian priests lead their worshippers in a solemn night of prayer and confession to keep their own envisioning of both Asmodeus and his wife Lucifena at bay for the rest of the year.
Those wishing to summon Asmodeus are directed to make a blood sacrifice at the full height of the Ruby Moon, pouring the blood across a specially engraved ruby as large in size as they can acquire. This is not always on the 9th, as it depends more heavily on the lunar cycle - if the moons aren't glowing red, it is believed that whatever petition is being made will not reach the ears of the Blood Lord. If they are successful an emissary will usually be sent to make a transaction with the person who committed the sacrifice. The power of the emissary sent is believed to correlate to the value and power of the sacrificed creature.
Those wishing to abjure the influence of Asmodeus often conduct a ritual with their community, calling on the protection of one of their deity of choice. Depending on the power of the priest conducting the ritual and the nature of their deity, a ruby is ceremonially inscribed with runes to seal the negative power of the Hells acts as a ritual replacement for Asmodeus. This 'locks' it in place and keeps the Betrayer God's ill intent from harming the community.
Prayers of abjuration are said, usually involving a blessing spell (though a dispelling of magic is sometimes used instead) and the ruby is then ground into gem dust and disposed of - typically the priest either buries it on holy ground, or throws it into a nearby source of running water such as a river or sea. Either way, the objective of the disposal is to ensure that it cannot be used by worshippers of Asmodeus in their own rituals.

Components and tools

SUMMONING

• Ritual Tome (for guidance and to copy the required magical circles from)
• Magical ink or chalk (for the drawing of magical circles)
• A ruby (typically a few inches across so that it is big enough for the spell runes)
• Jeweller's tools (used to inscribe)
• A consecrated ritual weapon (to conduct the blood sacrifice)

ABJURATION

• Incense (to be burned on an altar, typically in two 1SP blocks)
• A ruby (typically a few inches across so that it is big enough for the spell runes)
• Jeweller's tools (used to inscribe and/or subsequently crush the Ruby into Gem Dust)

Participants

Summoning Rituals

A summoning ritual requires only one individual devotee, since only one person is required to conduct a sacrifice with appropriate preparations beforehand. Nonetheless, the ritual can be conducted by many, and is sometimes accompanied by a night of drinking and debauchery among those who follow Asmodeus.
Both the Knights of the Ruby and the Order of the Ruby Cross (which is the name they operate under in Trinitian territories) are known to attack and desecrate the holy sites of other gods in the name of Asmodeus on this night, turning those they slay into their sacrifice and then putting the locale to the torch as they leave in an imitation of the fires of the Nine Hells. Those acting in the name of the primarily-male Order of the Ruby Cross are often accompanied by priestesses from their primarily-female counterpart (The Weaver's Coven) in this endeavour.

Abjuring Rituals

Depending on the size of the community and their religious leanings, either the whole community can attend (common for small settlements) or only the devout. The event is usually lead by a high priest of the local church or temple to the settlement's patron deity. In small, highly religious communities, not attending this ritual can lead to suspicion and loss of social standing.

Observance

The Ruby Moon Festival is typically observed when one or both of the moons are full and glowing blood red in the first weeks of Caiyasta - usually around the 9th.

Primary Related Location

Carveja

Important Locations

• Ihiyo Depths
• Scarred Plains

Related Organizations

• Knights of the Ruby
• Order of the Ruby Cross
• The Weaver's Coven
• Trinitian Church

Related Ethnicities

• Bravumian
• Carvejan