Sarastran

The cultural practices of adherents to the Order of Sarastro are quite distinct from those of the mostly-human settlements in the surrounding regions of the Central Duchy and Eastern Duchy of Dreibach.

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

Music within worship is always unaccompanied, unless with the organ in the Prime Sarastran Temple, which is considered the only holy instrument. Each of its pipes was individually consecrated by all of the original apostles of Sarastro; since some of these have died, no replica can be made.
Outside of worship, playing wind instruments in a regimented band is seen as a wholesome and character-building exercise for youth in particular. Stringed instruments are seen as lascivious and overly decadent.

Art & Architecture

The fine art and architecture of the Sarastrans is nearly unparallelled in Dreibach. The Prime Sarastran Temple is the ur-example, but Sarastran schools, satellite temples, and mansions across Belcantas display extraordinarily ornate artworks. The Order commissions oil paintings and statuary from great masters, depicting religious themes and figures. Stonework (particularly in white marble and Travertine), gold leaf, and pure white and scarlet cloth are common materials in Sarastran masterworks.

Foods & Cuisine

Sarastran food tends towards delicate flavors and uniform textures. Housewives pride themselves on the softness of their bread rolls, always made from highly refined white flour and often mildly sweet. Standard spice shakers on table usually hold salt and allspice. Any source of heat or spice is rare and typically limited to mustard and horseradish (occasionally black pepper). Beets are a common ingredient.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

Children are baptized in the temple on their third birthday. They are dressed in white gowns (often made from their mother's virginal temple gown). The child's father lights a small candle, and the child's mother must stick her finger in it, as a reminder of the hellfire she will face if she does not raise the child to walk the Righteous Path, and recite a vow from the Sarastran Enchiridion pledging to train up the child to follow faithfully behind Sarastro. The mother then hands the baby to the father, who holds it as high as he can while intoning the traditional call to prayer, considered the child's "first calling." The officiant then submerges the child in water from the Lüdda River, sealing them to the Sarastran homeland.

Funerary and Memorial customs

When a Sarastran in good standing dies, their body is washed, dressed in white robes, and laid on an altar for their funeral. A close family member, usually one designated in their will, carves into their chest and removes their heart. An elder from the church (most often the Apostle of Purity) then weighs their heart against a golden feather on a set of brass scales. If the heart is found to be lighter than the feather, they are buried with full honors in a graveyard ordained by Sarastro or his apostles, most typically the graveyard around the Lyceum of the Dead in Breughelland. If it is heavier than the feather, their body is burned, their ashes are scattered across water, and their name becomes taboo to mention except to disparage them. (Some ex-members of the religion speculate that there are different ceremonial feathers used to manipulate the judgment of the scales, such as hollow or lead-filled feathers.)

Common Taboos

Any sort of gender non-conforming dress or behavior is considered enormously taboo, with the exception of robes and long hair allowed for male religious figures and Sarastran-born aasimar. This taboo is enshrined as a sumptuary law in Breughelland's town charter and heavily enforced. Men and especially schoolboys with overly long hair often have it cut forcibly and publicly.
Converts to Sarastranism are expected to see the religion as their heritage and cut ties with ancestries and homelands. Keeping items such as one's Halfling clan beading is both socially unacceptable and illegal in Breughelland, though this law is typically not enforced unless in conjunction with another crime.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Blonde hair is seen as a desirably masculine trait, associated with the sun and with Sarastro's golden eye. Women with blonde hair are sometimes seen as prideful or overly ambitious. Henna dyes are not uncommon.
Long hair is said to be a woman's glory, particularly when wavy or slightly curly. It is usually worn partially pulled back, with no braiding or ornamentation.
Thin, petite women are seen as the most desirable. A wider variety of body types are acceptable for men, though any men who are particularly thin or particularly fat are considered lazy, indulgent, and weak.

Gender Ideals

Gender roles in Sarastran communities are strictly enforced. Men are expected to be stable, strong, ambitious, and active leaders of their families who operate on logic and faith equally. Women are expected to be polite, demure, gentle, and deferential to the men in their lives.

Major organizations

The Order of Sarastro is, of course, the origin and primary overseer of the practices of the Sarastrans.

An example of Sarastran religious art, displayed in a shrine to Isis.

Parent ethnicities

• Human

Related Locations

• Breughelland