Kindleleaf Vow

The Kindleleaf Vow is also known as Soul Sprouting and the Sproutwatch.
The Kindleleaf Vow is a tradition practiced by the ysoki of the Masoud Desert. The ritual symbolizes personal growth and the belief that even in the harshest lands, something new can thrive. It's an act of personal reflection and a blending of the clans and their shared values of perseverance, experimentation, and reinvention. The Kindleleaf Vow is held at the beginning of the growing season, which is usually marked by the arrival of the Serastra, the Vigilant Wing, high in the night sky.
Serastra is a constellation that represents a perched falcon. Desert ysoki assumed the constellation appeared after the disappearance of Zindra, as Serastra was her faithful, winged companion. The clans gather beneath her to begin the ritual. Each ysoki selects a single seed to plant. The seed is never random and, instead, is symbolic to the individual. Some ysoki grow drought-resistant herbs, others choose succulents, and a handful of them might choose hybrid plants of their own creation. The seed represents a personal goal, a habit to change, or a hope for the future.
The seed is then planted in a deliberately cracked pot, usually one that's been passed down through families or crafted during the previous year's ritual. The crack is symbolic as well, representing flaws, past failures, and the idea that growth doesn't need perfection. It only needs effort. Each ysoki declares what their seed represents, allowing a moment of vulnerability between the clans. Once every seed has been planted, the ysoki place their pots in sunny places during the morning. Most often, the sprout pots are placed on rooftops.
Ysoki are busybodies, though, and not all of them have the time to tend to their plants. Their clanmates will visit their plants regularly to tend to them and leave small tokens of appreciation behind. If the plant thrives, it's a good omen that indicates a goal will bear fruit. The plant is then carefully planted in a communal garden or dried and added to spice blends or medicine. If the plant dies, it's not a bad omen necessarily. Rather, it becomes an opportunity for reflection. Some ysoki will use the dead seedling or plant in their art or dry them out to wear as jewelry.
Each clan has their own variation of the ritual, but the message is the same across them all. It's a lesson on self-discovery and the growth that comes with it. The Siroccos engineer strange hybrid plants, using the ritual as a time to unleash horticultural chaos. Their creations often lead to humorous results. The Redstones are much more solemn in their celebration and use the Kindleleaf Vow as a time to connect with their ancestors. They carefully write the names of lost kin on small rocks that they use to decorate their sprout pots.
The Dunwalls use it as an opportunity to test new inventions, like irrigation tools or sun mirrors. It isn't a race to grow their plants faster to appear powerful to the other clans. It's merely curiosity pushing them forward and encouraging them to tinker. The Ludwellers, who originated from caverns, favor fungi as their plants of choice. They especially enjoy ones that are bioluminescent.