#i unfortunately know very little about fan dancing so if his pose looks wonky i apologize :(

[team-mythic-beasts]

The Rain Prayer: Qí Yǔ 〈祈雨〉

(Note: Ascendant = a mortal awarded god status by any of the Primordial Gods)

“Cheng rarely smiles while fan dancing because he’s really invested in it - in fact, he’s absolutely in love with the art. He told me that of all the routines he’s learned, the Rain Prayer is his personal favorite. In fact, he does it so beautifully, it’s almost like this dance was made for him. Oh, and it actually rains every time he performs it! As expected of a water mage...” — Luke

Hey, I remember this one! It’s from the time Lucas asked if I could teach him fan dancing. Guess it’s time for me to “nerd out.”

I studied the Rain Prayer - Qí Yǔ in the shrine of Kinolaimi, Ascendant Goddess of the Arts, and I love it for its historical significance: it was a product of the Great Famine of Illiosa! We worship the Sun Goddess here, and our ancestors, for some while, took rainfall as a sign that Lady Photia would abandon them. So, for a very long while, our goddess was pressured into days of clear skies… and it turned out to be a bad thing.

All across Isle Primavere and Isle Autunno (where I’m from), crops couldn’t grow and livestock died before they were ready to be harvested. People starved and pleaded for the Ascendants to bring back rainy days.

Kinolaimi worked with Prasin, Goddess of the Harvest, to create Qí Yǔ. They sent their acolytes—the first fan dancers—to Isle Inverno, where they would perform the dance to the Primordial Gods.

It was a successful campaign. The isles were granted three whole days of rain, and after that, rainfall was restored to normal rates. It is also a reason why Kinolaimi’s and Prasin’s shrines remained, long after the Ascendants of Illiosa vanished. There have been many performances of Qí Yǔ since then, and I got to see one at a festival many years ago. But since none of them had their feet submerged in water, they did not summon any rain.

Not only can it summon rain, but it’s soothing, too. Hyatt falls asleep within seconds, and I get lost in it easily. When I focus on my dance, it blocks out all the noise in my mind and lets me be at peace… even if only for a little while.

— 誠。