The religion of the Haighlei Empire enforced a strict rigidity on the culture of the empire. Once a pattern was set or a social rule made, it could not be altered or overturned except during the height of the Eclipse Ceremony. Once every twenty years, there was a total solar eclipse, visible in the more southern regions of Velgarth. During this brief window, the Haighlei emperors could mandate changes in law and society. As it is written in the Haighlei holy books: "When the sun vanishes at midday, then change comes to the Haighlei." [The White Gryphon, chapter four]