Category:Festivals & Traditions
There are three major fêtes in Urth, celebrated across all lands, as well as many which are endemic to a particular nation or region, and virtually unknown outside of that particular area, although a large number of these are also interrelated, if not exactly the same.
Contents
Major Festivals
- Spring Awakening (at the beginning of blooming season)
- Autumn's End (during the final reaping of the fields)
- Yule (in the middle of winter; a time meant to spread cheer and joy in the bleakness of the cold)
Other Holidays
Realm-wide
Kingdom-wide
On the first day of the new year, the entire kingdom takes to the streets, even if a blizzard is underway, to visit their friends and family and wish them a blessed new year. Typically, each house sets out the best of what they can afford by way of hand held foods that are easily portable. The traditional offerings are nuts, dried fruits, the remaining pears, cookies and breads, as well as dried meat sticks. Warming drinks are also kept over the fire to chase the chill off of the company's travail into the cold.
In the larger cities of the kingdom, the highest ranked noble in the area will typically send out some selections of visiting foods and hot wassail to the city square for the populace to enjoy, as a token of hospitality for the new year. While the populace enjoys the meager offerings sent out, the nobility of the city are typically all gathered in the home of the new year's host, being regaled with fine foods, quality wine and musical entertainment.
The new year is welcomed by all people of all stations. It is considered a holy day by the church, and frequently the people talk of making fresh starts to go with the new year itself. The church endorses and encourages the view of coming clean and living a pure and holy life, and holds a special mass at sunrise for the faithful to come and avow their lives anew as Davites. Following mass, the confessionals are packed for hours, by people wishing to begin their new year with a clear conscience, before they begin their visits.
During the new year's festival, people of all ranks in the city not only greet family and friends, but also go door-to-door as neighbors. The rich hand out small gifts to the poor, and it has become an informal tradition to prove one's wealth by giving the most gifts. The Holy Order distributes a loaf of bread baked with a Chalice crest to every family in Lithmore for each new year's winter.
Across the kingdom, the longest day of the year is a highly anticipated event, occurring on the twenty-second day of the sixth month. It is around this time that the summer heat becomes greatest and the workdays long and weary. Therefore, a day off from labors to enjoy the holiday is much enjoyed by people of all stations. Summer Solstice is a celebration of all that is good in life: food, drink, family, friends, entertainment, and good health. The length of the day makes it ideal for celebrating so many blessings bestowed on all people regardless of class.
Breezy canopies are set up in city and village alike for the populace to cool off under. The traditional fare includes a wide array of summer fruits and vegetables, as well as honey sweetened treats and mead. In most areas, there is a competition to see who can concoct the best or most usual honeyed delicacy, as a celebration of the sweetness of life. There is also typically contests revolving around melon growth or seed spitting, and seeing fruit juice stained faces is a common sight everywhere. The celebrations begin at sunrise and continue until well past the late sun setting.
The Kissing Festival happens at the very end of Chalice Rising (at the start of Aprilis) as a gateway from the religious holiday's austerity into the brighter, more cheerful celebrations of Spring Awakening.
The specific tradition originated in Wilhelm when a local woman, in a state of drunkenness after the tilling and planting was at last completed, moved from man to man securing a kiss from each person she encountered. Not to be outdone, the other women of the village followed suit, and it became a yearly tradition - particularly popular in the cities, where Spring Awakening is less tied to the earth.
One of the foremost insults in Wilhelm stems from this festival - 'You couldn't even get kissed at the Kissing Festival' (man to man), or 'I wouldn't even kiss you at the Kissing Festival' (woman to man), and 'You won't find me at the Kissing Festival' (man to woman [rare]) - and has been known to be the cause of quite a few fistfights and more in Wilhelm. Local midwives claim that nine months following the festival is their busiest season. Pregnancies soon after the Kissing Festival are looked upon with envy by other women, and the baby is considered to be one born in luck.
In SC 298, on the 23rd day of Quintilis, the Princess of Lithmore celebrated her En Passant. With great joy, the Royal Family proclaimed her birthday a national holiday to be celebrated every year, and to pass down as a legacy to her own heirs when the time came. The King made much of his daughter's majority and sent vast supplies of wine, ale, baked goods, fruits, vegetables and dried meats, as well as clothing to the city square for the entire populace's enjoyment. In light of the strained time of plague and rationing at its occurrence, the gesture endeared the king in the eyes of the people. In the years following, similar gifts were sent to the city in celebration of her birthday, though never in quite as grand scale as her coming of age.
Quintilis 16th marks an important day across all Lithmorran and Farin calendars. It is upon this day in the year 305 of the Lord that Queen Richael ab Harmon and Cameron de Montford were wed, uniting the two nations and blood lines together. During the preceding war, Cameron de Montford offered refuge for the Queen-to-be, securing her away from those that would see her harmed. Although Farin desired no part in war - enjoying their period of peace - they stepped in to help the woman. This decision led to the eventual coronation of the heir as Queen. Today, the 16th shall be remembered as the complete end of the war and the joining of Lithmore and Farin, known officially as "The Calm."
Talfore
(Talfore) - Held in late fall each year, the turkey calling trials of Talfore are a time wherein villagers each seek to emulate a turkey, trying to draw the attention - and therefore the prize - of the largest 'Tom' of the city. Contestants gather in a large circle, with the Tom in the center, and work to garner his charge. At its culmination, all adult turkeys are slaughtered, and a bakeoff is held, with all manner of turkey delights for participants and spectators alike.
Lithmore
(Lithmore) - Broaching of the wines.
The Lithmorran Wine Festival is held annually, on the first day of the Realm's Chalice Rising Festival. This involves the ceremonial (by each head of household) broaching of the wine cask from the most recently fermented year.
During the Wine Festival, the citizens of Lithmore share their wines with their neighbors, and traditionally the Royal family broaches a cask of their best wine for the populace in the city square.
Wine Festival is held on the 28th day of Maritus (third month of the year) in the city of Lithmore. Many of the outlying townships' citizens visit Lithmore around this time to partake in the celebration, as well as make their tributes during Chalice Rising.
(Lithmore)
The Festival of the Hunt is held in Lithmore on the sixth day of the eighth month. It is a day for the men of the kingdom, of all classes, to show off their hunting prowess, although more than one lady has been known to participate in the hunt and actually win. It arises from times long past where hunters were some of the primary food sources for the local people, and their capabilities to provide were highly regarded. It has since become a more formal and planned event, although still quite happily anticipated.
The licensed hunters gather outside the city gates at dawn. There is great pomp surrounding the initiation of the hunt with grandiose speeches and fanfares. They are then released to begin their hunt and try to bring down as many or as big of kills as possible until the sun reaches its apex in the sky. The game is collected by designated helpers who return the carcasses to the brightly colored pavillion for dressing and cooking near the city gates. While the hunters complete their circuits, the kills are catalogued by judges, the hart being considered the most noble of game, then turned over to be cooked on the numerous spits set up.
By the time the hunters have returned, a large portion of meat is already nearly finished cooking and being distributed amongst the crowds for consumption. Likewise, tables are usually set up with wide spreads of dates, breads, melons and fresh raw vegetables. The organs are reserved to give as gifts to any honored guest attendants, and some meat is given to the dogs who helped with the hunt. Then, once the meats are prepared and cooked, a feast with music and dancing begins, where the entire city comes out to celebrate full stomachs after a long day's hunt.
(Lithmorran) - It's commonly believed that in the late-autumn season, when the nights are crisp and dark and the moons at their brightest and most vivid, witches and demons are at their most powerful; the Holy Order retreats in vigilant prayer at this time of year to banish the moons from the very sky in a bid to protect the kingdom from them.
The Magebane Festival is held at the end of Octobris to both celebrate a bountiful autumn harvest and aid the Order in keeping demons away. Masks are often employed to hide from mages, and loud revelry, shouting, and plenty of good spirit intends to drive off demons who may more easily cross over from the abyss. After the feasts have ended, high-spirited "patrols" will roam the streets beating on drums, carrying candles, singing, and shouting - there is a sense of safety and camaraderie in these night vigils that can be comforting during a threatening time.
Tubor
(Tubori cities) - Among the seafaring folk of Tubor, great stock is placed in the dexterity and balance of its menfolk. Each month, the Tubori cities - or ships, if at sea - will hold a large competition wherein the participants must maintain their balance on the topmost spar of a ship's forecastle. Whomever has the longest hang time is the winner, and earns the right to compete in the yearly Tubori Spar Balancing Showdown, held in the capital of the Duchy during springtime. While many are the Tubori men who will brag of holding one or another title in Spar Balancing, the act is truly much more difficult than the claim, and a true master spar balancer is a rarity.
The Charalin Plains
The Charalin peoples are proud of their horse stocks and have celebrated the swiftest of them since long before the days of the Consolidation. As they travel about, it is quite common for them to challenge the others they meet to a race with their fastest racing steed. This serves for each breeder to determine the strengths and weaknesses of their chosen racer and if it should participate in the Great Charalin Horse Races, held on the first day of the sixth month.
For the Great Races, the Charali migrate from all over the plains to a central location. Each family prepares a grand breakfast for their own group, and then offers to share about with the others nearby, resulting in one large scale breakfast buffet. While breakfasting, horses are registered to race, and more than one breeder has dropped an entry on seeing someone else who effectively outraced their horse before. The horses are then slated to race in heats and bets are typically made on the quiet as to how the fields will turn out.
The heats begin at noon, and the winning horse of each is then rested until following dinner that evening. This gives the gathered people time to socialize and party, share another meal with one another and comment on the days results thus far. Following the evening meal, the final race is held to determine the swiftest horse of the plains for the year. Upon the culmination of the final race, bets are paid up, and the celebrations continue well into the night. The crowds disperse at sunrise to go back to their wandering ways.
Traditions
Lithmore
(Lithmorran/Farin) - Celebration of the coming of age for females, the ceremony which marks their passage from a child to a woman. Typically given within two weeks of the girl's 16th birthday, it is only after completion of this ceremony that the woman is considered eligible for marriage. The En Passant is celebrated with a large party, including all of the village inhabitants (or quarter, in cities), with the girl clad in her brightest and best woolen clothes. All attendees of the revelry traditionally present the new woman with a gift which will help her in her future years, either domestically or financially. It is said that this tradition actually began in Farin, and indeed is practiced there and in many of the larger cities of other Duchies.
Farin
(See En Passant)
The Charalin Plains
When Charalin youth reach the age of thirteen, they are turned out into the wild with nothing more than a knife. They to survive on their own wits for the entire span of Elliuh (approx. 31 days) to prove that they have the survival skills necessary to be an adult on the Plains.
Until Elliueh becomes full, the Charali youth may not begin to track and pursue their families. During this time, it is their task to clothe themselves, creating weapons and gain some coup or honor in pursuit of their name. As Elliueh begins to wax or wane, depending o when the cycle started, the youth may begin to make their way through the wilds towards their family. When they arrive, they are met with a greater celebration than the day they entered the world. There is no birthday, but a naming day, when the Boy or Girl gains their place in the tribe as an adult. By gaining this, they are able to speak their opinion within their clan and be counted among the warriors when battle is called.
As a rule, a Charalin's surname is often the name of their birth mother. Their Charalin name, given to them on their Naming Day, is secondary to their mother's. Charali will often have a Davite name given or taken by them as well to make their passage through the Western territory easier. When a Charalin introduces himself or herself to a westerner, they will often say, "I am (order of birth)(son or daughter) of (mother), (Davist name)." It is rare to divulge their true Charalin name to an outsider.
Sometimes the name given or taken by a Charali marks their place in society.
Pages in category "Festivals & Traditions"
The following 2 pages are in this category, out of 2 total.
