Spring Awakening

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Spring Awakening is, apart from Yule, the most anticipated event of the year. It is celebrated annually, during the first week of the fourth month. It is during this festival in which the newest fashions are unveiled, and everyone wears their finest. The festival begins on the first new moon of the week, and ends on the following Votumas, when Arien is at its fullest. It is said that a full harvest moon, at any time during this "week", is portentous of a good year, and a new harvest moon an ill omen. Common legend has it that the last time Arien was full and Circadnanoth new was during the great plague of SC 282.

In the more rural areas, further from the cities, the Spring Awakening is simply the time when the folk of the villages gather at the fields and work to till them, turning the soil and preparing for the plowing and planting to come. They move, from field to field, all working in unison on a single area until it is prepared. The cities, having no fields to till, celebrate Spring Awakening in a measure of fashion, fetes, and forgiveness. It is during this time that the clothiers hawk their finest wares, and the citizenry wear their finest. The laws of sumptuary are still enforced, but with somewhat wider latitude than at other times of the year. In the Ducal Cities, the Duke or Duchess give freely from their larder on Midweek, allowing the commoners to dine like nobility for the day. Smaller cities are similarly served by their baronetcies.

Tradition holds that, on the culmination of Spring Awakening, the reigning Reeve of the area may grant clemency to one prisoner, providing that prisoner is not charged with a capital crime (treason, murder, or sumptuary). The lucky recipient's sentence is held in abeyance, and only reinstated if they again commit a crime within a year and a day after being freed.

The final celebration of the weeklong festival is the Votumas Bonfire, held in the town squares, or before the Church in rural areas. During the Votumas Bonfire, a straw mannequin, clad in attire reminiscent of the mages of old, is placed atop a pile of dry wood and, as the sun sets, the faggots are ignited. When possible, the Order uses a true victim rather than the mannequin. The burning is a sacrifice, to ask that there be a bountiful harvest, and to protect the citizenry from the users of Magic.

History

In the year 362, Lithmore's first regent, Her Grace Herazade ab Chevalier, wrote the suspension of sumptuary during spring awakening into law. It is to remain suspended for the duration of the holiday, so the citizens of Lithmore can concentrate primarily on the true meaning of the spring awakening.