Holidays and Festivals

[faetan]

Festivals & Holidays

Because of the quick passing of seasons, each holiday and festival is held three times a year. So if your character is unable to attend or if you're absent as a player, the next one will roll around in four months. No need to wait an entire year for a favorite event! Attendance is completely optional. Many of the festivals feature some sort of contest or competition. Most of the time, RNG will determine the winner from any entrants that clearly aren't slated to fail dramatically (a poor cook entering the cooking competition just for laughs isn't going to win, but you'll make everybody's days just that much brighter). This is to keep things fair. For competitions such as the matches in the Royal Tournament, players have the option of working out the winner between them or asking the mod for an RNG result. Prizes are typically going to be some sort of related item, like rare seeds or new animals for farming festivals, a horse or weapon for the tournament, etc. This calendar is only for IC scheduled events. For plots, keep an eye on the OOC community, since mods and players may roll out something fun at any time!

Spring (January, May, September)

Spring 1: New Year's Day
The snows begin to melt and it's the right time to prepare those fields for new crops. The day starts off with a big pot of fish stew and fresh baked bread prepared at the town square to fuel farmers and their helpers as they prepare for the new season. Everyone pitches in to help farmers clear their fields of debris, till fields, and plant seeds. Even the king shows up to roll up his sleeves and pick up a hoe!

Spring 15: Cherry Cup Race
Anyone who owns a horse is free to participate. Two races are held, and people are eligible to enter either or both. The first is a traditional race around a dirt track, with the first rider to complete four laps claiming victory. The second is a cross-country treasure hunt where riders search the Llaisy Forest for a hidden item. The first to find it and return to the castle before sundown will receive a royal reward.

Spring 23: Flower Festival
It's traditional to gather flowers, either hand grown or gathered in the wild, and give them to friends and neighbors. It can also be a romantic holiday, where boys impress girls with big bouquets and girls show their gratitude by placing a handwoven flower crown upon the boy's head. Families and groups of friends often take the day off to enjoy a picnic under the cherry trees to admire the spring blossoms.

Summer (February, June, October)

Summer 26: The Royal Tournament
This is one event you don't want to miss! The day is full of activities and competitions, ranging from a ring toss for kids to jousting and swordsmanship duels for adults. Knights often choose their squires based on how well a prospect does in the amateur rounds, so many young men and women train relentlessly for this day. There are plenty of games and free food, and once the sun sets, the party gets even rowdier. Barrels of the best mead are rolled out, and everyone joins in the song and dance around the bonfire as the sky is lit up with bright, colorful fireworks. People make wishes, write them down on strips of paper, and hang them from apple trees. If the wish has been taken away by the elements by the time the first apples ripen on the branches in fall, then it is said that the wish will come true. Lovers finish the evening with a walk beneath the stars.

Fall (March, July, November)

Fall 3: Music Festival
Musicians, dancers, and performers of all kinds travel across the land to gather in Rendezvous. The inn is typically full up, so it's not unusual for the town's citizens to take in some of the visitors and give them a place to sleep. Everyone votes on who did the best job, with the top three given permission to perform by the royal family.

Fall 21: Harvest Festival of Thanksgiving
The farmers begin preparations for winter, harvesting the majority of their crops. Everyone pitches in from gathering food, jarring or pickling it for storage, and even just making sure the barns are stocked with enough feed for the animals. At noon there's the usual judging of the best seasonal crop with a prize for the winner. At the end of the day, everyone gathers at the town square for a huge potluck feast/cooking competition (the best cook gets a prize too!) and finish the night with drinking and dancing.

Fall 30/31: The Night of Quiet
The last day of fall is a somber holiday where most people don't venture outside. Preparations are made for animals the day before so farmers don't have to set foot outside. This is because the transition from fall to winter is the time of year where the blight is strongest, and monsters and black magic are often on the prowl. Night time is the most dangerous, but in towns with adventurers, a blessing on the homes of people and animals hides them from view. However, if the night is misty, even this protective magic may fail.

Winter (April, August, December)

Winter 10: Bean Banishing Day
Ten days after the Night of Quiet, the villagers play a game. Everyone draws a marble from a sack, and if the marble is red, they have the part of a 'demon.' If it is blue, they are a 'banisher.' The demons and banishers stand fifty feet apart in a large snowy clearing, and when the whistle is blown, the banishers hurl beans, seeds, and pinecones at the demons who try to dodge as best they can. There are no prizes, it's just fun, and symbolic of the fight between adventurers and the blight of the land. When spring comes, the snow will melt and water the fallen seeds, hopefully leading to new growth of trees, flowers, and wild fruit.

Winter 14: Lovers' Day
Everyone (usually) enjoys this holiday, when the star of Eden is brightest in the sky. Children visit other houses to receive gifts of homemade sweets and candy. Married couples take turns each year to prepare a decadent dinner for their spouse. Unmarried people take the opportunity to give sweet gifts (with chocolate being the most common) to friends and romantic prospects. Homemade sweets generally carry the most value. At sundown, any woman who received a gift of chocolate may choose one person from among her admirers for a date. If that date goes well, and both parties are in agreement, then a courtship is made official.

Winter 24/25: Starry Night
This is said to be the most special of holidays, as the power of the earth begins to stir from its slumber and repel the blight. Monsters are dramatically weakened during this day and most would never be foolish enough to attack even an elderly woman traveling alone. People typically exchange gifts with one another, with parents hiding these gifts throughout the house for children to find the next morning. Because of the holiness of this day, it is the most popular and traditional for marriage proposals and wedding ceremonies.

Winter 31: New Year's Eve
People gather in the town square to celebrate the final day of the year. Everyone feasts on buckwheat noodles with a rich and hearty vegetable broth, and make pledges of honor to each other, to themselves, or to the world in general.