Holidays and Festivals
The submissions are in for our Summer Postfest Part II, Holidays and Festivals of Greyhawk. Please take some time to read the entries below. There will not be any voting on this round of articles, so take your time and enjoy the work of our Part II contributors.
Admiral’s Day
By: gvdammerung
"The fleet is in and it is time to celebrate all things nautical! Admiral's Day gives the navies of the Flanaess their due."
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The Baal Fires of the Sheldomar
By: gvdammerung
"When fires burn bright from the peaks of the Lortmils and are answered in kind from atop the Good Hills and Stark Mounds, the autumn of the year has come. Once, however, these celebratory fires held a far different, far from celebratory, meaning. In ages long past, when the Baal Fires were lit, the tramp of dwarven boots could heard throughout the Sheldomar. The Dwarf Lords were on the march."
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Burning Bartle
By: gvdammerung
"In rural Keoland, a rough justice is meted out to criminals. There are no jails or prisons, for none are needed. Burning Bartle celebrates the spectacular end one notorious criminal."
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Bawming the Thorne
By: gvdammerung
"The druidic past of Veluna lives on in the annual Bawming of the Thorne in Devarnish. Now, just a local holiday, the Bawming of the Thorne dates from the time when the Great Western Forest of the Flanaess streched from Celene to Highfolk."
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The Beaste Fair of Greyhawk
By: gvdammerung
"Come one! Come all! To the most spectacular, the most unusual, the most phantasmagorical faire of them all - the Beaste Faire of Greyhawk. See the fell dragon! See beautiful pegasi! See the amazing blink dog! Plus many, many more. And all are for sale! Just the thing for the wizard who has everything."
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Beating the Bounds
By: gvdammerung
"A civic holiday throughout much of the Flanaess, Beating the Bounds serves the useful function of establishing property boundaries. It is also the excuse for an unofficial parade."
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Berceuse, the Song of Osprem
By: wolsire
"Berceuse, the Song of Osprem, is a ceremonial holiday, as opposed to a festival, which is performed to calm the seas. For most worshipers of the goddess, it is aimed at the rages of sea god Procan, so as to lull him to sleep."
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Burning the Old Year Out
By: gvdammerung
"Uhl''nehli''aah, the Burning of the Old Year Out, is a widely celebrated fire festival among the northern barbarians. It is a time of riotous behavior. Children conceived or born during this time are believed to possess special attributes. But while the children of the flames are celebrated, beware the bastard children of the fire."
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The Caltarn Horse Fair
By: gvdammerung
"The greatest horse market of the Flanaess is also the greatest gathering of thieves. Come join the Attloi, Rhennee and the halflings in appraising the finest horseflesh, but guard your purse!"
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The Court of Array
By: gvdammerung
"The Courts of the Array are civic holidays that serve the military purpose of drilling the peasant militia and ensuring a minimal level of military prepardedness. After a day of inspections, drills and mock combats, the peasants of the militia are treated to a banquet at their lord's expense. It is a day of training but also a day of much camaraderie and good fellowship."
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Courts Leet and Baron
By: gvdammerung
"The manor is the basic economic unit of feudal society and is composed of a variety of types of land. Much of the land on a manor is held in common and is used by all of the manor's residents. It is necessary to regulate this use and ensure the maintenance of these common holdings. This is the function of Courts Leet and Baron. The holding of the Courts is, however, attended by various other activities that transform a necessity into a holiday."
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Crabapple Fairs
By: gvdammerung
"Dwarves and gnomes love crabapples, using them in all manner of viands and potations. Crabapple Fairs celebrate the annual harvest of these fruits that humans find unpalatable. A general market usually accompanies the Crabapple Fairs, at which "gurning" competitions may be the highlight, along with a variety of unique footraces."
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The Eye of Gruumsh
By: gvdammerung
"Beware. When the Eye of Grummsh looks upon you, bloody ruin follows."
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Feast of All Souls
By: gvdammerung
"It is time to offer prayers for the dead. Who you gonna pray too? Pelor? Not likely. Its time to worship Wee Jas, Nerull and Incabulous. These and other deities of death have their day of veneration and everyone offers up their worship. Or faces the the consequences."
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Feast of the Gods
By: gvdammerung
"Let's see. About 150 deities in the Flanaess. One feast day per deity. In cosmopolitian areas that would work out to nearly half a year of feast days! Of course, not every deity is worshipped everywhere, but still. There should be another way. There is."
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The Festival of Well-Dressing
By: gvdammerung
"Water is life. This is particularly true in the parched lands of the Baklunish West. Geshtai, Goddess of Lakes, Rivers and Wells is most often celebrated in well-dressing rituals, wherein local wells are blessed each year. One of the greatest of such ceremonies is that of Vilayad in the Tusman Hills."
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The Gran National
By: gvdammerung
"And they're off! Welcome to the greatest horse race in the Flanaess! A steeplechase, the Gran National attracts horses and riders from across the Sheldomar Valley and beyond. Only by functioning in perfect tandem can a horse and rider prevail. The sport of kings is enjoyed by throngs of onlookers every year in Hookhill, with lesser steeplechases popular throughout the Gran March, Bissel and Keoland."
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The Great Western Rendezvous
By: gvdammerung
"Furs. Luxury items on a par with fine gemstones. The best are only found far from civilization. In the spring of each year, the fur trappers and hunters emerge from the wilderness to sell their pelts and resupply for the next year. Most may not have seen another human being for months. Its a party!"
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The Knighthood of the Old Green
By: gvdammerung
"Knights - shinning armor? Lance dipped for the charge, or sword held aloft? Not necessarily. The Knights of the Old Green wield a most unusual weapon and engage in combat like no other. And every year, the Knighthood of the Old Green may be contested by anyone up to the challenge. But be wary, because it can be quite embarrassing to be trounced by a spry octogenarian, who you must then address as "Sir" for a year and a day, until next the Knighthood of the Old Green is contested."
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The Installation of the Lord Mayor of Kalstrand
By: gvdammerung
"Hear Ye, Hear Ye! By Imperial Proclamation and Royal Decree, let it be known that on this day the Guildmasters of Kalstrand, have met and by vote selected one from among their Number; Kalstrand has a Lord Mayor! Vivat! Vivat! Vivat! On the 26th of Coldeven, she shall make her way through the City and be Installed. All hail! The Lord Mayor of Kalstrand!"
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The Lost in the Dark Bells
By: gvdammerung
"For who do the bells of Shiboleth toll? It is said they toll for the strangers, nearly lost upon the Rushmoors. Darker stories hint that the bells ring lest Shiboleth itself become lost in the ominous fogs that rise each evening in the autumn part of the year. The truth is murky. Listen for the bells, lest you become forever lost in the fog-shrouded darkness."
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The Miner’s Fair
By: gvdammerung
"Up from the hollows and down from the mountains they come. Dirty. Mean. Looking for a good time after the hardest kind of work. They are also loaded with valuable ore. This ain't no tea or social. Its the Miner's Fair of Verbeeg Hill and its as rough as it comes."
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Mock Mayors Holidays
By: gvdammerung
"In Veluna City, the City of Greyhawk and Irongate, Mock Mayors once each year overturn the usual order to celebrate, ridicule and make licentious riot. Come Festivale!"
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The Night of Fear
By: gvdammerung
"The origins of the Night of Fear are known throughout the Flanaess as few, if any, other historic events are known or remembered. It is, perhaps, the only universal holiday. While its observance now varies, its origins remain undimmed in the public consciousness. Woe betide should the Great Eye again lift its red lid."
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Northern Sword Dancing
By: gvdammerung
"Bodies and blades, moving to the beat of the drum or the piping of a flute, fly through the snowy air like steel snowflakes. Each pass of the dancers, each pass of the blades courts disaster but accidents are rare. Sword dancing is a tradition in the northlands of Aerdi and once each year a great competition is held. You are invited to attend."
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The Reception of Ambassadors
By: gvdammerung
"An embassy from one nation to another is much more than a matter of showing up at court. Ambassadors must be formally received and their credentials accepted before the embassy can be begun. In the Great Kingdom and now in its chiefmost successor state - Ahlissa - ambassadorial receptions are grand affairs, unlike anything found anywhere else."
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The Red Horse Race
By: gvdammerung
"Organized foot races, once common among the Flan, are much more rarely encountered now. The most famous foot race is no longer dominated by the Flan, although many Flan enter. Run as a relay, the Red Horse Race of Ratik tests teams of runners in a grueling race over long cross-country distances."
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Riding the Marches
By: gvdammerung
"The Riding of the Marches is a civic festival practiced most famously in the marches of Keoland - the Yeomanry, Sterich, Geoff, the Gran March and Bissel. While performing a military function designed to limit monstrous interference with agriculture, the Riding of the March is also cause for much local celebration."
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The Royal Hunt
By: gvdammerung
"The sound of the horns and the baying of the hounds signal the start of the hunt. But his is no ordinary chase. The king has taken the field with his nobles attendant upon him!"
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The Royal Progress
By: gvdammerung
"Guess who's coming to dinner? The King! And he may be staying awhile after. A few days? A few weeks? A few months? Better have plenty of fine wine, fine victuals and plenty of entertainment laid on. And of course, you get to pick up the tab! Lucky you. Must have done something special to deserve such royal treatment. Heh."
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Rushbearing and Haystrewing
By: gvdammerung
"The gathering of rushes and hay to provide floor coverings is an ancient tradition. In all but the most primitive areas, it is now largely a symbolic festival. It remains a common celebration, however, that sees a notable cooperation between druids and the clerics of the gods."
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The Silver Arrows
By: gvdammerung
"Arrows streak to their targets. Throughout the Great Glen of the Gnarly Forest, elf and man are met to celebrate perhaps the greatest archers to be found in an annual celebration of surpassing fine skill. To the winners are given silver arrows from the hand of Lady of Celene herself."
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Sorcerer’s Night
By: gvdammerung
"In the last rays of the setting sun, fear closes in. One night each year, the darkness breathes and feeds upon the unwary. Divine power wanes while the arcane waxes. The night of no moons holds a special terror for the Flanaess. Pray for the light."
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Summer Carnival
By: gvdammerung
"Come one! Come all! Summer Carnival beckons! And it is three events in one. A true carnival. A mercantile fair. And a grand tourney. Greatly anticipated by all classes, the Summer Carnival offers something for practically every taste."
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The Timberland Festival
By: gvdammerung
"TIMBER! Well. Maybe. The elves may have more than a little to say about unrestricted logging. It is a festival but behind the scenes, conflicting interests annually clash over the timber harvest."
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Tolling the Devil’s Knell
By: gvdammerung
"In Nessermouth, Black Tom rings the Devil''s Knell each year upon the 2nd of Readying. Born of accursed Soothill, Black Tom is said to lay to rest the restless dead when he rings out. Older, darker tales hint at other things from the ancient past, driven from the shore by the ringing of the black bell."
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Turning the Devil’s Stone
By: gvdammerung
"The Devil's Stone rests unquiet in Uskarn in southern Nyrond. Every year, its great mass must be moved and the stone turned, or else evil will grow in the land. So say the legends. The dark rock defies the curious to resolve it mystery."
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Wikrhys
By: Duicarthan
"The chill breezes of autumn carry with it the holiday of Wikryhs. A wondrous night when Luna shines full in the sky, while the inhabitants share in celebration or lament throughout the Flanaess."
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Winter Carnival
By: gvdammerung
"In the coldest months of winter, in northern climes where winter is at its coldest, it is good to have something to celebrate, even if it is the ice and snow. This is the essence of Winter Carnival. It is an occasion to celebrate at a time of year when there may be little else to do other than shiver."
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The Woodsmen of the Vesve’s Grand Wardmote
By: gvdammerung
"The Grand Wardmote has come. Part military exercise, part parliament of the wood, men and elves of the Vesve come together at the Wardmote to confront a common enemy - Iuz - and his humanoid allies."
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Wroth Silver
By: gvdammerung
"The western extent of the Duchy of Urnst is cattle country. Yeoman herders make up the majority of the population, rather than the more typical peasants toiling in the field. By ancient tradition, the yeoman swear allegience to the Duke each year, drinking his health, after Wroth Silver has been paid."
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Wealsun Mumming
By: gvdammerung
"Each year the Church of St. Cuthbert entertains throngs with mumming plays retelling the fall of Iuz. With audience participation, Iuz is annually vanquished. The lesson is simple. Even the most common person can make a successful stand against evil."
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