First Day of a New Year

January 1, 2009 – 5:08 am
A firework in Bratislava, Slovakia, 2005

Image via Wikipedia

Holidays can be secular as well as relgious and New Year’s Day is the most common secular holiday amongst the cultures of Valiant.

Most cultures on Valiant begin the year on the first day of spring, or 1 Pyrrand (month of waters). Common practices include fasts, festivals, some minor religious observances, making resolutions, cleansing rituals, sporting events, parades and fireworks. Many people also observe a variety of superstitions to bring luck in the new year by avoiding certain food or drink, being in the company of friends, the giving of rings, eating food shaped like a ring

In Kynafir, New Year’s Day is most commonly celebrated with jousting tournaments, throwing horseshoes, inviting friends over, cleansing rituals and making resolutions. The most common resolution is Read More »

By viricordova | Posted in Background, Holidays | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Senet

December 26, 2008 – 6:43 pm
A Senet game from the tomb of Amenhotep III ...

Image via Wikipedia

Senet is an ancient board game and probably the oldest existing one. The game board is a grid of thirty squares, arranged in three rows of ten. A senet game has two sets of pawns and is a race game for two players, with moves determined by tosses of dice. Some versions have special squares on the board such as places the pawns must land on the way to the end, a square pawns could be sent back to and a square pawns may only leave on a roll of 3.

It’s widely played by people of all social standings and spectators often gamble on the outcome of the game although it’s considered rude for the players to do so. The more superstitious player believes that his skill at a game of Senet affects Read More »

By viricordova | Posted in Equipment, Holidays, Politics, Religion and Spirituality | Comments (0)

Happy Holidays!

December 25, 2008 – 7:48 am

icanhasxmas

From MadBrewLabs, Uncle Bear, Games of State
and finally from me to you!

T’was the night before Christmas,
And all though the house,
Not a creature was stiring,
Not even a mouse,
Except up in the rafters,
Sat a lone geek,
Tapping away while coding php.

Though cold outside,
In his mind it was warm.
He dreamed of comments and code
and hardcore porn.
The dread-lord Cthulhu rose in his mind,
Han, Chewie and Leia lagging behind,
As a high elf warlord drove his sword home
Splitting Cthuhlu right to the bone.

The code once compiled,
The website displayed,
The geek sitting down,
Started to sway.
He slowly slumped down,
Embracing deep sleep,
Fantasy worlds beneath his feet.
T’was the night before Christmas…

By viricordova | Posted in Holidays, Religion and Spirituality | Comments (2)

Rithision - A Holiday

December 22, 2008 – 4:09 am
A fire lit using twigs and pine cones.Image via Wikipedia Rithision is on the 4th of Ufand in the dead of winter. By this time everywhere, even lands on the equator, has gotten very much colder than the rest of the year although the following month is actually lower in mean temperature. Everyone is already tired of the snow and rain and fights and arguments are much more common as people are holed up with each other more than they think they can stand. (Mean tropical temeratures drop to as low as 40 degrees Farenheit in Umbrand. Contrast this to Earth where tropical temperatures rarely drop below 70. While 40d F isn’t really cold for most people in the Western World, it’s pretty chilly to people who see over 100dF averages in summer.)
According to myth and legend, on this day Ibrisi who is normally a flighty Goddess not much given to any serious pursuits, sacrificed a part of herself so that Uff could build a fire and get warm in the deep snows. Once he was warm, Uff danced to cheer up the now-maimed Ibrisi. Some pictures of Ibrisi show her missing an arm, in deep snow or both. These representations never show her smiling or dancing as at other times.

Early peoples on Valiant celebrated this day by building huge bonfires with as much extra fuel as they could find. Later, they included “reversal” moments - a manor lord comes and works in the local tavern for the evening, a peasant is invited to the Lord’s table for breakfast, a merchant pays someone to take one of his wares, a sculptor poses for his model, etc.

Over time, the one day event grew and in larger cities might last as long as 7 days while in most other places it’s 4 or 5 days long. Cities are better able to sustain the break in labor a long festival creates than a smaller town or village. Kings and Lords have sometimes tried to shorten it, especially if they don’t want to participate in the “reverse” events, but the people always carry on with their fun. Decorations include evergreens and other things that live or thrive in winter like the pelt of the blue lynx.

Classical literature in Kynafir includes writings by Ercilia, who uses the setting of Rithision for a discussion between a peasant, a manor lord and a merchant on the merits of a variety of economic choices. One part of the Book of Morals is a series of proverbs about generosity and gift giving which most people take to mean that “reverse” events should be taken with good humor.

Orthodox Kynafirs don’t take part in some of the merry fun, viewing the bonfires and dancing as savage rites that don’t belong in modern holiday observances. They contend that reversals are the true representation of the day but that the remaining customs are just an excuse to indulge in licentatious behavior not sanctioned by the Books. The official Church stance is the merry-making is all in good fun if indulged in moderation, no harm to the souls of the Faithful. One heretical sect, the Benignos, broke from the Church over the issue of holiday observances but was stamped out fairly quickly and took no real foothold in the minds of the people.

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By viricordova | Posted in Holidays, Religion and Spirituality | Comments (3)

Festival Calendar

December 17, 2008 – 4:53 pm

Renaissance festivalImage via WikipediaOverview

Valiant cultures generally divide the year up into 13 months of 30 days each. The new year is right before spring, at the end of winter. Months are named for the Gods. Spring months are Pyrrand, Bavand, Bebend, and Ibrind. Summer months are Dimand, Enand, Ferand, Okinand and Kushanda. Winter months are Rotand, Tarand, Ufand and Umrand.

Each God has a major Festival Date during their month. For example, Pyrrhus, god of Waters, has a Festival on Pyrrand 6th as it’s his month and the number 6 is sacred to him. Each God also has a number of other days during the year that are important to them as well. There are only 13 Major Festivals but obviously a host of lesser ones. Most people pay at least some reverence to each of the festival days but also choose 1 or 2 of the 13 Gods to which to devote themselves and their time.

In addition to all these, each family usually has an Ancestor’s Day. The Ancestor is a particular member of the family who looks over it’s health and wellbeing. On this day, the family gathers in a place of historical significance to it and celebrates the Ancestor. What form these gatherings and rites take depend alot on the particular family and the Ancestor. For example, most peasant families rever the Founder of the Family Line who is almost always a farmer or herdsman. In this case, the day is one of harvest rites or the sacrificing of the animal the family is known for raising.

The Calendar

1 Pyrrand - Month of Waters, Spring

3rd - Ibrisi makes a key to open a door owned by Uff underground so Pyrrhus can reach the sky
6th - Sacred Day of Pyrrhus, God of Waters
10th - Ibrisi argues with Pyrrhus and teaches beavers to make dams
21st - Rotecki secudes Pyrrhus
28th - Kushinada writes a poem for Pyrrhus

2 Bavand - Spring

3rd - Ferali kills Bavari
8th - Enal teaches Bavari how to travel
11th - Sacred Day of Bavari, God of Clouds
13th - Pyrrhus mates with Bavari to create Rain
27th - Enal throws stones at Bavari

3 Bebend - Spring

9th - Kushinada mends a quarrel between Beberra and Ferali
12th - Ferali helps Beberra teach forging to the dwarves
18th - Sacred Day of Beberra, Goddess of Metals
20th - Beberra gives gold to the Fallen Lords
22nd - Bavari gives a corrupted copper ring to Beberra

4 Ibrind - Spring

2nd - Sacred Day of Ibrisi , Goddess of Wood
5th - Rotecki tricks Ibrisi into working at his school
12th - Kushinada makes a blade of wood with mystical powers
13th - Beberra makes a pact with Ibrisi to never use any metal but iron on wood
29th - Enal shoves Ibrisi into a river

5 Dimand - Summer

10th - Rotecki helps Kushinada search for Umreeghi
15th - Beberra rescues copper from the Void
20th - Sacred Day of Dimath, God of Void
25th - Tarfedi marries Dimath
30th - Kushinada steals Umreeghi from Dimath

6 Enand - Summer

6th - Tarfedi works for Enal for a year
17th - Okineb works with Enal to save the falling fairy
21st - Uff makes Enal his concubine
24th - Rotecki holds Enal captive
28th - Sacred Day of Enal, Goddess of Wind

7 Ferand - Summer

4th - Tarfedi tricks Ferali
7th - Uff gives Ferali a mansion
16th - Bavari keeps Ferali from using his sword on Valiant
19th - Sacred day of Ferali, God of Fires
29th - Enal seduces Ferali

8 Okinand - Summer

1st - Okineb dances with Ferali
4th - Sacred Day of Okineb, Goddess of Energy
20th - Dimath takes Okineb on a sea voyage
23rd - Ferali gives flame blossoms to Okineb
24th - Tarfedi gives Okineb a snake

9 Kushanda - Summer

8th - Okineb hides from Kushinada
12th - Pyrrhus gives mages blue energy in a deal with Kushinada for green energy
15th - Kushinada births the child of Pyrrhus
16th - Uff gives Okineb a child
24th - Umreeghi gifts Kushinada with a dream of the end of the World

10 Rotand - Winter

7th - Umreeghi whispers warnings to Rotecki about power
21st - Sacred Day of Rotecki, God of Speech
24th - Beberra pays Rotecki to learn the gift of speech so she can teach the Dwarves mining
25th - Uff tricks Rotecki into teaching men the gift of speech
26th - Umreeghi heals Rotecki in a dream

11 Tarand - Winter

5th - Sacred Day of Tarfedi, Goddess of War
15th - Ferali seduces Tarfedi
19th - Dimath marries Tarfedi
22nd - Day of Lightning (Bavari)
24th - Day of Rains (Pyrrhus)

12 Ufand - Winter

4th - Ibrisi burns a campfire to warm Uff on a journey
7th - Okineb bargains with Uff for enough stone to build Rotecki a school
8th - Uff creates the Diamond Heart of the World
13th - Dimath takes Uff’s consort to trade to Rotecki for speech
18th - Umreeghi steals the Diamond Heart of the World

13 Umrand - Winter

10th - Day of Storms (Pyrrhus)
11th - Bavari agrees to some days of slavery to Umreeghi
13th - Ibrisi keeps the witches from making trees live through winter
17th - Sacred Day of Umreeghi, God of Death
24th -Dimath keeps Umreeghi as a slave

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By viricordova | Posted in Holidays, Religion and Spirituality | Comments (1)

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