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Holidays

In the Comapct, most of the holidays are feast days. These are days of celebration sponsored by the Faith of the Pantheon. By tradition, work isn't done on any of the feast days, with serfs still paid for their time as if they had been working, and the Faith of the Pantheon and the crown exerting intense societal pressure on any lords that would veer from that. This has resulted in also longstanding good will from many commoners towards the crown and the Faith as a result. Feast days are as follows:

The Longest Night: Held on December 21st, this is the holiest day of the year for Lagoma and held on what is typically the longest night of the year. Legend has it that over a thousand years ago, that night was the final night of the attack on Arx during the Reckoning. The Longest Night is celebrated all throughout the Compact by vigils in every place of worship, with the Dominus himself holding an all night vigil of prayer in the Great Cathedral of giving thanks to each of the gods. The prayer service ends at the first lights of dawn, and that begins the Thirteen Days of Years End.

The Thirteen Days of Years End: Starting at first dawn on December 22, the Thirteen Days are two weeks of celebration and extensive holidays for workers, the longest throughout the year. The days are a celebration of the year end, and are holy days of Gild, celebrating the spirit of generosity with traditional gift giving throughout the days, and also emphasizing the celebration of civilization, and the Compact itself. Feasts and tournaments, historical plays about the founding of the Compact are particularly popular, and this extends to the start of the new year when many give thanks to the gods for the Compact and another year that it has endured. The Thirteenth day is often called Queen's Day, and is considered a holy day of Gloria. Queen's Day has plays and celebrations in honor of Queen Alarice the Great and other heroes that have saved the Compact with crowns woven of grass, leaves or flowers placed in their memory in the Hall of Heroes. Prayer services are held where individuals speak on valor and chivalric ideals, and what it means to them. The final prayer service ceremonially ends with thanking all who have fallen for their sacrifices in preserving the Compact and ends with the line, "As Arx endures, we remember."

Day of Vows: First day of Feburary. Sometimes called Lovers' Day, Limerance's holy day is in honor of fidelity and love. While many celebrate the romantic nature of it, many traditionally use it to honor the gods by reaffirming their vows, with gifts given between vassals and lords, and banner men and lieges, and spouses sworn to one another. Traditionally in churches, prayers that day will often have those sworn to one another giving thanks and speaking of why they are proud to be sworn to another, or why they feel honored by it.

First Bloom: March 20, celebrating the start of spring. A holy day to Lagoma, there's often ceremonial planting and giving farewell to the winter. The first weekend following first bloom are the feast days of Farmer's Rest, holy days of Petrichor that honor farmers and often have celebratory hunts in wooded areas.

High Sun: June 21, sometimes called the Silver Day, it's Lagoma's welcome of Summer. The Silver Day is a joint feast day of Lagoma and Gild, with Gild's aspect of hospitality and sanctuary celebrated. Traditionally, it's a day when many stay the day and night at Church as guests, or open their doors to neighbors in celebrations, with local lords usually hosting banquents for their vassals.

Patronsday: The first saturday after High Sun is the holy day of Jayus, to honor crafters and artisans. Traditionally this has the Faith of the Pantheon sponsor artists and craftsmen, and giant bazaars springing up all through the Compact to showcase art. The Gallery of Jayus in Arx in particular prepares all year for Patronsday, and showcases rare art from throughout the Compact.

Good Harvest: September 22, Lagoma's celebration of the start of Fall, with prayers of thanks to Lagoma for the seasons, Petrichor for good soil, and Mangata for sustenance. The first weekend following Good Harvest are the feast days of Mangata and arguably the most popular feast days in the Compact- the days of Libation. Sometimes called 'The Hangover Holydays', these days are drinking festivals of celebrating new alcoholic beverages produced in the Compact, with ceremonially the Archlector of Mangata announcing a Favored of Mangata after a drink tasting contest, and pouring out the chosen drink into the new consecrated Shrine of Mangata.

Courtkeep: November 3, the Holy Day of the Sentinel is very low key, but it typically is celebrated with scholars of Vellichor, lawyers and judges offering instruction on law, and discussions on truth. Typically considered among the most boring of feast days, most commoners enjoy the day off and have little to do with that.

Journal Day: Every sunday is considered a feast day of Vellichor, and no work is required on those days, so commoners might record their journals and attend prayer services.

Aside from the aforementioned, birthdays of individuals are honored with presents, and by more orthodox members of the faith are considered holy to the Sentinel, as witnesses (godparents) honor their obligations of recognizing someone's birth and they are who they say they are, with often questionable reviews of their growth as a person from year to year.

Finally, there's the Eclipse of Mirrors, Tehom's feastday, irregular and aligning with the bloodmoon once every couple of years, typically celebrations and masquerades start 13 days before the bloodmoon in the Lyceum. ((This will always match Halloween in real world time))

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Eclipse Of Mirrors

Question: On Tehom's world page, it's mentioned the 13th has but a single feast day every few years during a blood moon. When can we expect the next one, assuming one has already happened in recent IC memory? And are their usually signs devotees of the 13th follow in order to mark just such an occurrence?

Answer: The Eclipse of Mirrors has an irregular astrological schedule, which will just so happen to always fall on October 31st in the real world time by happy coincidence. For at least several days IC before that, it can be assumed that the entire Lyceum (and 13th devotees everywhere) are engaged in carnivale and revelry, with nonstop parties, which comes to a spectacular conclusion on October 31st, always lining up with halloween real time.