As is usual, I kind of went overboard with the elven part of this (the original draft went into a great deal more, if still non-canon, detail). Nevertheless, it was fun reading up (& coming up with) the various races' holidays/festivities, along with the tongue-in-cheek descriptions for the less 'conventional' celebrations. Looking back on this, there was still quite a bit which could have been added, particularly with holidays associated not so much with races or nations, but professions.
Welcome to Immoren – An Occasion for Drink & Revelry, uploaded 20th February 2023
Original script link - (Google doc)
If there is
anything to be learned when travelling the Iron Kingdoms and Immoren, it is
that the regular people you encounter, the common folk, the citizen, the
krielfolk, the villager… all of them will leap at any reason, even no reason at
all, to gather for a night of eating, drinking, and revelry. And it takes only
minimal discussion with anyone from anywhere to learn that if today is not a
feast day, holiday, or day of remembrance for someone in Immoren, tomorrow
certainly is.
The sombre
first, perhaps… Even before the Sundering, feast days or days of remembrance
among the elves were generally quite rare, and indeed, most human reckonings of
our calendar list but two, associated with Nyssor and Scyrah, unsurprisingly.
The many other holidays of elvenkind ceased to be observed centuries before I
was born, and without referring to a history book or two, few elves can tell
you when in the year those holidays fell. Now, with our gods no longer of this
world, or any world we might identify, those last two feast days are vastly
more for quiet remembrance than celebration as one might expect as we cling to
the hope of some kind of restoration of the Divine Court before the last living
elf passes away. As to the days themselves, remembrance to Nyssor, Grand Crafter
of the Divine Court, is given on the Midwinter’s Vigil, which takes place on
New Year’s Day as per the Morrowan calendar, the first morning after the winter
solstice. On this day, due to said responsibility once held by the
Winterfather, elven craftsmen, smiths and metalworkers in particular, offer
prayers through particularly intense industry. It is believed the product of
their efforts on this day will last longer, perform its purpose better, and
serve their owners loyally, so to speak. And remembrance to Scyrah, Healer of
the Divine Court, is given on the vernal equinox, which varies year to year in
the elven calendar, but in the human calendar is generally accepted to be the 7th
Tempen, with the celebration itself referred to in Shyr as Spring’s Approach.
Now called Scyrah’s Wake after her death on Caen, in Iosan and Lyossan
mythology, it relates to when Scyrah nurtured the elven race into being,
serving as Lacyr’s midwife. More commonly, as the Scyir of Spring, her feast
day marks the goddess bringing life and warmth back to the earth after the
winter’s snow thaws. Before the Sundering, this day was at least partially
joyous, during which Iosans would traditionally drink wines and eat foods made
from seasonal ingredients in anticipation of the harvest to come, while also
praying for Scyrah’s recovery. Since then, it has become a much more solemn
affair, with no celebrations arranged, even among the largest elven colonies,
even the one at Frostbracken. Instead, it is a day of quiet prayer, and many plant
symbolic seedlings in the hope she might return. Time was, each of the Divine
Court had their own feast day in a manner analogous to those of Nyssor and
Scyrah, each celebrating aspects of life and existence according to the god in
question. For myself, it should be obvious why Nyrro’s Wake, once called the
Day of Anamnesis, has long held a severe stigma among the Iosans, but like many
among the Dawnguard and some of the more scholarly inclined, I observe that
day, albeit very privately. A summer feast day, Nyrro’s Wake takes place on the
solstice, when daylight lasts the longest, as befits the Arsyr of Day. And in
accordance with his role as the Lorekeeper of the Divine Court, it was once
customary to take that day to read about the history of the elven people, while
public activities centred around trading books and attending academic classes
of some sort. A centuries lost tradition was the Nyrro’s holiday lectures, when
the universities of Ios would close their classrooms to regular lessons and
instead open their doors to any citizen who wished to learn something new for
the day.
And the other gods had their
days as well. As befits the empress of all things concerning the elves, divine
and otherwise, Lacyr’s Wake could theoretically be celebrated on any day of the
year, though with the feast days for the rest of the Divine Court, it
gravitated to occur most commonly some time in late spring or early autumn,
announced by the Chief Priest of Lacyr at the Great Fane in Shyrr the day after
the previous year’s festival. This choice was a lengthy procedure which
included discussions among all the priesthoods and the most senior of the
sibyls who would collectively scry for particular days with positive omens. As
to the day itself, it was one of universal thanksgiving, the central tradition
was a large-scale public meal which treated all elves as a single family. Long
tables would be arrayed in city or town squares with the local senior most
priest or priestess standing proxy for the Narcissar of Ages. Amidst a huge
variety of dishes, thanksgiving would be proclaimed to Lacyr, who was mother to
elvenkind, whether ancient or contemporary.
For those aware of the lore of
the Divine Court, it should come as little surprise that Ossyris’ Wake came in
the form of military parades. Of course, the largest events took place in
Shyrr, but in all of the ithyl capitals, contingents of Houseguard militias and
elite troops from the military Houses would march through the cities with
salutes given with each new hour, whether as warcries in unison or regimented
salvos of gunfire, a sign of respect for not only Ossyris, the General of
Lyoss, but Ossyris, the Incissar of Hours. But while the most elaborate events
occurred in the civilian centres, the most meaningful observations were made at
the aeryths and the great fortress Gates. Except for those on active duty,
Ossyris’ Wake was the one day a year a fortress’s serving personnel would be
part of a grand inspection in their entirety.
Unlike all the other gods who
received a day of celebration, Ayisla was given a night of worship, during the
hours of darkness before the sunrise before the winter solstice. As the Watcher
of the Gates of Lyoss, she required vigilance, and as such, this was observed
via a midnight vigil and fast at Fanes throughout Ios. All through the night
from dusk, Iosans would pray for the safe passage of the souls of their
ancestors and thank Ayisla for the same, with symbolic offerings of food to
sustain the souls on their journey. Special lamps, held by the worshippers,
would be lit to illuminate the Fane and the surrounding area, turned off only
when the sun had risen in the morning after the vigil.
Another summer festival day was
the one dedicated to Lurynsar. Though his wake was nominally observed on the
day the strain of winter wheat particular to Ios was harvested at the height of
summer, the festival itself was actually nothing to do with that harvest.
Because of his position as the Divine Court’s Chief of Scouts, the day of
Lurynsar’s Wake was often marked by community days out with casual hunts
conducted in the forests. Catches, most often of small game, were presented as
offerings at local Fanes, while the larger temples received the bounty of more
formal hunts. Those who did not engage in the hunts would nonetheless go on an
excursion to a more rural setting. Indeed, those who had family from outlying
villages and hamlets far from the ithyl capitals often took the opportunity of
Lurynsar’s Wake to visit them, and perhaps help with bringing in the harvested
crops where appropriate.
Lastly, Lyliss, Nis-Scyir of
Autumn, Assassin of the Divine Court, and Mistress of Poisons, had perhaps the
least strictly followed festival traditions. Something to note about Iosan
culture is that while, like the Skorne Houses and Rhulic clans, the elven
Houses share a strained relationship with each other, with a great deal of
political rivalry and even enmity, something which has remained a constant
throughout the entirety of our race’s history. Even in the days of the Empire
of Lyoss, some families treated each other with hostility, whether privately or
openly. However, elves of Immoren were precious few after the Cataclysm, even
compared to the diplomatically reclusive dwarves. Thus, conflict between Iosan
Houses was traditionally conducted via subterfuge, and assassins accounted for
any and all fatalities. Skirmishes in the open were subject to severe censure
by the Consulate Court. Thus, it was no surprise those who bore the duty of
assassinating rivals paid their respects and sought spiritual guidance in some
way, from Lyliss. Consequently, her feast day became a sacrosanct day on which
no House could take punitive or retaliatory action against any other, and their
assassins effectively disappeared for the day. Normal elves, on the other hand,
spent the day in remembrance to deceased ancestors, thankful they did not
warrant Lyliss’ brand of attention. Activities centred around tending to
plants, often under the guidance of the local Priest of Lyliss who themselves
were sometimes accompanied by one of the aforementioned assassins at rest. As
part of this, there were special rituals which differed between various benign
and poisonous plants as well as their physiological effects, if applicable.
This was as much a learning experience as it was one of worship.
However, one day stood apart
from these eight days set aside, one for each god. And that was the Foresthome
Day, which marked the founding of the Iosan nation within the Archenbough and
Mistbough forests. Meant to celebrate the survival of the elven race after the
Cataclysm and give thanks to the Divine Court for said survival, Foresthome
fell out of favour during the Great Malaise, when the ithyls of Ios grew
distant from each other. During the early centuries of Ios, it was a grand
affair, with much of Shyrr, Lyoss, Issyrah, and the other ithyl capitals
becoming boisterous parade grounds, spilling over with cheers, wine, sweets,
and organised mischief with the city lights.
Unlike us
elves, who observe days for but a fraction of our pantheon, and quietly at
that, the dwarves actively celebrate their Great Fathers, who each have their
own feast day, spread across the year with one occurring each month.
Accompanying these feast days are the corresponding celebrations for their
respective Claywives, which take place the day before, serving both as a day of
preparation and a day of celebration in their own right. The Claywives also
have a collective day of thanksgiving on the 2nd Trineus, when the
matriarchs of the clans of the Stone Lords make symbolic offerings to express
the Rhulfolk’s gratitude for the Claywives’ role in the creation of the dwarven
people. More generally, on this day, men give their wives, mothers and sisters
tokens of appreciation, while a clan’s women congregate to participate in a
special thanksgiving service to honour the Claywives. The Great Fathers
themselves also have a day on which they are celebrated collectively. Ghorfall,
which coincides with Nyssor’s Wake, is the day on which dwarves celebrate the ascension
of the Great Fathers from being the tyrant Ghor’s slaves to becoming the gods
of Rhul, while it, as the name would suggest, simultaneously marks Ghor’s
destruction. However, not all in Rhul are Rhulfolk, so the ogrun, both
independent and clan-tied, may not necessarily join their dwarven neighbours in
observing the feast days of the Great Fathers. Instead, the ogrun have their
own days of celebration, the most notable one for Rhulic ogrun being the Day of
Rhul-Korune, signifying the time when many of the northern tribes were saved
from starvation by the dwarves. In what is likely one of the most strictly
observed traditions throughout Immoren, they fast for the entirety of the
previous day, provided their health and responsibilities allow them to, making
the feast of the day itself all the more noteworthy and warranting the
accompanying thanksgiving. Though, because ogrun are typically not given to
extravagance, especially Rhulic ogrun thanks in part due to this frugal past,
the festivities tend to be quite simple, but even so, they remain very
meaningful. And since a fair majority of ogrun are devout Dhunians, they share
no few feast days with the Trollkin, but again, their celebrations are very
muted by comparison.
As to said
Trollkin, I must profess I have never been able to definitively identify any
feast days. Or rather, their dates. Most kriels enjoy a good drink up for
religious reasons and would gladly indulge every night of the year provided the
Champions and Kriel Chief are not preparing for or actually are at war. That
said, a few days can be determined, based on observances by the aforementioned
ogrun. With an actual date is Shroudfall, which is, in accordance with Dhunian
belief, traditionally the date of Dhunia’s coming into being as the first
presence of life on Caen, divine or otherwise. Ogrun celebrate it by planting
the seedlings of flowering plants. And as best as I can tell, the Trollkin do
so by debating whether they should pour their beer on freshly tilled earth or
drink it, only to invariably do the latter, before trying and failing to avoid
the former as they get progressively more drunk. Other feast days include
respective creation days, on which the ogrun and Trollkin celebrate the
creation of the very first of their race. The dates themselves are often a
matter of lively discussion, because there do tend to be regional differences,
if more so among the Trollkin than the ogrun. The gobbers also observe their
analogous creation day, if not necessarily the date, but care little for the
significance either way. As concerns the Efaarit, I regret I have not spent
enough time among their culture to learn what holidays or feast days they might
have, whether religious or secular, thus I can only guess at what they might
celebrate based on their beliefs and gods.
As to human
cultures, there is a surprising amount of overlap among the three main
religions, even if they would be loath to admit it. Giving Day is perhaps the
most well-known holiday in the calendars of Morrowans, Menites and Thamarites,
to the extent even elves, Trollkin, gobbers, and ogrun who live among humans in
the Iron Kingdoms often join in the annual festivities. Giving Day is a mostly
secular holiday these days, particularly when one attends the festivals held
for the occasion in large cities with Morrowan majorities. However, though it
has a measure of religious influence, Giving Day as a feast day has a
complicated history which stretches as far back as the Thousand Cities era
having become the culmination of several different traditions regarding how
people celebrate the winter solstice, which falls on the very last day of the
year, and how they welcome the new year at midnight. As one would expect,
Menites, especially Sul-Menites do not celebrate per se, instead, they must
provide a tithe to their local temple. Most attend special services and
processions which feature priests, Menite officials, and warriors from the
local chapters of knightly orders. Before the harrowing of the Protectorate of
Menoth, these cavalcades could extend across the entire width of Imer with
companies of Flameguard and Exemplars accompanying priests of every rank. The
white, gold, and purple made quite a spectacle, so I’m told. Such activities
still take place now, both in the populated remnants of the Protectorate and in
Khador, though on a much lesser scale. Giving Day as it is commonly observed
now dates back to the reign of Woldred the Diligent, who was noted for his
benevolence throughout his reign and in this he was no different. At the end of
the year, he would set aside part of the sovereign’s purse for the common folk,
and alms for the poor in particular, which he personally helped distribute.
This gradually extended to paying for hot meals to be cooked and given out to
those who needed it to go with what quickly became a tradition of gift giving.
Though he only did this in Caspia, after his death imitators spread the
tradition to the other cities of Cygnar, and then Ord and Llael. In a somewhat
similar spirit, in large parts of Khador, Giving Day is celebrated by grand
feasts where big game animals are roasted, a custom which stems from mid-winter
hunts conducted by the ancient Khards.
Interestingly,
but perhaps unsurprisingly, Morrowan and Thamarite religious feast days are a
study in contrast. Even now, with a declaration of amnesty for worshippers of
all pantheons, Thamarites never openly celebrate their holy days. However, the
two religions nonetheless have much in common as far as religious days of
observation go. Namely, that Morrowans have Ascendants’ Days, while Thamarites
have Scions’ Days. And to the gods themselves, Morrowans have Ascension Mass,
otherwise known as Morrowsday, while Thamarites observe the irksomely named
Dark Ascension. While it should be obvious what each day, or group of days,
signifies, what’s notable about Dark Ascension is Morrowan sentiment towards
it. This is because they consider it a day of ill luck, and most superstitious
Morrowans will only leave their homes for the least amount of time permissible by
their jobs and society under the belief they will be afflicted by misfortune,
lethal and otherwise, more on this day than any other. Menites, Sul-Menites in
particular, have their own religious festivals, the most notable of which is
Sulonsphar which commemorates the founding of the Protectorate and the first
Hierarch’s ambitions which led to this event. Sulonsphar, alongside the
respective memorial days for each of the Hierarchs, especially that of Garrick
Voyle, is naturally not seen in any particularly good light in neighbouring
Cygnar, especially Caspia.
On a strictly
secular level, a common local holiday is founding day, which is a fixture in
nearly every settlement across the Iron Kingdoms. Naturally, the date varies
depending on where one finds themselves, but certainly, every major city has an
official Founding Day on which a grand festival takes place. What activities it
includes will differ, naturally, but more often than not, there’s a sporting
competition of some sort, whether it be boxing, wrestling, fencing,
strength-games, target shooting by pistol, rifle, bow or crossbow, or even just
simple races across a range of distances. Specific to Khador are a series of
locally observed remembrance days dotted throughout the year dedicated to
numerous Heroes of the Motherland. Most are working holidays, but all of them
except one are held in memory of an individual or a unit who has been lauded by
High Kommand and the Empress, mostly locally born or raised with a few who are
considered heroes empire-wide. The exception is the general day of remembrance
for Khadorans who died during war or in battle in service to the country.
Unlike the others, it is a rest day, marked by grand parades of serving
soldiers, who march past local war memorials in formation with warjacks,
cavalry in full ceremonial armour, and other mechanikal hardware.
Though not
exclusively human, little is truly known about Devourer worship, at least with
respect to formalised celebrations. Like Trollkin festivities, it’s been
difficult trying to pin down particular dates which relate to certain
occasions, though with the added wrinkle that Devourer cults do not really
acknowledge the concept of ‘holiday’ in either of its meanings. For the longest
time, the only known cycle of feasts I knew of was the informally called Night
of Transformation, once each month when Calder is full. It is not so much a
recognised feast day as a regular indulgence by all the communities of
warpwolves when the new or inexperienced among them involuntarily take on their
wolfen forms and join their peers on semi-ritual hunts to embrace their primal
nature. This culminates in Warpnight and Wurmsglare on consecutive nights,
which occurs once every three years when the moons of Caen are aligned in a
very specific manner with Calder dominant in the night sky and the other two as
much as invisible. Also occurring once every three years is the Longest Night,
as observed by other cultures, though it is of special significance to all
Tharn due to the meaning they attach to a full moon, much less three full
moons. Celebrations, which last for three days and are conducted by all adults
and no few adolescent Tharn, are more or less an exercise in imitating the
Devourer Wurm’s endless hunt across Caen, your imaginations should be able to
fill in the details. A more recent feast day is observed by the Tharn, though
it has no name I am aware of. It celebrates the recovery of the Tharn people
from the Curse of the Ten Ills with symbolic bloodletting or some other similar
activity, depending on the tribe, done in honour of Morvahna the Autumnblade.
The day’s formalities also serve to reaffirm the tribes’ loyalty to the Circle
Orboros. An enigmatic feast day worth noting, if applicable to Devourer
worshippers as a whole, is that which pays respect to the being known as the
Lord of the Feast. Though, quite what it entails and quite when it is, even the
most gregarious of Devourer cultists are reticent to divulge, especially to
outsiders.
To the ordinary
townsfolk of the Iron Kingdoms, a Devourer’s religious observance is likely a
laughable concept. Similarly laughable is the idea of a Cryxian holiday, but
let us not forget Toruk, the Dragonfather, is treated as a god throughout the
Cryxian archipelago, and being a dragon with all the arrogance which comes with
said race, it should be far from shocking that he has a number of days across
the calendar for paying homage to the Dragonfather’s… deeds. The most
well-known and regularly observed is Blight’s Eve, which supposedly represents
the day on which Toruk founded the Nightmare Empire by securing the loyalty of
the Pirate Kings and transformed them into lich lords. Another theory, which
may or may not be just as likely, I have no inclination for confirming the
truth of it either way, is that it instead marks the conflagration of the
Atramentous and when Captain Rengrave became the first so-called citizen under
Toruk. In any event, the day comes with extra looting and pillaging by the
Nightmare Empire’s pirate fleets, followed by the lich lords unleashing their
favoured press gangers to replenish their ranks, whether living or undead,
since one works just as well as the other.
Finally, the
Skorne have a curious relationship with days of celebration. They are the only
race among whom there are literally hundreds of days of remembrance, but which
are only observed by a limited group of people. Like the other peoples of
Immoren, they have a few feast days which are common across the whole Empire.
The most important ones, and indeed most Skorne feast days, are days of
significant exultations. The Exultation of Vuxoris is perhaps the one day which
the Skorne Empire in its entirety makes some symbolic gesture for. The Day of
the Paingivers and the Day of the Nihilators, which celebrate the contributions
to Skorne culture made by Voskune and Morkaash respectively, are more important
among their respective cults than among the general Skorne, though they may be
nominally celebrated across all Tors. As to the other more local days of
remembrance, the vast majority tend to be somewhat transitory, observed for a
generation or two before fading from memory, or perhaps longer depending on the
will of the ruling Tyrant or Dominar and the popularity of the individual the
day commemorates. Virtually all exultations of senior Skorne nobles, especially
ruling individuals, are accorded a feast day of sorts, but these are only
acknowledged by the demesne over which they ruled. Thus, for example, the
Exultation of Vaactash is only observed by House Balaash, and to a lesser
extent their vassals and allies, so it would be strange for someone from a
political rival House to pay their respects on this day. With reference to such
nobles as Vaactash, given enough fame and glory to their name, it becomes
likely for their exultation to be observed on a more long-term basis, with only
a very small number of individuals acquiring a permanent fixture in the Skorne
calendar.
Thus, it can be
easily seen that the Immorese enjoy many a feast day, and in many places, life
even comes with the expectation of several such days throughout the year. Yet,
I believe remembrance and celebration will not be in short supply in the near
future, for there will be plenty of reason for one, and plenty of need for the
other.
