#he spared his final opponent though henrik knows what's up

[tildeathiwillwrite]

Do your characters/worlds celebrate a winter festival of sorts?

I'm not gonna lie this sort of worldbuilding always eludes me the first time around. Nevertheless, the festivals do exist, it's simply a matter of consulting my worldbuilding docs!

Trials of the Six

The cultures of Rymn have some variation on the festivals, but they all celebrated the solstices in some way. For the Cei in the Permafrost, they celebrate the solstice of the hibernation season (winter), which is at the beginning of the shortest days of the year, where the sun only rises for about five hours. One of their ancestral feasts also occurs during the hibernation, so they celebrate that as well.

The Tyans have a mid-hibernation festival, in remembrance of a great siege from several hundred years ago (they were at war with Tectuem, the Tectuma also celebrate the same festival but for different reasons). They also have multiple festivals during the year for Erens, the creator, including one during hibernation.

Mareln and Sala have shorter hibernation seasons, being in the mid-southern hemisphere, they celebrate the solstice and the first frost.

Tectuem has the solstice, the festival itself also honoring the ancestors, and if the current Empress's coronation occurred during hibernation, they celebrate the anniversary of that as well.

Ilunians, being multi-cultural, tend to celebrate many of the above, they may also honor the founding of their home fleet if that occurred during hibernation.

Tales from Valaria

The humans celebrate the winter solstice (though the specific traditions can vary between continent and city). Humans in the central continent also have a mid-winter festival for one of the celestials (if anyone wants a Worldbuilding Wednesday on the different celestials just say the word hehe).

The elves don't worship the celestials but they have a festival in remembrance of the first sang attacks, and their solstice festival doubles as their religious feast. If a coming of age ceremony takes place, both the elves and the sang will celebrate it.

The Draigo's founding day celebration takes place in late winter for the central continent, honoring when the stronghold and council was established. The eastern and western continents have similar holidays, but they take place at different points in the year when their strongholds and councils were established. Most of the surviving Draigo post-genocide still honor the tradition, but in a bittersweet manner. Some survivors have abandoned the tradition altogether.

Magician school graduations are occasionally celebrated, along with the founding of the main school for rune-writing on the western continent. Early magicians are seen as great historical figures, and their memory is often honored during these celebrations.

The Legend of Orian Goldeneye

Winter festival traditions vary widely from city to city. Households have their own familial traditions, but city-wide celebrations are common, though in more recent times tensions have been especially high during the celebrations.

In Saint's Shoal, when the shrine was active, the acolytes organized a specific ceremony at the beginning of winter intended to raise funds for the poor. Diana still honors the tradition, using much of the money she raises from performing to benefit the poor (alongside her smuggling, which also benefits the less fortunate).

Iron Hollow has a solstice festival, though festivities often end before dark due to how tightly controlled the city is by Azura.

This festival doesn't happen during winter, but it's fun enough to mention anyway. It's specific to mid-Atai, and remembers a duel between two princes vying for the kingdom. The prince who won the duel spared the life of the other prince. The festival involves a dueling tournament over multiple days, culminating in a final duel of champions. Ironically, the final duel often ends with the death of the loser.