D&D 5E HAPPY HOLIDAYS ?

[steeldragons]

Here in the U.S. it is the close of the unofficial "start of summer" (and remembrance of our military dead), Memorial Day Weekend. Today is the actual Memorial Day. So it got me to thinking of the various traditions and expectations one has for holidays and holiday celebrations...

Which, naturally, led to thinking of Holidays in a fantasy world...I mean, we talk about the equinoxes and solstices all of the time (they're the pretty obvious ones), things like a king's birthday that would be made an official holiday for the land, remebrance of when the wizard of Id slew the dragon overlord, general "festivals" for this or that, etc... But a lot of times, it's kind of glossed over as something in the background.

So I gotsta thinking about when holidays actually are? What they entail? What an actual "holiday celebration" would involve/look like.

So, that's what the thread is for, this holiday weekend.

What are your homebrew celebrations/festivals/holidays? What goes on there? What activities? What food? What traditions and how far reaching are they (just this village, the nation, the religion? the race?)?

Tell me about holidays and festivals you'ved created adn/or used in your game world.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

For the humans of the cold north, the main festival is Marrow. A mammoth is slaughtered, and the villagers will spend three days butchering it and preparing the meat. Until on the fourth day the bones are remaining, and a corridor is made of its empty rib cage. At one end the head and tusks are arranged like an altar, and all couples seeking marriage will process down the rib corridor to the skull altar where the priest blesses their union before all the village. The whole community then feast on the meat and the heart of the mammoth. It is considered bad luck for there to be any meat left on the bones by the end of the night.
Following the fourth day the villagers then will help build a shelter around the bones, made of hides and similar to an American Indian style dwelling. The head of the mammoth remains as an altar/chair, and the whole serves as the village 'thing' hall for the coming year. Obviously, the larger the mammoth the more auspicious the year is seen to be.
The previous years 'thing' hall is pulled down a month before the ceremony, and the old bones and skull are packed away and used in the bone fire made to smoke the new years mammoth meat.
During this month without a 'thing' hall the village has no council chamber and they are expected to behave civilly to one another as without the head of the village to arbitrate disputes, there can be no final arbiter. Feuds are put aside. Children will play pranks with no council to scold them. This is indulged - but not forgotten should they go too far!
This month represents the village community coming together as one, and traditionally no arguments should be had. This month is seen to represent the 'bones' of the community, with the values that hold them together being the marrow of the community. If the head man should die, the village should be able to function. It serves to remind them that no one man is worth more than the village.
How's that?

 

[Sunseeker]

I actually hadn't considered that.

I will commence considering.

 

[steeldragons]

How's that?

Pretty fraggin' awesome!

 

[Henry]

Damn, Gutboy, I feel like I just left watching a History Channel special on Neolithic Rituals! Fantastic job.

 

[aramis erak]

Most cultures historically marked both the equinoxes and the solstices.

Most had a harvest festival of some kind. Many have a planting festival (often some form of fertility festival).

Most have some form of war remembrance.

Many have commemorations of historic battles.

If the calendar uses god-names, then one day in each will be the feast of that god.

The change of year will also tend to be a feast.

Most will have some form of procession, feasting, and half a day or more off work. Religious ones will have a service or two.

In medieval England, it worked out to an average of 2 full days off per month, plus 2-4 half-days off, almost all for religious feasts

 

[bedir than]

In my custom calendar every day has something notable about it. None of them involve "taking the day off." Certain religious types would take half days on certain days, or have specific meals.

But I haven't done holidays, though probably should. Although two kingdoms both base their calendar on when Daoud conquered Kirtin-on-the-Lake, the Summer City of Kirtin.

Now I'm going to stare at my calendar again and sprinkle in some holidays and memorials.

 

[GMMichael]

Most had a harvest festival of some kind. Many have a planting festival (often some form of fertility festival).

Good list. I was going to mention harvest, and then I remembered the ultimate harvest festival: Oktoberfest.

Many have commemorations of historic battles.

Does this include the 5th of November? Remember?

The change of year will also tend to be a feast.

I might be dyslexic, but seeing "feast" made me think of "fast." Are there any fasting holidays? Or is that a tautology, since "holiday" probably means "holy day" anyway, and fasting is often a religious thing?

 

[Zaran]

For the humans of the cold north, the main festival is Marrow. A mammoth is slaughtered, and the villagers will spend three days butchering it and preparing the meat. Until on the fourth day the bones are remaining, and a corridor is made of its empty rib cage. At one end the head and tusks are arranged like an altar, and all couples seeking marriage will process down the rib corridor to the skull altar where the priest blesses their union before all the village. The whole community then feast on the meat and the heart of the mammoth. It is considered bad luck for there to be any meat left on the bones by the end of the night.
Following the fourth day the villagers then will help build a shelter around the bones, made of hides and similar to an American Indian style dwelling. The head of the mammoth remains as an altar/chair, and the whole serves as the village 'thing' hall for the coming year. Obviously, the larger the mammoth the more auspicious the year is seen to be.
The previous years 'thing' hall is pulled down a month before the ceremony, and the old bones and skull are packed away and used in the bone fire made to smoke the new years mammoth meat.
During this month without a 'thing' hall the village has no council chamber and they are expected to behave civilly to one another as without the head of the village to arbitrate disputes, there can be no final arbiter. Feuds are put aside. Children will play pranks with no council to scold them. This is indulged - but not forgotten should they go too far!
This month represents the village community coming together as one, and traditionally no arguments should be had. This month is seen to represent the 'bones' of the community, with the values that hold them together being the marrow of the community. If the head man should die, the village should be able to function. It serves to remind them that no one man is worth more than the village.
How's that?

I wonder if mammoth was good eatin' back in the day or if they were just eaten because it was the only meat on the menu.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

To quote a member of the local Assassin's Guild, "Mmm, that IS a tasty burger"...