WANTED: Suggestions for a celebration of Chaos

[Herobizkit]

In our recent D&D game, we came up with having a Hallowe'en-like celebration for our town. Thing is, our town is located pretty close to a section of land called the Chaos Scar (taken from 4e's sandbox campaign 'setting') which is responsible for much of the town's wealth.

Then I wondered... what kind of celebrations (religious, cultural, magical or otherwise) might result from citizenry who have their well-being dependent on Chaos as a literal and tangible 'force'?

Then I came to EnWorld, hat in hand. :3

 

[MarkB]

The tricky part is that almost any form of organised, scheduled celebration goes against the spirit of a chaotic belief system.

Off the top of my head, I'd suggest having the town 'collect' celebrations from other religions. At irregular periods, whenever something happens that's particularly celebration-worthy, or if the townsfolk feel in particular need of cheering up, they choose a celebration at random and then play it out absolutely straight to the point of parody, pushing it further and further until it devolves into (usually more-or-less-harmlessly humorous) chaos.

 

[Janx]

each person Rolls a die to decide what to do next. eat, drink, dance, conjugate, sing, socialize

Since everybody is doing it independently, it's chaotic. The options are random, but focused on happy things.

 

[Celebrim]

In our recent D&D game, we came up with having a Hallowe'en-like celebration for our town. Thing is, our town is located pretty close to a section of land called the Chaos Scar (taken from 4e's sandbox campaign 'setting') which is responsible for much of the town's wealth.

Then I wondered... what kind of celebrations (religious, cultural, magical or otherwise) might result from citizenry who have their well-being dependent on Chaos as a literal and tangible 'force'?

Then I came to EnWorld, hat in hand. :3

So you want an organized, traditional, communal festival celebrating a force that is diametrically opposed to all of those things?

Ok, I'll try to be a little more helpful.

In general, you only see 'chaos celebrations' in communities that are traditionally very rigidly ordered. So you might have something like a 'feast of fools' where the normal social roles were relaxed, mocked, and deliberately upended. I suppose the magical equivalent would be releasing something like a Nilbog into the community, particularly if you aren't taking your setting very seriously and are ok with the gonzo.

But if you actually had an active force of chaos, it wouldn't want such celebrations to end - it would want that to be normality. If your day to day life was chaotic, you'd not have any separate and special set apart days where the community did anything collectively. There would be no way to declare a special set apart Holy Day because having special set apart days in itself implies there is some order to the universe. If you had Holy Days, no one would agree to observe them or how to observe them if they did. Holy Days would at most be relegated to "days where you do no work, if you feel like it and have sufficient wealth to make that choice". Even that wouldn't actually be the celebration of chaos, but a lingering on of an older lawful social order.

Basically, chaos days are marked by the absence of any specialness, any sense of belonging, and any meaning. Chaos wants each and every day to a be a celebration of the self and the self's desires. Setting a part a special day where we all celebrate our individuality, actually mocks the idea of individuality.

 

[Umbran]

So you want an organized, traditional, communal festival celebrating a force that is diametrically opposed to all of those things?

Better to think that it is an organized, traditional, communal festival celebrating the existence of the thing that supports their livelihood - a harvest festival, in essence. The fact that the thing is itself chaotic is aside the point - that may provide flavor and theme to the celebrations, but it is still basically celebration of continuing to have food, clothes, and a roof over your head.

But if you actually had an active force of chaos, it wouldn't want such celebrations to end...

Chaos, as a force, doesn't "want". "Wants" mean having goals, and goals mean plans, and chaos does *not* follow a plan. It probably, by its nature, can't support what you or I would call a coherent thought, much less have "wants". Chaos, by its nature, does not personify, as persons are ordered constructions.

So, I return to it - it is basically a harvest festival, perhaps flavored by the thing that is being harvested. So - unplanned potluck dinners. Raffles. Giving gifts to random people. Kids playing spin the bottle a lot. And commemoration of all those who suffered at the powers that they harvest - memorial of all those lost to the chaos. Plays and shows based on stories of how folks managed to thrive in the the presence of chaos by being clever, cautious, and prepared.

 

[Celebrim]

Better to think that it is an organized, traditional, communal festival celebrating the existence of the thing that supports their livelihood - a harvest festival, in essence.

The fact that the thing is itself chaotic is aside the point - that may provide flavor and theme to the celebrations, but it is still basically celebration of continuing to have food, clothes, and a roof over your head.

In which case, it might well be a celebration of triumphing over Chaos and mastering it rather than a celebration of Chaos the literal and tangible force. And the people of the town might not consider the Chaos itself to be the source of their livelihood, but something credited for protecting them from this chaos. They need not have any good will toward Chaos at all.

If the fact of that the thing is chaotic is beside the point, it might as well be a day of sober reflection, pious prayer and fasting. We can say nothing about the festival from the context at all.

 

[Umbran]

Yah, as I got to in my editing my last post. Though, one can come up with things that are thematically appropriate.

We can help more if we know *how* the people make their livelihood from the chaos. Do they literally harvest materials that have chaotic energy int hem and sell them, like miners? Or is the town supported by the influx of cash from those visiting the area to study or use the chaos energy?

 

[Herobizkit]

[MENTION=177]Umbran[/MENTION]: Exactly that. In our game, the "meteor" that crashed and formed the Chaos Scar has unearthed an ancient civilization that has passed hands no less than three times. In said caverns, residuum and adamant can be harvested and put to work for the town. In last nights' game, we learned that a massive hunk of crystal containing Chaotic energy helped perpetuate a "historic echo" of a war that kept replaying itself over and over, as well as bringing a Drake back to life for us to fight.

In an earlier game, we also defeated a Chaos Dragon from which we were able to forge the weapon known as the Scarblade (which has become our Swordmage's 'signature' weapon).

I'm thinking some sort of Harvest / Hallowe'en / Mardi Gras crossover for theme and put it to the creative minds of EnWorld to help my own brainmeats.

 

[Janx]

[MENTION=177]Umbran[/MENTION]: Exactly that. In our game, the "meteor" that crashed and formed the Chaos Scar has unearthed an ancient civilization that has passed hands no less than three times. In said caverns, residuum and adamant can be harvested and put to work for the town. In last nights' game, we learned that a massive hunk of crystal containing Chaotic energy helped perpetuate a "historic echo" of a war that kept replaying itself over and over, as well as bringing a Drake back to life for us to fight.

In an earlier game, we also defeated a Chaos Dragon from which we were able to forge the weapon known as the Scarblade (which has become our Swordmage's 'signature' weapon).

I'm thinking some sort of Harvest / Hallowe'en / Mardi Gras crossover for theme and put it to the creative minds of EnWorld to help my own brainmeats.

and hence my Random Roll of Rolicking

There was a philosopher in the town, who had similar wise thoughts to Umbran and Celebrim about why rolling randomly didn't make sense as true representation of Chaos.

Then, he rolled a Conjugate while standing next to a woman he fancied who also rolled a Conjugate and promptly abandoned the entire concern. They've since married and have 3 children.

 

[Celebrim]

[MENTION=177]In last nights' game, we learned that a massive hunk of crystal containing Chaotic energy helped perpetuate a "historic echo" of a war that kept replaying itself over and over, as well as bringing a Drake back to life for us to fight.

Ok, wait... are you the GM or are you the PC?

That is, are you asking me what existing festival might be in place in a town with this particular setting, or are you asking me what sort of festival I might put in place if I was part of the entertainment committee for the town?