Festivals
Bellacoste has many festivals that its denizens celebrate throughout the year. While there are some that are more personal to certain species, there’s always room for everyone!
January | Asterarche
As the final Hibernal Equinox celebrations wind down, the beginning of a new celestial year is celebrated by the elyvians. Long since able to track the passage of time and the movement of Bellacoste through the great canvas of space, Asterarche marks the return of familiar stars and skies.
Once marked with extravagant celebrations lasting weeks at a time, the elyvians of old engaged in contests of creativity and invention. Those with the greatest contributions were crowned the brightest stars of the new year. The competition was always fierce, as the brightest stars were blessed with not only fame and fortune, but were said to have incredible luck in their ventures during the year as well.
While the old ways are still practiced, Asterarche has become a more quiet affair in recent years. In the wake of the war and the coming of the Fog, what remains of the elyvian population now spends the new year laying down offerings to the storm spinning out of control in Brouzet, hoping to appease the monsters of their own creation.
The holiday is now less a time of frivolous celebration and competition and more a time to reflect and attempt to better themselves. Should the storm ever be quelled, perhaps Asterarche will return to its former glory?
Once marked with extravagant celebrations lasting weeks at a time, the elyvians of old engaged in contests of creativity and invention. Those with the greatest contributions were crowned the brightest stars of the new year. The competition was always fierce, as the brightest stars were blessed with not only fame and fortune, but were said to have incredible luck in their ventures during the year as well.
While the old ways are still practiced, Asterarche has become a more quiet affair in recent years. In the wake of the war and the coming of the Fog, what remains of the elyvian population now spends the new year laying down offerings to the storm spinning out of control in Brouzet, hoping to appease the monsters of their own creation.
The holiday is now less a time of frivolous celebration and competition and more a time to reflect and attempt to better themselves. Should the storm ever be quelled, perhaps Asterarche will return to its former glory?
March | Cradle of Crocus
When all the snow has nearly melted and the first flowers of spring bloom, a great festival is held all over central Bellacoste to celebrate the end of winter. The coming of spring heralds new growth-- and one BIG party!
Easily the pouflons most jubilant holiday, the Cradle of Crocus is a massive affair of pitched canvas tents, fresh fare, maypoles, jousting and renewing vows to loved ones. Pouflons will travel from all four corners of the world to celebrate in Goldfair. However, many more secluded pouflons will celebrate alone or with their families. Humility is not expected, but it isn’t shunned either.
Many ursuki, aware of all the good food at stake, awake from their yearly hibernation just in time to join the fun!
Easily the pouflons most jubilant holiday, the Cradle of Crocus is a massive affair of pitched canvas tents, fresh fare, maypoles, jousting and renewing vows to loved ones. Pouflons will travel from all four corners of the world to celebrate in Goldfair. However, many more secluded pouflons will celebrate alone or with their families. Humility is not expected, but it isn’t shunned either.
Many ursuki, aware of all the good food at stake, awake from their yearly hibernation just in time to join the fun!
April | The Wild Hunt
After most ursuki wake up and feast at the Cradle of Crocus, things can get silly. With their magic reserves soaring for the first time since before hibernation, they are itchy to stretch their illusion muscles and need a suitable outlet-- the result is the fabled Wild Hunt, considered either the most fun, weird day of your life or the biggest nuisance the universe could bring on you.
The Wild Hunt is a festival of trickery where hoards of ursuki often sweep up hapless travelers into their great prank war. It starts simple enough. While walking through the forests during this time of year, you may notice that your path suddenly goes left when it should be right. How is it possible you’ve passed this same funny looking tree three times when you’ve been traveling south all morning? Was the sky always made out of cotton candy? Do rocks usually compliment your hairstyle? Things get weirder and weirder until you’re surrounded by giggling goblins and ghouls falling over each other. Then, the goblins and ghouls forget you were the target of their jokes and start casting spells on each other instead!
This usually snowballs into entire swaths of forest illusioned beyond recognition, even to the very ursuki who live there-- and did this to themselves! It’s not unheard of that everyone forgets where their own villages are, and in one instance Prank Master Spottedleaf turned her own treehouse invisible, insideout, AND upside down, requiring the help of her whole village to undo it. Even the grumpiest, most secluded ursuki has a hard time passing up the Hunt.
When everyone gets too confused to continue, they will plead to St. Hart and St. Elidi to help them undo the magic and get back home. Travelers will see a truly incredible display of power as the sainted couple sweeps through the forest, unwinding and burning away the illusions… but not before joining the Hunt themselves!
The pranks are disorienting but benign, and traveling participants will never want for food, water and comfortable shelter while running with The Wild Hunt. When finally allowed to resume their original roads, they will find their pockets full of presents and treats for being good sports-- perhaps even a personal invitation to Firsden during The Hibernal Equinox.
Hurting each other or a traveler during the Hunt is a major taboo. They don’t want to be mean or make you cry! It’s all in good fun, after all.
The Wild Hunt is a festival of trickery where hoards of ursuki often sweep up hapless travelers into their great prank war. It starts simple enough. While walking through the forests during this time of year, you may notice that your path suddenly goes left when it should be right. How is it possible you’ve passed this same funny looking tree three times when you’ve been traveling south all morning? Was the sky always made out of cotton candy? Do rocks usually compliment your hairstyle? Things get weirder and weirder until you’re surrounded by giggling goblins and ghouls falling over each other. Then, the goblins and ghouls forget you were the target of their jokes and start casting spells on each other instead!
This usually snowballs into entire swaths of forest illusioned beyond recognition, even to the very ursuki who live there-- and did this to themselves! It’s not unheard of that everyone forgets where their own villages are, and in one instance Prank Master Spottedleaf turned her own treehouse invisible, insideout, AND upside down, requiring the help of her whole village to undo it. Even the grumpiest, most secluded ursuki has a hard time passing up the Hunt.
When everyone gets too confused to continue, they will plead to St. Hart and St. Elidi to help them undo the magic and get back home. Travelers will see a truly incredible display of power as the sainted couple sweeps through the forest, unwinding and burning away the illusions… but not before joining the Hunt themselves!
The pranks are disorienting but benign, and traveling participants will never want for food, water and comfortable shelter while running with The Wild Hunt. When finally allowed to resume their original roads, they will find their pockets full of presents and treats for being good sports-- perhaps even a personal invitation to Firsden during The Hibernal Equinox.
Hurting each other or a traveler during the Hunt is a major taboo. They don’t want to be mean or make you cry! It’s all in good fun, after all.
July | Selstice
An unusual and recently reclaimed holiday, Selstice was generally celebrated by the capricorns of Aequor. Now that their proud city is open to newcomers, however, the festivities have begun to creep to the surface!
Traditionally, Selstice marks the founding of Aequor. Now it serves as a prideful jubilation of all things capricorn! The summer brings warm waters save for the Obsidian Sea’s deepest trenches, making it the perfect time for Leviathan-seekers to set out on new expeditions. Selstice is often celebrated as a last hurrah before brave adventurers venture out into the deep.
Some never return-- so celebrating them before they go is important to Aequor.
Land-side, summer is the perfect time to hit the boardwalks or do some swimming! Aequor opens itself to visitors during Selstice-- a little sightseeing wouldn’t hurt!
Traditionally, Selstice marks the founding of Aequor. Now it serves as a prideful jubilation of all things capricorn! The summer brings warm waters save for the Obsidian Sea’s deepest trenches, making it the perfect time for Leviathan-seekers to set out on new expeditions. Selstice is often celebrated as a last hurrah before brave adventurers venture out into the deep.
Some never return-- so celebrating them before they go is important to Aequor.
Land-side, summer is the perfect time to hit the boardwalks or do some swimming! Aequor opens itself to visitors during Selstice-- a little sightseeing wouldn’t hurt!
August | Carnival of Colors
Before pouflons can bring in their harvest, before autumn’s last explosion of color, before the long, cold hibernation of winter, the time of long, sunny evenings stubbornly persists. During the last throes of summer, elyvians exalt in the artistry of life and the world around them. The world, their homes, even their bodies become a canvas upon which to paint, not only to revel in the creation of art but also to celebrate and exalt in the joys of life itself.
Elyvians express themselves through song, dance, food and art during the month of colors, enjoying as much time under the sky as they can. The days grow shorter as the month wears on, giving way to warm nights by the water. The sea swallows the stars, reflecting the indomitable expanse of the cosmos, so close it can nearly be touched. Some try, braving the crushing waves for a chance at grasping a burning star of their very own.
Ever clever, elyvians study and work year-long to conceive new pigments to debut during the Carnival of Colors. While new hues are rarely discovered these days, it doesn’t stop them from trying. To discover something new is to go down in history, after all! Elyvians that do develop a new color almost always deem to name it after themselves.
Watch out! Throughout the Carnival it’s common to suddenly be pelted with powdered pigments of all shades. While most don’t mind becoming walking works of art, the pigments sometimes stain if not washed out in a timely fashion. Impromptu battles often break out between factions wielding different colors, competing good-naturedly to overwhelm the other side with their color before they themselves are covered in powder. There are never any losers, despite what the elyvians might claim! Sometimes the pigments mix in unintentional ways, creating something new and unexpected. Participants– willing and not– often come away covered in more colors than they went into the fight with!
Elyvians express themselves through song, dance, food and art during the month of colors, enjoying as much time under the sky as they can. The days grow shorter as the month wears on, giving way to warm nights by the water. The sea swallows the stars, reflecting the indomitable expanse of the cosmos, so close it can nearly be touched. Some try, braving the crushing waves for a chance at grasping a burning star of their very own.
Ever clever, elyvians study and work year-long to conceive new pigments to debut during the Carnival of Colors. While new hues are rarely discovered these days, it doesn’t stop them from trying. To discover something new is to go down in history, after all! Elyvians that do develop a new color almost always deem to name it after themselves.
Watch out! Throughout the Carnival it’s common to suddenly be pelted with powdered pigments of all shades. While most don’t mind becoming walking works of art, the pigments sometimes stain if not washed out in a timely fashion. Impromptu battles often break out between factions wielding different colors, competing good-naturedly to overwhelm the other side with their color before they themselves are covered in powder. There are never any losers, despite what the elyvians might claim! Sometimes the pigments mix in unintentional ways, creating something new and unexpected. Participants– willing and not– often come away covered in more colors than they went into the fight with!
October | The Lamentation
As the harvest moon rises and the pouflons tend to their fields, the vespires of the Ebony Wreath descend deep down into the earth. In the months of plenty in Bellacoste, the vespires recall all that the war took from them.
It feels so long ago, through the Fog. By tooth, by claw, by burning pneumir and falling tears– the vespires fought, and they fell. The Old King, not content to let the dead rest, took the fallen before their bodies could be recovered. The things he did to them were unspeakably cruel.
The fallen would rise again– in bodies of stone, many of which did not reflect the deceased vespires as they were in life. King Vieux made the dead into an army. He sent the Golems, facsimiles of their former selves, against their own. The war was long. It was bloody. It took so much. Too much.
Those that survived return to tunnels of stone, deeper and further than usual, into the deep cavernous caves formed when the world was still new. Some bring momentos, but they all bring a song. Together the Stratas sing the lifesong of those who sang before them, the threads of so many lives lived and cut short forming a deep, resonating tapestry.
With their voices joined as one, the song could carry for days, and at its strongest it could be felt far above the caverns, soaring straight to the surface. They sing for those long gone– they sing for those that are still out there, encased in a body of stone that isn’t their own.
The vespires sing to call their loved ones home to rest. The Golems that come are tended to lovingly, some choosing to embark on their final adventure at peace, surrounded by their Strata. Others, not ready to go, choose to have their casing carefully and respectfully altered so that they can live what remains of their life at peace with themselves.
It feels so long ago, through the Fog. By tooth, by claw, by burning pneumir and falling tears– the vespires fought, and they fell. The Old King, not content to let the dead rest, took the fallen before their bodies could be recovered. The things he did to them were unspeakably cruel.
The fallen would rise again– in bodies of stone, many of which did not reflect the deceased vespires as they were in life. King Vieux made the dead into an army. He sent the Golems, facsimiles of their former selves, against their own. The war was long. It was bloody. It took so much. Too much.
Those that survived return to tunnels of stone, deeper and further than usual, into the deep cavernous caves formed when the world was still new. Some bring momentos, but they all bring a song. Together the Stratas sing the lifesong of those who sang before them, the threads of so many lives lived and cut short forming a deep, resonating tapestry.
With their voices joined as one, the song could carry for days, and at its strongest it could be felt far above the caverns, soaring straight to the surface. They sing for those long gone– they sing for those that are still out there, encased in a body of stone that isn’t their own.
The vespires sing to call their loved ones home to rest. The Golems that come are tended to lovingly, some choosing to embark on their final adventure at peace, surrounded by their Strata. Others, not ready to go, choose to have their casing carefully and respectfully altered so that they can live what remains of their life at peace with themselves.
November | Fete Passing
As the vespires emerge from the earth, pouflons take their turn in mourning. The Fete Passing marks the death of most flowers and the beginning of winter-- necessary, but bittersweet nonetheless.
Months of harvesting end with the Fete, marking it as a time of rest and reflection of the year. Families and villages gather to share their tales and their bounties in an annual feast at the end of the holiday.
Some pouflons use this holiday to honor their fallen and St. Asphodel, tending to gravestones and mementos of lost loved ones. Many will care for untended sites with nobody left to visit them as a show of respect and love.
Months of harvesting end with the Fete, marking it as a time of rest and reflection of the year. Families and villages gather to share their tales and their bounties in an annual feast at the end of the holiday.
Some pouflons use this holiday to honor their fallen and St. Asphodel, tending to gravestones and mementos of lost loved ones. Many will care for untended sites with nobody left to visit them as a show of respect and love.
December | The Hibernal Equinox
Most ursuki choose to hibernate during the long winter months. Before they sink into deep, restorative sleep, they host a huge festival where they use up the remainder of their magic reserves to put on incredible shows, creating illusions unmatched by any pouflon or vespire. On the darkest nights of the year, Firsden opens up to be found by any guest who wants to be wowed by their legendary festival.
The Hibernal Equinox offers a rare and precious glimpse into the otherwise secretive ursuki’s lives and culture. All over Bellacoste the veil over their villages are lifted and other species are welcomed to partake in their history, their food, and of course, their dazzling magic!
Once the festival is over and visitors go home, no one ever seems to remember how to get back to the elusive ursuki settlements. Whether this is a result of the food or a memory-erasing spell, the former paths never seem to line up in the same way again, making the villages impossible to find outside of this unique time of year. Not even written directions, maps or wayfinding equipment are reliable.
The Hibernal Equinox offers a rare and precious glimpse into the otherwise secretive ursuki’s lives and culture. All over Bellacoste the veil over their villages are lifted and other species are welcomed to partake in their history, their food, and of course, their dazzling magic!
Once the festival is over and visitors go home, no one ever seems to remember how to get back to the elusive ursuki settlements. Whether this is a result of the food or a memory-erasing spell, the former paths never seem to line up in the same way again, making the villages impossible to find outside of this unique time of year. Not even written directions, maps or wayfinding equipment are reliable.