Holiday Challenge! 7/4/20 - 7/12/20

[Gossamer]

Since its Independence Day in America (but a lot of you are from other places)... I thought we'd have a holiday challenge. Since Mizahar is vastly different from the real world and needing more holidays, this weekend/week long challenge shall be simple.

Invent a holiday for your character's local area. The holiday doesn't need to be celebrated currently. The celebration just needs to be developed with a purpose and an underlying theme. This holiday should be developed in character in an actual thread with a specific purpose.

If you are interested, sign up in this thread. Then feel free once the holiday is developed to post it here. ST's can decide to add it to their domains or not. If they do not, you can still feel free to use it as a personal festivus.


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[Marino Oceangem]

This is Marino Oceangem, signing in.

[Caspian]

Signing up! Thanks, Goss!

Thread here.

A festival, fish-centric.

[Robert Glenfeidh]

Sounds hard, but I'll do my best to come up with one!

[Ambrosia Alar]

Count me in.
Unfinished holiday

[Quzon]

I just got an idea! Quzon, signing up.

[Moritz Craven]

Signing up Moritz, his first challenge!

The thread is here.

Holiday takes place in Fall, and is called "The Fall of Lies" (invented by several young children, so name is a bit punny).

It is a day in which lies are supposed to fall away, leaving only the truth in your words and actions. Mainly created due to Moritz desire to see people being more open and honest with each other, and less deceitful in general.

Its all about being open and honest in actions and speech. Actively going out and telling people the truth who you previously have kept things hidden from. Revealing true feelings and thoughts. Professing ones truth. Acting without deception in ones dealings with others.

The customary food is honest food without any deception. Singular visible items made of one ingredient like fruit, or with each ingredient clearly visible like skewers with each item separate. No spices or things not clearly visible.

[Gossamer]

Remember, you have one day left! This will end tomorrow at 9pm PST. If you don't follow the instructions I laid out in the first post, it won't count.


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[Marino Oceangem]

The festival of Kihala

Developed in thread here after some pre-work here.

Dates:11th - 16th of Summer

On the 11th of Summer, 520 A.V. a great storm washed over Syka forcing the residents to shelter together in the nearby caves that had been prepared for such an eventuality. The way the community came together to deal with that stressful time would be worthy of a holiday by itself even if what was to follow did not occur.

However, that was not to be the end of their cooperation. Amidst the cleanup, a search was also organized to find the strange totems that had been spotted that morning. Over the next several days, strangers and friends alike worked together to find these artifacts. It took ingenuity, skill, and a lot of hard work to find them all.

By the 16th of Summer they had found them all. Gathering together in the commons, they decided unanimously to put them together. What happened next no one could have expected. The goddess of life, Kihala appeared alongside the guardians whom had been housed in the totems. After marking some of those involved, she left them with a directive and the protection of these guardians.

To honor this gift, a holiday has been developed to remember the occasion by, spanning the same number of days that it took that Summer.

What this holiday entails:

First is the night of the storm where everyone gathers together to spend the night in close proximity while preparing for the festival to follow. Aside from cooking and the various other things required of a festival, those with a talent in a craft are encouraged towards making something to decorate the areas around the guardians and the shrine itself. At the end of the night, a vote is taken. Those with the most votes will decorate the shrine.

Before that can happen however, these items are hidden that night around Syka, much in the same way the totem's had been. Come morning, a search is organized to find the hidden items. Whether they are found quickly or not, the culmination of the celebration always happens on the 16th in front of the shrine to Kihala.

Fresh fruits, cakes, and baked goods are a preference for the occasion, though there are other options as well. At the end of the feast, everyone gathers together to take the decorations to the various guardians before everyone ends up at the shrine once again. Then each person celebrates the rest of the day as they wish with some choosing to devote themselves to prayer while others my prefer to let loose, and liven things up. In the end it is about celebrating the fact that they have survived another year, and to thank Kihala for the boons she has bestowed. Something that the people of Syka know how to do in a grand fashion.

[Tazrae]

Tenday in Syka

Developed here: Oh Its A Beautiful Thing...

Every ten days in Syka, the community gets together for a sort of subtle Community Check-In when the afternoon turns to evening. A communal fire is built, the settlement shares a pot-luck, gossip and news is spread, and there is dancing and merriment held as the night grows longer.

This event serves to tie the community closer together, and allows those settlers who are living on the outskirts of the community to be seen and in a way checked up on. Syka has so few calls for formal occasions, so Tenday is an excuse to put on some finery and comingle.

Tenday is also an excuse for stories to be told, musicians to debut new materials, and even smaller businesses like vinters or potters to bring out new pieces or experiments to see how the community reacts. There can be a group hunt the day before and a meeting before dinner each tenday to catch up on world events or discuss issues that affected the whole settlement.

If someone misses a tenday, they can expect a Founder or one of the rangers to go check on them a day or two afterwards to make sure they are doing okay. It's also a chance to see if someone in the community is struggling and might need some support from others in the area.