Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Romulus LoneWolf 02-19-06, 11:11 AM	Just been wondering.. Does Khorvaire have anything like Christmas? I was thinking of something like a Feast of the Host, an Annual celebration held on the days between Vult of one year before and Zarantyr of the following year, where followers of the Sovereign Host unite in celebration of life and hope during the cold days of the winter year. This celebration could involve feasts under the blessings of Arawai, Balinor, Boldrei and Olladra, games and competitions under the watchful eye of Balinor, Dol Arrah and Dol Dorn, exchanging gifts with the blessings of Kol Korran and Onatar... I have to admit, I thought this up because I wanted to include a historical event in my campaign where two opposing human armies (perhaps Aundair and Breland), during the Last War had an unofficial truce on the Feast of the Host..
Missekat 02-19-06, 11:19 AM	Have you read Terry Pratchett? If not, then pick up his book, "Hogfather". You could easily make a feast using his description, and he doesn't even involve the gods, (very much). That frees you up to entitle it to whom ever you would. Plus his vision of the hogfather is hilarious.. and very educating come to think about it.
Missekat 02-19-06, 01:52 PM	Ok.. I looked a little further into this and found something on the subject. If you look in The Eberron Bestiary (http://www.eberronbestiary.com/) and look up #74, Acolyte of the Traveller, there is a little something that could be incorporated into your very own Eberronian Christmas. Besides that.. I can't come up with anything. Now.. I have a bad habit of inadverdetly hijacking other peoples threads, (just look at "Question about quisine in Thrane"!), and I don't want to annoy you, but I do have a couple of ideas to holy days or days of celebrating something.. unfortunately just not anything christmas related. Would it be ok, if I posted these ideas here in your thread? The title of the thread is pretty fitting.. But I'll start a thread of my own on the subject, if you don't want me posting that stuff in here.
Missekat 02-19-06, 03:56 PM	Uuhh... *jumping up and down in my seat, on the verge of exploding out off sheer childish impatience* OhGodIHopeYouWontHateMeButISoHaveToPostT his!!!!! I promise to pack up my ideas and move on if you want to kick me out when you log on and read this. Promise. Absolutely. Cross my heart and hope to go to Dolurrh. With a cherry on top. Here goes: Day of the Dead – 1th Aryth, and a week up to it. For a week up to the grand celebration, decorations and candy, plus the typical window-displays of this special festival can be observed throughout Karrnath. Warriors who have died are honoured with window displays of ornamental and personal belongings. Flowers, particularly the Elfenbein Sterne, (a special Karrn marigold. It translates into Ivory Star), and candles, are also placed in the windows, and are supposed to strengthen the spirits home for yet another year of war and defense. These dislays are called Fenster die Abwehr. Karrnath houses are – for this single reason – usually built with at least one window facing the street. The window can be rather elaborately decorated with outer tree carvings picturing the dead, the Keeper, or some valiant ancestor still remembered. Sometimes the window is boxed off so no one can look further into the house, (Karrns like their privacy), or curtains close off the back of the window. During the rest of the year, when nothing is on display, flowers or other regular decorations are placed here. Other symbols include the elaborately-decorated Totentorte, (a rich coffee cake dusted white with sugar to look like bones), skull-shaped candies and sweets, marzipan death figures and papier maché skeletons and skulls. The candy figures are called Abwehr Gestalte. Lanterns made from frosted glass, in the shape of skulls are lit in the evening, and small porcelain bones and skulls are worn around the neck. The names of raised warriors now serving the country in death, is written on them in gold paint. Only those of the family of the raised warrior are allowed to wear “his bones”. The more bones one can wear this week of the year, the more honoured the family is. The night before the Day of the Dead, the kids are put to bed early after an evening of storytelling, focusing on the deeds and courage of the raised warriors of the family, (or just raised defenders in general if the family hasn’t contributed in this fashion). They are then told that the spirits of the dead will come to the window displays this night, to drink in the loyalty and love of their families, and maybe leave a small present for the children if they are deemed to have been brave and loyal in the past year. At the toll of the bell the next morning, the children will easily be roused, as they are jumping out of their beds and running to see if anything has been left for them in the Fenster die Abwehr. Usually – if the child hasn’t been absolutely horrible – a couple of Abwehr Gestalte or meringue bones and some boiled sweets are left for them by their parents. They children are then easily kept silent during the praying and fasting, as they have their sweets and their - now very fresh – belief that the dead are watching and depending on them. On the dawn of the Day of the Dead, the bells of every town hall all over the country begins to toll and people stream out from their houses to begin the prayers for their dead defenders. Everyone, children as well as infirm and old, participate in this day of fasting and praying in the cold streets. For a whole day, (usually 6 hours, since it’s in the wintertime and days are rather short in the northern winters), everyone stands still, hands folded and eyes stuck to the heavens, praying that their loved ones may gain strength, courage and defend their homes for another year. At evening the bells toll again, and people go home, comforted by the thought that they have helped their raised family and friends in their task. The special holyday soup Knochen Suppe is now served with white bread and dark ale, (raspberry juice for the kids), and the Totentorte with vanilla icecream for dessert. The recipies for the mentioned food is here: Real Usable Eberronian Recipies (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=8513662#post8513662)
Missekat 02-19-06, 04:02 PM	Fastelavn – 23th Olarune (Pronounced Fahst-eh-laun, and loosely based on the Danish holiday of Fastelavn) In the Mror Holds, there is a special festival for the children, celebrating an old victory no one even remembers today. Apparently the war was against some invading aberrations, possibly coming from below. It might even have been the scouting force of the army that laid waste to the kingdom below, while the ancestors of the current dwarves were locked outside, ignorant of the apocalypse taking place inside. No one knows. But the celebration lives on, and goes as follows: On the 23th of Olarune, children dress up as knights, archers, soldiers, mages, clerics and other heroes and goes out in the streets, knocking on doors and singing an old nursery rhyme: Fastelavn, Moving on, Food is all I want here, Oh, please feed me, Don’t deceive me, Lest the horrors see me. The adults stand there listening, smiling and nodding at the shrieking youngsters, (dwarves aren’t that well at singing as children. The deep baritones that develop during adolescence, unfortunately starts out as a pack of crows on a tin roof). They then hand them the special baked goods, called Fastelavn’s Buns, that are traditional to this celebration, and the kids move on, seeking some place to eat their loot and new places to harass and cash in more of the sweet baked goods. In recent days parents have taken to handing out regular candy instead of the buns, and just eating the buns as a dessert or treat at home with the family. In the evening all the children gathers at the town hall or in the town square, (which ever is the most suitable), and form a line. The grownups have erected a scaffold and on it hangs a barrel painted with pictures of Beholders, and filled with candy and small toys. The children are then given a wooden weapon each, (some uses axes or swords, but maces seems to be the most popular weapon in this contest), and proceeds to whack the barrel every time they pass it. The child who makes the first plank go loose is dubbed the Queen of Eyes, (no matter the gender), and the kid who makes the barrel go completely to pieces is dubbed the King of Eyes, (again no matter the gender). All the kids are then free to gather up as much loot as they can. No one knows the true story behind the rhyme, but scholars speculate that that army fighting against the aberrations might have encountered a period of famine, thus being forced to beg for food at farmers and in towns, before heading out again to battle the evil from below. The barrel and the dubbing of Kings and Queens, (obviously the defeaters of said aberrations, not rulers as such), of Eye Tyrants, strongly hints that these horrors was present, and maybe even the leaders of the army. The only thing scholars are certain of, is that a small traditional home guard named Fastelavn existed in ancient Mror, and that that army was mostly made up by retired veterans, pregnant women or women with small children, and young boys and the inferm. In other words, all the people who stayed at home when the warriors went to war. Again.. the link in the post above takes you to the recipies mentioned for this holyday.
Romulus LoneWolf 02-19-06, 04:02 PM	Now.. I have a bad habit of inadverdetly hijacking other peoples threads, (just look at "Question about quisine in Thrane"!), and I don't want to annoy you, but I do have a couple of ideas to holy days or days of celebrating something.. unfortunately just not anything christmas related. Would it be ok, if I posted these ideas here in your thread? The title of the thread is pretty fitting.. But I'll start a thread of my own on the subject, if you don't want me posting that stuff in here. Hey, the thread's title is "Holidays" of Khorvaire, not "Khorvaire's Christmas", so feel free to post any and all Holiday you can possibly imagine..
Missekat 02-19-06, 04:22 PM	Wheee! *resists the urge to hug Romulus, and settles for patting his head* Thanks :D
InfinityStar8 02-19-06, 05:04 PM	Hello all, Well, I like having a little realism in my game so when I DM I have a calender printed and keep track of the days my party spends on each adventure and what not. I also have each person pick a 'birthday' for the char they are playing and I wrote down every special day i could find in the books. I will say I have not really go through the newest books for special days but this is what I have so far. NOTE: I added when some planes are Coterminons or Remote because some spells get more or less powerful from it.) NOTE: I have not gotten around to it but ever week is detecated to one of the original Kalshatar Quori who made it to Eberron, with one week to greave for the leader who was lost. I plan on finding every name of ever Kalshatar Quori and just picking a week for each, but if someone else already did that please let me know. NOTE: When I started my adventures, I took a D12 for the month, a D4 to pick the week and a D8 (With 8 being a reroll) to pick the day I started, the year was always 998. Zarantyr 1st The Tain Gala 1st Risia is Coterminons 2nd Fernia is Remote 28th Last day Risia is Conterminons Olarune 1st The Tain Gala 1st Last day Fernia is Remote 9th Crystalfall 20th The Day of Mourning Therendor 1st The Tain Gala 15th Sun's Blessing 28th Mabor is Coterminons Eyre 1st The Tain Gala Dravago 1st The Tain Gala 26th Aureon's Crown Nymm 1st The Tain Gala 12th Brightblade Lharvion 1st The Tain Gala 23rd The Race of the Eight Winds Barrakas 1st The Tain Gala 4th The Hunt 25th Fathen's Fall Rhaan 1st The Tain Gala 9th Boldrei's Feast Sypheros 1st The Tain Gala 1st The Agcension 19th Wildnight (Sunset to Sunrise) 20th Lamannia is Remote 26th Last day Lamannia is Remote Aryth 1st The Tain Gala 11th Thronehold Vult 1st The Tain Gala 26th-28th Long Shadows Hope you all like this and can use it.
Missekat 02-22-06, 02:52 PM	Not a bad idea Infinity. I think I'll try it out, as my players like keeping track of these things and attend whenever possible. Consider your idea stolen ;)
InfinityStar8 02-22-06, 05:04 PM	Not a bad idea Infinity. I think I'll try it out, as my players like keeping track of these things and attend whenever possible. Consider your idea stolen ;) Thanks, hope it makes your game more fun. I forgot to add the link for the calender maker: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebwe/20041129a It has a lot of info on it. I love using it.
Cutlass 02-22-06, 08:22 PM	Hey! You guys left out Dol Dornmas!! I'd tell you when it is, except that I don't feel like reading through 20 + pages of humor thread to find somehting that got mentioned in passing. :)
Melvin the Mediocre 02-24-06, 01:28 PM	When you consider the sheer number of independent nations, varied religions, powerful houses, and remnants of former powers there are in Eberron, the calendar should be absolutely brimming with holidays of one sort or another. So thanks to all you who have posted here so we can all rob your hard work and creativity while we wallow in our idle slothfulness and still come across like paragon's of the DM world. Here's one of mine: The Feast of Oralune historically occurred on the first full moon of Oralune's cycle. The first king of Galifar to implement this holiday has been forgotten by history. But in the early days of the united kingdom, the ruler gathered about him many fine heroes who he felt epitomized the selfless devotion to king and country that guaranteed the survival of the unified nation. He thanked them with a sumptuous feast and lavished on them many great gifts and lordly titles. The gratitude he bestowed upon them was fervently appreciated, and most redoubled their efforts to serve their kingdom. Over the years, the feast became a frequent event, and those invited as guests of honor were granted almost instant renown. Eventually the feast became associated with the sentinel moon, and was repeated with each lunar cycle. Although the king could not accommodate every worthy hero in the entire kingdom, his vassals began to echo his overtures of thanks to those beneath them and soon the Feast of Oralune was a well established custom. During the hundred years war, the feast was all but forgotten as there was no longer a Galifarian kingdom to serve. However, late in the year of 997 the Royal Mayor of Ghalt reinstituted a shadow of the holiday to honor a small band of heroes who had served his city a great service. Since that feast, many other nobles across the remaining 5 nations have begun to attempt to secure favor among their land's heroes by similar potlatches. Their efforts are catching on, and many lesser nobles and wealthy merchants go to great lengths to secure the best seats and greatest gifts at the halls of their lords. Some larger cities, particularly the capitols of the five kingdoms (including New Cyre) have already taken to observing the holiday with each cycle of the moon. Smaller cities, especially those surrounding Ghalt, observe the holiday irregularly as heroics of their citizens arise.
Kinger 02-24-06, 02:35 PM	Hey! You guys left out Dol Dornmas!! I'd tell you when it is, except that I don't feel like reading through 20 + pages of humor thread to find somehting that got mentioned in passing. :) I believe Dol Dornmas was just another excuse for Capt. Jarlot to put on a big hat and get three-sheets-to-the-wind, if you know what I mean. :) I expect the holiday itself is celebrated mostly by men (and probably only men) who appreciate the pleasures of hunting, gluttonous feasting, heavy drinking, and sports you can participate in while loaded. I'd make it a once-a-year holiday celebrated mostly by soldiers, sailers, and common and skilled labourers (those whose occupations are nearly entirely physical exhertion), who go out, hunt some boar, stag, dinosaur, or any other big beast, and the one who kills the creature gets to make a hat from its antlers/horns/tusks/what-have-you that they wear throughout the holiday. Then everybody goes out to the rented banquet hall, cooks the beast over an open fire, gets drunk, eats the beast, and sings bawdy songs to make the priestess blush. Basically an Animal House-magnitude kegger, complete with pig-on-a-spit. Not for the faint of heart. :)
Missekat 02-25-06, 05:11 AM	Does anyonw want to try and flesh out the holidays mentioned in the ESC, The S:CoT and in RoE?
InfinityStar8 02-26-06, 06:10 PM	Does anyonw want to try and flesh out the holidays mentioned in the ESC, The S:CoT and in RoE? Flesh it out how, like I started? I think that is all the holidays from S:CoT and ECS, but I will try and add RoE, EH and PH when I have time. Like I said before, I also want to add the Kalshatar weeks to it.
Missekat 02-27-06, 01:53 AM	Nah.. :) I was thinking more in the lines of: What happends on these days? WHat does the holiday entail? Are there any traditions? Any custums or rituals to uphold? How do the kids and elderly see this day? Boring or joyful? Is it a party for the young men and women or do all participate. Stuff like that :) A bit like when I posted The day of the Dead and Fastelavn.
Melvin the Mediocre 02-27-06, 09:43 AM	Does anyonw want to try and flesh out the holidays mentioned in the ESC, The S:CoT and in RoE? Go for it! I only have the ESC. The only one out of that book I can remember is that (Thrane?) sets aside the first day of every week. I'm not even sure about that as I don't have the book handy right now.
TwinBahamut 02-27-06, 07:20 PM	When you consider the sheer number of independent nations, varied religions, powerful houses, and remnants of former powers there are in Eberron, the calendar should be absolutely brimming with holidays of one sort or another. Actually, even if you assume Khorvaire is culturally homogenous, there are going to be a lot of holidays. Looking at evidence from early 14th century England, at the time the combined total of Sundays and Holy Days was something like 100 days out of the 365 day year. Many of the holidays that are in modern reckoning single days were large, long, and elaborate affairs. For example, there really were 12 days of Christmas, and no one really worked that whole time, and no one did anything on all of Easter week either. Because of the diversity in Khorvaire, it is entirely possible that, to someone or another, almost every day of the year is considered to be special somehow. One thing I do want to point out is that, as part of a system of holidays, there tends to be periods of fasting, like the Christian period of Lent around Easter. There would be times like that in Eberron as well.
InfinityStar8 02-27-06, 09:27 PM	Holidays of Khorvaire expanded (Sharn:CoT only): Sun's Blessing (15th Therendor) A day to honor Dol Arrah, festivals are help and peace is encuraged to all. Enemies are encuraged to make peace on this day. Aureon's Crown (26th Dravago) Traditionaly this is when students graduate. Feasts are held and many scholars give free lectures to anyone who will hear on almost any topic. This day also honors Aureon. <Think college graduation for the entire country> Brightblade (12th Nymm) A day to honor Dol Dorn; prizefights, wrestling matches, archery contests and more happen throughout the land usally ending in a championship contest. <Think the Olympics> The Hunt (4 Barrakas) A day to honor Balinor and the great hunt. Usally a ceremonial beast is used in a set area and people are invited to hunt it to honor the day. <Deer season starts!> Fathen's Fall (25th Barrakas) ~Sharn only~ Knight Fathen of the Silver Flame hunted lycanthropes during the Silver Crusade and killed many. Then he was finally overcome by a pack of Wear-Rats. Shifters have mixed feelings on this day and many tentions run high. <Revirse Martin Luther King day maybe?> Boldrei's Feast (9th Rhaan) Grand feasts are held this day to honor Boldrei. Also this is usally the day elections are held for goverment jobs. <Think election day with Thanksgiving> The Ascension (1 Syperos) Silver Flame holiday to honor Tira Miron's sacrifice in become the Voice of the Flame. <Chirstmas/Easter kinda thing, maybe more Easter, lot of worship and not a lot of fun> Wildnight (18-19th Syperos) From sunset till sunrise this night honors The Fury. It is a night of wild parties, and many people lose there inhibitions. <Marti Gras!!!!> Long Shadows (26-28th Vult) These nights remember Aureon, most people stay in with family and huddle around fires. Evil people use this time to prey on the good or finish dark acts. <Day of the Dead maybe?> The Tain Gala (First Far of each month) ~Sharn only~ The ir'Tains are old money who hold a grand gala each month for all the local kings, queens, ambassadors, dragonmarked and the like. <Bill Gates month party> Crystalfall (9th Olarune) ~Sharn only~ Around the city people make ice towers to honor the Glass Tower that fell in 918. Once they are done making the masterpeace they smash it to show how the tower fell. Mixed feelings cover this day. The Day of Mourning (20th Olarune) The day Cyre fell. It has only been 4 years, most people still do not know what to do on this day. Many do quite, solum things to honor the once great nation. The Race of Eight Winds (23rd Lharvion) ~Sharn only~ Eight flying creatures race around Sharn each showing a distric they hail from. <Kentucky durby kinda thing> Thronehold (11th Aryth) The day the Treaty of Thronehold was signed. Still new but some are starting to see this as an important oliday to remember. <4th of July maybe?>