Freedom of Love Festival
"The High Divine tried to build cages for our hearts once. Forged laws of iron and faith to keep love in its 'proper' place. A Galdoric edict of grey austerity, a world bled of life. The Freedom of Love Festival though, my dear friend, is the sound of a thousand hearts shattering those cages with the simple, unstoppable force of their song. Just look at those colors, amigo! A rebellion painted on the wind! Every ribbon is a stanza, every banner a verse in a poem that simply says, 'We are here, we are beautiful, and we are free.'"The Freedom of Love Festival, held annually from the 10th to the 18th of Cherzida, is a widespread celebration of the right to love across the boundaries of kin, class, and gender. While no single, universally accepted account of its founding exists, historians concur that it began as a grassroots protest within Valleterna during the oppressive era of the Galdoric Empire. The catalyst for the protest was the Galdoric faith's Doctrine of Eminence. This imperial dogma, centered on maintaining the "purity of the alb", strictly forbade relationships outside of one's own kin. The Galdoric Empire enforced this principle of segregation upon all its subjects, creating legally enforced divides between humans, varul, kaimanids, and others.
With the liberation of Valleterna and the establishment of the Nine City Alliance, these acts of protest were transformed into a public celebration. The festival became a powerful symbol of broken doctrines and the newfound freedom to love openly. The festival's core mantra of freedom also embraces love between the same sexes - another form of bond deemed taboo and ostracised under Galdoric rule. The early Concordance of Nine, wary of radicalism and struggling to maintain the valley's fragile balance, initially attempted to curtail these expressions. Their efforts proved futile. The festival had become too widespread and immensely popular, embedding itself into the cultural fabric of the Alliance. Today, the Freedom of Love Festival is observed in nearly every realm of North Vespero, with the stark exception of the Divine Dominion of Galdorsmynd.
Different Tales of Free Love
The history of the festival can be divided into three distinct phases: the protests under imperial rule, the explosive celebrations following the liberation, and the subsequent evolution that defined the festival as it is known today. However, the true origin, the single inciting incident that sparked the movement, remains a matter of fierce regional debate. During the height of the Galdoric Empire's power, most realms of North Vespero were subject to the same strict rules and regulations under the High Divine's orders. Acts of defiance against these rules were recorded in every single city of Valleterna, but there are a handful of noticeable events that are often claimed as the "origin" of the Freedom of Love Festival. Among the many tales told, the following three have become the most prominent and widely retold:The Perfumer's Fire in Rosaflor
In Rosaflor, the festival's origin is a tale of love and violent retribution. The story told is that of Cassia, the alb daughter of a high-ranking Galdoric official, and a human perfumer's apprentice named Vico. Cassia's father was a man who preached Galdoric austerity while indulging his family in the lavish luxuries Rosaflor offered. Yet among the city's opulent scents, Cassia found herself drawn to a simple, unpretentious perfume - a local blend with no complex artistry. Her search for its creator led her to Vico, a young apprentice in one of the city's smaller workshops. They fell in love. Under the guise of consulting Cassia on matters of fashion and fragrance, Vico became a frequent visitor to the official's estate, allowing the two to steal moments together. Their secret union was inevitably discovered by Cassia's father. Enraged by the defiance and the "impurity" of the relationship, he made a brutal example of the boy. Vico was publicly flayed and executed in the city's main square as Cassia was forced to watch. Cassia was to be sent back to Galdorsmynd in disgrace, but she never made the journey. That night, using the simple perfume Vico had made for her as an accelerant, she set her father's estate ablaze, consuming both the official and herself in the inferno. The fire at the Galdoric estate created chaos, drawing the attention of the city guard. In that moment of distraction, Vico's friends, family, and fellow perfumers seized the opportunity. Using their own flammable wares, they set more fires, targeting guard towers and imperial administrative buildings. The "Night of Perfumer's Fire", as it became known, was a bloody, city-wide uprising. While the revolt was eventually and brutally crushed by Imperial reinforcements, the damage to the Empire's authority was irreparable. That night did not win Rosaflor its freedom, but it planted a seed of bitter defiance that would smolder for years, ultimately driving the city to join the larger rebellion that formed the Nine City Alliance. For the people of Rosaflor, this horrific event - born from a love that was brutally extinguished - is the true, fiery origin of the Freedom of Love Festival. Today, in the center of that same town square, a statue of Vico and Cassia stands where the execution block once did, a permanent monument to their bond.The Warrior's Charge in Puerto Opalino
In the bustling port city of Puerto Opalino, the festival's origin is tied to a story of fierce loyalty and personal sacrifice. The tale centers on Castañon Delamar, a young, ambitious human merchant, and the kaimanid mercenary he hired for protection named Garro. A veteran from Caudaluna, Garro was meant to be a simple bodyguard. However, over long months of travel, their professional arrangement deepened into a close, secretive romantic relationship, a bond they maintained under the guise of their original contract. Their secret was eventually discovered by a rival merchant, who, seeing an opportunity to eliminate his competition, reported the forbidden relationship to the Galdoric authorities. Upon Castañon's return to Puerto Opalino alone, Imperial Justicars were waiting. He was arrested, his assets were seized, and after a swift trial, he was sentenced to death. When word reached Garro, he returned to the city and launched a suicidal assault on the prison where his lover was held. Accounts speak of a single warrior charging the gates, fighting through overwhelming numbers of guards in a brutal, bloody rampage to reach the cells, free Castañon, and fight his way back out. The two escaped the prison, but Garro was grievously wounded. With what little they had left, they hired the Network of Fools to smuggle them out of the city, though the warrior succumbed to his injuries shortly after their escape. The fate of Castañon Delamar remains unknown, but popular rumor claims he joined the Golden Trade, using his skills to undermine the Empire that had cost him everything. Today, the Freedom of Love Festival in Puerto Opalino honors Garro's sacrifice. A parade traces the supposed path of his bloody rescue. The story is also held up as a prominent example that the freedom of love between members of the same sex has been a core element of the protests from their very inception. For a period, state-sanctioned versions of the tale changed the merchant into a "young merchant's daughter" in an attempt to align the legend with the more conservative views of the early Concordance of Nine. However, popular tradition fiercely resisted this revision, and modern tellings have restored the story to its original form.The Playwright's Gambit in Brillamarque
In Brillamarque, the City of Gold and Fortune, the festival's origin is inseparable from the city's lifeblood: the theater. The story centers on two figures of the city's grand stage, an albling playwright named Eudoxia, known for her sharp and allegorical scripts, and Aldonza, a captivating human actress who was the star of Eudoxia's troupe. Their on-stage chemistry mirrored a genuine, forbidden romance that flourished behind the velvet curtains. This relationship inspired Eudoxia to write her masterwork, a play titled "The Quiet Belonging". The production was a thinly veiled critique of the Doctrine of Eminence, telling the story of two lovers from warring houses, forced apart by a cruel and arbitrary laws. The play was an immediate sensation. The people of Brillamarque, with their love for spectacle and disdain for overt authority, flocked to see it. The Galdoric authorities were slow to act, wary of disrupting the city's most popular entertainment. However, as the play's seditious reputation grew, they could no longer ignore it. On the final night of the show's run, Imperial forces arrived at the theater to arrest the entire cast for treason. What happened next has become the core of the Brillamarque legend. The audience, already masked as was custom for a night at the theater, refused to move. They did not draw weapons or shout, but simply stood, forming a living labyrinth of bodies in the aisles and exits. The guards, unwilling to incite a full-scale riot in a packed theater, found themselves lost in a sea of indifferent silk and porcelain. In the confusion, Eudoxia, Aldonza, and the other actors slipped away and vanished into the city's shadowed alleys. The fate of the two lovers is unknown. Some say they escaped the city, while others believe they were eventually caught and disappeared into the Empire's prisons. What is certain is that the Council of Masks, during their rise to power, quickly co-opted the legend. The story around "The Quiet Belonging" became a celebrated myth, a useful tool to champion Brillamarque's independent spirit and support their Autonomist stance. The tale was transformed from a personal tragedy into a symbol of the city's artistic defiance, conveniently divorced from the likely grim fate of the artists themselves. Today, the Freedom of Love Festival in Brillamarque is a grand, city-wide theatrical event. Troupes re-enact scenes from "The Quiet Belonging" on street corners, and citizens don masks depicting a "Caged Starling," the play's central symbol, to honor the artists who sacrificed everything for their love and their craft.Common Traditions and Practices
While the Freedom of Love Festival manifests in a variety of ways across the realms, a few cornerstone traditions are observed nearly everywhere, creating a shared cultural language for the week-long celebration.The Grand Procession
Really nice article. It adds a lot of extra flavour to the history of this world
Thank you very much! The goal is always to make the world more rich, and having stories and legends to reference is always helpful ^w^
At the end of everything, hold onto anything.