Garfarrians

Cultural festivals

The Accolade - Yearly mass knighting

The Accolade is the traditional knighting ceremony on the field of ancestors. Squires from all over Garfarr compete in a tournament until they get knighted in a grand ceremony by the high prelate of Bocamar on full moon.
During the ceremony squires are themselves often referred to as accolades.
A week before full moon, delegations from all cities and realms will participate in a tournament consisting of many melees and jousts, until a final champion has been found.
On the day of full moon, or Luacheia, the Accolades get lead to the ancestral stone circle, centrally located on the field of ancestors, where they are met with the assembled knights of Garfarr, that were able to make the journey.
The delegations, walking toward the high prelate in the center of the circle, are lead by those that had performed the best during the tournament and symbolically get knighted for all Accolades of their respective realm, while the champion of the tournament walks in alone, as the last person, and after being knighted by the high prelate, gets invested by the same with the best arms and armor money can buy, also receiving a Murse from the legendary stables of the prelate itself.
armed, armoured and Murse by his side, the champion swears the oath of chivalry, and chooses a virtue to aspire to for all Garfarrian knights that year, the greatest honor any Garfarrian knight can ever achieve.

Luacheia - Garfarr's holy day

Luacheia is Garfarr's holy day, and has been since the pre-imperial times. Although the custom originally descends from the Sagra Arr cult, it is considered a holy day by all faiths popular among Garfarrians.
It is a day to slow down, to introspect and devote yourself to your spiritual and social needs. And as such it is commonly spent drinking and celebrating with friends and family, consuming lots of ale and traditional fish cakes, before eventually visiting ones local temple or holy place.

Durmento - Coming of age

Coming of age is one of the most important moment in any Garfarrian man's life.
When a father considers his son to have sufficient means to care for himself, by learning a trade or running a shop, he will gift his son a compass, symbolically telling him that it's time to find his own way.
Although this doesn't happen at a set age, most will reach adulthood in this manner around the age of twenty.
  Once a boy has secured sufficient means to care for himself, generally learning a trade or running a shop, his father will Coming of age is one of the most important moment in any Garfarrian man's life. Once a boy has secured sufficient means to care for himself, his father will gift him a compass, symbolically telling his son that it is time to find his own way in life. Though this doesn't happen at a set age, most Garfarrians reach adulthood in this manner around the age of twenty. While it is possible to find a spouse before coming of age, most families won't consider a suitor until he has symbolically reached adulthood. The day is usually celebrated between father and son by a visit to the local tavern where they will drink all night with the now man's new peers.  

Bocarida - The River Race to Bocamar

Implemented by Emperor Miranagita "Ponbanir" III in an effort to promote unity in the Empire and find capable sailors and good boat designs for the mighty Garfarrian fleet, the Bocarida is a boat race down the Arr river, starting at the Field of Ancestors and ending at the river mouth in Bocamar, open to anyone willing to participate. The event draws a huge number of participants, majorly hindering all other efforts to travel through the Arr. It is a challenging route with a total length of 150 kilometers. Originally, only participants who finished within 20 hours of starting would be classified. However, as the boat designs got better over the years, the fastest time set during the Bocarida was improved to 8 hours and 21 minutes by Timago I, who would later become the ruler of Aldarr. He himself claims that his time was even faster, as his arrival at the finish in Bocamar was so unexpected that the Chronographs responsible for measuring the finish times were still having supper and failed to record his actual time. While people hostile to Aldarr claim he clearly cheated, people loyal to Aldarr claim he was guided by the spirit of the Sagra Arr. Whatever you choose to believe, the record of Timago I still stands unbroken, with the next best time only being 8 hours and 38 minutes. As basically everyone participating could make the 20 hour mark, the cutoff time was brought down to 10 hours, to keep the completion of the Bocarida more prestigious.   Participants who manage to finish within 10 hours are awarded a golden medal, worth roughly 10 gold coins. While most people keep it as a sign of honour and perseverance, poor people would occasionally sell their medal for money. Those who could not complete the Bocarida in the set time, often buy these medals and fake the achievement as their own. The winner of the Bocarida gets their boat design made in gold. This results in elaborate boat design, trying to balance between the optimal speed and biggest possible size to gain the biggest reward. Other well performing participants are often recruited into the Naval Academy to later occupy high positions in the navy. The prizes are sponsored by wealthy nobles and merchants, looking for favour for the Emperor. The event is also hugely popular to bet on, with people gambling away an entire year's of income not being uncommon.   The huge prize money attracts a lot of cheaters, and many measures are taken to avoid manipulation of the race results. After the disastrous finish of Timago I, the organisation responsible for the Bocarida greatly professionalized the Chronographs. One of the most infamous cheating scandals was the victory of Jaime Aires, a lowly criminal who managed to start further down the river Arr to give himself a massive head start. After receiving his price, he immediately fled Garfarr on his boat. However, suspicions were soon raised by other contestant who had seen Jaime at the start in Aldarr. The second place finisher chased after him, easily catching up to Jaime in his superior boat. The prize money was returned to the rightful winner, Jaime Aires was drowned as a punishment. This event became known as the Aires Overtime, and resulted in increased security regulations for the race. Every year, unique flags are handed out to participants at the start, which are required to be on your boat at the finish. The design of this flag is kept secret, and are made by the skilled craftsmen of Aldarr to be difficult to fake. Additionally, posts along the river Arr have been set up to keep an eye on contestants during the race.

Cultural trends and traits

Wine rest

Every day during the second low tide Gafarrians take a half hour break during which they drink a glass of their alchochol of choice, traditionally that was red wine, however since the fall of the empire this tradition evolved to allow drinking nearly every non-strong alchochol, partaking in this tradition shows how cultured an idividual is, and as such in high courts red wine is still the drink of choice, but in places of lower splendor it usually is a locally famous drink.

Cultural symbols

-Arr river dolphins -River Galleys -Antiquities and relics from the empires time   Gender relations -patriarchal, but not dogmatic, women can own property   religion -widespread belief in the seven aspects, though many also believe in alternative cults and gods   cultural trends/traits -theater culture -very entrepreneurial, no matter what(legality) -different garfarrian tribes -familial tradition is highly valued -honor is the highest value -knighthood -collecting of antiquities and relics from ancient pasts   rulers and ruling -free spirits, it is one thing to be a ruler it is an entirely differnt thing to rule   cultural foods -Arr-flakes one of the essential ingredients in Garfarrian cuisine, Arr-flakes refers to dried, fermented, and wood-smoked skipjack tuna. It is typically available pre-packaged in the form of delicate shavings which are used for imparting an intense umami flavor to various dishes -Fish cakes, are colourful loafs of waste products from the fish markets. Steamed on wooden boards until fully cooked, they posses a fishy salty flavour that is appreciated not only by the people of Garfarr -Cavala is a stuffed flatbread originating from Moinadeir and their famous ruler family. Deliciously savory soft and hearty it was an immediate hit with anyone. You will not find anyone from Aldarr to the ends of the world who would disapprove of this dish       garfarrian tribes -Pikefolk -Rimlanders -Brinesouls -Oakmarchers -Bocarrians -Armotclan -Wildmen