Midsummer Feast

At the darkest point of the FiftyYear War, when the people thought the cause was hopeless and surrender was imminent, a young woman appeared at the Tsar's Court. We now call her the Honoured Lady, Katya, because the vision she had received from the Old Gods helped out country to victory.

She told the Tsar to declare a day long fast on the longest day of the year, no one should eat or speak during daylight hours and instead this time was to be spent in silent prayer and meditation.

At the end of this, they broke fast with a meal of milk and bread.

Two days later, word reached the Tsar that the enemy had been defeated and the country was once again secure.

Every since this, we have had an annual fast and feast to thank the Old Gods for our deliverance from in battle from defeat by our enemies.

The FiftyYear War was the most devastating conflict our country has been involved in and it wiped out half of the population through violence and famine.

Whether the war was actually won through the advice of Honoured Lady, Katya and General Nikolai is unclear, but against the odds we did eventually prevail.

The legend is fairly well known as it is recounted at every feast. These feasts are held in every settlement in our country.

In some areas, the role of the Lady Katya has been downplayed to reduce the role of women in our history. In these versions, it is often her brother who is credited with creating the feast.