St. Elians Eve
River Landscape by Jan Brueghel the Elder
St. Elians Eve
When does it occur?
St. Elians Eve is a yearly celebration which occurs on the last day of the year, with three holy days of celebration leading up to it. The days of celebration are intercalary, which in this case means that they do not occur every year. Instead every seventh year, the last four days are leapt over, bringing the Aruëlian calendar back in sync with the seasons.This is because the Aruëlian Calendar follows the moon, which completes one circle every twenty eight days, resulting in a calendar year of 364 days, while the rotation around the sun takes only 360.
Elion and local contests
The main contest (see below) of St. Elians Eve is held in the religious capital of Aruël, aptly named Elion after its founder and the namesake of the festival. Anyone who can afford to be away from home for a few days plus travel times travels to the city at the mouth of the Morin, the largest river of Aruël.There they can enjoy several days of festivities, celebrating life and the birthday of their nation. More specifically, the cause for celebration is threefold: First, the great harvest is upon us. The south Aruël is warm enough to allow multiple harvests a year, but the harvesting season which begins after St. Elians Even and marks the beginning of the new year, is by far the most abundant. Food is about to be in ubiquitous supply and people are excited.
Who was St. Elian?
Even now, more than 400 years after his death, you would be hardpressed finding any Aruëlian who does not know who St. Elian was. The founder of the faith of the Trinity has lived so many lives according to legend, that it almost seems like some of it has to be made up.
According to the stories before he met with the man that would become the first King of Aruël, Ruy I, Elian was a poet of some renown, having traveled the lands. It is this connection of the person that later founded the faith that transformed Norian history, that the Eve of St. Elian celebrates.
The omission of the 7th years celebration is explained by another story. It is said that Elian was set to marry the sister of Ruy I, but before the marriage could be finalized, his wife-to-be died, leaving Elian in despair. The young poet became a recluse in the south of what now is Aruël and after a hermitage of 7 years, returned to Ruy I and for the first time began spreading the true gospel of the trinity. Because of this, every seventh year the celebrations of St. Elian are skipped.
The days leading up to the Eve
As mentioned above, St. Elians Eve is the culmination of three previous days of celebration, in which communities gather to celebrate another year of flourishing and living on, considering the main harvest is about to begin, promising new food and drink.As is tradition, the nobility is expected to provide drink and refreshments, as well as entertainment. During this period of the year, not one traveling troupe goes without pay. The food is organised by the whole community with each contributing as they can spare and all partaking in the resulting feasts. If the local celebration has gathered enough submissions for a proper contest, then the savvy of the artists can already be seen advertising their work to the crowds.
Faith displayed
At last the day of the Eve is here. What is about to come is both a religious event as it is one of community. Given the lore surrounding St. Elian, Aruëlian culture considers art a profoundly religious field, and many believe that anyone participating is touched by the spirit of the divine, which allows them to partake in the act of creating new beauty in the world.On the Eve, this piety is brought to centre stage as all Aruëlian citizens above the age of 13 are tasked to have created some form of art thoughout the year. Many opt for simple poems or renditions of songs to the audience, but for the more inclined, there are the competitions:
In Elion specifically and any larger settlement, anyone can announce their participation in the local contest. All participants then get a chance during the day of the eve to present their new art to the community, with the youngest participants presenting first and the eldest last. By sunset, a group of judges, usually local nobility, important leaders of the trades and representatives of the clergy convene and honor the three most beautiful pieces of art with prizes sourced from the clergies coffers. The three winners of a contest are then afforded the chance to travel to Tennet, the capital of the realm, where they are allowed to present their work to the King who may decide to offer them patronage of their work.
Patrons and Sponsoring
Aruëlian society views patrons of artists with as much respect as the artists themselves, because their wealth allows some of the most gifted of the citizens to focus fully on the call of the divine, meaning the full commitment to their art.It is because of this that sponsoring an artist to take part in the contests counts the same as creating the art in terms of the expectation of creating art for the year. Nonetheless, the true honor of participating in the contest is still placed at the artists feet and to many of them the contest is an important step in their journey, because it allows them to display their talent to all of the important local patrons that may support their journey.
Even participating in the contest may find you that next patronage which pays for your food for the next period of time and even if you do not win outright, your work gets seen by the world.
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