Showcase of Mastery
A large festival held in the capital city early in the season each year, this festival celebrates the accomplishment of all artisans and creators. The city streets are lined with stalls as jewelers, blacksmiths and other craftsmen display their proudest wares. Restaurants let their chefs get creative and show off their skill in the kitchen and every city square is filled with music from performers. Even the university gets involved, with academic lectures and speeches being offered to the public. The festival is quite famous, so much so that artists from other realms are drawn to attend, to put their best work on display for the enjoyment of all. While the most skilled are certainly celebrated and given their due praise, it is also a chance for new rising stars to be discovered, for masters in their craft to find new pupils.
Moonless Wake
Two weeks before the Harvest Moon Celebration, on the night of the New Moon, homes tend to grow quiet. The more somber mortal stories of halloween, of nightmares and fear, are inspired by the origins of this night, for a long time ago the night of the new moon was the night where the voidless and nightmares escaped the bounds and ran rampant through the realms. The Moonless Wake is a night now held in remembrance of those that fought to contain the nightmares and to offer a little magic to ensure they remain kept at bay. It is customary to have an evening of reflection and perform small rituals to ward and protect one’s homes. Caution is taken upon this night, as the veil is most thin, and the chance for things to go awry seem slightly higher during this time.
Harvest Moon Celebration
Two weeks later, of course, comes the celebration of the season, the Harvest Moon Celebration, held at the height of the season on the full moon. On this night the nightmares were contained and the realms brought back into balance. This is also the night where the fae tend to enjoy visits to the mortal realm without getting noticed or caught. The season’s harvest has come in and all across the realm are held large celebrations of the season’s bounty, with feasting and drinking to match even some of winter’s more extravagant parties. The party tends to last two or three days, with preparations in full swing upon the eve of the full moon, and lingering through the following day as revelers recover from the night of celebration.
