Holidays and festivals

Holidays are categorized into 5 categories

Race

Religion

Region

Common

Msc

Races

Humans

Primarily go with whatever the regional majority go along with.

Halflings

Because of their jovial natures, Halflings have parked each day as a cause for celebration regardless of how unnecessary it may be. Examples include the day of the big carrot harvest, the midsummer feast, the mid midsummer feast, and such. However, most understand that this is not sustainable and so only few are truly practiced, while the rest are tidbits of Halfling culture developed over centuries, reserved for the truly wealthy, bored or retirees.

The great flower harvest

A celebration that marks the beginning of spring, when most flowers bloom. Halflings usually do so by showing off their elaborate gardens to neighbours

The annual stealing competition

Invented by a rather bored halfling to see how much he could steal from his neighbour whenever he visited before he noticed. Grew into a local competition that expanded and spread to other halfling towns and villages. Of course, everyone's belongings were returned at the end of the competition, like an elaborate game of hide and seek. However, misunderstandings of bystanders resulted in altercations within cities, where virtuous passer-bys attacked halflings robbing other halflings, resulting in some communities practicing this while others avoid it. Sometimes this exists more as a challenge between halflings over the course of their friendship rather than during a specific time period.

Liver day

Despite its name, it is a festival against the liver, as it involves heavy alcohol consumption.

Orcs

With fighting being half the race’s hobby and the other half’s profession, most orcish festivities include some form of physical violence.

Fight of the ages

It is believed to be the day Krillminglr defeated Gorthrotherchork, and when Gorthrotherchork's army won the battle. As the most legendary orc figures, orcs across Allurian usually give a toast to one of the two, or both, depending on the orc's own personal allegiances.

Beat a friend day

A day where all orcs agree it is fine to attack another orc for no reason other than for fun.

Beat a nerd day

A day where all orcs agree it is fine to attack the more intelligent orcs.

Orclympics

A four-yearly sports competition held by the orcs to determine who is the best in each sport. It is strictly based on sheer physical might and any cheating done by magic results in a beating to the death by the other participants. It originated from warbosses after Gorthrotherchork as a means of establishing peace and friendly competition as opposed to mindless killing. It has worked relatively well and disputes are now settled without the need of destroying the livelihoods of non-combatants. While some sports are conventional, such as football, swimming and sprinting, orcs have included a number of more unconventional and even lethal sports, such as boulder dragging, owlbear-wrestling and football with 

There have been talks if other races should be included, with the main objection being that orcs would obviously win and would make nothing fun. The same goes for including other kingdoms as well to promote peace between the races

Elves

Being creatures of long lasting lifespans and innate connection to magic, elven events focus on lifelong bonds, quality and their goddess.

The Elf-Dragon festival of honor

It is a celebration held to commemorate the longstanding relations between the Elves and their dragons. It lasts for three days, with the first two involving games, recruitment, trial flights and shows, and the last day holding a great banquet for all. It is held on the Aurion Isles though most elves from the rest of Allurian are welcomed. There have been talks with Shurin on whether their festivals can be joined to deepen political and economic ties, though it may antagonize other nations since their dragons are a large military asset against others.

Day of Lirineox

A festival dedicated to Lirineox, the goddess of magic, and the creator of the elven race. The festival would occur over the course of a week, involving demonstrations of magic, stories and tales sung to commemorate their goddess and their creation, feasts fit for kings provided for all, arts created and performed for Lirineox, and a redeclaration of faith by her religious followers. On some occasions, many claim to have seen a bright phoenix dancing in the sky with the celebrations for a split second, with many understanding it to be the goddess' playful response.

Dwarves

Proud in their ancient ways, the dwarven events centre on their crafts and history.

The yearly smithing competition 

A grand festival where smithing is celebrated. So grand its a national holiday for some Dwarven kingdoms. The competition aims to celebrate the great works of the Dwarves through eras of craftsmanship homed by generational efforts, along with promoting it for future generations of Dwarves to not forget. Categories range from any, to weapons, rune magic, architecture and the like. Other races and nations have also been included in open categories to foster better relationships.

Labour day

A day of rest for the poor dwarves who aren't fortunate enough to do mining, smithing or ale-brewing. Dwarves stuck in administrative work, textiles or similar non-rock based jobs can take a day of rest. Some kingdoms even hold simulated versions of such jobs to satiate their earthy appetite all Dwarves are born with, ones that due to some circumstances, they might not have been able to do.

Religion

Dance of the shadows

A festival held for Ashenya, the goddess of shadows, closed off mostly for her followers. It involves a sacred dance performed on the longest night of the year when the moon is visible, upon an open plain where shadows would be visible. The dance's choreography involves a complex interplay between the dancers and their shadows, sometimes requiring artificial light or different times of the night for specific parts of the dance that needed longer/shorter/several shadows. Each dance represents the renewal or declaring of vows, faith or mandate of Ashenya, or religious ordinances with their own meanings. 

Swordfall

An event where Vaddam, the god of war, is celebrated through acts that promote warfare. Slightly different from most other festivities, this is split between two camps, that of peace and violence. Those of peace come together to reforge alliances, conduct battleplans, exercises, and generally things that would make a war won faster and with less collateral. The violent would instead make plans to wage war, turn battle more bloody, and fight to the death as it promotes warfare. The same group can attend both camps depending on their interests, and the camps persist as they still relate to war and its development. 

Milinienum 

A festival to celebrate poetry, music and the arts, and to commemorate the god of it all, Milil. Generally large arts festivals will be held throughout Allurian open to all races and religions, featuring all forms of painting, sculpting, botany, puppetry, woodworking, carving, dancing, even cooking, though not every single thing is featured at every festival, varying from region to region, with only few trying to incorporate as many varieties as they can as opposed to hosting what is locally available. Apart from showcasing the arts, activities also include games, workshops, performances, but also more formal things like auctions, classes, and mentorships. 

Day of Lirineox

Mentioned in the elves category 

Region

Shurin

With longstanding history of once multiple feudal lands vying for power, the festivities of Shurin seek to forge unity and celebrate their history in achieving what they presently have.

Festival under heaven 

A day that celebrates the unity between the humans, dragons and half-Yuan Ti that allowed the unification of Shurin. The festival mimics the way the unity was formed, where human and half-Yuan Ti officials would gather in LongShe, the Shurin capital, before making a trek to the seven mountains, the location the dragons originally chose to meet. The dragons in turn would gather there and await the group, displaying commitment from both sides, though the humans and Yuan Ti do commit more effort in terms of food, decor and preparations. Once gathered, minor ceremonies are held commemorating their standing alliance, including a flight display by the dragons, before the celebrations end. It is a national holiday, and those unable to participate usually watch from nearby, or enjoy a day off.

Day of Heroes

A celebration specific to Han Qian, a port city, where a party of four, known as the Heroes of Han Qian, were said to have saved the city from an external threat.

Lunar festival 

Celebrated on the day of the brightest moon to mark the day harvesting can begin. Traditional treats such as Yuetarts, cakes that symbolize the full moon, are often baked or bought to be eaten amongst families.

The national Dragon Boat Festival

An event where multiple teams of men and women gather to race in dragonboats, which are long boats carved in the likings of a dragon. Several routes and categories exist, such as open water racing, or racing through a specified course. It was proposed for the racing to be done by actual dragons and one rider pulling boats, through the air, to which an ancient elder copper dragon laughed and said it "Would never happen." Legends say that it began with a human named Ntan Lero who after lifting a boulder decided to boat his way across the river.

Naskrim

Being a kingdom constantly plunged in cold, Naskrim activities lean towards snow related events, even attracting those whose countries cannot experience such seasons.

Cold Cornum

A monthly practice done mostly by lower class families where families, friends and relatives spend an evening together around a hearth in a home, though over the years this has extended to any fireplace, including campfires, bonfires and even lamps. This began as a way to be grateful for each other and for their own hearth and sources of warmth, in light of any they may have lost to the bitter cold of Naskrim.

Festival of salt and light

Held on the longest night of the year, this holiday celebrates and declares the victory of light and good over the cold darkness, emphasized by the burning of candles and the spreading of salt. While Naskrim does pride itself on surviving in cold environments, their inhabitants ultimately require warmth and the sun. Activities that turn the snow and cold from instruments of fatality into mere playthings are also held as festivities, intended to give hope to the people, encouraging them to not fear their environment. This would include ice sculpting competitions, snowboarding, parades, giant hearth displays and the sharing of warm food, soups and drink.

The Allurian snowboarding competition

A friendly competition between participating kingdoms where a team of 4 race down tracks of snow, to take advantage of Naskrim’s ever wintery mountain ranges.

Rodan and most of the Empire

Having much influence over many other kingdoms, the holidays and customs of Rodan have generally spread into the culture of many kingdoms in the Empire, with some accepting and others rejecting them.

Sunbeam Daybreak

A festival celebrating the first harvests of the year. The celebrations actually start a week before the actual day, where everyone would cook up soup, typically vegetables, to be given to friends, family and even strangers for appreciation. This stemmed from how soups were made when food stores were low, and the celebratory soup signifies the last of the dish to be had in a while, as the harvest would make food plentiful again, symbolising how hunger or worries of it will become a thing of the past. 

Battlepride

An annual battle exercise the Empire holds, involving war games, military exercises and strategic planning, but with the official military events ending with celebrations for each kingdom's military. Friendly competitions, be it physical or decoration contests, displays and spectacles would be done by each military to demonstrate their pride and certainty in battle and victory, along with feasts for the soldiers weary after exercises. Plays and reenactments of famous battles are also performed. Because this is held in one location, for parts of the Empire too far to experience it, local militias or the returning militaries would hold a mini Battlepride festival, sometimes called Battlepride Minor, with the main event being Battlepride Major.

Aethis Myr

Despite its size, notable actions in the country have necessitated festivities for remembrance.

The day to bring Dreadnoughts down

A local holiday that celebrates a party of five for their actions in stopping a Varduin Dreadnaught from destroying the city.

Common

New years 

When most creatures celebrate the passing of (however many days) for the next year to come, typically with feasts, fireworks and drinking, done amongst friends and family, or both. Creatures with long lives, such as Elves, Dwarves and Dragonborn have much smaller celebrations than other races, since the passing of a year usually doesn't bring much change to their lives.

Merrymas

A celebration held in the dead of winter where everyone primarily exchanges gifts. It centres around the mythical tale of a human named Chris Holiday, when his town had become trapped in snow due to a nearby avalanche and a blizzard rendered travel impossible, heroically provided food, medicine, clothes and fuel for fires throughout the town by means of enduring the blizzard and sheer will until it stopped and help could be sent. He would send them down chimneys, the only parts of houses not totally obscured by snow. Sometimes when children could be heard crying, he would send toys and gifts to comfort them. This held on in the town, and tales of his heroics spread far and wide, leading to many adopting this pleasant celebration as a holiday.

The day of remembering

It is a festival of both joy and mourning, during peace and war, during which people commonly choose a topic or event and then remember and reflect on them, and are encouraged to think from other perspectives or with different narratives to understand more than what they once did, and perhaps come to new conclusions rather than merely reinforcing old ones. This is normally a communal event, and is more practiced amongst races with long lifespans or histories. Practices vary between races, but one common to all would be the consumption of a traditional and old dish, along with the telling of tales, and stargazing. Religious flair is sometimes woven in, where covens would gather and pray, or remember their deities or their worshipped primordials.It is not known when this festival began nor by which race. Loremasters widely accept that it likely arose from the Wondrous era, where all races wished not to repeat such a gruesome event. And hence the accepted objective purpose for the Day of Remembering is that of peace, though some twist it into reaffirming prejudices or hate, especially within religions. Others have used this festival as a means of conveying and preserving history. Some have speculated that this festival was developed from a misunderstanding of a different festival, one dating back to the Varduin. This is widely unaccepted due to a lack of evidence

The night of great release

Is a lesser known and rarely practiced festival that highlights the difficulties of upholding moral standards in a world stricken with false good and forced evils. It involves the gathering of participants after dusk and a party where many vile and immoral actions are done, seen as a release of individuals holding back their urges and desires to conform to societal norms, and thus ensures temptations would not affect participants and others won't be harmed. Actions include anything one resists normally, ranging from mild weed smoking, religious practices, overeating, drug use or magic abuse, to the more deplorable murder (usually of animals in place of people) forbidden fornications or even orgies, and the moral extremes of rape, dismemberment and self harm or cannibalism. Whatever gives a high and satisfies urges, it would be done in the Release. Magic is sometimes blamed as it drastically changes what is possible for the participants.

Understandingly, this is widely condemned, outright illegal and carries sentences of death or life imprisonment for even the mention of this festival. When discussed in scholarly settings, any potential harm avoided because of the Release cannot compare to the enjoyment of the actions done, making temptations stronger for all instead. 

As such, the Release is usually done in the outskirts of cities, and, if practiced at all, is usually amongst the lowly common folk and the high class, though the middle class sometimes partake in this too; those with enough stress, unresolved trauma, or abuse, or those who have experienced it all and still want more. It is to be noted that some tamer versions of this festival exist, only involving vices like gambling, smoking or sex.

This is a festival rarely done, where in a large town, perhaps only 10 would ever do such a thing. But most agree that it should be scrubbed off the face of Allurian.

Day of reckoning

After the defeat of the Varduin by the combined efforts of the Gods of Allurian and their allies, an event was created to ensure no living thing would forget the almighty power and retribution of the gods should one come against them, and thereby curb rebellions, actions or even thoughts against the gods and their divine purposes, seeded in culture as a poison for resistance forever. 

This was the Day of Reckoning, where each race was made to remember the Varduin, their hideous acts against their makers, and their ever destructive and monstrous doom, accompanied with songs, tales and feasts, meant to occur almost every month. Its goal was to ensure none repeat such a damned mistake. It was mandated by governing bodies of each race, and in some places, taught that responsibility for practicing the festival was placed upon the man/woman of each household. It was a festival of uncomfortable tension, sleepless nights, serious religious considerations and even fear of similar instances.

But in an ironic twist of fate, this event was eventually forgotten and replaced. As the gods grew less involved and more and more souls populated Allurian, generations upon generations, no matter how long-lived, simply considered the events of the Varduin war less and less, more bothered by requirements of life and their own pointless wars. The festival was still practiced out of tradition, but its essence and importance was forgotten, simply an excuse for a nice dinner and song and dance. 

Because the practices were about remembering meaningless wars millenia ago, people introduced other things to remember, such as other wars or sufferings, but also families, traditions, joy and love. And slowly, reckoning was forgotten, and remembrance grew in its place.

Perhaps this was the original intent of the gods; to ensure none defied them, until they could settle themselves, and have the festival turn to something good. Perhaps the gods' hubris of manipulating Allurian's culture was thwarted by the simple compassion and empathy of life and their love for each other. Whatever it may be, none will ever know, but they will remember not terrible wars for subservience, but of joy and love for the future.

(Meta note: this is the original holiday that the Day of Remembrance stemmed from. Practically nobody knows about it, much less practice it.)

Msc

Magebloom

An event where those specialised in magic gather to discuss anything and everything related to it for the betterment of Allurian. This range across many topics, including spells, places, people, magical items, organizations, alliances, opposing groups, trade controls, information censoring, and many more, with some discussed openly, some behind closed doors, and some for specific ears only. The Great Arcane Order usually organizes the event, and invitations would be sent out to almost everyone to pool all knowledge and resources together for a common purpose. Understandably, some groups choose not to go, or even boycott the event.

Runemeet

The Dwarven answer to the Magebloom, where they do similar things except focusing on runes than on magic in general