Shadowfast, roughly analogous to Haloween, takes place in Fall (maybe on the equinox) in the moth of Caligo ... and celebrates Cadic. If you are home you hire entertainers and tell stories, if you are on the road the odds of encountering someone who asks for "donations" to celebrate Cadic potentially increases dramatically. Think it appears in In the Shadow of the Devil. It's also mentioned in City of Secrets which links it to the darkest phases of the moons. In Nishanpur it triggers a masked revelry like Saturnalia. Sometimes when the masks come off though its been discovered that there has been a round of intrigues or assassination during the "holiday."
Nishanpur also has localized holy days. The Burning Man is a creepy Nerorthian ritual where they create a wicker man and then spend the night pelting it with snow till the flames die out symbolizing how everything dies. Some Nerothians die of hypothermia every year. Maybe more fun to watch is New Blood, a springtime festival where village champions come in to Nishanpur and go fist to fist with challengers till everyone is totally exhausted and can't fight anymore (and the ground is soaked with spilled blood. Again contestants die every year, but the survivors go home as heroes. The Nierites have a ritual called Kindling Dawn where they relight the sacred fires.
_________________ Eric Gorman
AKA Ambassador Tukufu, man of letters, tomb raider and Master Sword Sage . . . and Sir Szymon val'Holryn, Order of the Phoenix Formerly Sir Jaeger val'Holryn. Weilder of the Holy Avenger: Thonanos. Gave his soul to help free King Noen
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