Festivals

“Celebrations & Observances in the Shattered World”

“Festivals remind us we’re human, not just survivors. We dance. We feast. We love. That’s worth surviving for.”
—Common saying

Festivals in the Shattered World

Overview

Festivals in the Aetherium serve multiple essential functions: they mark time in a world where seasons are unclear, they provide communal joy in desperate circumstances, they preserve cultural memory, and they remind people that life is more than mere survival. Every settlement celebrates differently, but all share the understanding that festivals are not luxuries—they’re necessities for maintaining hope and humanity.

Major Universal Festivals

Remembrance Day (Anniversary of the Shattering, Day 1 of Year 0 S.)

Date: 1st day of the year (calendar starts with Shattering)

Tone: Solemn remembrance mixed with determination to endure

Duration: Full day (dawn to dusk)

Activities:

Dawn - The Silence: - All work stops - Communities gather in silence - Face toward where Nexus Spire was (symbolic) - Moment of absolute quiet (remember the moment) - Some weep, some pray, all remember

Morning - The Names: - Reading names of the lost (can take hours) - In large settlements: Thousands of names - Memory-Keepers lead - Community responds: “Memory eternal” after each name - Exhausting, necessary

Midday - The Stories: - Elders tell pre-Shattering stories - What the world was like - What was lost - What we must remember - Younger generations listen (many have heard these stories dozens of times)

Afternoon - The Vigil: - Candles lit (one for each lost) - If possible: Thousands of lights - Placed at edges (symbolic—falling into void) - Beautiful, heartbreaking

Evening - The Feast (If resources allow): - Communal meal (everyone contributes) - Best food available - Celebrating survival - “We’re still here” - Bittersweet

Night - The Commitment: - Prayers to all constellations - Vows to remember, to survive, to build - Children blessed (future) - Hope renewed (or attempted)

Emotional Impact: Profound (grief, pride, hope, exhaustion)

Attendance: Universal (everyone participates)

Variations: - Eos: Democratic, inclusive, hopeful - Ironhold: Military, disciplined, proud - Murky Chasm: Dark, defiant, honest about loss - Outland Clans: Intimate, family-focused

Constellation Days (8 per year, one per major constellation)

Frequency: When each constellation reaches zenith/optimal visibility

Duration: Single night + following day

Purpose: Honor constellation, seek blessings, maintain relationship

The Turning (Voyager’s Day): - Monthly (Voyager reaches zenith) - 24-hour pause (even travelers rest) - Stories shared, maps exchanged, routes planned - Pilots bless ships - New journeys begin next dawn - Attendance: High (pilots, travelers, wanderers)

The Tempering (Forge’s Day): - Quarterly (Forge reaches forge-position) - 3-day festival - Craftsmen display finest works - Competitions (speed-forging, precision, innovation) - Masters take new apprentices - Community feasts - Attendance: Very high (working class especially)

The Day of Memory (Memory’s Day): - Annual (mid-year) - Honor all who came before - Families visit shrines, leave offerings - Genealogies recited - Stories of ancestors told - Elders especially honored - Attendance: High (families)

Liberation Day (Broken Chain’s Day): - Variable (celebrates any major freedom event) - Different communities celebrate different liberations - Outland Clans: Anniversary of independence - Refugees: Day they escaped - Stories of resistance, defiance, freedom - Attendance: Moderate (controversial in authoritarian areas)

The Veiling (Veil’s Day): - Quarterly (when constellation least visible) - 3-day festival of mystery - Followers wear veils or masks - Riddles and puzzles shared - Secrets confessed (to Veil, not publicly) - Celebration of not-knowing - Attendance: Low (niche following)

The Release (Abyss’s Day): - Annual (darkest day) - Honors all who died peacefully that year - Names spoken, then silence - Community lets go together - Not sad—celebratory of peaceful endings - Acknowledges endings can be good - Attendance: Moderate (mourners, elderly, Void-Walkers)

The Radiance (Light’s Day): - Annual (brightest day) - Celebration of truth, healing, hope - Mass healing ceremonies - Confessions and absolutions - Community purification - Brightest decorations - Attendance: Very high (most popular)

The Eclipse (Serpent’s Day - Forbidden): - 3-5 times per year (Serpent overlays Radiant) - Officially: Day of fasting and prayer (ward off Serpent) - Secretly: Serpent worshippers celebrate - Underground rituals - Transformation acceptance - Attendance: Officially none, secretly dozens

Harvest Festival (Autumn)

Date: After harvest (timing varies by settlement)

Tone: Grateful, communal, hopeful (or terrified if harvest failed)

Duration: 3 days

Activities:

Day 1 - Thanksgiving: - Morning prayers (Forge and Light) - Thanks for harvest - Offerings (first fruits) - Clergy blessings

Day 2 - Feasting: - Communal meal (everyone contributes) - Best food of year - Multiple dishes - Ale, wine (if available) - Eating until full (rare luxury)

Day 3 - Celebration: - Music, dancing - Games, competitions - Storytelling - Courtship (many marriages result) - Children play freely

Seed Blessing: Next year’s seeds blessed (hope for future)

If Harvest Failed: No festival, just fear and rationing

Attendance: Universal (most important festival for farming communities)

The First Step (Anniversary of first post-Shattering airship flight, 5 S.)

Date: Spring (anniversary of Lyanna Firstflight’s maiden voyage)

Location: Skyport Eos (primary), other settlements (smaller celebrations)

Duration: Week-long

Activities: - Airship races (pilots compete) - Navigation competitions - Pilgrims travel from across Aetherium - Wayfinders perform mass blessing of all vessels - Celebrates humanity’s refusal to remain isolated - Stories of Lyanna Firstflight told - New pilots receive blessings

Attendance: Thousands (pilgrimage destination)

Economic Impact: Huge (trade, tourism, celebration)

Regional and Cultural Festivals

Storm-Sailor Coming of Age

When: Individual (when youth completes first solo navigation)

Ceremony: - Ship blessed by clan elders - Youth navigates alone through storm (supervised from distance) - Returns (if successful) - Clan feast, tattoo/marking - Adult name given - Full clan member status

Significance: Proves capability, earns respect, joins warriors

Failure: Rare (well-prepared), but death possible

Ironhold Victory Day

Date: Multiple (after each military victory)

Tone: Martial pride, nationalism, intimidation

Activities: - Military parades (impressive, choreographed) - Combat demonstrations (Training Grounds) - Commandant Vask’s speech (propaganda) - Weapon displays - Recruitment drives

Attendance: Mandatory (civilians expected to attend)

Criticism: Increasingly militaristic, used to justify authoritarianism

Floating Market Grand Opening

When: Market arrives at major settlement (annual visits)

Duration: Week (while Market is docked)

Activities: - Exotic goods trading - Performances (Sun-Touched musicians, acrobats) - Food stalls (unusual cuisines) - Information exchange - Excitement, variety

Attendance: High (everyone visits Market)

Economic: Huge (year’s savings spent)

Outland Clan Moot

When: Annual (summer, when travel easiest)

Location: Rotates (different clan territory each year)

Duration: Week

Activities: - Inter-clan negotiations - Dispute resolutions - Trade agreements - Marriages arranged - Stories shared - Competitions (hunting, piloting, crafts) - Celebration of independence

Attendance: All clans send representatives

Significance: Maintains clan network, prevents conflicts

Life Milestone Celebrations

Births

The Blessing (Within days of birth): - Clergy performs constellation blessing - Usually Constellation of Light (health, purity) - Community gathers (small, intimate) - Gifts given (practical—clothes, food) - Prayers for survival (infant mortality 30%)

The Naming (If child survives to age 5): - Major celebration (survival is achievement) - Child receives full name - Often named after deceased relative - Memory-Keeper performs ceremony - Community feast - Hope renewed

Emotional Tone: Joy mixed with fear (will they survive?)

Weddings

Ceremony: - Clergy officiates (constellation-specific) - Vows exchanged (simple, practical) - Constellation witnesses (prayers) - Community witnesses (important) - Duration: 30 minutes (can’t afford elaborate)

Celebration: - Feast (family provides, community contributes) - Music, dancing - Stories (about couple, about love, about hope) - Gifts (practical—tools, household items) - Blessing for children

Variations: - Wealthy: Elaborate (star-blossom crowns, multiple courses, wine) - Poor: Simple (bread, ale, community presence) - Murk: Brief (practical, less sentimental)

Attendance: Community (weddings are communal events)

Funerals

Rituals (Vary by constellation devotion): - Light followers: Bright ceremony, emphasis on soul’s ascension - Forge followers: Solemn, honoring work done - Memory followers: Focus on remembrance - Voyager followers: Celebrate journey completed - Abyss followers: Peaceful, accepting

Common Elements: - Body prepared (washed, dressed) - Stories told (life remembered) - Prayers (constellation-specific) - Cremation (fire purifies, prevents Rot) - Ashes released to Aether (return to void)

Gathering: - Community attends (show support) - Mourning period: 7 days (family), 1 day (acquaintances) - White cloth worn (mourning symbol) - Name spoken at dawn and dusk

Frequency: Too often (death is common)

Emotional Tone: Grief, acceptance, solidarity

Informal Celebrations

Safe Return

When: Pilot completes dangerous route

Celebration: - Drinks bought (by pilot or for pilot) - Stories told (what happened) - Relief expressed - Gratitude to Voyager

Significance: Every safe return is miracle

Recovery from Illness

When: Someone survives serious illness

Celebration: - Small gathering (family, close friends) - Prayers of thanks - Gifts (food, support) - Hope renewed

Significance: Survival is victory

First Words/Steps

When: Child reaches milestone

Celebration: - Family celebration (small) - Gifts to child - Prayers for continued health - Joy (child is thriving)

Significance: Every milestone is achievement (mortality high)

Found Treasure

When: Salvager finds valuable artifact

Celebration: - Drinks for everyone (generosity expected) - Stories of discovery - Admiration, envy - Hope that fortune is possible

Survived Attack

When: Settlement repels Rot-Beast attack

Celebration: - Immediate (relief) - Honor defenders - Repair damage - Gratitude to Forge

Secret and Forbidden Festivals

Serpent Night (Underground)

When: Quarterly (during Eclipse events)

Forbidden: Serpent worship is heresy

Location: Hidden (Deep Chapel in Murky Chasm, secret locations elsewhere)

Activities: - Secret rituals (transformation acceptance) - Serpent prayers - Corruption embraced - Voice Beneath communion - Philosophical discussions

Participants: - Serpent believers (true followers) - Rot-Touched (sympathetic) - Curious seekers (dangerous) - Infiltrators (clergy spies)

Danger: Discovery = execution (some settlements)

Sister Morrigan: Leads largest Serpent Night gatherings

Constellation Days - Religious festivals
Remembrance Day - Major observance
Skyport Eos - Festival center
The Floating Market - Traveling festival
Daily Life - Contrast to festivals
Death & Burial - Funeral customs

In-World Documents

Festival Calendar (Skyport Eos, 287 S.)

ANNUAL FESTIVALS

Day 1: Remembrance Day (Shattering anniversary) Day 45: The Radiance (Light’s Day) Day 90: The Turning (Voyager’s Day—monthly) Day 135: Harvest Festival (if harvest succeeded) Day 180: Day of Memory (Memory’s Day) Day 225: The Tempering (Forge’s Day—quarterly) Day 270: The Release (Abyss’s Day) Day 315: The First Step (Lyanna Firstflight anniversary)

Plus: Monthly Voyager Turnings, Quarterly Forge Temperings, Individual celebrations

Note: Actual dates vary (constellation visibility, harvest timing, etc.)

Remembrance Day Speech (Elder Mira Thornwell, 287 S.)

Today, we remember.

287 years ago, the world shattered. Millions died. Everything changed.

We gather here—descendants of survivors—to honor those who were lost and those who endured.

We speak their names. We tell their stories. We remember what was.

But we also look forward. Because remembering the past is not the same as living in it.

We survived. We rebuilt. We endure.

That’s what today means: We remember. We honor. We continue.

Memory eternal.

Harvest Festival Song (Traditional)

The seeds were planted in hope,
The crops were tended with care,
The harvest is gathered with thanks,
The feast is shared everywhere.

We thank the Forge for our strength,
We thank the Light for the sun,
We thank the soil for its gifts,
We thank each other for what we’ve done.

The world may be shattered,
The future uncertain and dark,
But tonight we have plenty,
And that’s enough for our hearts.

Wedding Vow (Common)

I take you as partner.

To work beside, to survive beside, to live beside.

In plenty and in want.
In safety and in danger.
In joy and in sorrow.

Until the Aether takes one of us.

The constellations witness.
The community witnesses.
I witness.

This is my vow.

Child’s First Festival (Journal Entry)

Took Kara to Harvest Festival. Her first (she’s 3).

She was amazed. So much food. So many people. Music, dancing, laughter.

She asked, “Is it always like this?”

I said, “No, sweetheart. Just today.”

She said, “Why not always?”

I didn’t know how to answer.

Because we can’t afford always. Because resources are scarce. Because life is hard.

But I just said, “That’s what makes today special.”

She accepted that. Children are good at accepting.

I wish I were.

“Festivals in the Aetherium are defiant acts of joy in a dying world. We gather. We celebrate. We remember we’re human, not just survivors. We dance despite the Rot. We feast despite scarcity. We love despite loss. Because if we only survive without living, what’s the point? Festivals remind us: there is still beauty, still joy, still reasons to keep going. That’s not luxury. That’s necessity. That’s what keeps us human.”
—From Cultural Practices of the Aetherium by Scholar Evian