Festivities of Winterdusk
| Festivities of Winterdusk | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Creator | Xero |
| Information | |
| Date | 20th-25th Festivos |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Significance | The end of Winter and the year |
| Celebrations | Massive feasts, gift-giving, family and social gatherings, story-telling |
| Celebrated by | Urson (Main) Everyone |
Deeply carved into Urson tradition, the Festivities of Winterdusk (also known as Winter's End or Feast of Year's End) is a legendary event that takes place once every year on the last week of Winter in the grand city of Glacirenn where a massive table (called the Path of Glory) spans the diagonal length of the city leading all the way up to the king of the Urson himself, the table covered in meals cooked by the many men and women of the people, the populous coming together to eat, drink and tell riveting stories of their battles or hunts to their friends and close ones. It is a time of non-stop enjoyment around the path of glory where music and dancing soon follows behind the constant eating, a festival which no Urson dares to miss even once.
The traditions begun roughly a 2500 years ago following the tales of a hero known as Hodur, an Urson champion known to the public at the time for being kind and charitable. To this day they sing tales of how he gave gifts to all others using his wealth as a leader and fought valiantly to defend their homes when the Dragons and other Monsters threatened to attack. It is written that he slew a powerful and evil Dragon that hunted his people without remorse, slaying hundreds before he was put down by this great hero who as a last resort used the trunk of a massive evergreen spruce to crush the skull of the Dragon. To celebrate his victory, his people butchered the Dragon's remains and cooked its flesh so that their civilization may feast, Hodur himself was celebrated as a legend of his people and he held that title with great honour and pride.
Just as Hodur slew the Dragon with a evergreen spruce trunk, Urson would bring to their settlements massive evergreen spruces and erect them in the middle of town, decorating the branches of the tree with crystals and singing heroic songs around it.
Although this tradition began with the Urson, almost every Race in Auria celebrates some form of Winter's End that is either inspired by the traditions of the Urson or simply a mere coincidence in similarity. The tradition of hosting large feasts, exchanging gifts and getting together to tell stories or have fun seem to occur in every form of Winter's End. The act of bringing home an evergreen spruce and decorating it has also been picked up by Humans, Asvarians, Fenik, Wolfen and Elves who bring in their own evergreen trees, although usually in smaller size. For the Wolfen and Elves, if possible they instead grow their own trees in the spot where they wish to celebrate Winter's End, helping it grow via the use of magic. Since no Evergreen tree can grow on Saberos, Fenik pay a lot of Gex each year in importing trees from other planets for this celebration. Though each people celebrates the Winter's End with gift giving, celebrations and grand feasts, the traditions of the Urson continue to be the biggest still, down to remembering the name Hodur and his cheritable ways, some even believing that he is the one to bring presents during the eve of the 20th.
The end of the very last day of Winter's End includes a countdown into the next year with many societies celebrating the end with fireworks.
