Avvar: Festivals

Common Festivals
There are several festivals that happen throughout the year, but the four most important and the four that are common between all the Avvar and each Hold are the four that coincide with the Annums as well as Tevene festivals.

Ceiliúradh Bás
Feast of the Dead - It is a time when The Veil is weak and most easily penetrated. The rituals that the shamans do during the festivals are spells that help strengthen the Veil and keep the Avvar safe. This festival begins when the first disturbance in the Veil is detected by the shamans. If there is nothing detected beyond the 13th of Harvestmere then the shamans declare that the gods are happy with them. The festival continues through to what is known as "the three nights of Bás". These are the days and nights when the Veil is at it's weakest. During this time The Fade denizens cause trouble, Arcane Horrors and other summoned Fade creatures attack the Avvar, so this is also a time fraught with danger, charged with fear. Sacrifices and propitiations of every kind are thought to be vital. There is an hour during the third night, at midnight, when the Avvar believe the Lady descends from the Skies and takes the form of an Avvar. She walks amongst them. The Lady does this to help strengthen the Veil, death being her domain. The end of the festival serves to usher the dead into Twilight and then close the Veil again, which happens at the Towers of the Dead. Of course, the Avvar believe the Lady to be a shamaness so any woman who turns up in the Hold or village during that night often finds themselves the object any many affections!

Aischur Éadrom
Beginning when the first migrated bird is spotted (which may be at different times during the beginning of Spring throughout the Frostbacks) this festival marks the "return of light" for this is when the first stirrings of life are noticeable in the Frostbacks and when the difficult land might first be plowable. The Avvar celebrate with weddings and by sending out their young hunters to bring back a young animal alive. It is practice of their skills but also an acknowledgement that they need these creatures to procreate and grow strong as much as they need their own younglings to do the same. It is a celebration of life and all animals are returned to the mountains and vales. If the birds are spotted late in the season then the shamans interpret this as a foreboding sign, often murmuring that the gods are not happy and that they have to be appeased. Offerings usually increase when this happens, and birds are hunted less as an apology to the Lady.

Dóiteán
The Andrastian Annum known as Summerday is the Avvar Celebration of Fire. This is a fertility festival that celebrates the beginning of summer. Dóiteán is a very special festival for the Avvar, and they go to great efforts to build immense bonfires on the mountaintops which can be seen even from the lowlands. Livestock are driven between two bonfires to assure their fertility and to burn out any disease or bad luck from them; young Avvar couples also jump over a bonfire or run between two bonfires as well as a part of their courtship. There is also singing and dancing in circles, mating dances and rituals that last all night - not surprisingly many an Avvar is conceived this night! There is also the cutting of green boughs and flowers which are woven together into wreaths that go on the bonfires as an offering to the gods. It last for one day, from dawn on Summerday to dawn of the 1st of Bloomingtide.

Báan
The first of August is The Feast of Báan, named after Light. This is a time for celebration of the harvest and the gathering of the Avvar to their Holds for the Winter. In each Hold there is an inner chamber within the shrine of the gods which is perfectly aligned with the rising sun, what the Avvar call Báan. As this is a festival of light, reflecting the shortening of the day (thus the need for a lot of light) and looking forward to spring (and the hope of getting through the harsh winter) it is traditional to have light everywhere at all times. Rituals often involve a great deal of candles but also magic from the shamans. It is an extremely spiritual and special time of year and the Avvar sing on their travels to the Holds and sing in the Holds to guide their fellow Avvar to safety.

Féile na Haakon

 * Practically the whole month of Drakonis is consecrated to Haa'kon.
 * Between the 9th and the 13th the shaman carry frosted spears around the Hold, and the wandering shamans carry them from village to village, from one ritual ground to the next. from one ordained resting-place to another.
 * The Rift Race takes place on the 14th and involves a very dangerous foot race around the Rift. Guardians compete and sometimes die because they fall into the Rift. It is a combination of running, swimming and climbing and takes places at sundown and must be completed by sunrise of the 15th.
 * The 15th and 16th are celebratory feasts honouring the Guardians and their relationship with Haa'kon. Duels between warriors often occur during this time.
 * Cúplaí on the 17th is a celebration of unity, continuing on from the feast on the 15th and 16th, this one focuses more on the lovers than the fighters. There are sacrifices, dances, bawdy songs, and masks portraying the animals gods hung on trees.
 * The 18th hosts an archery contest, with targets set over the Rift and archers competing by hanging from vines and on sheer ledges.
 * On the 19th, A Íonú, the spears are purified by fire and launched into the Rift by the Guardians (thrown as javelins).