ph_logs | December Event - Candlelight Revelry

December Event - Candlelight Revelry

Candlelight Revelry

The Longest Nights

{ CONTENT WARNINGS: grief, especially in a winter/December context, exclusive to Mourner's Night. All others should be mostly cw free! }

It is always interesting to consider that across many cultures, and indeed across many universes, there is something that is shared across numerous groups of people from many, many different backgrounds, and that is the concept of winter holidays. Not every culture has them, of course, and they vary in importance, involvement, reason, and length pretty wildly. But it's fun to think about the fact that all kinds of humanoids all across time and space looked at that bleak stretch of time between the end of November to the beginning of March and thought to themselves, "we should put some kind of party in there so we don't all lose our minds." The people of the Emerald Isles, of which Marrow Isle is one, are much the same in this regard.

Since its inception, Pumpkin Hollow has celebrated the two main winter holidays common among the various nations across Northern Leviathan, which are Mourner's Night and Givingstide. Additionally, it's become a bit of a new tradition in Pumpkin Hollow to join in offworlder celebrations, such as Hanukkah, Solstice, and Christmas--- often with more being added each year as newcomers arrive with their own traditions! And somehow, each year, it seems as though for a few weeks all of the evils take a rest as well. Is it because this time of year is simply too sacred for them to create trouble and pain? Or is it because the weavers of this world are too busy booking family dinners, plane flights, and road trips to subject their little toys to more horrors? It is one of the great mysteries of the universe, isn't it?

Anyway, here's wishing you a cozy, restful, blissful holiday season, regardless of your traditions. May this next year be just as full of adventure and fun, with far less trials and tribulations. (For the players. The characters should continue to endure the torment nexus, of course.)

Local Customs

MOURNER'S NIGHT | December 10th

Nightfall comes early this time of year, so it isn't too long of a wait for the sky to grow fully dark. Dressed in mourning clothes and warm coats, the people of the town gather in little clusters in the streets, in near silence. Lanternbearers dressed like undertakers carry tall posts with blazing lanterns hanging from them, faces painted like skulls. There hasn't been a true and final death in Pumpkin Hollow for years now, but that doesn't stop the people here from holding their annual vigil for those that were lost before the barrier.

The lanternbearers guide the groups through town, converging on Main Street, where they are awaited by a long-bodied black carriage drawn by black horses with white skeleton-markings painted on them. A hearse. In the driver's seat, a woman in a tight black dress and a mistletoe-patterned black veil, which gives only the smallest glimpses of her pale hair. It's Fever, acting in the role of Mortanne.

Very few words are exchanged as this procession makes its way through the cold to Fall's Promise Cemetery, where by the light of candles and lanterns alone, Reverend Clayton retells the story of Mortanne's final kindness. Those who pass away are met where they find their end by a horse-drawn hearse, where they ride with Death and recount their life until they reach their destination--- the afterlife they've earned. A mournful hymn is sung that seems to make the sky itself ache, and then…

Silence.

Stay at the candle light vigil for as long as you want. Remember those who you lost back home, honor those who passed away before you arrived but whose influence you still feel every day, or simply pay respects to yourself. You died to be here, after all. And then, when the cold starts biting too much to bear, part ways, and find your way home with a candle in hand. You will surely be left with much to think about.

Those who gravitate towards the outskirts, however, or linger after most have gone, may spy another woman in a black dress and veil. For a moment, it would be easy to mistake her as Fever--- the resemblance is striking. But then you see much longer, stark white hair spilling out of the bottom of the veil, and feel a gaze meet yours that feels like it's calling you home.

GIVINGSTIDE | December 22nd

Ah, Givingstide! After the somber observance of Mourner's Night, you only have to wait eleven days to have some proper winter-themed fun!

Held on the day after the longest night of the year, this holiday is a "thank goodness, we made it" tradition that celebrates the beginning of the sun's return and the first step in the journey towards spring. All across numerous countries in Concorde's Northern Hemisphere, communities gather in large communal spaces to eat, drink, and be warm together while exchanging gifts. And for Pumpkin Hollow, that takes place in the Oak & Iron, the beloved tavern where most spend their first nights on the island.

A massive feast is held, where the tavern itself, local restaurants, and amateur chefs collaborate to create a menu of warming, hearty dishes. Soups and stews, pasta, roasted meat, bread, root vegetable dishes, and sweets galore are served alongside hot cider, cocoa, coffee, tea, mulled wine, and mead. Paper horses and snowflakes line the walls, and boughs of pine and holly create beds for skulls on tables and above the fireplace. A miniature sleigh is set up in the center of the room, piled high with gifts that everyone placed in it upon their arrival. Once everyone has gotten their food, the mayor and Dahlia take turns plucking parcels from the pile and reading off who they are for so as to hand them out. Although some do prefer to give the gifts directly. (The mayor, for once, looks relaxed.)

With all the gifts passed out, songs are sung and instruments played in groups while others dance or sit by the fire. Some will go out to play in the snow, and by the end of the night, more than a dozen snowmen will have popped up outside the tavern. Others still will remain inside, basking in the warmth of being among their community. Children play with toys, adults laugh, desserts are overindulged in, and all is well.

OFFWORLD TRADITIONS

Winter Holidays from Around the Universe

The interfaith space within the Temple of Sacred Roots stays busy this time of year! Since most local traditions are celebrated outside the temple, many of the main areas are offered to the pursuit of offworld religious observances for much of December.

Hanukkah is up first among the larger celebrations, running from December 14th through the 22nd this year. The island's Jewish population consists primarily of Anzu, Lev/Lyubov, and Zivia, though they'll warmly invite friends and family to join in on the festivities.

Christmas, of course, is on December 25th, though the preceding evening is also a busy time. Despite being a Pumpkin Hollow native, Dahlia Leeds has partners who observe the holiday, as well as a gaggle of young housemates and a television who are all very enthusiastic about Christmas. As such, she's made the decision to host a fairly well-appointed and cozy Christmas Eve party in her home (though she largely allows Radar and the teenagers to select the guest list). Dress in your Christmas best and have dinner at Leeds Estate before proceeding to the Temple for midnight mass! Non-partygoers are invited to attend the ceremony by candlelight as well, as usual. Christmas Day celebrations vary by household!

But for those who don't have anything in particular to do on the afternoon of the 25th, a recent town addition is also hosting a celebration for the Feast of the Winter Star from her own home world. Those who signed up can participate in the "secret gift exchange" organized by Haley. But you don't need to be in the exchange to come and have fun! Light and decorate a holiday tree in the snow, enjoy a potluck with friends new and old, and enjoy some stargazing afterwards--- it's a perfect way to cap off the day, whether you're incorporating it into your own holiday or just there to have a nice time.

Other holidays celebrated throughout the month are:

Saturnalia on the 17th, celebrated by Gaeta
Winter's Crest on the 20th, celebrated by Cassandra
Dongzhi on the 21st, celebrated by Shen Qingqiu alongside his found family
Mittvinter on the 21st, celebrated by Hector, Capochin, Godpoke, Patty, and their found family and close friends
The Birth of Hathor on the 23rd, celebrated by Marik
The Winter Solstice celebration on the 25th, celebrated by Sorceress and Wizard
and Gyftmas on the 25th, celebrated by Mettaton and Papyrus

And of course there's New Years Eve on the 31st, celebrated by both locals and a majority of offworlders! Share some holiday cheer with your friends from all across the multiverse and take some time to get to know how your neighbor spends the season this year, and cap this year off with a wonderful, festive bang!

Happy Holidays!

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He takes a bite of his own sandwich (cold roast beef, he identifies it absently, and some kind of cheese and some kind of sharp sauce, maybe horseradish?), and munches while listening. His expression sobers.

"She told you," he concludes. "You din't remember?"

"I remembered, but I didn't really... understand what was happening? I--- there's a lotta context. But if you don't mind a long story, it might--- help?"

North's not usually one to talk much about his feelings. Making anything about himself isn't his style. But he's been stewing on this one for over a month now, all on his own, and he's been told over and over he needs to get it out. Despite his best efforts, North's always kind of struggled to connect beyond surface level, but...

Well, his guard is down from the alcohol, and when he looks at Edgar, he sees... someone he thinks he can trust. He hopes.

Edgar shrugs. "Sure, wouldn't mind a long story."

(Part of his mind offers: least not if it's got you in it. He shushes it up; five minutes ago he might have said that, but this doesn't feel like the right time for flirting.)

"Thanks, man." North sure isn't trying to seem relieved, but damn, he really is. He hates asking for help, but he's been stewing on all this for weeks, thinking that he'd kill for the chance to talk to someone who isn't directly in it like CT and Carolina are.

"So, I come from a space colony on a small planet made up of mostly Russian and Russian-American immigrants from Earth. And South, she's my twin sister. We grew up pretty poor and in pretty tough conditions, most everyone in those colonies does, and because we're twins, we've always been---- compared. From the minute we started talking, basically. She was always the rough one, the rude one, the bad kid. And I was always the nice one, the smart one, the good kid. I dunno why. She's plenty smart, she just had a hard time with school and got frustrated easily, while I was just better at staying calm. But it turned into a whole thing, escalated till we were defined by it. I was the good twin and she was the bad twin. That's how it always was. Even when we grew up and left the colony."

As North talks, he slowly nibbles at his sandwich, more picking it apart than eating it like a sandwich now. He tries to quash the feeling that he's talking too much, pushes himself to keep going.

"There's a war on, where I'm from. Long as I can remember. Humanity vs. The Covenant. Aliens. So, what do you do when you're a poor kid becoming an adult and you have no future--- you join the military. It wasn't so bad, when we were in the marines, but South's attitude still got her in trouble, but then we joined Project Freelancer, and... shit hit the fan."

"See, this project was kind of a fringe organization, testing fancy experimental equipment and artificial intelligence assistance programs to run it. And the Director who ran it was a sadistic son of a bitch, as was the Counselor that advised him. And there was this goddamn leaderboard, designed to make us compete. ...I found out later, they were always putting me ahead of South on it on purpose, to get a rise out of her, as part of their experiments. I got all the good missions as a result, she got sidelined. I got my AI to run my armor enhancements for me, she got jack shit. And the longer it went on, the more she resented me, and---- God, she used to go on and on about how she was sick of the comparisons, sick of being lumped together with me, just wanted to be judged on her own, for her own merits, be her own person--- and I got it, I really did! So I tried to focus on my AI, give her the space she needed, and it just pissed her off more because it made her lonely and--- Shit, sorry, I'm rambling."

Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, North rubs his face with both hands, middle fingers pressing gently on his eyes.

"Anyway, there's a bunch of bullshit in between that'll take way too long to explain, but the gist of it is--- The whole project went sideways. One agent and AI pair went rogue, killing other agents and taking their AI and enhancements to shove them all into one suit of armor. We called them 'the Meta.' South and I had to go on the run, and she kept trying to convince me to ditch my AI so we could stop being a target. I---I couldn't, I wouldn't, maybe that's stupid, but he was more than just code, he was a thinking, feeling thing and he was scared too. So... she figured out we were next on the Meta's list, and she set me up. Her plan was to just let it corner me and take Theta and my enhancements, then--- swoop in at the last second, I guess, and get me out of there. But that didn't happen. The Meta did to me what it did to all the other agents it targeted, which was gun me down. ...And then I was here."

Edgar listens, nodding, frowning as North goes on. He makes I'm-listening noises here and there, yeah and uh-huh and once or twice a muttered profanity, but goes quieter near thee end.

"Christ," he says finally, and rubs a hand over his face, and takes a bite of his completely forgotten sandwich. "And that," chewing, swallowing, "she told you all that? When she ...?"

"It was the damn---- fairy puzzles or whatever, right? Back in November. I was griping to you about it at the Dance of Celestine. We got teleported into some weird--- pocket dimension or whatever that wouldn't let us leave till we talked about it."

The night they met. Where Edgar seemed more upset than North did. It becomes immediately glaringly obvious that he really did not process his feelings on the matter meaningfully at the time.

"Right," he says, vaguely remembering. "Sorry. I didn't ..."

He's frowning down at nothing in particular, scuffing the heel of his shoe against the nearby barstool.

"So the puzzle, like, made her tell you."

"Basically, yeah." North lets out an exhausted sigh, rubbing his face. "She didn't wanna tell me, and honestly, I didn't wanna know. I figured we could just--- let it go, you know? But I guess whatever mystical junk was going on had other plans. ...I don't hate her. I don't want to be angry at her. It's just---"

Sucking his teeth, North searches for words. This shit was hard enough to say to South, and doesn't want to come out of his mouth, but at the same time he is desperate to get this off his chest to someone who might have an outside perspective. He visibly wars with himself for a while more before speaking again.

"She--- has a hard time handling me being frustrated with her, and I have a hard time letting myself be frustrated. So it just gets all pent up, y'know. And then I say something that hurts us both after a while, and then---- then I have to clean up my mess, comfort her, instead of ever actually comforting myself. So I had to take some space so that I could feel what I feel without it hurting her or turning into emotional labor for me. If that makes sense. But it's too fucking quiet in that house. I wasn't built to be alone."

Edgar swallows, visibly. There's a lot to deal with in all of that, but first --

"Y'want somewhere else to stay, for a bit? Can't stand being alone in a house either, dunno how anybody can fuckin live like that."

A sigh of relief escapes North at the offer. "I can't stay full time 'cause of the animals, but crashing over there sometimes would be amazing. You sure you don't mind?"

"Course I don't. Could use the company, you'd be doing me a favor."

He's quiet for another moment, then says, not looking at North directly --

"Had something a little like that once."

North waits a moment, seeing if he'll say more unprompted. But it seems like maybe this is just as stuck in Edgar's throat as North's own was in his own.

"...Yeah?"

"Not with a twin, or anything, but ... someone," slowly, "there was someone I was. You know, close to. Family close. And I found out, I heard him talking about ... something really bad, something he did. To me. Sort of. And -- and to someone else."

He chews his lower lip. "I din't hate him either. But it felt like I should. And I couldn't talk to him, for ... weeks I think. Longer. Couldn't even be in the same room with him."

"Yeah, I--- I really get the feeling."

And from the look on his face, the confusion, the pain, he really does. There's some part of him that feels like he really should hate South. She didn't mean to get him killed, but she knew there was a risk, and went for it anyway, didn't she? All because of her selfishness, her hatred for something that she couldn't understand. But at the same time, out of missing him. Something he never wanted her to have to feel.

North had expected Edgar to be angry at South. To tell him to stay away from her. Edgar's actual reaction is as validating as it is heartbreaking.

"...You don't have to tell me what he did. But if you want to, I'm here for you."

Edgar shakes his head. "'S not important, what it was. I mean, no, I'm not saying it wasn't important, course it was, but -- but it's not the point right now, yeah? Point is I was so angry, so fuckin angry and broken up, I couldn't -- I couldn't talk to him. Cause if I did I was gonna say all this shite I din't ever want to say. So I left, I moved in with a friend and stayed there for a while cause I din't wanna be alone."

A long breath. "And I missed him so fuckin much. Worse'n I miss him now, cause he was there."

"...Someone from here?" North hazards a guess. "I've heard people leave, sometimes. I don't--- I worry about that happening a lot."

"Nah," he says, "this was before I got here. Long while before. There was this place they called the bar at the end of the universe, and the two of us were there for a while. And for like months of that time, we weren't talking. Till we got stuck outside in a fuckin blizzard together, and a lot of shite just ... came out."

He rubs a hand across his mouth. "Wasn't a good time. But after that, you know ... after that we could talk. Patch things up."

North nods, kind of dreading the idea of needing to have another argument with South to resolve this, but also quietly realizing that if that's what needs to happen, then... that's what he'll do.

He sighs.

"Yeah, that makes sense. And I will call her, eventually. Not--- not yet, but I want to. I just need the space, you know? To take care of myself without feeling like I have to take care of her too. Or like me being angry or hurt is hurting her, too. Did you ever feel like that? With your friend? Like you were making him feel guilty, and that--- I dunno, made it hard to just be upset?"

Edgar frowns, considering that. "I dunno," he says slowly. "I think ... not like that, not exactly. It was more like ..."

His shoulders shift uncomfortably. "Like I was so fuckin furious I wanted him to hurt. And I hated wanting that. And at the same time like if anybody else got angry at him, I wanted to punch them. Couldn't fuckin handle it, man, that's why I had to stay clear."

"Yeah. I, uh. I don't think I ever wanted South to hurt, but I said some shit that hurt her anyway. Got wound too tight and snapped, you know? I don't... like who I was, in those moments," North confesses, slumping a bit.

Fuck, this is all so heavy. He doesn't wanna cry at Givingstide, Jesus.

Trying to lift the mood gently, he nudges Edgar. "Hey. It'll never be on purpose, but if I ever do you dirty, you're gonna hear it from me first. To your face, no overhearing required. And you have blanket permission to kick my ass."

It does lift the mood -- or at least gets Edgar to snort with laughter. "Thanks, man, good to know. Same goes."

He holds out a hand. "Shake on it?"

North clasps Edgar's hand in his own, giving it a short, firm shake. "Sold. Also, you owe me a darts rematch."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

December Event - Candlelight Revelry

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Seems like a good wrap to me!