Festivals and Holy Days of The Crossroads

Structure

  • 12 months

  • 4 seasons: Renewal, High Sun, Fading, Deep Night

  • Year 0 CE marks the Accord of The Crossroads. Current year is 600 CE (or 1899)

  • Festivals follow lunar and seasonal cycles more than fixed weekdays

Season of Renewal
(Spring)

  • The time of thaw, sowing, and new oaths.

    • 1st Month: Ashveil
      Named for the grey mists that linger after winter. Considered a month of reflection.

      • Night of Songs (early Ashveil)
        The Binding Song - now remembered as the Night of Songs. Communities gather in early sprint to sing in unison, keeping the old belief that shared voice strengthens bonds between mortals and spirits.

    • 2nd Month: Bloodtide
      A month of planting and growth. Offerings are made to the ancestral spirits of the fields.

    • 3rd Month: Dawnsend
      A time of longer days, market by preparation for journeys and trade.

Season of High Sun
(Summer)

  • The season of harvest beginnings, festivals, and unity.

    • 4th Month: Highcrown
      Named for the sun’s height. Many marriages and oaths are sworn in this month.

    • 5th Month: Midsummer
      The central month of the year.

      • Unity Day (mid-Midsummer)
        Recognition of the Castes - is now honoured as Unity Day. Every midsummer, the spirit-casted and mortals reaffirm their shared belonging to The Crossroads with processions, oath-swearing, and markets.

      • Founding Festival (late Midsummer)
        The Accord of The Crossroads - now celebrated as the Founding Festival. It is celebrated at midsummer, marking the signing of the Accord. The day is filled with feasts, council assemblies open to the public, and re-enactments of the first gathering.

    • 6th Month: Emberfall
      Marks the turning of harvest. Bonfires are lit to thank spirits of growth.

Season of Fading
(Autumn)

  • The season of harvest’s end, remembrance, and oaths renewed.

    • 7th Month: Redleaf
      Leaves turn. A time of barter and reckoning debts.

    • 8th Month: Oathveil

      • Otherkeeper’s Day (mid-Oathveil)
        Oathkeeper’s Oath - is now marked as Oathkeeper’s Day. Each autumn, new Oathkeepers and Wardens swear their vows in public ceremonies, and existing Wardens reaffirm theirs. Communities use this day to air disputes and resolve grievances.

    • 9th Month: Duskwane

      • Festival of Lanterns (end of Duskwane, three nights)
        The Silent Fires - tradition kept alive as the Festival of Lanterns. Each autumn, lamps and lanterns are left at crossroads and doorways for three nights to guide ancestral spirits and ward away malice.

      • Mourning Watch (late Duskwane)
        This is now a holy day of remembrance. Observed in late autumn, families keep vigil by graves or hearths to honour the dead. Undertakers lead processions carrying silvered lanterns.

Season of Deep Night
(Winter)

  • The season of silence, hardship, and ancestral remembrance.

    • 10th Month: Frostwane

      • Feast of Balance (mid-Frostwane)
        The Mediation of Ironfield - now celebrated as the Feast of Balance. Held in early summer, this day reminds The Crossroads of the power of mediation and the need for peace between the spirit-casted and mortals.

    • 11th Month: Longshadow

      • Vigil of Owls (winter solstice)
        The Moonflight Vigil - now survives as the Vigil of Owls. each winter solstice, people stay awake through the longest night, lighting small fires and leaving offerings for the Nocthra owl-spirits and for ancestral guidance.

      • Lantern’s Justice (late Longshadow)
        The Lantern Rebellion - now remembered as The Lantern’s Justice. Lanterns are carried in processions through streets in early winter to celebrate the triumph of accountability over tyranny. It is both a civic and spiritual festival, with Councils often announcing reforms on this day.

    • 12th Month: Ashenreach

      • Day of Ash (late Ashenreach, every third year)
        The First Severance Rite is remembered quietly as the Day of Ash. Now a festival, but a solemn holy day held every third year in late winter, honouring the lives and memories given to safeguard balance.