Elven Holidays of Myth Drannor

Elven Holidays.

Elves being a very religious race, observe a number of holidays as well as communal festivals. Every elf who has grown up in a Tel´Quessir community would know (and probably witnessed or taken part in) these Holidays.

Monthly Holidays:

Corellon Larethian: Lateu'quor, the Forest Communion of the Crescent Moon. Held once per lunar
month, when the crescent moon softly illuminates the night sky. Devotees of the Protector
offer up their praises through music, song, dance, and the offering up of their most beautiful creations.

Erevan Illesere: The Midnight Gambol. Followers of Erevan gather monthly for a Gambol, which is held in a sylvan glade beneath the light of the full moon. The exact location of each Midnight Gambol is a secret that is passed among the faithful by word of mouth in the days leading up to the event.

Hanali Celanil: Secrets of the Heart. Held every month beneath the bright light of the full
moon. Such holy days are known as Secrets of the Heart, for romantically involved participants are said to experience the full bloom of their affections on such nights, allowing them to evaluate
the strength of their feelings.

Sehanine Moonbow: Lunar Hallowings, as such holy days are known, are marked with personal
meditation and collective entrance into a communal trance. On occasion, Sehanine manifests through her assembled worshipers, knitting together their spirits in a true sharing of minds. Such holy days are concluded with a joyous freeform dance beneath the most visible manifestation of the Goddess of Moonlight (the moon) that lasts until the first rays of dawn.

Solonor Thelandira: Once per lunar month, under the soft light of the full moon, the Great Archer's faithful assemble to give thanks for the skills Solonor has taught and the bounty thus provided. Hunters sacrifice hunting trophies that cannot otherwise be employed, and unbroken arrows
engraved with the symbol of Solonor are fired into the sky to poke holes in the firmament and allow the light of Solonor's teachings to shine forth on his people (these arrows are never fired in a direction that would cause them to fall where they might hurt someone, including straight up).

Yearly Holidays:

Midwinter: Nobles and Monarchs greet the halfway point of winter with a feast day they call the High Festival of Winter.

Midwinter Night is observed by the cult of Shevarash in memory of the Dark Court Slaughter. On this holy day, those who wish to join the ranks of the clergy are inducted into the faith and vows of unceasing vengeance are shouted into the night. In honor of their god's original vow, each new priest swears to never again laugh or smile until the Spider Queen and the other dark gods of the drow are slain and their followers are destroyed.



Spring Equinox Ches 19:
The Dance of Swirling Winds (Aerdrie Faenya), a semiannual festival to honor of the Winged Mother and change of Seasons. The winds are always strong on such days no matter where Aerdrie's followers gather. Celebrants make offerings of beautiful feathers and join in an aerial ballet danced to the music of wind instruments played by some of the participants.
The Budding (Rillifane Rallathil) is a joyful celebration of new life celebrated through dance and song and preceded by an extended period of fasting. A ritual hunt of an ancient and noble hart is undertaken on this day, from which the venison serves to break the fast of the Leaflord's faithful. This ritual honors Rillifane's bounty and reminds his followers of the natural cycle of life that plays
out beneath the Leaflord's boughs


Greengrass: The official beginning of spring is a day of peace and rejoicing. Even if snow still covers the ground, clerics, nobles and wealthy folk make a point of bringing out flowers grown in special rooms within temples and castles. They distribute the flowers among the people who wear them or cast them upon the ground as bright offering to the deitie who summon the summer.



Summer Equinox Kythorn 10


Midsummer: Midsummer Night is a tie of feasting and music and love. Acquaintances turn into dalliances, courtships turn into betrothals, and the deities themselves take a part by ensuring good weather for festing and frolicking In th woods. Bad weather on this special night is taken as an omen of extrely ill fortune to come.
Cinnaelos'Cor (Day of Corellons peace,) following the Midsummer Night is held every 4 years and known to humans as Shieldmeet. Adapted by humans of all Fearun it marks a day of open council between people and their rulers. It is a day for making and renewing pacts and for proving oneself in tournaments.
On Cinnaelos'Cor , the Teu-Tel'Quessir celebrate The melding of the Three, the tripartite aspects of Angharradh and the unification of the Three that have led to centuries of peace in Arvandor and elven realms in Faerun.
Each Cinnaelos'Cor, the followers of Solonor assemble to compete in great archery meets. The winners of such contests are said to receive the Keen-Eye mark of the Great Archer.


22. Eleasis, Day of Victory. On this Day in the Year of the Lightning Storms (1374DR), Sarya Dlardrageth was finally defeated and her remaining Army destroyed or scattered by the elven Crusade and Myth Drannor reclaimed. Illsevele Miritar declared this Day a Holiday after becoming Coronal of the 7th Rysar of Myth Drannor.
On this Day those who have given their lives in the War of the Crusade are honored with Songs and Dance and the return of the Tel´Quessir to Faerun mainland and the end of the retreat is celebrated. The Priests of the elven War Gods (mainly Corellon and Anharradh) lead a procession through the city in remembrance of this great day in recent elven History and the Priests of Sehanine lead religious rites to honor the dead.


Autumn Equinox Eleint 21:
The Dance of Swirling Winds, semiannual festival to honor of the Winged mother and change of Seasons (Aerdrie Faenya)
The Transformation (Rillifane Rallathil) marks the arrival of autumn and the vibrant hues that bedeck the canopies of the Leaflord around this time. The Sy-Tel'Quessir and elves of other subraces who seek a form of spiritual rebirth or a major change in their lives gather to celebrate Rillifane's eternal promise that the trees will bloom again and that life is a process of continual renewal.

Highharvestide: This holiday of feasting to celebrate the autumn harvest also marks a time of journeys. Emissaries, pilgrims, adventurers, and everyone else eager to make speed traditionally leave on their journey the following day--- before the worst of the mud the clogs the tracks and the rain freezes into snow.



25 Uktar. The raising of the Mythal. This day marks the final repairing and restoring of Myth Drannors old Mythal. The High Mage Araevin Teshurr and Coronal Ilsevele Miritar lead the High Magic Ritual to purge the final traces of curroption and restore and repair the Mythal once and for all. It also marks the end of a long time of preparations and campaigns in wich the Akh´Velahr and allies of the city gathered the necessary components for this ritual in months of tedious work and battles.
Now the city once again stands protected by the Mythal more secure from her enemies than before.
The Day is celebrated as the day of old Myth Drannor reborn. The spirit of Eltargrims decree of opening the city to all goodly races and making the city a the center of learning, art and culture again, is one of the most important aspects of this celebration.  All races of Myth Drannor come together on this day to celebrate their new home and the diversity they bring to the community, wich gives the city its strength

Feast of the Moon: The Feast of the Moon celebrates ancestors and the honored dead. Stories of ancestors exploits mix with legends of deities until its hard to tell one from the other.

Sehanine's faithful gather on the night of the Feast of the Moon for the Mystic Rites of the Luminous Cloud. Similar in many ways to the monthly Lunar Hallowings, the Mystic Rites of the Luminous Cloud are notable for the visible manifestation of the Lady of Dreams whereby the assembled worshipers are enveloped in a mantle of shimmering, silvery light that then rises up and darts across the heavens. During such mystical flights across the sky, the sacred mysteries of Sehanine are revealed to the participants, with each participant learning secrets appropriate to his current level of spiritual
development.


Winter Solstice Nightal 10