Holiday Traditions, Part one

[Ayshela]

Ayshela commandeers one of the green tents scattered about the courtyard and sets up desks for those who want to write and benches for those who'd rather tell their tales of memory. Hanging a banner reading "Traditions Past and Present" outside the door, she walks back into the tent with a small smile at the realization that the past comes now, here... the present will be later, with Salinye. No matter, either way, people should be arriving soon.

 

 

Traditions - essentially, the specific ways we celebrate the holidays we choose to honour. Some are as simple as a specific holiday treat recipe, or an evening of reading aloud. Others are far more complex. Either way, traditions *mean* something, they form a connection from us to our past.

 

For this festival exercise, which is the first of two parts, we will be exploring the in character traditions each of us may have chosen to carry with us.

 

The winter holidays, whichever they may be, are a time of tradition. Here we will describe in a brief story both what our personal *in character* tradition is, and where it originated.

 

Since this is a one time exercise, and more demanding than many of the others, this exercise will earn 25 geld.

[Peredhil]

Well, Nuncio and me, weese likes to do the holiday t'ings. Da Boss gets all sad and stuff on holidays, on accounts of his wife not being dere. But I likes ta put up a tree, and decorates it nice like, wit' lil' shiny balls and flashy lights and lil' baskets holdin' lil' sparkly candles too. Nunce makes deese strings of popcorn, see, wit' needle an' t'read and strings dem all 'round da tree in circles, like, but not buddered popcorn 'cause it makes da kernals squishy 'n' yeller.

 

Weese takes da stuff OUT ta da tree, weese doan cuts da tree down 'cause dat upsets Elrohir somet'in fierce youse see. Anyways, when da dec'ratin's all done, Nunce scadders heapsa seeds around fer da little cridders, and den we sing songs from da old land.

 

Why? Well, when weese was back in our world, workin' for da Fairy Godfadder, he useta tell us deese stories, right? When he wassa younker, he worked fer dis Elf makin' toys and t'ings, dat dis Elf would gives out ta people. He was a slick yeggman, casin' da joints and slippin' in true da cracks and down chimblies and grills and t'ings like dat.

So we starts da tree t'ing to make Da Godfadder happy, and it was kinda fun.

 

Oh, right. Yeah, Nunce is right. We gives away all da stuff we ain't usin' from last year to peoples, which clears out da closet 'causes Da Boss travels light, see? And workin' fer him, youse gotta be ready to move like a shot from a gat. And we try to make some lil' t'ing dat don't cost much and give it to someone.

See deese cufflinks here? Elldan gives dem to me two years ago. I doan know whats dey made of, but dere really nice and I ain't lost dem yet.

 

And dat's what me and my brudder do for da holiday.

[Gwaihir]

Gwaihir smiles shyly, "Well, my holiday tradition may seem a bit weird, but I guess I don't mind telling. You all know how I am by now. It isn't that I don't like people, it's that whatever I do around people seems to go wrong. I always say something dumb or I do something stupid or I make a mess then everyone ends up annoyed or I feel like a fool...it's just not good.

So, I don't like to go to groups of people or animals for the holidays, but it isn't much fun to celebrate alone." Here the spacey elf grins as he sees realization dawning on many faces. "Yes, exactly, I go out and celebrate with the plants. You may not have known, but plants...particularly the Wiggly Cabbages of course are easily intelligent enough to recognize and be interested in human holidays. They don't really understand or respect Valentine's day, for instance, because they can't imagine tying friendliness or pollen-sharing to just one day. They have the time to celebrate each other all the time.

However, gift giving holidays are right up their ally. While most plants are not able to give gifts (though the WCs have a tradition of writing each other poems on Christmas and 'Seeding Day') they are always interested in what we do. So, I go out, tell stories to the vines and flowers and then I go and listen to the Wiggly Cabbages. It's beautiful.

[Regel]

My holiday tradition is really old, it involves visitations to every living elder I have. A small gift and good tidings is all I bring and the time it takes to share a story or a recollections of times past. It seems only natural that at this special time of the year the one thing we can help spread is hope and I do what I can to carry on in this tradition. Unfortunately my waist line tends to expand as each visit does seem to bring forth hospitality in the only language these relatives understand, food and drink.

[Tasslehoff]

Back in Kendermore, Christmas is a really big deal. I remember one year my Uncle Trapsinger walked up and down the streets handin out these gifts he had found on his travels. He was a great Kender, my Uncle Trapsinger was. He always new what to do, and where to be, but rememberin that one year made me start a tradition of my own.

 

See Every Christmas Eve, I walk house to house in Kendermore, of the ones I can find ofcourse, and I hand out gifts of my travelings with my friends. This year I remember handed out a pouch full of geld on it that read * Almost Dragonic *.Yep Yep. I found that one whilst fightin this over-grown lizard you see. And well kenders, we dont need no geld. We always seem to end up with too much. Lucky we must be.

 

 

Edited December 13, 2004 by Tasslehoff - AngelXIIX

[Ayshela]

Ayshela softly hangs a sign that reads IN CHARACTER over the speaker's stand, noting that part two will involve roleplay so you will need your character's holiday traditions.

[Tasslehoff]

I was in character, was I not? Im sorry it seems dull and bland, but this vacation has takin the imagination outta my hand. Do not worry, do not pout, for I promise, soon it shall be back.

[Ayshela]

Ayshela giggles softly and pats Tasslehoff's shoulder gently. "No worries, no fuss, just a gentle reminder that that IS an important point. I've seen nothing here that gives cause for worry, except my own illness induced tendency to be less than crystal clear. You're fine."

[Annael]

Annael smiles softly and pets the butterfly sitting on her ear

 

Believe it or not, this little guys make great gifts. Every year I try to give a few of these guys out to those that we think may get comfort from their presence. They're always there when you need them, and when you don't. They don't pass judgement on you and they love you unconditionally.

 

Annael shrugs and looks around at the darkness surrounding her.

 

And when you're lost, they give you a little bit of hope when it seems like there is none left.

[epinephrine]

Being such a traveller I have few traditions to speak of, but there is one that has a very strong importance to me at this time of year.

 

In my home town of Sulcus, at this time of year every person visits the wisest of elders in the village to seek thier counsel for the upcoming year. In my case this year I will visit my Grandmother (whose name is not able to be written in this language, but whom I will call "Pia the All-Controlling"). During this visit it is customary to bring a small hand-made gift and to spend several hours in conversation (the time flys by with a little wine to smooth any disagreements).

 

Once all questions have been asked and hopefully answers discovered then the visitor leaves and places a coin on the doorstep as they depart as an omen of good luck. The bigger the value of the coin, the greater the thanks for the advice recieved...

 

A simple tradition that has over time evolved to allow families to honour their elders and occasionally to actually learn something of value!

[cryptomancer]

Seasons here differ from my homeland, We have hot sun and dry winds for the better part of the year, and never snow or rain in the months that you celebrate now. But in the middle of our year the snows fall on the mountains around the grasslands of my home, the cool winds bring comfort, and soon rains fall again.

 

From when I was young, before the life I live took my hand and placed it on the smooth edge of the runewand, I lived for the celebrations of the snow.

 

As a child it was fun to play in the frozen world of white upon the sumits of the edge of the plains, I seldom watched the older and wizer people as they stood looking out over the world below. As I grew older I looked more and more to the group of adults that went to the mountains with us each year.

 

After the beginning of my training in meditation I looked myself for the first time. From the heights of the escarpment standing upon the edge of the sheer cliffs of the 'dragons teeth' I stood and saw my world for the first time. Wreathed in the gold of autumn, spead before me like a blanket of woven life.

 

Now always in the winter of the land I live in, I seek the heights of the land, I find that one true place of vantage. I look to the life spread before my heart as in the trance of meditation I sit, And I remember why it is that I live, that I am who I choose to be, why I seek the love and beauty of life, I walk away from the edge of the world, clouds at my feet, refreshed once more by the true love of life, and its abundant beauty.

 

Edited December 14, 2004 by cryptomancer

[Mynx]

A tradition of my time?

These days it has been a while since I have performed any sort of tradition that I have not simply picked up from my place of residence at any which time...

Casting back my thoughts now though, I remember spending this time of year with my family, when times in that land were still happy and my true form was not what it is now.

What I remember most about this time of year was a gathering that my family had. We would gather, all of our blood, and that of whoever was married to ours. My community being small, the gathering would usually wind up being the majority of the village, and we would often include the rest due to friendship.

We would gather around a bonfire, with music, dancing, and plenty of food if the harvest was good. It would go late into the night, with the elders telling stories and handing gifts to the youngsters. We would stay up until the donfire died, and then watch the dawn of the new day.

It was the one time each year that the entire family was together. The one time that we did not busy ourselves with the work that often kept us from seeing each other during a normal day.

 

Mynx smiles softly at the memories, eyes glistening slightly

 

A simpleton's tradition, I know. But sometime's the simplest are the more valued.

[Ayshela]

Ayshela thought back to her early years, and her very favourite holiday tradition. Every winter, as the weather grew cold and the holidays neared, she and her grandfather spent a long afternoon wandering the forest telling stories and singing songs while searching out fallen pine cones. Her grandfather had been insistent that never were they to take more than half of what had fallen in any location, so sometimes they would wander for what seemed endless hours to childish "patience" and short legs. Eventually they would arrive back at home with a bag full of cones, heads full of stories and hearts full of songs. Over the next week the gathered cones would be carefully spread with nut butters and rolled in seeds, then hung with care from the lower branches of trees all around the ground below the city. Her grandfather had explained that they had all they needed and more, so it was their responsibility to make sure that those about them had all they needed as well. In this small way, they ensured that the small and helpless would have enough to eat through the cold months ahead.

 

Now she knew that this was the least of all he'd done to take care of others. And yet, her fondest memories of her grandfather and her favourite holiday tradition was the afternoon spent singing and telling stories while gathering cones for the birds.

[dragonqueen]

Smiling softly to herself, Dragonqueen begins. "Back when Ma was still around, Christmas was the best time of year. No matter how tough times were, Ma always made sure we had a tree. We had a few ornaments we put up each year. But my favorite part was the singing. Christmas Eve, my brother and Ma and I would all sit around the tree, snug and cozy in our little house, and sing Christmas songs all night long. My brother was - well, still is, quite talented with a guitar. He'd play, and I and Ma would sing, Ma in her high soprano and I lower, in alto. I always thought she sung like an angel. Of course, we didn't just stick to traditional carols. We would make up our own, too. Brother was always fiddling around with the chords, and Ma had a knack for rhyming. I would contribute every now and then, but mostly I just listened to them two and sang along when I could. Those were the times - the three of us, together and always making the best of it..." Dragonqueen trails off. Her eyes glisten with tears at the poignant memory.

[Wyvern]

Ayshela's face glows with a warm smile as she leans back and listens to the holiday traditions of others, images of Winter meditations, folk songs, and bonfires intermingling with her own personal vision of acorn-picking to create a wonderous collage of Chirstmas visions. She lets out a happy sigh and nods towards dragonqueen, then turns to glance at the sign in front of the tent and notices Wyvern busy at work decorating it with the festive colors of... graffiti?!

 

"Wyvern!" exclaims Ayshela angrily, jumping from her seat and striding towards the lizard. The reptilian Elder ceases in his makeshift graffiti as he notices that he's caught Ayshela's attention, and flashes her a nervous grin as he ducks behind a stand that he had set up next to the tents. Ayshela casts a menacing glance towards his hiding place, then puts her hands on her hips and glares at the adjustments that he had made to her sign:

 

"Traditionsal Almost Dragonic Brand LPast Minute and Presents"

 

"Wyvern" growls Ayshela softly, cracking her knuckles and casting a grin of clenched teeth towards Wyverns stand. "What's the meaning of this."

 

"W-well" stammers the lizard, quickly tossing on an old stocking as a makeshift Christmas cap and laying a number of items onto the table of his stand. "You caught me before I could finish setting things up, but I'm officially planting a Traditional Almost Dragonic Brand Last Minute Presents™ stand next to your two tents. Hope ya don't min-"

 

"What?!" cries Ayshela, throwing her hands in the air and quickly striding towards the lizards stand. "Wyv, you realize that these tents are set up for a carnival exercise in which people relate their tradit-"

 

"This isss traditional" interrupts Wyvern, casting a grin of razor-sharp teeth to the bystanders examining his booth and momentarily ducking in fear that Ayshela might resort to drastic measures. Waving his claws over the wide variety of products strewn across the present stand, he confidently hisses:

 

"Every year, when the Season to be Jolly and Con$ume rears its profit-bearing head, I try to set up a booth of last minute gifts to sell to the gullible slacker. Why, just feast your eyes on the variety of wonderful gifts I have on sssale, perhaps something will catch your interest."

 

Ayshela raises a brow as she examines the items that the greedy lizard has layed out on the table... a variety of tattered stockings with holes in them, jars labeled "Aged Candy Cane - Now in Snowy Dust Form!", extremely moldy gingerbread would-be men, cobweb-covered toy airplanes that have families of spiders living in them...

 

"Wyv" mumbles Ayshela, her tone shifting from anger to curiousity and disgust. "All of these 'presents' look so... old."

 

"Well" chirps Wyvern cheerfully, striking a thumbs up. "That would be because they are! You see, I put out the exact same items every year since they never get sold. It's a traditional thing."

 

;-)

[Zariah]

Zariah had two traditions. One was when she lived with the Crow Clan and the other when I lived with Freiffer.

 

Mother-Wing would take me to the center of the forest, where the Crows from the four Clans who inhabited the forest would join for the Holiday Festival. Each crow would arrive bearing a gift to present in the center of the circle. Now obviously, they were either made with nature’s pieces, like twigs, leaves, etc. or they were human items found in the forest. The human-like items were always presented to me, for they hoped I could learn and understand the ways of man. Little did I know, they were preparing me to live in the human world. The other crows each recited a memory from their past or from the past year. Whoever received the loudest caw was allowed to pick a present from the pile. Now, regardless of my inability to speak any language other than crow, I had discovered that I could sing. The crows loved to hear me sing, and so I sang a song I had made up on the first Holiday meeting I attended.

 

After I sang, the crows left to gather twigs, and they asked me to find the larger pieces of wood to bring to the clearing of trees where there was space—of course when I was accustomed to this task, I prepared for the fire ahead of time. I was the only one with hands, so I took two sticks and created fire. The crows were enamored by fire, and had verbally explained how I was to make it. We had our annual end of the year meeting, where there were politics and treatise made. After dark, we said our farewells and headed back to our territory.

 

Now, after I had been delivered to Freiffer, I had a difficult time learning English. I was able to do tasks when shown, but I couldn’t understand very well what went on for the first year. For the first Christmas, we went into a town with many people with unfamiliar faces. It was scary and I hid behind Freiffer’s cape. We met in a small room with people who were making noises in English, which I later knew was caroling. The next year, I participated in the caroling, and everyone was surprised to hear me sing so beautifully. After the caroling, we all went outside to stand around a tree. I didn’t see anything special about it, and I was offended that they put lights and heavy things on its branches. I whispered to the tree and asked if it was ok. It told me that it enjoyed the attention. So, I watched as all the townsfolk joined hands…Freiffer took my hand and a man named Ryland took my other. We started walking around the tree and sang a catchy tune. I learned that this was a tradition celebrated to honor and worship one of the town’s goddesses.

 

When we went home, Freiffer would always give me a present wrapped in pretty paper. Every time it ended up to be a book. It was special because it was not a schoolbook; it was a fun and entertaining book. I would give him a small gift, usually something I had made from paper or string. It was probably ugly, but he always gave me a hug and told me he loved it.

 

Holidays for me were great before I began to travel. I had Wanderer part of the way, but for a good while I met many different animals, and never had the same Holidays every year. But it’s great to remember the traditions I had as a young girl.

[Xaious, Master of Time]

"Well, back where I come from, there aren't very many holidays and the sort..Well, none of the world-over variety like Christmas over here and whatnot. I mean, there are things we celebrate in mass and all, but..I guess I'll skip the rambling and go straight to it, I suppose." Xaious cleared his throat with a glass of water that hadn't been there the second before, and wasn't there a second later.

"You see, back on Alandrynn, we have this enormous party, at least once a year. Well, it used to happen more often, but at still happens once a year, at least. And, for you to understand why the celebration is held, I have to tell you a bit about the plant-life of my home-plane, and some other stuff, too."

"There are these plants, you see, and these plants are very vrey important. Or something ofthe sort, I'm sure. Well, these plants, they are very similar to the ferns that grow on Earth, with a few differences. For one, they're small. Very small. I mean small like the size of a halfling small. And it's blue. It's not a bright blue, but a dull nblue, which is why it's so hard to find..Oh wait, I haven't informed you onb how hard they are to find. Well, let's just say that they're so hard to find, that everytime one is found, there's a celebration. And this celebration, the festival that ensues, well, it's one of thsoe things that..eh..heh heh.."

Xaious began to fiddle with the collar of his shirt at this, taking another sip of his water....

"Well, if any of you have been to Earth, the best I can describe this festival..celebration...is Imagine Mardi Gras. And even then, you'd have to have been to a very specific place on Earth to know what that's like, so.... Let's just say it can easily be referred to as the 'Sinners in Street Ships Sin-credible Suare'..But that's because I've pretty much forgotten it's actual name."

"Now, I know, 'A celebration over a pathetically small plant? Why?'. Well, the plant has some all-in-all incredible things about it, along the lines of..um...Ok, let me retry this. When a person eats this plant--it's not poisonous--, Err, no wait, that's a different plant... But this plant is the single most flavorful vegetation on the face of Alandrynn, and-surprisingly enough-One little plant can feed an entire town for a week, oft times with some left over. And onec a year, no less at least, someone finds one of these plants. The celebration is litle mor than a giant party, which starts with the preparing of the plant--this is what makes it able to feed the entire town for so long--and goes on as the people drink and eat, making merry over the fact that they do not have to cook for a whole week."

With this, Xaious sighed.

"Oh, and this plant also holds ..."

Xaious suddenly began to laugh.

"Actually, no, that's not it. But in my hometown, around this time, it's ...it..It's like this: We call it the Obligatory Sequence of Excessive Stretched Truths and Dishonesties. And every year, at about this time, everyone takes a week off, as the citizens take the time to excercise their brains--in most cases, at least--and lie out of their hind-quarters to each other, usually in story form. The tradition started a good many years back, as everyone kept lying to each-other, at this season exclusively, so now we do it for fun. And, my friends, You've all just witnessed a home-town tradition from...my home-town. It would have been better, but..um...Well, it wasn't..."

With that, the Master bowed, and went to another seat.

[FrozenWombat]

The little wombat opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't seem to get anything out but a few angry grunt-chirps. Blushing a furious shade of red, he made a few frenzied gestures with his hands...

 

"And now I can speak in Common. Right, so. Every year, around the time of the winter holidays, there used to be a huge celebration at the mage school around New Year's. All the Master Mages would get their wizened old heads together and cook up some amazing suprise for all of the students, to add a little extra zest to all the celebration. Every year, there was great anticipation about what the year's suprise would be. Often, they played a prank on several members of the graduating class, but it was nothing like this..."

 

Taking a moment to scratch his head, the little wombat continued. "So, on the year of my graduation from the School, everyone was as usual wondering what the year's suprise would be. So I'm sitting and drinking with some friends, and by the time the celebration has started I've had one too many glasses of Bruteweiser, and I've forgotten all about Masters' little suprise. So I'm walking down the hall, just a little tipsy, when I notice that the golems are looking at me all funny-like, and I start to wonder what's going on. Of course, the fact that I'm drunk off my..." The wombat let out a little cough, then continued. "So I just keep going, and I'm making my way to the great hall, when all of a sudden I feel some sort of spell tighten around me, and I pass out."

 

"And that's how I ended up hanging from my underwear in the great hall." When he noticed that no-one was laughing, the little wombat sighed.

 

"All right, I'll tell you about my Christmas tradition then. Every Christmas, my zombie seals get a bit annoyed you see. Nothing to do, everyone's out playing with their presents, and there's a general sense of happyness and merriment in the air. So a few years ago, I started this tradition. Every Christmas, I go back to Terra and take them on a little raid of enemy territory. They love it. Nothing like sowing confusion and chaos in the enemy ranks on Christmas day! So yeah, I just take my little pets and we go and pillage and plunder to our hearts content. It's a great gift for the lovely creatures."

 

"What?"

 

"Why are you all looking at me like that?"