![]() ![]() Collection boxes also appear at large festival gatherings. ![]() During this time, there is much feasting on seafood, the harbor is strewn with flower petals, and City Guards go from tavern to tavern collecting offerings for Umberlee. The last two days of Fleetswake are the occasion of the Fair Seas Festival. According to custom, the winners of the various competitions don’t keep their trophies and earnings, but deliver them to the priests of Umberlee at the Queenspire, her temple on the beach by the east entrance to the Great Harbor, at the conclusion of the festival. It spans the last tenday of Ches, and includes a series of boat races, the Shipwrights’ Ball at the Shipwrights’ House, and guild-sponsored galas at the Copper Cup festhall. This festival celebrates the sea, maritime trade, and the gods of the sea, navigation, and weather. Those inclined to remain sullen in the face of such frivolity had best stay home, for celebrants do their utmost to evoke a smile from those they meet. All adopt the guises of fey beings and the supposed rulers of the Feywild, such as Queen Titania, Oberon, and Hyrsam, the Prince of Fools. The wealthy host elaborate masked balls, while poorer folk don costumes of their own make and travel door to door, gaining brief entry into the celebrations in exchange for performing a song or a short play. Though this phenomenon provokes caution in rural areas (with folk avoiding woodlands, putting offerings of food on doorsteps, and the like), it is an occasion of much drinking, singing, and dancing in Waterdeep. The veil between this world and the faerie realm of the Feywild is thought to be weak on this day. Fine friendships have grown from far less. If you want to feel like a local, catch the eye of any celebrant you see and wink. Each of the faithful dons bright garb of sunrise hues and keeps one eye covered until the next dawn in honor of Rhyester. That holy event occurred in the vicinity of Silverymoon, but Lathander has long had a much larger temple in Waterdeep, and a following to match. This holiday is named in honor of Lathander’s first prophet, Rhyester, a young blind boy who was cured of that blindness by the dawn’s light on this day more than seven centuries ago. The night might be cold, but your heart will be warmed. Even if you have no paramour, indulge a little in the dance and food of this fine tradition. Couples - or those desiring to become couples - slip away together to kiss, exchange promises, and trade small tokens of affection (often rings blessed by clergy with prayers of faithfulness). All the dancing ends at dusk, after which bards and minstrels perform at “love feasts” for families. Although some of the dancing is wanton and performed for show, large-scale ring dances in the street for all ages are also popular. Led by the clergy of Sune, Sharess, and Lliira, the Grand Revel is a day of dancing, music, and the consumption of sweet treats of all kinds, from chocolate to red firemint candies. Map sales are brisk in the tenday preceding this holiday. Maps are usually consulted, and it’s widely considered lucky to possess and examine a map on Wintershield. Such talk inevitably leads to discussions of politics, wars, and the intentions of rulers. They tell tales of what interested them or was important in the year just done, and discuss what they intend to do or should deal with - or things that everyone “should keep a hawk’s clear eye on” - in the year ahead. Marking the start of the new year, this observance is a widely recognized day off work, when folk sip warmed ciders and broths (often laced with herbs for health and to bring on visions) and stay inside. Here I briefly summarize the most widely celebrated events on the calendar, from the first of Hammer to the last of Nightal. At many times of year, hardly a tenday can pass in Waterdeep without the staging of some rite, race, or rousing ceremony of civic pride. ![]()
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