Duil Holidays

Duilintinn’s major holidays emphasize the cultural value placed upon finding a community and a place in the world.

Some originate in ancient Feadhainn tradition, some were brought to the valley by Waldren during the Occupation Era, and some were established after Duilintinn’s founding.

## Themes

Duilintinn celebrates a total of six Major Holidays, each based around a certain month with their own specific theme:

* Bondsfest - February - Celebrates relationships of all types
* Founding Month - April - Celebrates new life and the founding of Duilintinn
* Fairsweek - June - Celebrates self renewal and future goals (typically career-based)
* Remembrance Week - August - Celebrates Duilintinn’s ethnic history
* Draoidhtíde - October - Celebrates magic, culminating in Hallows’ Eve
* Féilltaing - December - Celebrates personal growth, progress, joy, and contentment

In addition to their own unique themes, the first three holidays of the year share an overarching theme of Renewal, while the last three share an overarching theme of Growth. The former ones focus on highlighting and reminding oneself of things to be grateful for and celebrate in your life, while the latter ones are focused on spreading that joy to others.

Both renewal and growth play a role in all holidays, but one is more prominent than the other depending on the half of the year. Renewal is at the beginning because it’s the new year, with a fresh new start, while growth is at the end because you’re learning from and sharing the impacts of this renewal in preparation for the next year to come. None of these holidays will ever fit perfectly into these two categories, especially as the traditions and significance of each celebration evolve with time.

## Common Traditions

The official festivities for Duilitinn’s major holidays typically take place the second week of the month. While the celebrations vary from holiday to holiday, they all usually include:

* Time off work (with some exceptions, see below)
* Community festivities with fancy food, games, music, and other entertainment
* Gift-giving
* Travel

However, that doesn’t mean that the celebrations or traditions don’t also continue during the rest of the month. Generally, the first week of the month is for preparation, the second is when the biggest celebrations take place, and the third and fourth weeks are typically observed as a time for reflection upon the themes of the holiday.

That being said, it varies from place to place and family to family on how rigidly these dates are followed. Many communities spread their celebrations out through the whole month. Others will pick a specific date to be their “celebration day” before going back to life as usual. It just depends.

### Time Off Work

During holiday celebrations, it’s very common for businesses to let people have the whole week off. There are no laws mandating that this is a requirement, but if someone did try to make people come to work without giving them at least a few days for the celebrations, there would be a lot of raised eyebrows in the community. This is a big deal because, with Duilintinn’s cultural emphasis on finding one’s place in the world, a “hostile workplace” (to borrow a real-word term) would carry a much higher downside for employers than it does in the real world. Not only would people be validated by the community if they decided to leave a job like that, but the employer would be unlikely to gain other employees, since reputation is a big deal.

In cases where a job is essential, either to the continued functioning of society or to the celebration of the holiday itself, people of similar occupations within a community (or occasionally several communities, if there are only a handful in the area) will come together to create a temporary group enterprise. Thanks to this collaborative effort, the workers can then take shifts, only working for part of the holiday instead of the entire thing. In addition, the services of these occupations typically cost more during the holiday week.

These two factors heavily encourage people to purchase goods needed for a holiday celebration ahead of time. Often, the busiest week for these occupations is not the holiday week itself, but the week immediately before it!

Of course, there are also times when someone cannot afford to take a week off. In these cases, people will usually take at least a few hours off during the week to engage with some of the festivities, but continue work for the rest of the week. Many of the occupations that need to remain open during holiday festivities offer high-paying, short-term employment to people whose jobs have closed down for the week but still need the extra funds. This helps bolster their numbers while they are understaffed, while simultaneously providing a service to the community.

### Food and Events

All holidays feature music, community games, food, and events on a local level. The biggest of these events are held in the major population centers, such as the regional capitals and the capital city of Cordoire. Watch garrisons and outposts will also host their own festivities for Duilintinn’s holidays.

Large community meals are a common holiday tradition. Oftentimes, many people will use their time off work to help prepare several courses as a group. These courses usually include fancier, time-intensive versions of the herbed breads and cheese that are so popular in Duilintinn, in addition to an equally involved main course. This is a big deal because (in part, due to a lack of assigned gender roles and a cultural emphasis on pursuing ones’ passion), most of Duilintinn’s daily cuisine consists of meals that can be slowly cooked over the course of the day, and then quickly prepared into a finished meal in the evening. Therefore, meals that require constant attention are saved for special events, such as holidays.

### Gifts

Gifts are given on every major holiday in Duilintinn, albeit typically smaller, simpler ones. These gifts are usually related in some way to the theme of the holiday. Popular gifts associated with each holiday include:

* February -  Personal gifts from friends or family, stationary
* April - Flowers, flowers, and more flowers
* June - Journals, frames, display cases, etc.
* August - Books!
* October - Magical trinkets, costume pieces
* December - Sweets, candles, warm fuzzy things :)

These are all just ideas, of course, and very generic. Many people give gifts that are much more personalized references to the themes of each holiday based on inside jokes, shared experiences, or other factors unique to the giver and recipient.

### Travel

People often travel for holidays in Duilintinn. Many travel to the regional capitals, or even Cordoire, for the large-scale festivities held in those cities. Others travel to visit family or friends. It mostly depends on preference.

## Renewal Holidays

### February-Bondsfest

Bondsfest is the first of Duilintinn’s Major Holidays and the first of the Renewal Holidays. It takes place in the month of February and celebrates all forms of love, care, and relationships, from platonic, to familial, to mutual respect, to romantic love, and everything in between.

This holiday is a reminder to appreciate all of the loved ones around you, to reconnect with those you’ve lost touch with, and to be grateful for the amazing people you have in your life. Renewal of these relationships builds a great support structure for the year ahead.

#### History

The name Bondsfest is a reference to the marriages that this holiday celebrated in its original Waldren context. Remember, in Waldren culture, marriage was as much a partnership between families as it was a romantic connection. The holiday was primarily a time where extended families would gather and renew those connections, air grievances, discuss agreements, and start the year anew as two families joined by their children’s marriage. As such, the holiday was marked by significant traveling, since many families had to visit more than one place if they had multiple children.

The holiday shifted slowly over time as it was adapted to the culture of the Feadhainn Valley when Waldren brought it to the region.

Since its founding, Duilintinn’s culture has officially recontextualized the holiday to emphasize relationships in general, not just romantic ones. It also removes the businesslike element of the holiday entirely, focusing more on emotional bonds rather than legal ones.

#### Adjacent Minor Holidays

##### Tales of the Hero Lord

It’s common practice to tell Tales of The Hero Lord during the Month of February to commemorate the first month of Lord Jackie’s fabled quest through the kingdom in 1600.

##### King Sean’s Name Day

King Sean’s Name Day is both separate from and tied into the February Holidays. Typically, the kingdom celebrates the king’s Name Day during the first week of February, culminating in a celebration on the 7th.

Citizens commonly spend the week talking about how the king has impacted their lives or congratulating him on the successes of the year. Those with creative abilities will often make works in honor or recognition of the king, and the castle rookery is usually flooded with ravens carrying messages and well-wishes.
In this way, the way Duilintinn celebrates the king’s Name Day is, in a way, a way of celebrating the unique relationship between the king and kingdom.

### April-Founding Month

Founding Month is the second of Duilintinn’s Major Holidays and the second of the Renewal Holidays. It takes place in the month of April and celebrates new life and new beginnings, commemorating both Duilintinn’s founding and the advent of spring.

#### History

The April holidays were officially created after Duilintinn was created as a way to celebrate the anniversary of the kingdom’s founding. However, it is extremely likely that local traditions around the beginning of spring were already prevalent prior to the month’s elevation to a Major Holiday.

#### Traditions

In April, new life is celebrated, from plants to children to the kingdom itself! As nature comes to life in the coming months, people are encouraged to take the time to appreciate it and consider how they want to experience renewal in their own life this year. No matter what struggles lie behind or ahead, the April Holidays are a reminder that there is always light and life around the corner, so long as we continue to push forward and seek it to the best of our abilities.

##### Plants

Founding Month also functions as a planting celebration for the spring crops grown throughout Duilintinn. Children pick the first flowers they see and make huge bouquets of weeds and dandelions, while their parents help volunteer on local fields for a day or two during the holiday week.

Particularly in House Brody, where farming and livestock are incredibly prominent, these celebrations often include traditions involving baby animals and planting seeds in the fields. It’s extremely common for communities to gather together and help on the local fields, even people who aren’t normally farmers.

In most parts of Duilintinn, most planting would have already taken place in March. In those cases, there are still some seeds to sow, like flowers and crops that can’t tolerate cold soil, but volunteers would also be helping to pluck weeds and tend to other tasks. With some luck, the people will also be able to celebrate over the tiny sprouts peeking over the fields they sowed in March.

Regardless of the jobs, everyone who volunteers shares a group potluck afterwards. The potluck would consist of leftovers from the previous winter’s preserves, knowing that more food will soon be on the way.

In House Jameson, people paint flowers on broken pottery and stones. Painting flowers in the flower holiday of new life sounds great fun and it’s a cute way of showing that there are ways of giving new meaning/life to even the most broken, seemingly useless things. Especially because April probably won’t have a ton of flowers in House Jameson yet but still there are gonna be painted ones.

##### Children

Families with babies born in the last year all gather with the rest of their community to celebrate the new little baby human that’s been brought into the world. It’s traditional to pick the first few flowers of spring and “give” them to the babies (AKA Give the flower to the parents. Do not give the baby a flower. They will put it in their mouth.) as a reminder of the renewal of life all around them after the winter.

Awww, I’m imagining that kids born in April suffer the same problems that kids born near Christmas do in the real world. They probably feel like their Name Day celebrations are overshadowed by the April holidays every year. That being said, it’s probably considered extra special good luck to actually have a baby in April… it just sucks for the poor child whose Name Day will always fall during a kingdom-wide holiday.

##### Duilintinn

April is also the founding month of Duilintinn! Wooo!!! New beginnings for the kingdom yay!

Historically, all of the Noble Lords were officially titled during the Founding Month celebrations for this reason.

As Duilintinn grows older, the people who remember the land before the kingdom’s founding are starting to recognize their age. As a result, it has become a holiday tradition for elder family members to share stories of these darker times with their younger relatives in an effort to keep those memories alive. These tales remind the Duil that hope can rise up out of any darkness, just as spring will overcome the winter each year.

#### Adjacent Minor Holidays

Those who celebrate Christian holidays will also celebrate Easter sometime around this month and the new life inherent to that.

April 11th is also Lord Brody’s Name Day.

### June-Fairsweek

Fairsweek is the third of Duilintinn’s Major Holidays and the final Renewal Holiday. It takes place in the month of June and celebrates the renewal of self and future goals.

This period is meant to be a transition between the Renewal holidays and the Growth holidays, with elements of both being more prominent than in the other two Renewal Holidays. It is a time of reflecting upon oneself and preparing for what’s next.

This theme is placed in the center of the year (rather than the beginning) to remind us all that it is important to take time for yourself and prioritize your own well-being before reaching out and giving to others. Generosity and compassion is good, but doing so to the detriment of your own mental health is less good.

June is also the official beginning of Duilintinn’s Business Year, so much of the themes of renewal and growth this month are often focused around economic and career accomplishments.

#### History

Waldren brought in the June holidays celebrating personal accomplishments. The name Fairsweek refers to the fairs that would often take place during this time where Waldren came from. The holiday originated in Waldren culture as their “trade season”, with businesses often creating stands for their goods in an effort to advertise themselves for the coming year.

Duilintinn’s culture still preserves some of these elements, such as starting the business year in June, and the work displays. However, the holiday in Duilintinn is much more focused on personal growth,rather than solely economically focused.

#### Traditions

After six months of celebrating renewal, the June holidays are a time to reflect upon where you are in your life. Early in the month, people think about what the renewal holidays taught them about themselves. Later, they reflect upon which aspects of their lives or character they would like to improve upon during the growth holidays ahead.

Adults in the kingdom will celebrate the holiday with public displays of their progress and things they are proud of. An artisan might show a display of works from the previous year, a scholar might put up an informative sign explaining their findings, a messenger might post maps of their travels, etc. etc. etc.

Since very few things are open for business on this day, many people spend half the day in quiet reflection upon themselves and then half the day wandering their communities and praising the progress and growth of others. Not only does it help bolster the recipient’s sense of self, but it’s a tradition to usher in the second half of the year; one of giving and growing together.

This holiday allows the Duil to reflect upon the last year, find validation for their hard work, regain their physical and mental energy, and prepare for the upcoming holidays focused on growth and self improvement.

##### **Business Year**

Most young people begin their houseless gap years in June, and many people who plan to switch houses will do so during June for luck. It is also when most apprenticeships start.

Since June is typically when a lot of young people start looking for their first “job,” a lot of the displays of people’s wares also function as job fairs. Sometimes, teens who aren’t quite of age yet will be taken on field trips to local towns to see the variety of trades that they might be interested in. It’s almost like taking high schoolers to visit universities irl! Of course, the distance a family could travel would depend on their circumstances. Sometimes kids only get to see displays from a few local towns, while others might have the opportunity to travel to multiple regions of Duilintinn.

#### Adjacent Minor Holidays

You could consider the beginning of the Business Year to be a minor holiday, as many Guilds and businesses have small events welcoming newcomers and celebrating the new year during this month.

## Growth Holidays

### August-Remembrance Week

Remembrance Week is the fourth of Duilintinn’s Major Holidays and the first of the Growth Holidays. It takes place in the month of August and focuses on the growth of the mind and truth, particularly regarding Duilintinn’s ethnic history.

#### History

The August holidays were established soon after Duilintinn’s founding in an effort to reclaim some of the Feadhainn history that had been lost during the Waldren Occupation.

#### Traditions

Remembrance week is half a scholarly event, half a cultural festival.

Many people spend Remembrance Week telling old stories, destroying false information, and spreading truth and learning to the rest of the kingdom. It’s common practice to find volunteers working to build a new school or collecting books during this holiday. Other adults will spend the day attending or being part of debates, presentations, and other scholarly events.

While this would seem boring to children, there is a fun tradition to keep it interesting for them. On this holiday, anyone who lies, even a silly white lie, gets booped on the nose, in reference to the fairy tale Pinocchio. Well-mannered kids live by the statement “don’t say anything if you have nothing good to say “ on this holiday, while rowdy kids will take the opportunity to absolutely rip into their entire families with the truth.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, House Schneeplestein goes HAM on this holiday.

The August Holidays are also celebrated with Feadhainn cultural festivals, based on the heritage passed down by those with Feadhainn ancestry and information uncovered by historians and archeologists researching the ancient civilization. They feature traditional food, dances, and retellings of the oral and written history that still remain.

### October - Draoidhtíde and Hallows’ Eve

> *See More: Hallows' Eve*
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Draoidhtíde is the fifth of Duilintinn’s Major Holidays and the second Growth Holiday. It takes place in the month of October and focuses on the growth and spread of magic and imagination.

#### History

The October celebrations surrounding magic are a Feadhainn tradition. The name has the same origin as that of the Draoidh Valley. Draoidh refers to magic, and -tíde can mean both “time” and “tide,” which are equally fitting, seeing as how magic will surge in power during this period.

#### Traditions

Hallows Eve, the day when all magic good and evil are strongest, falls in this month, and many enjoy the new abilities and silly games and traditions that they can do on this day. People dress up all funny, there’s lots of candy and playing pretend, etc.

The favorite holiday of children and many, many members of House Marvin.

Magical festivals are very popular during this month. Since magical displays will become even more impressive in the weeks before Hallows Eve, it’s a long-standing tradition that mages show off some of their most exciting skills during this month. These events are typically more prominent and intense in the western half of Duilintinn, but in the decades since the kingdom’s founding, the eastern half has long since warmed up to the concept of magic and now also enjoys at least a few displays of magic during this holiday.

Finally, the magic of Hallows' Eve causes a boom in magical plant growth. Many people take this opportunity to eat foods with magical ingredients. While this is normally discouraged due to the risks of mixing magical effects, Hallows' Eve is the one day people indulge in a bit of magic in their food.

#### Adjacent Minor Holidays

October 31 is also Lord Jameson’s Name Day, in addition to Hallows’ Eve.

Hallows’ Eve also happens to be the date when The Enemy attacked King Sean for the first time. As such, it is typically a day of nervous anticipation for members of The Watch, as the surge of magic creates unique opportunities for all parties. In 1615 and 1616, Lord Jameson and Lord Marvin were both seen for the first time in years on this day.

### December-Féilltaing

Féilltaing is the sixth and final of Duilintinn’s Major Holidays and the final Growth Holiday. It takes place in the month of December and focuses on thankfulness for the last year and the growth of joy and contentment.

Féilltaing is all about celebrating the progress of this past year OR to find a light beyond the darkness of the past year to encourage you to keep moving forward. Spreading that comfort and encouragement with others, along with the giddy joy and appreciation for completing another year together, is the biggest, bestest part of the December holidays.

The duality of “grow and celebrate others” and “ha, new year, thank God, new start, I made it” reflects both the Growth Holidays and the Renewal Holidays, and this small focus on the self, renewal, and contentment segues the kingdom into a new year.

#### History

The December Holidays are alternately called the Winter Holidays or Féilltaing. Both are accurate; Féilltaing is the name of the original Feadhainn celebration, while Winter Holidays is a more generalized term for the festivities of the whole month that aren’t necessarily connected to the original tradition. Féilltaing means Feast of Thanks.

#### Traditions

Féilltaing celebrations take place over the course an entire week, culminating in an event that begins early in the day and lasts long into the night. Of all of Duilintinn’s Major Holidays, Féilltaing is where Cordoire and the King’s Court truly shine with their festivities. Charity events, guests from around the world, and entertainment lining the streets are only a fraction of the exciting things to be found in the capital city during the celebrations.

According to Feadhainn tradition, Féilltaing would often be celebrated by cutting down parts of evergreen trees and using them to decorate one’s home. However, this tradition faded into near-obscurity after Waldren deforested most of the Feadhainn Valley. Today, some families continue to practice this tradition by decorating their homes with other greenery, particularly colorful, fragrant herbs.

Finally, the December Holidays are absolutely full of feasting and celebration. This is another rare time when people let loose and put some magic in their meals, especially alcohol. During the outdoor celebrations, you'll often find large bonfires where everyone cooks together and warms up from the cold. At the end of the day, nothing evokes the feeling of contentment and thankfulness of the December Holidays like a full stomach after a big family meal.

#### Adjacent Minor Holidays

A wide variety of religious holidays take place around the time of Féilltaing, and may be celebrated separately to or in combination with the existing festivities.

Within The Watch, the winter celebrations in Cordoire are a time of celebration, but also heightened alert. In 1603, the city was attacked in the night during the celebrations, and the subsequent battle would become famous as The Battle for Cordoire, better known as The Overnight Defense. Over a decade later, members of The Watch still wonder whether a repeat event will eventually take place.

## Other Holidays

While all the houses celebrate the same six major holidays, there are many smaller ones that are only celebrated by certain communities or carry less cultural emphasis for Duilintinn as a whole. These are typically either religious holidays or commemorative dates.

### Trade Season

> *See More: Trade Season*
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Trade Season is something of an outlier, as it could be considered a Major Holiday due to the impact it has on Duilintinn as a country, but in reality is considered a Minor Holiday.

Rather than having a thematic significance, the holiday is primarily a practical one, marking the time when Duilintinn’s climate allows for the arrival of foreign trade and the subsequent trade fairs in the capital city of Cordoire. Since these events only take place in Cordoire, the event is considered a Minor Holiday.

However, themes of intercultural relations and diversity have developed over the years. Therefore, it is possible that the trade season will eventually be promoted to the status of a Major Holiday.

### Religious Holidays

> *See more: Duil Religion*
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This inclusion is partially a logical worldbuilding detail, and partially an opening for more diversity within the world of The Watch, allowing space for characters with specific religious or ethnic identities to celebrate the holidays that are important to their culture, without breaking the AU in half.

Some of these holidays are incorporated into the existing structures of the Major Holidays. For example, Easter and Christmas fit nicely into the themes of new life in April and shared joy and contentment in December. However, not all of them fit perfectly, and many are celebrated entirely separate from the Major Holidays.

Speaking as the author for a moment; For anyone making characters with specific religious or ethnic identities, please don’t feel pressured to spin your traditional holidays to fit the themes of Duilintinn’s major secular ones. Those differences are what make communities diverse and beautiful, and give a life to this AU that I could never make on my own.

### Commemorative Dates

Other examples of minor holidays include celebrations of historical events or important dates.

For example, February features two of these minor holidays: King Sean’s Name Day and a commemoration of the Year of the Hero Lord.

Like the religious holidays, these commemorative holidays are often spun to somewhat fit into the themes of the Major Holiday (in the case of February, relationships and bonds), but not always.

The Name Days of the Noble Lords are also celebrated as Minor Holidays. Lord Brody, Lord Marvin, and Lord Jameson all have Name Days that overlap with Major Holiday months: April, August, and October, respectively. Lord Jackie and Lord Schneeplestein, on July 10 and September 15 respectively, have holidays completely separate from the Major Holidays.

Other commemorative dates might include: anniversaries of certain events within The Watch, seasonal changes, local community foundings, etc.

### House Preferences

Some houses will definitely get more enthusiastic about one holiday over the other. House Brody loves April, House Schneeplestein loves August, House Marvin loves October, House Jameson loves June, House Jackie loves February, and everyone loves December.

Many people will travel to these houses to experience their unique celebrations during their respective favorite holidays, similar to how people will travel to New York City to watch the ball drop on New Years' irl.

## Origin

Duilintinn’s holidays originate from a combination of historical Feadhainn and Waldren celebrations and some new ones established after Duilintinn’s founding.

For example, winter celebrations are a Feadhainn tradition, as are the October celebrations surrounding magic.

Waldren brought in the February holidays focusing on romance (which was recontextualized to emphasise relationships of any kind post-founding) and the June holidays celebrating personal accomplishments.

The April holidays were created after Duilintinn was created as a way to celebrate the anniversary of the kingdom’s founding. The August holidays were also established around this time in an effort to reclaim some of the Feadhainn history that had been lost during the Waldren Occupation.

## Trivia

* Events of The Watch AU are lined up with real world events. Thus, the Holidays are lined up with Sean's charity livestreams, which, in 2018, were every other month on average.