Findings of the Culturvator
Written by Aervara (MC)
Frostwane is an annual festival occurring on the 51st day of The Frost Season. As the first day of the second half of The Frost Season, it celebrates the approaching end of the coldest season of the year. It is traditionally spent with onecs family and/or community, and large potluck-style feasts are common. Gift-giving is encouraged, but the true emphasis of the holiday is to celebrate the ties with the people closest to us, without whom one could never expect to survive the barren Frost.
The adventurers of The "Mercy" Unit have differing memories of the Frostwanes of their childhoods.
Owen's extremely wealthy family would leave Gilding and retreat to their private, secluded chalet in Timber Wilds.
Sir Hector and Darwin have memories of their families gathered around tables laden with good food, and, in Darwin's case, good whiskey. Owen and Darwin both have strong memories of being read the traditional children's book A Song of Frostwane.
Ardyn's and Victoro's childhoods as orphans produced a different flavor of Frostwane memories-- Ardyn recalls performing circus tricks at Frostwane gatherings at the orphanage where he was raised, while Victoro looks back fondly on coinpurses overflowing with money for gifts, easy targets for thievery. His favorite memories involve stealing Frostwane candy from other children.
Aervara remembers the weeks leading up to Frostwane in Treefyre as a hectic, focused time, in which children of all ages helped out in the workshops and storefronts of the artisans of the community. Only after the passage of the actual Frostwane holiday would the wood elves of Treefyre take time to celebrate, with modest meals and gifts, which were expected to be made by the gift giver's hand.
Mews remembers the Frostwane celebrations of the Tabaxi back on Blightjay as large, chaotic gatherings of many Hunts, with an assortment of the continent's cultural traditions all on display together at massive gatherings, full of food and the warmth of the community.
For their first Frostwane as an official adventuring party, The "Mercy" Unit shared the holiday with those families who had traveled to Dawnway to see the Knightingale speak. Along with ample food and kind company, they also shared their first encounter with a Snarl.