Festivals, Fairs, And Holy Days.pdf

Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons ® Player’s Handbook

Festivals, Fairs,

and Holy Days

by Andrew Hind

Athenaeum Arcane:

Festivals, Fairs, and Holy Days

Introduction

This PDF is designed to help GMs world

build and bring adventures out of the dun-

geon by providing five ready-to-use festivals,

fairs, and holy days. It’s an invaluable tool for

building a textured culture, for throwing at

PCs to enliven their arrival in a new commu-

nity, and for weaving a unique tapestry to

serve as the backdrop for urban adventure.

Learning how people celebrate allows us

to better understand their values, their fears,

their collective personality. While PCs may

quickly forget details about a pig-raising vil-

lage they passed through, it’s unlikely they’d

forget the community that hosts the

Razorback Festival during which pigs are

slaughtered and in butcher-bees and which

culminates in the grand spectacle of slaves

engaging in gladiatorial combat against a dire

boar…the survivors being granted freedom

and existence as were-boars.

The Events

F AUGH

Where: Faugh , a local dialect word mean-

ing “high sun”, is most adhered to in commu-

nities existing in a temperate region.

Elements have survived as towns evolved into

cities, but it nonetheless remains dominantly a

“provincial” festival.

When: This festival is linked with the

summer solstice, the hottest period of the year.

Who: In villages and towns, the entire

community turns out to take part in the activi-

ties. In cities, however, only recent émigrés

from the countryside recognize the event, and

it’s a much more low-key event, usually cele-

brated only within the home or amongst other

with recent rural roots.

How: The day begins early with parties

setting out into the woods in search of wal-

nuts, which will be gathered in great quantities

in order to make the traditional walnut liqueur

known as nocino . It’s a task not without its

dangers, however. Gatherers must contend

with boars similarly foraging for nuts, and

they always run the risk of disturbing beasts

made irritable by the muggy heat.

When the foragers return around dusk, the

entire community rejoices and joins together

to feast. While the partying begins, the old-

men and their apprentices that have been

entrusted with the secret of making nocino

begin their work. The rationale being those

tempted to spy will be otherwise distracted

by the festivities. Of course, the punishment

for spying is dire indeed: public blinding with

red hot rods before the entire congregated

populace.

A highlight of the evening is the magi-

cians that regale the crowds with their skill.

Even the smallest hamlet will save enough

gold to hire a petty spellcaster (1 st or 2 nd

level sorcerer or wizard), while larger vil-

lages and towns can afford more elaborate

shows, with troupes of spellcasters and more

skilled mages. Neighboring towns vie for the

honor of attracting the most accomplished

guest wizard and largest complement. PC

sorcerers or wizards may be hired to perform

at the festival.

Finally, as midnight approaches, every-

one retires for communal night bathing. In

villages or small towns this is typically in a

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Festivals, Fairs, and Holy Days

nearby stream or lake, though in larger cen-

ters it might be in purposefully pools or bath-

houses.

Adventure Seed: The adventure begins

with characters strolling into town the day

before the festival. Any wizards or sorcerer

with the party are recruited for the magic

demonstration. As well, because goblinoid

raiders have recently become active in the

area, the party is hired to safeguard those for-

aging for nuts. Their foresight pays off hand-

somely when the PCs defeat a goblinoid band

intent on wiping out the foragers 9at the GMs

discretion, characters may also rescue people

treed by an angry bear or other large beast, and

generally play nurse-maid to a bunch of help-

less commoners).

During the evening festivities, the charac-

ters spot several goblins that have infiltrated

the village. Giving chase, they mistakenly

stumble upon the brewers engaged in their

secretive work. No one else having seen the

offending goblins, the characters are accused

of spying and must fast-talk their way to safe-

ty, produce the goblins, or effect an escape

from a town of pitchfork wielding peasants.

brating in large, boisterous crowds as a way of

warding off the evil. The nobility, on the other

hand, hold solemn and secretive ceremonies

during the day, only publicly acknowledging

Raven’s Eve as the sun begins to set…

How: It’s said that this evening is a time

when spirits are active, and that the maddened

behavior of ravens and crows on this day is a

result of the weakening of the boundaries

between the realms of the living and dead.

Common people fear nighttime retribution at

the hands of angered spirits, and so spend the

day celebrating the deceased, especially those

who passed within the year prior.

Large bonfires are lit just before dawn,

both to warm revelers during the coming day’s

festivities and to frighten away the blood-

thirsty birds. Much dancing and feasting takes

place around these fires. Wine, symbolizing

the blood of the dead, is consumed in copious

amounts; drunkenness is a common way of

blurring the fears that underlay this day. Most

people wear black masks to hide their identi-

ties from vengeance seeking spirits that may

be active unnaturally early.

The highlight of the day, if it can be called

that, is the public executions. Criminals are

hanged in town squares and left to be picked

clean by carrion birds. Huge flocks of cawing

ravens and crows soon converge on the

corpses. These sacrifices appease the birds by

sating their hunger, and also appease the spir-

its’ thirst for revenge.

As soon as the sun begins to set revelers

return to their homes to decorate doors with

rowan wreaths, which are said to ward away

spirits and undead.

Such is the public face of Raven’s Eve.

However, the aristocracy—nobility and

wealthy merchants—-celebrate the day in a

much more private and much less joyous

manner. They spend their days in solemn

prayer, honoring in private chapels lined with

R AVEN ’ S E VE

Where: Anywhere, as Raven’s Eve is

equally acknowledged by peasants and nobil-

ity, country-folk and urbanites. The more

notorious activities associated with Raven’s

Eve tend to be associated with larger cities,

however, where the idle rich who partake in

them tend to be more plentiful.

When: Raven’s Eve is associated with the

winter solstice, a day when folklore says

ravens go on murderous frenzy.

Who: Raven’s Eve may be a holy-day that

crosses social boundaries, but the rich and

poor nonetheless worship it in completely dif-

ferent fashion. Peasants spend the day cele-

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Athenaeum Arcane:

Festivals, Fairs, and Holy Days

braziers burning incense those who have died.

The aristocracy fast as a way of cleansing

themselves of sin, drinking only wine laced

with human blood. Masks and black robes are

worn, but never footwear, in spite of the

cold—-again, to cleanse themselves of sins.

When night descends upon the world, the

wealthy worshippers finally emerge from their

chapels. They slip out of their townhouses and

palaces to stalk the streets in search of victims.

They believe that the spirits need far more

graphic demonstrations of violence than that

offered by the public executions in order to be

appeased. Their answer is to murder riffraff

and other undesirable elements in ritualistic

fashion.

Adventure Seed: The small city of

Uxengold is in full celebration of Raven’s Eye

when, from Potters Field (the cemetery where

the beggars and the riff-raff are interred) the

dead arise. All of the corpses are former vic-

tims of the aristocrats’ holiday sacrifices, and

march inexorably towards the chapel where

the city elite are holed up in prayer. The

undead are under the command of a deranged

wizard in search of revenge—-during the pre-

vious year’s ceremony his wife was mistaken

for a prostitute and was ritually executed.

The city erupts in panic at the sight of the

undead, and so efforts by the PCs to stop the

rampaging corpses are hindered by panicked

mobs, looting, and other madness. A madden-

ing flock of bloodthirsty crows adds to the

mayhem. The horde of walking dead being

too numerous to confront in a straight fight,

PCs will likely have to race against time to

find their unholy master or fall back to the

chapel and defend the building itself (in a

scene straight out of Night of the Living

Dead).

Characters that are aware of the aristo-

crats’ night-time Raven’s Eve traditions may

question whether they’re worth saving…..

A CANAVEADOS

T OURNAMENT

Where: Acanaveados tournaments, like

other knightly tournaments, are sponsored by

the nobility and therefore take place within

the shadow of a castle, tower, or other noble

seat. As a result, they are rarely hosted by

small communities. Unlike jousts, which are

gentlemanly expressions of martial ability

that take place in peaceful kingdoms (or at

least kingdoms currently at peace), acanavea-

dos tournaments typically take place in a cli-

mate of hostility, like that which might be

experienced in frontier areas that border on

enemy states or lands inhabited by humanoid

hordes. The constant skirmishing and blood-

letting gives rise to this unique form of

knightly demonstration.

When: There is no particular date in

which an acanaveados tournament might be

held. It’s at the whim of the host, and often

coincides with events such as weddings,

crowning ceremonies, or celebrating victory

over the enemy.

Who: While it is the nobles who host the

events, and occasionally common-class

might get to witness some of the activities,

acanaveados tournaments are really for and

about knights (the term in this context refers

loosely to mounted warriors of distinction,

not merely to paladins or cavaliers). It is their

abilities that are on display, it is their service

that the nobles wish to honor, and it is glory

which is enhanced by a good showing.

How: Not all tournaments consist of

jousts between rival knights. There were

other ways to demonstrate one’s martial abil-

ities, though they are decidedly less chivalric

in nature. The acanaveados tournament, in

which traitors are used as living targets for

cavalry armed with javelins or spears, is one

grisly example.

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Entrants take turns charging down a joust-

ing list, throwing javelins at victims (almost

always captured enemy warriors) who have

been tied to posts arrayed along the length of

the field. Points are awarded for location of

hits scored, style (difficulty of the shot), and

for killing blows. Prizes are afforded the win-

ning knight.

Any mounted warrior of noble birth or

battlefield distinction (2 nd level and beyond)

may participate, providing player character

fighters and paladins an opportunity to gain

glory and experience. Characters might balk

at such barbaric practice. As GM, you might

want to award players a story experience

point reward if they do abstain, especially if

to do otherwise would sacrifice their reli-

gious mores.

Of course, there’s more to the festivities

than javelin-throwing. Feasts are held in

honor of the attending knights, allowing

characters important enough to warrant an

invitation the opportunity to rub elbows with

a hall full of powerful individuals.

Adventure Seed: Having just returned

from a successful punitive expedition against

a tribe of hobgoblins in retaliation for the

burning of outlying farms, Baron Alfonso II

has called for a tournament to celebrate. Over

two dozen hobgoblins have been kept alive

for just that purpose. As the tournament date

nears, and while exploring in the wild-lands,

the PCs stumble upon a plot against Baron

Alfonso II. The hobgoblin shaman had

burned the farms knowing that it would goad

the humans into attacking, and had cursed his

people so that should they enter captivity (as

he hoped they would) they would unwitting-

ly serve his dark designs. When the sun sets

after the acanaveado tournament is complete,

the body of each captive slain by way of

javelin will erupt in a mass of infernal ants

that will consume everything in sight. If

enough are released and they are left

unchecked, they might just devour the entire

barony. The PCs must race to stop this ritual,

but in order to do so, must either masquerade

as knights or use stealth and subterfuge to

gain entrance to Baron Alfonso’s castle

where the jousts take place.

D EVIL ’ S H ORSE

M ARKET

Where: The village of Scratch’s Post,

population 400 (feel free to replace Scratch’s

Post with any small, rural, roadside commu-

nity in your own campaign).

When: The three days prior to the first

full-moon of autumn. It was on this evening,

many years ago, that a brigand attempted to

steal the horse from what seemed to be an

enfeebled old man. Unfortunately for him,

the old cripple turned out to be the devil

Furcas, who promptly severed the brigands

head from his body with a stroke of his blade.

Ever since, on the eve of his death, the head-

less outlaw haunts the road near Scratch’s

Post, riding atop an albino steed, searching

for a head to replace the one he lost.

Who: While the entire village has come

to enjoy the festivities associated with this

renowned fair, it is particularly aimed

towards those associated with the horse

trade—-breeders, buyers, craftsmen (black-

smiths, saddle-makers, wheel-wrights).

People from hundreds of miles away fall

upon this little village, temporarily swelling

its numbers to over 2,000.

How: At its core, the event is one of the

largest horse markets in the region, typically

covering many acres and including tents

from foreign lands. The stock itself is always

well guarded against horse-thieves, and

often-times adventurers can find temporary

employ in this field. All manner of horses,

barding, saddles, and other related equip-

ment, some of it magical, is available for sale,

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