Happy New Year, my friends. 2016 was definitely a rough one at times. I am looking forward to 2017!

Here is hoping you all have a wonderful New Year holiday. Have fun. Share love. Stay safe!

Full rez version.

The Prentil New Year is a celebration that spans the Five Days of No Season that sit between the last day of Winter and the first day of Spring.

The first day of the celebration is known as Feasting Day. The people of Prentil travel the land to reunite with family and friends and share gifts, feasts, and drink. This is also the first day of the Great Knight’s Tournament in the grand city of Vridhan. The tournament rages for several days.

The second day is Day of Song. On this day, the people take to the streets and share the leftovers of their Feasting Day feasts with each other. Neighbors share food, stories and songs in the streets throughout the day and night.

The third day is known as Winter Night. On this day each year, the sun is eclipsed by the moon, causing a full day of dusk like darkness. Tradition says that Dai’Dann, the ever watchful Mother of us all, the goddess of the sun, is distracted by her sister, Epsca, the mischievous moon. With their Mother’s back turned, the people of Prentil are free to revel and party and make mischief of their own. The folk enjoy drink and smoke, food and dancing, love and laughter, and practical jokes throughout the day.
Many enjoy dressing in costumes and coloring their hair with bright dyes. Then the day long revelry culminates with giant bonfires and wondrous firework displays. According to the old tales, the fires and fireworks are designed to frighten Epsca away and allow Dai’Dann to shine down once more. The parties last long into the night as Epsca’s full moon is chased across the sky.

The fourth day of the celebration is called the Day of Reflection, or, as the younger folk like to say, the Day of Regurgitation. On the Day of Reflection, the Prentil people rest and recuperate from Winter Night and reflect on their deeds of the past year. Many take this time to offer penance or ask forgiveness for their sins. But it is not a day of piety to all of the Prentil people – many other celebrations occur on this day. In the towns of Bentl, the ashes of all those who died the prior year are sown into
the wheat, barley and oat crops while their friends and family tell tales of the lives of the fallen. In the late summer, these crops will be turned into beers and ales, and once again the Bentl people will remember their fallen loved ones. In Vridhan, the Great Knight’s Tournament is completed on the Day of Reflection, and the tournament champions are named. In the city of Stennar, those that have come of age choose their guild and receive their guild tattoos.

The fifth and final day of the New Year celebration is known as Renewal Day, or New Day. Many who have taken oaths – be they oaths of piety, marriage, or service – renew their oaths in various ceremonies throughout the land on this day. In Vridhan, new Knights are sworn in on New Day, and Knights from across Prentil meet in the Great Vridhen Halls and tell the tales of their deeds from the previous year before renewing their oaths. It is also common custom for many new marriage proposals to
occur on New Day.