The Jodrise & The Snowhearthing
Geological / environmental event
The Snowhearthing is a celebration during the winter season of Agora. It is typically celebrated in the southern continents - Kaiden and Doxra, though the dwarven Dor’s of Edephor and settlements near to them also celebrate this day.
History
The Snowhearthing was founded during the Star Times, but has no specific date, as it is a celebration that takes place after a meteorological event, The Jodrise - a time when the winter winds turn into horrifying blizzards that even the mountaintop goliaths struggle to shirk.
The Jodrise is named after the vengeful spirit of icy death, Jod. Once a cruel highwaywoman who was abandoned by her gang in a snowstorm. She found a village and asked each home for shelter, all refused. It is debated if the villagers were selfish, paranoid, or recognised the vindictive bandit. But she died outside their homes, buried by frost before dawn approached. Whispers and tales speak of the pale thief, who now takes lives in her blizzards instead of money and supplies.
The Jodrise would claim all the surface dwelling races of the south, if not for the hospitality of the dwarves. Who opened the Dor’s to their underdark cities, offering warmth and merriment until the storm passed and, as thanks, the surface villages would return to their homes and hold a celebration in homage to their stout saviours.
Events
While technically only a protocol against harsh weather. The dwarves of Agora work to make it feel more like a celebration, made by choice rather than necessity. When the first winds of the Jodrise blow through, the villages and city that unprotected from the cold will migrate to the nearest dwarven settlements where they will sheltered and partake in "the very best of dwarven life". After the storm has passed, the towns that were sheltered will host their own festivities in honor of their bearded friends.
Iconography
The planting of large trees was a concept born from a lumberjack, who was upset to find that the Jodrise had felled the woods he visited in his younger years. The dwarven friends he had made helped him plant one of the fallen trees in the center of his town and it became the centerpiece of that year’s Snowhearthing. It is now tradition for those sheltered by the dwarves to have a large decorated tree as a centerpiece for their celebration.
It soon became a custom of gratitude to bring gifts to the dwarves upon being granted entry. These gifts often include food and brews to increase the lengths of festivities and "earn one's keep" as they say. However sometimes these gifts come in the form of woodwork and masonry.
