Ruwahtha Yed

Remembering the Deceased

Once a year, Danatelian villagers and citizens come together for Ruwahtha Yed, where they partake in a huge feast in honour of their dead. While the lasts only a day, it isnt uncommon for festivities to start days, sometimes even a week before the feast in larger cities. The streets fill up with food vendors, as everyone from amateur home cooks to highly sought after chefs share their cooking for ridiculously low prices. In Ignares the celebrations reach such scale that citizens from surrounding villages and towns will sometimes travel three days to have a taste of the city.

Each village, town and city have their own unique way of celebrating Ruwahtha Yed. Ménès is famous for its free diving fishing contest, while the town of Saint-Barkad organises evening dances around their wishing well. But the actual day of Ruwahtha Yed is celebratedd by all Danatelians in the same way. Each family or household will gather in their own home, and share in a sumptous feast. Stories of the dead are told, and prayers are sung so that they may feel the warmth of their love in Ayshabiu.

"On this day of celebration, let us remember those for whom we sing and eat. Kiriam, who left us when he still just a child. We sing and eat for you, little one- may the gods let you thrive and grow. Amael, whom I miss daily. We sing and eat for you. May your heart be filled with pride when you watch our family."

— Family matriarch holding the prayer on Ruwahtha Yed

Origins

Historians have long speculated about the rituals from which this tradition derived. The oldest written records which make mention of Ruwahtha Yed speak of them as an already well established celebration, meaning it very likely predates the invention of written Danakaïn. However, through careful study of historical texts, historians have managed to establish a more or less consistent evolution of the ritual.

Most academics and researchers agree that when the celebration first started, the feast was eaten by one single person. Ancient religious texts make mention of "sin-eaters", people who would take on the sins of the dead for themselves to save them from being devoured by Almayot.

"I swear on my honour before Argus himself, if you try to tell me again about your "the sin-eaters were criminals who were executed after the feast" theory one more time I will make sure you work as a desk clerk in the Rising Tower for the rest of your career!"

— Exasperated historian to his colleague

Regardless of what place and role the sin-eaters occupied at the time, the celebration has considerably evolved across time. By the time the Danatelian Lands were unified by the great Dargan of the Roaring Waves, Ruwahtha Yed were village wide events. Families would come and pool together their ressources, in order to have a trully grandiose celebrations of lost loved ones. In larger towns, the celebrations could even last more than a day, reaching 8 days long in the biggest city of the country.

Religion

Interestingly, the celebration of Ruwahtha Yed has never been associated to the worship of a specific divinity. Instead, it seems to be a tradition which celebrates the deceased as some kind of minor divinity: the feast can be compared to a religious rite held in honour of a god, and the food eaten as offerings to the dead.

Death in the Danatelian Culture

Danatelians concieve of individuals as made up of three parts. Djihsm, the material body, Taqa, the life force which animates Djihsm, and Ruwah, the heart, home of everything that makes a person that person. When someone dies, Danatelians believe that Djihsm is returned to Matazel the Lonely, while Taqa returns to Aher the Green. Ruwah, what remains, is either devoured by Almayot or escorted by Kirïal the Silent to Ayshabiu, the islands of dusk-and-dawn, where the gods live and the dead rest.

by Brooke Lark

by Margarita Zueva