Blakehallow Harvest

The Arcane Bazaar

The Blakehallow Harvest is an annual celebration on the crops the farmers in Blakehallow. The farmers in Blakehallow say they plant regular seeds, but what the fields bore belongs to the paranormal. Blakehallow holds the harvest festival as a thank you to Harun, an Entity of Agriculture. Many assume that the Harun is not real, but others in Blakehollow said to have seen them sowing their crops amongst the farmers.

History

Somewhere in Blakehallow, the farmers tilled in their field getting ready for a harvest. One farmer, in particular, is boring pumpkins for the Blakehallow Harvest, but the crops are not growing at all. For each day, the farmer refined his treatment on the fruit, nurturing it as if it is their own, and has been perfecting it for years on end.

On one fateful day, many people gathered around the farmer's pumpkin patch with singing lingering in the centre. The farmer walks to the centre of the crowd and finds the pumpkin he cultivated grew a body. The pumpkin towered the townsfolk, serenading the townsfolk with a lyre he rightfully stole from the town bard, singing the day he was born, Blakehallow Harvest. 

The pumpkin turned to the farmer and rush to their side, giving the farmer a warm embrace.

"Thank you for nurturing me, and for giving me a life most joyous."

The farmer, looking at the pumpkin's head, then the pumpkin's body, and back to the pumpkin's smiling face, turned their head to the sky and closed their eyes to later fall to the soil.

No doubt in Blakehallow Harvest, the farmer's walking, singing pumpkin won the Black Ribbon of Blakehallow, yet some deem the judging unfair.

"How can the judges rate him differently like the others?" "The pumpkin practically seduced them!" "They didn't even eat the thing!"

"I have a name," the pumpkin retorted to all three, "my name is Seán. The judges judged properly, for it is unfair to eat something that has as much soul as a human."

The farmers took that as well as they could and went to their farms with determination in their eyes. Next year, a farmer submitted a mandrake that released a ska album. The year after next, an apple cider potion that can let you cast spells great for fending off foes. Since this day, the Blakehallow Harvest turned to the arcane and became a hot spot for ghastly ingredients.

As for Seán and his creator, they are living together and making more of his kind. Seán dubbed them the Gelai, a name he thought up at the moment.

Execution

By the morning, a horn bellows through Blakehallow as the symbol of the start of the festivities. The farmers gather their wares and sell them to the villagers and travellers throughout the Black Marble. On sunset, the selected judges pick from their wears and leave them on the podium for Harun as thanks for giving them fertile soil in the dark world. Finally, at night, there is the Harvest Dance where the land turns it's people into frightening individuals.

Components and tools

It has been summarized for the Blakehallow's Harvest to decorate with pumpkins and the arcane. It would not be a harvest without the farmers selling their wears. On occasion, you might see someone dress as their supposed monster.

Participants

The Three Mayors of Blakehallow blow the Horn of Blakehallow to start the festivities at hand. Then they prepare for the contest of the best ware of the bazaar and award the winner a black ribbon. By the evening, the holiest of the three lead the prayer of Harun. Finally, at night, the three prepare a ritual to turn Harvest-goers into the monsters they desire to be and last until the next morning.

This is a submission for the October Flash Challenge - Dark Ritual.

Primary Related Location

Blakehallow