Autumn
"As the sun climbs further away, Årethjul remains on the patch where their kiss lingered longest, and falls once more into a lengthy slumber. The trees shall bronze their leaves and give them to the birds and wind to cover the sleeping God, and the kind earth shall envelop its child once more as the land slumbers.
So too shall we remove that we do not need and prepare to rest, as the chill and the clouds come closer, and we shall work and prepare for the sun to come again as Årethjul slumbers, dreaming of their love."
As the heat of Summer fades away, the first period of rest has come to an end. The return of the cooling winds and rain clouds means it's time to make preparations for Winter. Hunters, farmers, crafters, even simple laborers, everyone gets ready to weather the storm and chill of Winter as well as their various projects and plans for the seasons to come.
Autumn is the final season of Edda's 12-month calendar, giving people much to reflect on, and the dreary dark clouds that plague the season give plenty of reason to do it, leading many to rest and reflect after the business throughout the rest of the year. It is also a time of stories from beyond and ethereal moments, as the planes of reality get as close to each other as they possibly can.
As the final quarter of the year, the last three months are titled after Autumn in their common translations. They are:
- 10. Cooling Autumn - When the heat of Summer is fully waned, and the windy chill of Autumn arrives
- 11. Bronzing Autumn - When the verdant hues of Spring and Summer leaves the leaves, turning them the various warm hues before falling off the branch
- 12. Falling Autumn - When all has fallen silent and dreary, and the time of winter begins. The naming of this final month is paralleled by the first month of the year, the next one chronologically
Manifestation
Natural Manifestations
Whereas Summer was a time of peak labor to beat out the burning of the sun, Autumn is a season of preparation before the snows of winter put a halt, or at least a slowing, on many industries. The final harvests are reaped, with a few winter holdovers being prepared. Hunters and gathers find their goods in greater amounts to make up for the time disparity. Travelers, wanderers, and visionaries finish their great travels before they get too treacherous, so on and so forth. This is the season where nature prepares as well, with various animals feasting in greater amounts to hibernate, or beginning to travel to different locations that will be more beneficial in the months to come.
This also becomes a time for nature to begin resting. While not yet killed by the cold and short, sunless days of Winter, the plants and trees will begin to lose their hues and outward features, and even the waters calm for a bit for most of Edda. For mortal people, the later half of this season is also devoted to rest, as past the solstice the shorter days mean a greater amount of time spent indoors or preparing the homestead for the coming months. Even those who live within cities would rather bundle up by a fire or begin work on whatever crafts they might distract themselves with during the winter.
Magical Manifestations
As mana cycles through just as nature does, it begins to cool and rest within the land in which it flows. During the autumnal season, mana relating to Earth and its related factors, such as metals and minerals, is at its peak. In a looser elemental sense, mana relating to nature, the changing of forms, fog, and rot are stronger as well. Apart from any direct elemental attachment, magical effects relating to sleep, decay, death, spirits, and warding receive a boost from the Leylines.
For the seasonally affected, such as the fae, this season carries on the slumbering effect that Summer holds, although the need to migrate for the winter shakes many out of it. For the fae themselves, they become more thoughtful and contemplative, but are also marred by the Unseelie beginning their ascent to seasonal control, turning the tide of mischief towards Malice once more.
The most drastic arcane shift this season, however, comes in the form of extraplanar entities. During this season, the different planes of reality are at their closest to one another, meaning that all manner of creatures can get through easier, beneficial or malevolent alike. This culminates on the final day of the 11th month on a holiday known as Veilnight. For most, this is a time of celebrating and honoring the spirits of loved ones, but for others it brings the danger of crazed elementals, eldritch monstrosities, vengeful ghosts, and other terrifying realities to the mortal plane.
Localization
Due to the different, often strange, temperature currents of Edda, each nation experiences the coming of Autumn in different ways
- Atalanta: Autumn is the stereotypical season of Atalanta. The dreariness, gloom, and dark cold winds are typical in Atalantan art and literature. It helps that the environment itself doesn't change all too much. The central forests don't lose their pines as quickly as fruit trees lose their leaves, and the swamps remain full of their own life throughout the season until winter freezes the shallow waters. The biggest interruptions to normal life in Atalanta are the planar horrors caused by the proximity of extra dimensional spaces, especially around Veilnight, but Atalantan have their own traditional methods around that.
- Magnum Opus: In Magnum Opus, this is a very busy and frantic season. The various merchants and farmers rush to make the most of their sales before the winter hits, lumberers rush to get the best trees before they fall barren, and hunters do their best to trim and claim their hibernating prey. This is to say nothing of those who travel the waters, nomadically wander the land, or have to batten down the hatches in the harsh north. This doesn't mean there's no celebration to be had! Many regions have their own festivals and religious holidays, but the nation overall also celebrates the coming of the season and the new year heartily, as well as having a renowned cider festival in the capital!
- Laputa: Across Laputa, the sense of preparation is felt most severely, as people above and below prepare for storms and harsh temperature drops, especially the hard-working farmers amongst the snowplains who have to deal with the most temperamental and difficult crops. Aside from the flying capital, the two other flying cities make a docking around the equinox, hovering above or grounding beside their field settlements for the winter to come.
The seasonal rest is still felt however, with many devoting the time to theorizing and development rather than pure active invention, and even the laborers get ample imbursed time off to heal and be comfortable with loved ones. - Afallon: Within Afallon, the Autumn brings many celestial and planar events for the academic and historically minded to observe and celebrate. Where the oases and springs rise with this wet season too, festivals of bounty and harvest are held, making the arid nation a lively place. Even the deadlier parts of the nation become more hospitable briefly, as they get the right moment between summers heat and winters freeze to where the sands don't sting as much as they usually do.
- The 'Oki Islands: For the Islands, while this season is wet and stormy, it isn't as chaotic as the Spring and Summer can be. Instead any increased precipitation usually comes down in smoother, calmer sheets. They still must make careful plans for flooding and the weight of collected water, but it's a reprieve from the chaos of the seasons prior. This is also a season where people harvest and distill the rainwater, anointing it one way or another for various cultural festivals and wards against the spirits that will be crossing the veil.
- Boncly: In Boncly, much like the similarly arid Afallon the badland dwellers get a small reprieve between the scorch of the summer and the critical freezing temperatures to come. While little rain greets the desert, they do get many days of cloud cover, and increased precipitation to the west helps those who shuttle it over for the citizens benefit. Boncly, much like its neighbors, is also a hotbed for planar activity, meaning the average citizen will have much to fear as the Autumn goes on. But, there is still much work to be done before winter, and many Veilnight traditions of the region have formed to ward off the enemies that arrive.
- Agartha: Throughout Agartha, Autumn is a season of plenty. Plenty of rain, plenty of cool temperatures, plenty of harvested and otherwise gathered goods, and plenty of reasons to celebrate as religious festivals and location based celebrations occur. Even the onset of Veilnight does not stop the celebration, as the people faithful in the Mother Dragons feel their celestial realm closer as well. While many farms and mountainous communities have hard preparation work ahead of them for the winter freeze, especially on the World-Mountain, the mountainous nation is an epicenter of celebration throughout this season.
- The Kaguyan Federation: Within the Federation, things remain at a cold yet calm medium environmentally. There are storms, but nothing chaotic. Rains, but nothing torrential. Winds, but none tempestuous. All in all, the average Kaguyan will enjoy plenty of seasonal bounty while not having to stress too much about Winter since they don't get harsh cold storms either. However, much like many of the other nations towards the west of Edda, they do have to worry about an increased amount of spectral creatures, extraplanar monsters, and phantasmal beings as Veilnight rears its head, especially since the nation is already prone to their manifestations.
- Hippolyta: For Hippolyta, Autumn is a harrowing season where the verdant pieces of nature begins to subside. While some of the northern forests of the nation retain their pines and green in the colder months, a majority of the land begins to redden and bronze in preparation to die and fall. This leads the season to culturally be a dreary one, where many funerary customs are held and annually preformed. It's also a time for religion and introspection, as many deities of their primary pantheon have their feast days around this season. For those living outside the large cities, the death of the season rings especially true, as they must reap their farms, hunt their game, and be constantly on the lookout for increased fae presence as the Unseelie come to rule, as the veil between realms is at its thinnest.
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