O'jiborez: The Festival of Gleaning (/ō-jē-bôr-ĕs/)

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Gi'thara again brushed back her stray, aqua-dyed locks of hair that had come loose behind her slightly pointed ears, a futile effort to keep them from her face. She hadn't anticipated how windy it would be standing on the bow of the ship.
Along the shores of the Sungzel, as far as the eye could see - torches. Hundreds? Thousands? She couldn't be sure. Her stomach turned over and over, a weight pressing against her chest as her anxiety levels climbed to new heights.

Wavecaller Gi'thara by dream by WOMBO

Description

As the long days of the harvest sun begin to wane and give way to longer and cooler nights, the people of the Freelands look with great anticipation to the grandest of annual celebrations known as O'jiborez, or the Festival of Gleaning. Over the years it has grown from its humble ecological focus on cleansing the waters of the Sungzel Sea into a week-long party combining music, festivities, competitions, the largest uncasking of a great many barrels of boekomz, and even a bit of old imperial magic.

History

Imperial documents from late in the First Age record an annual ritual held on the shores of the Sungzel Sea. The elves had long recognized that without proper outflows, the Sea's evaporation would leave behind ever-increasing amounts of mineral deposits and impurities. If left unchecked, the largest water source of the Freelands (then known as the Agulazvlat) would eventually become unable to sustain life both in and around it.
Dramatic action was needed to save this critical natural resource. With their powerful magics, the elves cast a grand ritual to purify the waters. But like the shifting tides wash footprints from the shore, the magic of the ritual fades over time and must be periodically renewed. While hardly a celebration, this annual renewing of the ritual magics that purify the Sungzel Sea was the basis for what would eventually become the O'jiborez Festival.
Shortly after the end of the Great War emissaries of the Viceroy of Lysandre approached the ja'nakh horse lords of the Freelands with a trade agreement. In exchange for much needed grain to feed their starving and overcrowded people, the Viceroy promised the purification magics of the Sungzel would never fade. Thus every year, this vice-kingdom of the new empire sends a delegation of seven wavecallers - one to each major city on the Sungzel's shores - to renew the ritual. It is around this annual event the festival has grown.

Common Themes

The purification of the Sungzel is seen as a symbolic opportunity for the people to let go of that which pollutes their lives - their worries, concerns, grudges, and even their past. It is seen as a time of forgiveness, so much so the in recent years it has become increasingly common for city leaders to grant sweeping pardons of criminals imprisoned in their dungeons. O'jiborez is seen as a time of renewal, reminding the people of the Freelands to begin anew. It carries a hope that regardless of our yesterdays, there is still an opportunity to choose a different path today.

Did you know?

This pervailing mindset of leaving behind the past and focusing on what's right in front of you is why the most common toast when raising a glass of boekomz is ki'jodye! - the ja'nakh phrase for "today."

Location, Duration, & Timing

O'jiborez is celebrated across all seven port cities of Southern and Eastern Zuul’hy surrounding the Sungzel Sea late in the harvest season. The specific timing of the week-long festivities is generally set by the Viceroy of Lysandre based on the availability of Imperial wavecallers to perform the Ritual of the Remnants.

The Ritual of the Remnants

The final night of the annual O'jiborez festival culminates with one of the most public displays of Imperial magic seen across the land. Just as the sun dips behind the horizon, Imperial wavecallers in each of the seven cities board ships that will anchor a short distance from the shore. The ritual is performed in three distinct parts: The Casting, The Culling, and The Gleaning.

The Casting

The Master of Ceremonies gave a signal and the crew raised the first pennant, a deep purple with white markings. Similar banners went up on the surrounding vessels and a progressive stillness took hold across the great expanse of water.
From that stillness a lone horn broke the silence, the ”horn of casting." With grand smiles upon their faces the throngs of bystanders - young and old alike from every walk of life - hurled innumerable objects as far as their strength would allow. And with a great collective plunk sound, those objects broke through the water’s surface, a thousand tiny ripples expanding outward in every direction.

The first phase of the ceremony, The Casting, is quite the misnomer but illustrates just how much the ritual has transformed into a grand event of pomp and circumstance over the last several decades. In fact, there is no "casting" in the mystical sense of the word. Instead, this clever play on words - undoubtedly selected by some entrepreneurial dwarf - is a physical casting. That is, festival attendants are encouraged to throw (cast) small personal items - trinkets and baubles, coins, shells, and stones - into the sea. Thus they go from being passive bystanders to active participants in the annual cleansing of the Sungzel.
The selection of what items to cast into the sea is considered a very popular discussion topic among the people of the Freelands. Should you have no specific trinkets available but still wish to participate, never fear! "Casters" are available for purchase at a reasonable price from many merchants' stands throughout the festival.

Casters for Sale! by dream by WOMBO

The Culling

With a satisfied nod from the Master of Ceremonies, the purple pennant was lowered. In its place was raised one bearing a black sun on a background of ivory. Banners on the surrounding ships followed suit. Gi’thara watched in trepidation as all of the torches and lanterns, whether on ship or shore, were extinguished. All, that is, but one.
In all the ensuing darkness there was but one brazier left burning bright - the brass basin at her feet shining upward like a beacon. Standing so close to the heat and flames, her eyes struggled to mark even vague silhouettes of the closest vessels. Even still, she knew in her heart that all eyes were now on her.
On cue, she began to dance and sing at the top of her lungs, ancient and beautiful words of elven power drawing forth mystical energies in a performance she’d rehearsed countless times. That the magic amplified her voice for all to hear was the least of the spell’s effects.
Somewhere in the darkness a child squee'd in excitement, for as Gi'thara pressed into the second verse a thousand tiny stars began to glow beneath the surface of the Sungzel. The meager offerings of the people absorbed the power of her spell, shining brighter and and brighter in a myriad of brilliant colors.

Song of Culling by dream by WOMBO

After The Casting comes the second phase of the ritual called The Culling. Bystanders are expected to cover or extinguish all sources of light such that only fires highlighting the elven wavecaller remain. All eyes turn to her as she begins the magical ritual known as the "Song of Culling," a beautiful combination of song and dance performed in three verses.
During the first verse of the song, mystical energies arc through the night sky like a gathering storm of light, mirroring the wavecaller's movements as they increase in power. When she reaches the limit of mystical force she can contain she channels it downward, into the sea.
As she enters the second verse of her song, the channeled energies flit through the water like fish to the lure, seeking out the many offerings cast into the sea by the people.
And in a brilliant display of otherworldly light, the trinkets begin to glow. The elves say it is this point at which the magic of the ancient ritual is activated and the objects become enchanted, drawing out impurities from the sea.
In the third and final verse of the wavecaller's performance, the empowered trinkets begin to swirl and circle the wavecaller's ship. Where previously the magics danced across the sky, now they dance beneath the water's surface. In a great final thrust her magic pushes the enchanted objects through the water in unseen currents, forming waves and sending them crashing back upon the shore. Attendants are cautioned not to stand too close to the shore, lest they get wet.

The Gleaning

Gi'thara exhaled deeply and wiped the sweat from her brow as her song drew to a close, leaving the shores of the Sungzel alight with the soft glow of a thousand enchanted trinkets. At the Master of Ceremonies' behest, the final pennant bearing the symbol of a red flame on a background of bright orange was raised. A torch sparked to life on either side. The "horn of gleaning" had barely sounded when, in a chaotic frenzy of activity, excited children bearing empty sacks and satchels surged toward the shore, rushing to collect the coveted treasures before their glow faded.

At the conclusion of the Ritual of the Remnants, the enchanted objects bearing the Sungzel's impurities are left upon the shore, where children compete to collect them. While much skepticism remains among practicing mystics about whether the items actually retain any residual power, the general populous considers these objects good luck charms; able to "draw out" ones worries, concerns, and ill omens. It is not unusual for folk to carry them in their pockets, or have them fashioned into jewelry and keepsakes. In fact, there is a thriving industry in the seven cities devoted to the buying and selling of "remnant" coins, stones, and jewelry.

Remnant Jewelry by dream by WOMBO