Khilaian Calendar

The calendar used by standard selkie ships. Based partially on the Suheskivari Calendar, which is used by selkies of those religions.

It is worth noting that selkie holidays are much more cultural than religious for many.

Holidays

Holiday text from the calendar
January, Kyaya: Kyaya is the day of Kiasan, Goddess of storms, danger, and woodlands. This is a day of humility and prayer; sin on this day attracts particular vengeance from the Gods. Clean the ship, be wary of long journeys, and give offerings to the gods on this day.
This is also the day of carpenters, when they are to be honored.
February, Runalaya: Runalaya is the holiday of Runae, the Masked One, the shapeshifting mallard-creator. This is a selkie combination holiday, with immense exchange from the Pratasa holiday of Rebeleta, of the same day.
Among selkies, this is also a day of bird honoring, of feather cape making for elites, and of honoring the dead and the great ocean depths and leviathans.
March, New Year's: The Samvaran New Year. A floating holiday, always on the spring solstice. A holiday of religion and family in the day, and drinking and revelry at night. Known in the Isles for the midnight fireworks launched from the Halamahi harbor. It is said that, sometimes, the great otter Dailio emerges from the depths to drink and eat along with the revelers at New Years Eve night.
New Years is a big deal in selkie culture, as it represents the end of the Northern port period.
April, Otalyoa: Otalyoa is the day of Otala, the rain-music-fertility spirit. This is the day of bards, when a great music festival takes place in the sacred isles and when bards are honored aboard selkie ships.
This is a day of romance as well as art, popular among young couples. Aboard ships, it is a day of communal ritual to ensure that fresh water comes.
May, Kanaiho: Kanaiho is the day of the Ocean itself, when the great Creator Goddess of water is given sacrifice and thanks. This is also known as the day of flags and kites, when ceremonial kites and banners are displayed proudly atop ships and rooftops. Prayer slips are tossed to the ocean, and all who can transform into an otter are encouraged to play in the water to celebrate if safe. Swimming and boating competitions are common on this day.
Known as the day when, in Samvara, the best winds to go to Larazel and around the Samvaran coast begin.
In the Khilaian Isles, this is followed the next day by Kainalia, the feast day of Kailio. It is a day of celebration, public games, and parades. Sailing competitions, shows for otter breeders, chariot racing, and wrestling all take place in the Holy Isles on this day. Crews abroad will often meet up with their fleets or flotillas for wrestling matches, dancing, and feasting. The Kainalia, as the day of family, is an auspicious day for marriage or childbirth. Any children born on such a day are often dressed up and celebrated during the Kainalia, and marriages are common during the festivities.
June, Pratahova: Day of the Covenant, Suheskivari holiday. Perhaps the most spiritually important day of the Samvaran religions, and a day that is considered magically important in selkie culture even outside of the Suheskivari faiths.
In the Khilaia, though, this is also known as the day of unity, when religious divides are lessened and all selkies celebrate their religious festivals together. Rather than celebrate martial Pratasa, the Khilaian Isles celebrate the Selkie Empire and the conqueror Milen in archdruid attire.
This is a day of pacifism and of feasting, when ships place garlands of flowers around the sails and when the Khilaian Isles host grand public feasts for all selkies to eat and drink for free. Admiralties often decorate with flowers and selkie symbology - notably that of the North Star, which is sacred to selkies.
July, Kokolola: The Night of Stars when ship navigators, crew priests, and other elder knowledge keepers are honored with song, drink, and thanks. A minor holiday. In Pratasa-selkie tradition, comes after the day of the sun as a counterpart
August, Dayhaidol: Daykai's day, the day when Selkie-kind was born from the waves and the mud. This is not explicitly religious, but is rather the ultimate day of ancestor worship, family connection, crew unity, and Khilaian loyalty. A truly grand celebration takes place at the Khilaian Isles, which the great Dailio often participates in.
This is the day of stories. Crew priests tell their stories to the ships; priests tell their stories to their villages. At dawn and dusk in sedentary communities, community members march with burning branches around memorial stones to honor the dead; on ships, they throw burning branches carved with prayers overboard.
September, Sanadwa: The Samvaran holiday of the river goddess Sanadwa; celebrated even by selkies who do not typically venerate this goddess, as Sanadwa is the representation of fresh and pure water in Selkie tradition. Also known as Communion Day or the Citrus Festival for those that are of clashing religions to Pratasa. Selkie Sanadwa is a day of crew togetherness, fertility, purification, and battling disease. Aboard vessels, powerful rites are undertaken in the Clean Room, and the entire ship is carefully cleaned during the day before the revelry of the night.
It is believed to be best docked during Sanadwa, to visit and bless a spring or source of fresh water, and to wash in that newly blessed water.
October, Padimako: Padimako is the celebration of land, as opposed to sea. This is when, in the Northwestern oceans nearest the sacred isles, open ocean sailing begins to become more dangerous until March and more selkies seek to winter in port. This is a day of sharing, with one's community and one's neighbors. It is time to prove your worth to your new winter host community, the holiday seems to say; share with them your food and your abundance, and greet them over fine beer and wine. This is firmly a community day, not an individualistic day.
November, None
December, None