Year's Turning

17 days after the changing of the calender year, comes the Year's Turning. A Levis wide celebration where the community gathers, lighting sources of light (light circuits, growing new bioluminescent vines , floating paper lanterns or little burning boats onto a river or lake), or forming glimmer to call in the next year.
During the Year's Turning celebration, that usually starts at the second sunset of the day, first comes the bringing of the food. It is tradition to either make something, or to pre arrange a trade so that you can personally bring something to the celebration. Next comes the dancing, not all are required to dance, but those that don't or can't are invited to clap and stamp to make a noise in time to the beat of the steps - even a rythmic shout is accepted. Thirdly comes the lighting, which is not a time of forced merriment, but a time of attempting to symbolically focus on the brightness light brings and releasing that emotion into the world. Several towns along the Starfall River release boats made from paperbark that they light on fire, sending their wishes for the next year into the sea beyond in tribute to some long forgotten godess.
The next morning usually is a grand composting, where food scraps are fed to a communal scrap heap, the soil tilled with bugs, and days later, when the tenders to the pile deem it ready, each community member takes a share to apply to their personal gardens. Thus the waste of the last year can be brought forwards into the prosperity of the next.
In Brambleberry , the celebration happens around the Wall of Remembrance, with the light falling like a waterfall from the cliff edge as wax candles are released over the edge of the cliff wall. The next morning, early risers go to the base of the town to clean the wax for reusing.

History

Originally placed on the warmest night of the year, the year's turning has slid from the peak of the year after the advent of the Levis calender in Solaris. Traders were the ones to carry the calender and the change of promenance through Levis in order to ease predictions of supply and attempt a unification of processes.

Important Locations

• Brambleberry
• Natare
• Oceanus
• Saburra
• Starfall River
• Vertus