Moon Festival

It's that time of year again my fellow food adventurers! The last full moon of the year is tomorrow and I will be blogging about all the scrumptious festival food I encounter during the week. Stay tuned for details, recipes, and high-rez photos.

— A food blog post by Essie Prixo

This week long festival is important to the Oizai communities who still regard Uxali as a deity. They celebrate during the last month of the year. Festivities begin on the night of the full moon and end on the seventh night.

Praises To The Moon

Omari's Moon is an essential part of Oizai culture and spirituality. They connected this celestial body to their savior turned deity Uxali, when it suddenly turned purple upon his crash landing. Common lore states the color change happened due to the moon possibly absorbing some of Uxali's magical energy. Oizai cherish the moon because of this. They believe it to be a part of Uxali after the change.

Why Lunaris?

Throughout the year, the light from Omari's moon fluctuates in intensity. Its luminosity and saturation are the highest during the final month. It only seemed right to host the celebration during this period of increased energy. Shooting stars are also more frequent during the season; they bring extra blessings as the sight is reminiscent of the space traveling deity.

Observers

Spiritual Oizai who still praise Uxali are the primary observers of this holiday. More open communities welcome others to join in the celebration, so long as the outsiders are respectful. A select few villages prefer to keep the event to themselves. There are jaded Oizai who never or no longer worship Uxali; they typically isolate or simply do not partake in the festival.

Preparations

Omari's lunar cycle follows a predictable pattern. Participants know exactly when the last full moon will happen and prepare accordingly. Two to four days are usually enough time. Various sweets, fried food, and seasonal fruit are produced along with hand crafted items to sell in wooden stalls. Decorations are strung through the streets and local musicians practice various folk songs to play through the week.

My eyes shimmered in delight as I walked the stall lined streets. A young Oizai girl gifted me a crown of woven, star shaped flowers; I wore it the whole evening. Violet and blue paper lanterns hung from silver rope strung throughout the village. After asking locals for suggestions, I purchased a phoenix shaped pastry stuffed with a jam and cream mixture.

— Essie's blog.

Events

Aside from the food and craft stalls, there are numerous activities that happen during the week. It is both a joyous and reflective occasion. A traditional dance is held on the first night in the village square or other equivalent. If the full moon is obscured for the dance, substitutes are used to mimic its appearance. There are different games and contests held through the whole week. On the final day, each villager meditates with a seed provided by a local farmer. They imbue it with any well wishes for the year at the nearest shrine. These seeds will then be used to sow the next year's harvest.

Type

Yearly Celebration

Duration

A full week during Lunaris.

The Moon Blessed

Anyone born on the last full moon, no matter the species or culture, is granted a celestial blessing. They can be identified by their shimmery, purple eyes. (If this individual does not have eyes or looses both, a similar effect occurs elsewhere to some extent.) Oizai are protective over them and will give the person a gift if they are present during the festival.
Game Mechanics

Any player character or NPC who is considered "Moon Blessed" receives the following boon: During the full week of the moon festival, the individual experiences a boost in energy and luck. They will have an advantage on saving throws against exhaustion and can re-roll a Nat 1 once per day during the duration. The DM may also decide if one act of "divine intervention" from Uxali himself were to happen should the character need it; these are usually rare, even for these blessed folk.