Love's Peak

The grakonlar don’t truly hold to most major holidays, preferring to set aside a few days a year for the worship of their ancestors and their historical struggles. But the grakonlar do enjoy a few, and the date in your journal reminds you of one: Love’s Peak.
You’re passing through one of the smaller garaku villages that dot the Greatwood , so you decide why not, you’ll participate in whatever festivities they have. Your caravan rolls into town just as the villagers are putting together their purple and red decorations. Bouquets of flowers are being assembled by some local gardeners, and you kindly buy one from an older tepilar woman who smiles brightly at you.
Not long after your arrival, the sun begins to set, and the band arrives, a group of well-known xertilar minstrels that you’ve never heard before. It is enchanting, and you find yourself dancing and twirling along with them. The music swells, and suddenly you and the entire plaza find yourselves floating very lightly in the air. They say that love makes you fly, and for a few moments, you truly do.
You get dizzy eventually and sit yourself down next to a nice woman of your age. Her bronze scales glitter in the light of the lanterns. You start making conversation with her, but the lightheadedness makes it difficult for you to talk straight as you present her the flowers you bought. She laughs all the same, and then you get a strong urge that you don’t recall ever having before.
She gives you a big kiss on the lips, and you decide to not record the rest of the night in your journal for...reasons.

A Ceremony of True Love

Originally, the festival of Love’s Peak was a religious celebration to Vasil'har. On the 20th of Me’elquil - that is, the transition from winter to spring - the entire community comes together to express their love for each other and especially those close to them.
Temples of Vasil'har will have services on this day. People who are engaged to be married are socially obligated to profess their love during the ceremony. Often, those who are planning on proposing might make use of that space as well, as a proposal on Love’s Peak is very auspicious for a couple.

The Party of the Year

Following the ceremony dedicated to Vasil'har, the community turns out for a large festival. As per tradition, bouquets of flowers are sold and bartered so that young people can show their appreciation for their loved ones.
The festivities of Love’s Peak are only rivalled by New Year celebrations in terms of spectacularity. It isn’t uncommon for there to be dance contests, music and poetry competitions, and a lot of drunken escapades. Celebrations continue late into the night, and it isn’t uncommon for babies to be conceived on this night.

_{A traditional Love's Peak bouquet, with quadrineas, brass roses, and ivorybulbs.}

Primary Related Location

Orkanis

Love's Peak in the Wider Multiverse

Sedestans have brought their holidays with them wherever they went, and this one is no exception. Even the plane of Limbo has a small celebration of the holiday, currently under the auspices of Istar Kayusu. While the Seven try to downplay the religious aspects of the festival, the past few years have seen the event becoming more and more prominent in the social circles of the Sunless City.
The Terran Humans of Earth have remarked that this holiday resembles their own Saint Valentine's Day celebrations. The main difference is that their festivities are much more personal and intimate events, while Love's Peak is a community-wide event. Otherwise, many of the trappings and themes of both events are similar.