Ascent of the Lights

The Ascent of the Lights (Torugk: Om Eanph om Hraii Orun) is a festival celebrated in Aphelia to celebrate the Upper Lights and commemorate their first fall.

History

While records of the immediate post-Nightfall era can be spotty, festivals regarding the Upper Lights appear to have existed as early as 30 Post Nightfall. However, these earlier holinights seem to have focused on worshiping the Lights, as well as any pre-Nightfall light deities synchronized with them, and praying that they do not go away. This included ritual offerings; a document from Obsidian City circa 65 PN mentions blood offerings to the Lights, while a 87 PN flyer from Saltghost Point extols the reader to cast themselves into the freezing ocean to purify themselves of their sins so they may be clean under the Lights.
The first mention of the holinight as the Ascent comes from Constellation City in the 120s, where an early form of the modern festival can be seen in an emphasis on outdoor communal feasting rather than fear or purification. Throughout the second century PN, as Constellation grew stabler and more prosperous, so did the Ascent, with wealthy families using it to flaunt their possessions in the name of celebration and reflecting the lights.
As the Aphelian settlements grew more connected culturally throughout the 200s and 300s, the Ascent spread to other cities. The art of scarf dancing developed in Obsidian and became a key part of the festival, while Bloomtown's growing horticulture lead to the development of new fabrics and organic dyes that could mimic the lights. In 411, the Aphelian Assembly declared the Ascent a national holinight, partially in the interest of enshrining a celebration that was not tied to any one religion and had developed locally (compared to, for example, Huntsnight, a Nuanat holinight).

Execution

Participants of the Ascent are expected to dress as brightly and colorfully as possible to imitate the Lights. Traditionally, Ascent garments were long and flowing to imitate the Lights' shifting, but lately there has been a trend of baring more skin to exult in the Lights' warmth. Everyone who is also old enough to handle one is expected to carry a crystal lantern while celebrating; being old enough to bear your own lantern is a big deal for small children. Buildings are decorated externally with colorful, shimmering fabric and curtains of beads or small crystals.
The festival begins with everyone gathering outside to watch the lightfall, though it is considered bad luck to show any sign of outward joy until the Lights are in the sky. Some people may wear a darker coat or cloak over their festivalwear, then cast it off upon Lightfall. The festival runs for the entire fall (six hours), with people encouraged to stay outside for the whole duration except in emergencies. Settlements that use heat shields will fully drop them for the duration. Activities include communal feasting, street music, performances of comedic theater, skin painting, carnival games, and, of course, dancing.
Two major forms of dance have developed in association with the Ascent. Scarf dancing is performed by two dancers; traditionally, they are siblings, but can be done with any two people of similar height (however, due to its origins, many people feel uncomfortable seeing it performed by lovers). The dancers are attached to each other by their wrists with stretches of shimmery cloth and must refrain from breaking it, stepping on it, or inadvertently freeing themselves while performing. Many major cities now hold competitions on the Ascent of scarf dancing. The other form is flagrunning, in which many people will run through the streets carrying a massive banner on poles that represents the Lights. While some flagruns are chaotic and often end in the participants stepping on each other, others are much more precise, choreographing a pattern of steps to make the banner bob and weave.

Observance

The Ascent is held on the first lightfall of the Reign of the Lantern.