Holy Days, Omens, and Superstitions
Codex Solvaria: Holy Days, Omens, and Superstitions
Designation: Ritual Culture
Region: Widespread, but varies by faith, region, and political leaning
Across Solvar, the calendar is marked not by numbers alone but by ritual, omen, and ancestral rhythm. From imperial feast-days to village folk rites, holy days are moments when memory becomes law and belief shapes the wind. Superstitions linger in every region—fragments of the Old Faith, the Mourning Star Rebellion, or older forces no longer spoken.
Some days are feared more than celebrated. Others bring comfort, a flicker of unity in a land still cracked by rebellion, silence, and flame.
Ashbloom Festival
Season: Late Summer
Deity Honored: The Betrothed
Commemoration: The Fifth Imperial Sovereign, Saan-Shai, Lover of the Lost Flame
Celebrated In: Verdant Reach, Alowen territory, border villages loyal to Old Veyron
The Ashbloom Festival is a solemn yet vibrant rite honoring The Betrothed, goddess of mourning, unity, and eternal oaths. It commemorates the reign and death of the Fifth Sovereign, Saan-Shai, who was ignited in flame beneath a rain of ash and flower petals during the final day of the Mourning Star Rebellion.
Lanterns are lit with ash-oil, lovers and widows wear veils of crimson, and poems are sung in Saevithan to remember those who never returned from war. In some regions, couples are married during the festival to bind their vows to the Betrothed's flame—believed to bless unions with memory and endurance.
Yet beneath the beauty lies tension. In some towns, Preservers and New Dawn sympathizers clash over the meaning of the rites—whether to honor the Sovereign’s sacrifice or condemn the silence that followed.
Common Superstitions in Solvar
- To whistle in a storm is to summon The Fool.
Often discouraged by sailors and farmers alike. - Finding a broken relic on a holy day is a “mirror wound.”
Said to mean a god is watching or forgetting. - Ash that falls upward is a sign of divine interference.
Feared as an omen of the Sixth God's presence. - Naming a child after a Sovereign invites both favor and tragedy.
Many wait until a “memory-safe” day to name their young.
In Play:
- Festivals like Ashbloom offer rich opportunities for social, political, or magical events.
- Superstitions may inform character backstories, village behavior, or local taboos.
- PCs may uncover truths behind holy days—rituals that once bound gods, or masked rebellion.
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