Ngáppán Festival (ŋɑ.p'ɑn)

I almost forgot a trinket for the Ngáppán, I got so distracted thinking about the stalls. Do you think Sáhi will be offering those fried cake thingies again?

— Ngáxom citizen

The Ngáppán Festival, which is celebrated primarily in Ngáxom but occasionally in Ettioril and Muhepásin , is a community event held on each total lunar eclipse in honour of the Divinities.

Execution

When the astronomers identify a total lunar eclipse is coming, the community prepares by gathering plenty of firewood and a small trinket from each household. These trinkets will be pieces of jewellery or small carved pieces, and are accompanied by a letter written by one or many members of that house, describing the events since the last eclipse and their hopes for the future.
As the day comes, people will begin to gather on fields and hills near their local graveyards, setting up blankets for comfy seating and stalls of food and drink. As night falls, a great bonfire is lit at the centre of the gathered populace, which will be fed by each household, in turn, using the firewood.
With help by the strongest members of the community, a hole will start being dug at a designated point as the night progresses, until they reach a sealed vessel. This will be brought out to the cheers of those gathered and opened to reveal the trinkets buried at the last eclipse. These items are returned to their households and replaced with the ones they brought with them on the day.
When the moon finally goes dark, the vessel is lowered back into the pit, followed by charred sticks and piles of ash from the bonfire. The hole will then be filled, and families will slowly trickle back to their homes as the moon returns to full brightness. Once it is fully restored, the bonfire is extinguished, and everyone is shepherded home.

History

No-one is quite sure how Ngáppán festivities first began, as they appear to be referenced in the earliest written Nyikkishong artifacts. They have always been historically centred in Thurásin's east, and have not really spread into any other region, only seeing outside practice during the expansive reign of the Urisoril Empire.
It saw something of a resurrection when the Kingdom of Ngáxom gained independence from Ettioril, and decided to associate itself heavily with sun imagery. With this decision, the role of the sun in a total lunar eclipse became more important, and many Ngáxomes choose to dedicate their local Ngáppán to the continued longevity of the Kingdom. This also resulted in a splintering of traditions, with the Ngáxom variant taking on a greater communal party element in order to celebrate the country's prosperity, and the Ngáppán traditions elsewhere tend to be more sombre and ritualistic affairs.

I wish I had left a grander token in my hometown's Ngáppán pit. Until its very essence decays, what I left there will be all the future has to remember me by.

— Dying Ngáxomes individual, far abroad

Related Ethnicities

• Nyikkishep

Meaning

Many speculate on the origins and meanings of Ngáppán festivities. Some suggest it relates to now-lost myths regarding the sun and moon, in which the eclipse of the moon gave the sun greater strength to protect the people of the east. Therefore, burying prized belongings in that watchful darkness ensured their safety and the prosperity of the household.
Others suggest it began with the worship of the First Empress of the Urisoril Empire, whose power was said to rival that of the Divinities themselves. Her grace and mercy may have led people to send her offerings and well wishes, in hopes she might grant them a mere morsel of her power. When she died, these adherents took to burying these tokens in the earth instead, which later evolved in the modern practice.
Whichever may be true, or even if it came about through other means, modern Ngáppán are mostly associated with the passage of time. Each trinket represents a family's hopes and memories, and each community's vessel contains relics of people long gone. So long as the vessel is undisturbed outside of the Ngáppán, their memory persists, and their hopes can still be realised.

Graveyard by Scott Rodgerson