Summer Solstice Festival

Long before the great war between the gods, when Themis and Reanis were still creating the world, Verana, the Land Mother, had two children named Liliane and Izune. They got on as well as siblings can, until Verana told them they were to take charge of the weather and the climate. Liliane was a lover of the sun and warmth and beautiful plants, and wanted the weather to reflect her love. Izune was a lover of the snow and cold and howling winds, and wanted the weather to reflect his love. They couldn’t come to an agreement on how the climate should be run, so instead they fought to make their preferred weather the norm. Every day became a war between the heat and the cold. In the morning it could be scorching hot and bright, and in the afternoon a blizzard could roll in and smother the land in freezing snow. People and plants began to die as a result of this harsh treatment, and it angered the Land Mother. She finally had enough, and told Lilane and Izune that if they couldn’t come to an agreement themselves, she would do it for them. She told Liliane that she could have her warm weather all to herself from the longest day of the year to the next equinox. She told Izune that he could have his cold weather all to himself from the shortest day of the year to the following equinox. The days in between, they would have to meet and slowly transfer the responsibility to the next sibling so as to not harm the beings living on the land their mother guarded. And so the deal was struck, and Summer and Winter were created. In the Spring and Fall, it is still possible to feel the siblings’ old conflict on occasion, but some days, when the weather is temperate and the wind isn’t too biting, know that the siblings have laid down their arms and sat together for a hearty meal as a loving family.

Execution

The length of the festival depends on the location, but it always ends on the solstice with arena combat and a bonfire after dark