Plunge Day

When the coldest days of the year come around on the calendar, and the icy gales blow in from the northern part of the Farsea and bring bonechilling cold down upon the Free City of Seaguard, most of the Folk are content to stay shut up in their homes near a warming fire. But the residents of the city who claim the The Ice Plainsmen as their ancestors are not "most Folk". While many of these gave up the harsh, icy, nomadic life on the Ice Plains among the herds many generations ago, they still celebrate their heritage and their self-proclaimed affinity for the cold. And once a year, they demonstrate this affinity to themselves and to others who wish to watch the spectacle by participating in an annual ritual that involves spending some time in the icy waters of the sea.

The annual celebration is called Plunge Day, and for most of the participants, the name is descriptive of the activity. Early in the morning, of the day after the Yule holiday - the first day of the month known as the Time of Chitsone's Diamonds, crews go out to the shore just east of the city and begin to saw and chop away the sea ice that, by this time, has already formed in the waters off the rocky coast. Two areas are cleared.

The Plungers

Most of the participants will use the first of the cleared areas. This is large, wide region where the ice is broken up, but still floating in the seas. Here, most of the descendents of the Ice Plainsmen will strip naked and run into the sea. The frailer ones make it to waist-deep water and proceed to splash themselves with seawater until they are thoroughly wet. The haler and braver (though some would say stupider) dive into the waters to completely submerge themselves. Most of these spend no more than a few minutes in the water before returning to the shore, donning their clothing, and returning home for a day of feasting. (Some do not make it out alive.)

The Race of the Worthy

Those who are proudest of their heritage - and who are in particularly good physical condition - do not take the simple plunge that most of their kinsman take. Instead these brave souls take part in a swimming race. Using the second cleared area, which consists of a channel 500 yards long and ten yards wide, completely cleared of ice. In recent years the city elders have limited participation to the first thirty entrants, though in the past, there are tales of races involving over a hundred of the folk diving into the channel on top of one another and fighting their way to the front of the pack. The rules of the race are simple: be the first one to climb out of the cleared channel at its farthest endpoint. The winner is honored by a special feast later in the evening, held in the Grand Hall of the Mayor's Court. The winner is also honored with an award of 500 gold coins and their name is entered on the roll of the True Sons and Daughters of the Ice for all time. Winners are prohibited from competing again in the future (though as True Sonds or Daughters, they are expected to continue to "plunge" until they are no longer able to make it to the sea).