Gravenmark


Factions

Locations

Folklore

Chapters

A land draped in rot and memory,
where moss-fed ruins whisper beneath the fog.

The bones of a dead civilisation jut from hillsides and riverbeds —
arches half-sunken, towers halved by time, their makers forgotten.

Regions

Religion

The Church of the Weeping Mother

Ambaretian Calendar

   
Jan-Feast
Feasting
Variable: Parade of the First Snow
Feb-Sit
Sit by the fire and wait
 
Mar-Prune
Pruning trees, digging
 
Apr-Garden
Planting, enjoying the country or picking flowers
 
May-Hunt
Hawking, boating, courtly love
 
Jun-Hay
Hay harvest
 
Jul-Wheat
Wheat harvest
 
Aug-Grain
Other grains harvest
 
Sep-Berries
Grapes and berries harvest, making wine and cider
Last week: Feast of All Saints
Oct-Sow
Ploughing or sowing
 
Nov-Acorns
Gather acorns and feed pigs
 
Dec-Slaughter
Kiling pigs, baking
Last week: Mortunt

Parade of the First Snow

Legend has it that the ancestors of the northern Levasti were starving hunter-gatherers when fortune shone upon them and showed large animal prints in the fresh snow. These prints led to a herd of grazing animals which they gorged upon. After this successful hunt, the tribe settled here. The villagers now show their respect to their ancestors by awaking at daybreak and marching in pairs through the fresh snow in large boots shaped like hooves.

Feast of All Saints

The various traditions of Ambaret are often celebrated in the northern villages as well. Whereas this festival is an introspective and sombre affair in the capital, families in the countryside celebrate with joy. Perhaps away from the heavy hand of the Crown, the people feel freer to enjoy themselves, or possibly there is just less concern about offending the Church of the Weeping Mother by celebrating some lesser-known Sisters.

Some of the wine and cider made from berries and grapes in September spoil quickly. The best are stored and will survive winter. The sour ones are drunk in abundance at the Feast of All Saints.

Mortunt

Mortunt is an end of year evening affair celebrated in rural communities where brewing and gambling are primary pastimes. Now, it’s mostly a night where revelers gather around massive bonfires, drinking and making merry before going off in groups of two or three to “kill Death” (or, really, do whatever small groups of young people might do during a night of debauchery). What’s mostly forgotten is the origin of the holiday: a tale of three brothers who, in a state of drunken paranoia, set a bounty on Death herself. The group was found dead in a ditch the next morning. Their friends tried to “avenge” their deaths in each of the following years by hunting after Death herself. Rumor is that no one’s collected that bounty yet, and so the festival continues.


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