[OOC] 🌸 Doman Festival Seasons

[Doma Lands]

Festivals are a large part of this pride! Merchants (local and foreign) are encouraged to participate by selling their goods, and outsiders are welcome to join in.

Doma has four festivals - one for each season. Whether an ORP is active during this time or not, you can assume that that festival is ongoing. This thread will supply the months that correlate to each festival, and describe what each one is.

Festival Schedules

March, April, May: Hanami
June, July, August: Toro-Nagashi
September, October, November: The Naadam
December, January, February: Yuki no Saiten

 

[Doma Lands]

March, April, May

The welcoming of spring is a large, popular festival in Doman culture, the Hanami.

In the pride's territory there is several trees that bloom into exotic pink blossoms that last briefly, before fluttering to the ground in autumn. These trees' blooms occur when Spring begins. When the first flower opens, it is the beginning of Hanami.

During Hanami, pride hunters bring about larger catches to feed the pride, while others bring spices from the pride lands to tuck into kills that are set to dry during this time. The pride gathers to watch the flowers bloom, reminding them of how ephemeral and beautiful life is.

Cubs born during Hanami are often blessed with wreaths of these flowers, and are thought to become especially gifted kojin.

 

[Doma Lands]

June, July, August

In mid-summer, the pride prepares for the celebration of Toro-Nagashi.

When fireflies are most abundant, the pride's cubs are given nets of delicate woven plant fibers, and sent to collect as many fireflies as they can. These fireflies are collected and very carefully protected until the next full moon, at which time the pride gathers at the river in the center of the pride territory. The fireflies are then released all at once into the sky by the pride's priests, sending lights believed to guide those whom passed in the past year to the pride's ancestor's, and the ancestors home to see their families.

As they fly away, the pride will fill with music from the pride's crafters and entertainers, with plays telling tales of the pride's past and heroes long into the night. The meat dried during Hanami will be used to feed the pride at this time, for fear a wandering paw may find itself on the path to the afterlife on accident.

 

[Doma Lands]

September, October, November

In Autumn, when the pride nears winter, the pride gathers for a great tournament in an adaption of a tradition learned by Lord Hien while outside of the pride. The Naadam.

The Naadam is a way to allow strength and fresh blood into the ranks of the samurai, without compromising the ideals of Doma.

All pride members are invited to participate by first scaling the highest peak of Doma's mountains. They must then enter a cavern known to contain old bones and sundry from outsiders whom have stayed in it. There they must prove their adherence to pride tradition by collecting a bone fragment, stone, or old feather, and return with it as a token of the kami.

At that point, they will be entered into a tournament to spar with one another to earn the rank of Samurai. This is granted to those who not only win, but exhibit grace and mercy to the defeated. Defeated lions who also exhibit such values will be granted the invitation into the Shinobi, to train harder and perhaps win next year. Similarly, samurai clans may adopt them to train themselves.

Cubs are discouraged from scaling the peak, but may spar one another to practice for future Naadam, and may be scouted for the rank if they show early signs of becoming great samurai.

Unless granted during a special event, this is the only way a SoA can obtain the rank of Samurai. More information will be provided as we get closer to that season.

 

[Doma Lands]

December, January, February

Yuki no Saiten occurs when the first deep snows settle in the Doman territory.

The pride gathers together to collect cast off feathers and tie them into small bundles with thin ligaments preserved from kills and carry them to trees to hang. These are believed to represent snow spirits, and are intended to invite the snows to be merciful and prevent the pride from starving. When these offerings are hung, they are generally accompanied by several small offerings of wild rodents, birds not known to the pride, and similar as a meal for these selfsame spirits so they might spare the pride.

After this, pride members with white coats (whom blend in best) will slip from family to family, threatening to steal cubs into the wilds to join the snow spirits until they are given furs and 'placated'. (all in playful gesture) At the end, the furs are brought to the center of the pridal lands, and redistributed between both the pride and the shrines of all kami.

 

[Doma Lands]

Sometimes, a unique festival may occur to celebrate an event - a new tradition, a large number of newcomers, the coronation of a new king or queen, or similar.

These festivals may become annual or may become once-in-a-lifetime events. What's next? Who knows. You'll just have to wait and see!