The Festival of Winter

Every year, as the final autumn month fades, a flurry of activity rises in the kingdom of Resta. Mages seal themselves in caverns of ice. Stalls selling firewood appear. Long lines form at butcher shops. The towns of Ridge, Amora, Freedom's Reach, and Karatal swell with travelers. Everyone searches their belongings and dust off their copies of a certain hymn book. They are all preparing for the most joyous time of year, the Festival of Winter, otherwise known as Salica's Festival.

As the first snows of winter fall, the Royal Family open their courtyard to all, where many attractions await. The succulent aroma of hot roasts fill the air, served with piping hot drinks to keep guests warm. The pools that normally litter the grounds are frozen over so that people may skate across the ice. Crystalline sculptures of ice, lovingly sculpted by mages and artists alike, are proudly displayed for an annual contest. The entire courtyard is decorated with decadent wreaths of gildleaf and icicles of red, blue, yellow, and green. hang from the ramparts. While the festivities are joyous in their own right, keep your eyes open for the lorekeepers who gather to tell tales of the festival's origin. Their accounts are often conflicting, but all are captivating.

The festival is a time of releasing stress before the winter snows come to seal so many within their own communities. It came about as a tradition due to the tragedy of King Dolph, in the hundredth year of the second age. Although he was a beloved king, he lived and worked under much pressure. It had been the hardest year of his rule to that point, and the winter ahead of him promised to be harsh. Still, he held fast to his duty until the first blizzard struck. The snow fell hard for three days, sealing him into Resta castle with his family, his retainers, and few members of his court who had been unable to leave in time.

The king was a hospitable and genial man, so he accepted the burden of hosting so many people with grace. When the weather cleared, the slow work of clearing the snow from the capitol began. But before the roads could be safely opened again, a second blizzard struck, which lasted for a week. Still, King Dolph was a generous host to the people trapped with him. By the third day of the second blizzard, the king began to feel restless and irritable. He felt his grasp on his kingdom slipping, he began to seek seclusion. But by the seventh day, the snow had stopped once more, and workers once again struggled to clear the snow.

Not wanting to be trapped any longer, King Dolph ordered Hem Academy to send spellwarriors to assist in clearing the snow. But the spellwarriors were slow to get there, as their arrival was immediately followed by a third blizzard; the longest in Resta's history. For a month, snow fell heavily onto the castle. In that time, the King's mood darkened considerably. The inconvenient timing of these blizzards began to hold some significance in his mind, and the faces of his disheartened guests began to fill his mind with fears of treason.

After the second week of this deadly storm, a body was found on the palace steps. It was one of the spellwarriors, who had been working to drive back the terrifying masses of snow. Surely, he had frozen to death, but the king began to suspect he was murdered; possibly to ensure the king himself would be buried in snow. He began to feel convinced that he was being plotted against and this act of nature would soon be the death of him if he did not uncover the traitor.

The king watched his subjects suspiciously in the following weeks, which earned him the concern and attention of many. But being trapped in snow for such a long time does not do much good for the nerves of anyone, much less a stressed king. Many began to avoid the king, others would complain about him when they thought he wasn't listening. This only served to deepen the king's paranoia until he became convinced that everyone in the castle had turned against him.

On the final day of the storm, the king snapped. With a sword in hand, he stumbled drunkenly into the chambers of his own daughter, claiming that he must execute the traitors himself, for he could trust no one. The princess, being cunning and significantly more sober, escaped her father and fled into the frigid courtyard. As the snow finally stopped, King Dolph shambled out of the castle and tripped on the steps, impaling himself with his own sword.

In the weeks that followed, the princess mourned, praying in the Temple of Salica to help her to understand what had become of her father. In time, she came to understand. Winter is a hard time and a hard year had left King Dolph with an unimaginable burden of painful emotions. She came to see this as a toxic combination. Therefore, as the new Queen of Resta, her first decree was that what happened to her father must be prevented from happening again. Thus, she held the first Winter Festival, a day to let go of any emotional burdens that can hold you down in the isolation of winter.

The Festival of Winter is a day in which homage is paid to Salica and unresolved, negative feelings can be put to rest, but it is also a day of celebration for the people of the world who made it through another year. So put away your worries, let go of your grudges, and embrace the beauty of the world around you. A long and harsh winter may always be around the corner, and you would do far better  to face it with optimism than despair.