Blacktalon Festivals and Holidays

Bloomsday
Season: Spring
Bloomsday is a celebration of all things feminine. In spring many females have their young, or are considered adults in their packs, having reached their first year. Winter is a harsh time, seeming to celebrate the strong and stoic, and yet the female survives alongside the male, and even seems to flourish. The holiday itself is older than any living member, so its history is lost to them. However, the tradition is not, and is held almost sacred to older members.

Bloomsday traditionally begins with a feast, or at least is considered to start after the first successful hunt of the year. After that, some of the males of the pack set up for the festival itself. The rest of the males usually do whatever work there is to do around the pack, and the females are free to do what they want (even if it's just to laze around all day.).

The festival always begins at sunrise, since it's an all-day event. After the sun comes up the females are in charge, regardless of rank, age, or even whether or not they are a member of the Guild! The males must do their bidding. Those who do not must be nipped on the flanks, haunches, and ears by the other males until they fall into line.

Females are presented with flowers, trinkets, food, or songs, and treated like royalty. If a female tells a male to jump, he jumps. If she says he must throw himself in a lake, he must promptly go and and return soaked to the skin. Some females have even used Bloomsday as a way to get into the Guild, since no one is allowed to refuse her any reasonable wish.

This lasts all day, until the late afternoon. Then, the females chose a male from the guild to proclaim the Most High Gentlewolf of Blacktalon, and he can join in with the females, gaining all of their rights and privileges until sunset. The most important part of being the Most High Gentlewolf is that he chooses a Lady Fair, and they lead in singing and games, and are in charge of the evening's Sports.

Sports is pretty much what it sounds like, usually some silly competitions to test strength, skill, or speed. Sometimes the males wrestle, or leap over tall and wide obstacles, or merely have to see who can walk on their hind legs for the longest. All is done to honor the Most High Gentlewolf and his Lady Fair.

As night closes in, most of the wolves will be very, very tired, and usually if the weather is nice will sleep amongst all the gifts and flowers from the festival. The next day, life goes back to normal... for the most part. There is a peculiar tendency for the Most High Gentlewolf and his Lady Fair to one day become mates (he did, after all, choose her as the fairest she-wolf, and she choose him as the finest male in the pack, so it makes some sense) although this hasn't happened in a few years now. It's still a very fun thing to tease the pair about for a few weeks.

Oath's Day
Season: Summer
Customs: Oath's day is a more somber event for the pack, but compared to other wolfen holidays, it's still a fairly merry one. Around this day in the Guild history the alphess gave the wolves of her pack the oath and disappeared.

The festival was once a different holiday for the pack that existed before it became the guild, so the traditions of the Moon Eater Festival are intermingled into the holiday almost inexplicably.

The day begins in the aftenoon when the sun is high and the ground is hot, as this was the time the alphess spoke. A respected guild member is asked to give a speech about duty and honor, and what it means to be a guild member (he or she is chosen in advance, so they don't have to speak on the fly or anything). Then they recite the oath together.

After that, the wolves are typically on their best behavior for the next few hours, helping others who need it, doing good deeds, and being nice to one another. At sunset, however, the Moon Eater part of the festival begins. The wolves all go off in ones or twos to get ready for the fun.

The wolves dress up, using whatever they can find, leaves, flowers, and more elaborate things (some wolves work on their costumes for days in secret) to make themselves appear bigger, or meaner, or just very different. Usually everyone looks silly. When the sun is gone, they come out to play.

The wolves have fun chasing each other around and may try to scare one another. When the moon is high in the sky, someone will start the howling, which often becomes a contest in itself. The running around and making noise can go on for hours, and even until dawn if the wolves are having fun with it. The next day the wolves tend to sleep in late, and often wake up in the tattered remains of their costumes.

Giftimus
Season: Fall
Customs

Starstice, the Up-All-Night
Season: Winter
Customs