The Firetide

The Firetide:

A period of time during the darkest nights of winter. When communities get together, hold vigil and feast in anticipation for a hard winter.

History:

In the olden days before elemental energy was harnessed, those of young adult (16-25) age go out at sunrise on the Winter Solstice and all bring wood and other turntables, tools, and preserved foods. During the day they build the fires, gather burnables, and even build makeshift shelters if they are ambitious enough. Some settlements might have a big central fire if they are small but traditionally at least three fires are built outside but around the town far enough that an invisible line drawn between them would enclose as much of the settlement as possible. At sunset, the fires are lit. The young people, the Flame Wardens, must protect their communities by keeping the fires burning for three nights, one night for each month of winter. It is not only a humiliation and shame if a fire goes out, even for a few seconds, but the superstition is that the community will be vulnerable during the part of winter that there was no flame for.

During Firetide:

The young help to keep their spirits up and stay awake with song and dance. Being a passionate experience, many troths are pledged and relationships started (and ended) by the Flame Wardens during their vigil. Many couples will also steal away and become intimate as a show of life and love against the dark. So much so that babies born in early to midsummer are called "fire children."
While the fires burn, the rest of the community prepares for a final feast of plenty (as best they can) before the privation of the winter months. On the dawn that ends the third night, children run to the Fire Wardens and bring them home (or to other families' homes or communal spaces in some cultures) to feast.

The Firefeast:

Much preparation is done by the community in order for the feast to happen. Men and Women both share shifts in the kitchen cooking for the three days leading up to the feast. From meats smoked delicately to fruit and vegetables that cannot be stored over the long winter. Its a gift to the community and often a competition to provide the largest and best feast. Each Firefeast keeps getting bigger and bigger each year.

Gift Giving:

It is believed that during the darkest night of winter the communities young children will be visited by the Spirit of the Fire. This entity does not really exist its just the older kids preparing and offering gifts to the younger generation. Many of the young adults can spend months ahead of Firetide, preparing gifts.
Customarily the young adults also give gifts of honey and mead to the elders of the community. This practice teaches the young adults generosity and sharing of the load of the community.

The Gifting:

Another tradition that is not as universal as the Firefeast but is still widespread is the Gifting. This has greater variation as well. The most common form is that the priests, go to each adult in the community (save parents as they are responsible for their children for the sake of this tradition) at the Autumnal Equinox and give them the name of another adult that they must give a gift to the day after the Firefeast.
These gifts are intended to be practical items that will be of use in the winter and the new year ahead. The priests will often use this tradition to try to end feuds, reinforce family alliances, and even for matchmaking. Failure to give a gift for your "Given" is seen as prideful, disgracefully selfish, and very bad luck. If a Given rejects the offered gift, they are seen in much the same light. A Giver is not technically supposed to tell the Given ahead of time but there is no strict prohibition and many make a game of trying to figure out who has who as their Given this year.

Helping the Poor:

In Avera and other large cities, those in the nobility and [other upper class indicators] are expected to participate in The Meager, which lasts from after Firefeast to New Years Day. During that time, they are to provide a drink and food to any that ask it of them once a day. Many will set up tents or pavilions for this purpose. Breads with meat filling and cider are the traditional standards though some nobles may be more lavish or more stingy.
Failing to do so or providing poor fare opens a noble up to scorn and ridicule but also to minor risk as any noble that fails at this communal duty cannot seek legal recourse or retribution for any slight or prank done to them on New Year's Day.. Pranks can include petty theft and even vandalism but more serious crimes are done in this time are punished more harshly for taking advantage of the tradition.

Modern Day Celebrations:

The Meager, The Gifting, Firetide and Feast, are still celebrated world wide each year in some fashion or another. Though the relative safety of the cities allow for protection from the harshest of winters. The sense of Community and spirits of celebration of bringing in the new year still exists to this day. Particularly in Avera, where the Meager is heavily enforced by the council.
Many shops and people open their doors to the downtrodden during this time. Offering respite from the frigid winter air.

By Jasi and Markus.