Feasts of the Luna Twins
Twice each year, worshippers of the goddess Menara gather together to celebrate her creation of Kelbonnar’s twin moons.
History
The Feasts of the Luna Twins have been celebrated by worshippers of Menara, most notably the Menaraii people, for as long as anyone can remember, and whilst there is no concrete historical date as to when the feasts were first conducted, there is a commonly agreed mythical origin for them.
Deep in the mists of time, Menara thought to challenge her skill more than she had ever done so before, and hit upon the idea of placing an object in the sky of such beauty that all would marvel at its loveliness and her skill in crafting. To this end, she carved and enormous slab of the purest white marble into a giant sphere, and hung it in the heavens.
However, the sphere was so heavy that as soon as it had been affixed in the sky it fell and it split in twain when it hit the ground. Not wanting to give up on her task, and driven even more by her failure, Menara went to work again and created two identical, flawless marble orbs, that she magically raised and hung in the sky.
These orbs are Kelbonnar’s twin moons and they cast their silvery light onto the surface of Kelbonnar’s Material Plane so that all can appreciate their beauty. No sooner had she suspended them in the air, Menara realised that the moons began to wander, as if they had minds of their own, each setting off and exploring the sky on their own. Twice each year they are drawn together, as if knowing that they are two parts of a whole and they hang in the sky each amplifying the other’s beauty as Menara intended.
Since the time that the Luna Twins took to the skies, people have feasted on the two days a year when the Luna Twins appear together, in honour of Menara's greatest achievement.
Participants
The festivals are almost exclusively celebrated by dedicants of the goddess Menara, but that is not to say that others are barred from the proceedings, just that those without a good knowledge of the goddess, her areas of interest and the myth cycles surrounding her are less likely to be aware of the Feasts of the Luna Twins.
There are no formal roles or pieces of liturgy that have to be enacted during the feasts, which are instead seen as times when people can gather together to eat, drink and celebrate the ingenuity of Menara and her craft.
In places where there are temples to Menara , the clergy based there will lead services of thanksgiving, where offerings of precious metals, stones and jewels, though never completed artefacts are made to the goddess of ingenuity, craftsmanship and manufactured beauty.
Observance
The Feasts of the Luna Twins are celebrated twice a year, when both moons appear full in the sky above Kelbonnar at the beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn each year. The festival last for the entire night from the rising of the moons to the setting of the moons.
As the festival is also a key part of the calendar of the Menaraii people who dwell in the Middle Underdark, who naturally cannot see the movement of the spheres, the Menaraii have created an intricate clock in their town of Gleaming Spire that keeps track of the two moons for them, so that they never miss one of the feasts.
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