The Apex

"I don't care if that's enough Essence to level a city block, if this years fireworks don't top last years we'll be the laughing stock of the city!"
 - A wealthy Luminessan to her husband, shortly before accidentally dropping a lit cigarette on half a keg of essence and detonating their entire house.

The Apex is a celebration held once a year, in the day furthest away from The Darkening. The day is marked most often by lighting as many lights as possible, with most places holding at least a cursory contest to determine the most impressive display of lights among the inhabitants. Since the discovery of Essence (and notable the subsequent invention of Fireworks) these competitions have become substantially more heated than they once were.
There was a period of a few years where events such as the one above (in which people were killed due to the mishandling of explosives) were incredibly common, especially among the wealthy, however recent crackdowns have meant that ownership and sale of fireworks and powdered Essence is strictly controlled.
As the furthest day from the Darkening, Resurrecting anyone who dies on this day is guaranteed to be a success, as opposed to the slightly temperamental process normally endured.

History

This celebration is believed to date back all the way to the Dawn, and is even celebrated by the native of the Northern Dominance, though with much less fanfare.
The celebration in the modern day has very little in common with its traditional self, as it is now marked mainly by a period of excessive spending by the locals, both on gifts for each other and on extravagant light displays.