Sunwake

The higher latitudes of the Southern hemisphere experience several months of darkness. The last appearance of the sun before the polar night is celebrated by a sunwake. There are multiple dates for the sunwake, depending on latitude, but they all follow a similar format.
The Sunwake begins the hour before sunset, with communities gathering outside to watch the sun dip below the horizon. As twilight sets in, the families retreat indoors for the ceremony proper to begin.

Eulogy

A candlelit eulogy is given by a community leader, remembering the events of year and drawing attention to successes, achievements, and new births, and touching lightly on deaths and losses. Remembering the high-points of the year provides a bolster against the phychological effects of the darkness.

Prayers

Some southern communities are not fully integrated into the necromantic culture and maintain a folk belief that the sun acts as a psychopomp, attributing its to it leading that year's dead to the afterlife. In these communities, the eulogy is followed by prayers for that year's dead - including any visitors and strangers - ensuring that their spirits go on to where they're supposed to be and don't return to haunt the living.

Meal

As the sunwake marks the last contact with the outside, after which a community has to make it through the winter on their stores alone, the last of the fresh food is served with a traditional wake porridge made of mashed tubers cooked in bone broth, served with a piece of flatbread and lard or (more recently) butter. This is followed by a dessert of cake or pastry, with regional variations including $PASTRY_NAME_1, $PASTRY_NAME_2, and $CAKE_NAME.

Songs

Hymns are most common, but folk songs about the long night may also be sung, especially if there are young children in attendance.

Vigil

After the meal is complete, a group comprising of community elders or guardians light torches or candles and start the first watch of the winter vigil, guarding against the various nocturnal creatures that predate on the community.

Primary Related Location

South Erwa

Laws of hospitality

Sunset on the day of sunwake is the point at which the laws of hospitality are lifted, and after which which strangers may no longer claim sanctuary in a settlement, though strangers already within the walls are permitted to stay.
After the sunwake, anybody - stranger or resident - trying to gain access to the settlement may be assumed to be a predator in disguise (eg: aptrgangr, frostwights, and hollowfolk) and barred from entry.