The Festival Romp
Spring in Ravenwood is a magical time of year. Recognizing the very sapient need for good times and joy, Count Rolfe Rodrigo Schartenheiney the IV allows the coming of spring to lift the doldrums he perpetuates amongst the population. The Count pulls back the Vlüdbàyne patrols for two entire months, allowing Eostre full access to his people. And, when the torpor is shaken off, the humans and elves that live together in Ravenwood celebrate with bright colors, egg hunts, and paper crafts depicting bunnies (the people of Ravenwood fairly trip over them they are so plentiful) and storks. Most of the children born in Ravenwood are winter babies.
Eostre encourages artistic freedom and expression; and while Rolfe emphatically does not, for Prill and Mayo every year, music festivals and pop up arts shows rule Ravenwood. Bright watercolors and fast moving music surrounds people as they move about their days. Minstrels roam, performing standards and original songs about springtime and happiness. Origami storks and bunnies can be found everywhere one looks; including the rafters and joists of the buildings. Large paintings of an anthropomorphised bunny skipping around flower-clad fields of sheep shorn grass, hiding brightly colored eggs, suddenly appear on the sides of buildings. Some folks will paint the risers on their porches to resemble bunnies, or storks. On Prill 28th, a twenty-eight foot pole is erected on the lawn of the Rolfe Tower. Two dozen young people spread out in a circle around it, each holding one end of a hundred foot long, brightly colored ribbon. The other end of these ribbons is hoisted up the pole on a ring. At ten bells that morning, the music starts! Weaving outside and inside once another as they go, the youngsters skip and dance deasil around the pole, patterning the mast with colorful diamond braids. When they are done, the ribbons are tied off and the pole is left up for a month of music and revelry around it. The count even provides food for the feasts, and allows open hunting season all of Mayo. On Mayo 27th, a rager of an alcohol fueled party is held round the Braided Pole. There are spirits brewed all year for this express purpose. Most of the people of Ravenwood get good and liquored up, doing their level best to foregt that at noon the next day, the Braided Pole comes down. And at dawn the day after, the Vlüdbàyne patrols return, and people whitewash their walls, and burn their origami. Within a day, no trace of the Festival Romp remains. Leaving bright colors up on one's house is dangerous, in Ravenwood.
Eostre encourages artistic freedom and expression; and while Rolfe emphatically does not, for Prill and Mayo every year, music festivals and pop up arts shows rule Ravenwood. Bright watercolors and fast moving music surrounds people as they move about their days. Minstrels roam, performing standards and original songs about springtime and happiness. Origami storks and bunnies can be found everywhere one looks; including the rafters and joists of the buildings. Large paintings of an anthropomorphised bunny skipping around flower-clad fields of sheep shorn grass, hiding brightly colored eggs, suddenly appear on the sides of buildings. Some folks will paint the risers on their porches to resemble bunnies, or storks. On Prill 28th, a twenty-eight foot pole is erected on the lawn of the Rolfe Tower. Two dozen young people spread out in a circle around it, each holding one end of a hundred foot long, brightly colored ribbon. The other end of these ribbons is hoisted up the pole on a ring. At ten bells that morning, the music starts! Weaving outside and inside once another as they go, the youngsters skip and dance deasil around the pole, patterning the mast with colorful diamond braids. When they are done, the ribbons are tied off and the pole is left up for a month of music and revelry around it. The count even provides food for the feasts, and allows open hunting season all of Mayo. On Mayo 27th, a rager of an alcohol fueled party is held round the Braided Pole. There are spirits brewed all year for this express purpose. Most of the people of Ravenwood get good and liquored up, doing their level best to foregt that at noon the next day, the Braided Pole comes down. And at dawn the day after, the Vlüdbàyne patrols return, and people whitewash their walls, and burn their origami. Within a day, no trace of the Festival Romp remains. Leaving bright colors up on one's house is dangerous, in Ravenwood.
History
The ritual began before Ravenwood was ever founded.
Execution
The Braided Pole is set at least four feet into the ground, leaving twenty four feet above. It is fitted with a halyard top in order to more easily haul up the copper ring with all of the ribbons tied to it, before the dance begins.
Components and tools
The Braided Pole is definitely the most important piece of the ritual.
Participants
The entire population of Ravenwood.
Observance
The rites are observed within the city limits of Ravenwood.
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