The Gold-Coming

"The golden tide comes in and the rich of the city become drunk on greed."

— Parius o Daelys

Celebrated annually at the end of the wet season, the Gold-Coming, also known as the Gold-Day Festival or simply the Festival, is a celebration of the largest ichor harvest of the year and of Thripia's overall wealth. The festival itself involves great spending of coin and massive consumption of ichor, with farmers and merchants alike hoping to gain visions of the year to come. Depending on the outcome of said visions, great honor will be given to the sun god Sargos who is thanked as a ruler of destiny.

History

The Gold-Coming was first devised by the Dynasty King Atrucius, son of Halemica the Great, who, having discovered for himself the future-sight granted by ichor, wished to encourage the harvest of the product. Understanding its position as an entirely unique resource found only in Thripia, he sought to capitalize on its properties and bring the city, as well as himself, great wealth. Although in its first year the festival was not entirely embraced by the Thripian populace, it soon gained traction as farmers understood ichor's immense value. For every year that followed, the Gold-Coming was celebrated with rigorous consumption. Thanks to wealth brought to the city by these harvests, as ichor was increasingly sold to traders from across the Western Sea at high prices, it also came to be a time for spending as merchants indulged their greed and delighted in their new-found luxuries.

Procession

The wet season's rains provide girth and flow to the Meleatte River. As a result, not only do more plants, flowers and crops grow, sungold trees begin to blossom. Their flowers, containing precious nectar, are themselves harvested by bees which. in turn, produce the fabled ichor. Most apiaries are only harvested once a year and thus the end of the wet season, when bees have access to the most sungold flowers and therefore produce the most ichor, is the time they choose. This harvest begins the Gold-Coming.
Early in the day, farmers will arrive in the city from the outer walls, selling their produce to the guilds. In turn, merchants flock to the streets, marketplaces and the harbor, eagerly presenting both fresh fruits and the precious ichor. Traders regularly arrive via boat to Thripia on this day, knowing it is the day when ichor sells the cheapest. Thus, citizens of the city spend most of the sunlight hours rushing and hurrying to make best use of the occasion and to acquire their own ichor before it is all sold.
By the time night has arrived, all that is left over, and all that is purchased, is readied and great feasts commence. Often taking place in the streets themselves, communities and families eat together. This is often accompanied by poetic recitals from singers alongside music and dancing. It is expected that wealthy individuals, having profited the most from ichor sales, will take to the streets and share their newfound coin with others by buying expensive goods such as jewelry, colorful banners, new clothes, perfumes, wines and more. Sometimes, these are given as gifts, however this is rare as Thripia places great emphasis on the competence and cleverness of the individual. As such, if a merchant does not spend great amounts, it is understood that he has failed to take advantage of the day and has thus not acquired any significant wealth. This is greatly frowned upon. Finally, as the moon reaches its peak, all those across the city with ichor will drink, hoping to incur a vision of the year to come.
As most are not able to properly control what they see, excepting Oracles, no information of great merit typically comes of this. However, some may bear witness to coming times of prosperity, however vague, and are like to share this knowledge with their fellows. As such, the Festival is important for determining what the coming year will be. There is a great fear of this time of the day, though. Sargos may grant visions of coming catastrophes. Thus, the consumption of ichor is often dangerous as it may incite great paranoia and fear should visions of a locust plague, a rainless wet season or worse tidings, such as war, be seen. Furthermore, attempting to see a vision of a specific time or place is often too ambitious for most individuals, and thus they may be driven to madness by the ichor should it grant knowledge too dire for the mind to handle. This happens on the Gold-Coming more than any other day. Many also find themselves succumbing to ichor addiction where an individual becomes so dependent on the presence of future visions that they are incapable of living in the present.

Significance

The Gold-Coming is a crucially important time for Thripia. A city built on trade and prosperity, it is deeply important to its people that they achieve their ambitions and dreams of wealth. The Gold-Day Festival serves as both a reward for successful yearly harvest and trade as well as an indication of the coming year. On rare occasions, the customary ichor consumption has given insight into a coming disaster and even allowed that catastrophe to be prevented. However, more common is the Festival acting as a day of great indulgence and decadence with the city embracing its greed.