Huntsnight

"On the night after the hunt,
The children lie in bed,
As monsters and arrows
Dance through their heads.
The house now all dressed
in needles and thorns
As Mother moves silent
In a cloak, mask, and horns..."

-Excerpt from "The Huntsnight Whispers", traditional Nuanat poem of unknown authorship, translated into Aphelian by Mitsuko Harada-Brook.
Huntsnight (Theen, Amal hei Na'estam, "Night following the Hunt"; Torugk, Rugtunslome, "Huntnight"), sometimes abbreviated from Theen in Aphelian as Amalistam, is a holinight celebrated in Tevhetra. While the festival originated in the Avantha Kolari with the Wild Hunt to commemorate the end of the hunting season, it has since spread across the continent and evolved to incorporate traditions from different peoples and nations. Regardless of the location, the holinight focuses on gift-giving and feasting together.

Execution

At the end of the season, members of the Wild Hunt ritually offer the spoils of their victory first up to the Horned God, then to the Grandmaster of the Hunt and their court, and then finally to their families. Those with young children often make it a game, hiding the gifts throughout a home decorated with branches to represent the forest. Parents may even make a show of wearing their hunting gear, especially their masks, while hiding the gifts when their children are supposed to be sleeping. Hunters without young children may contribute gifts to the households of relatives that do. The gift-hunting tradition has spread to Nuanat outside the Wild Hunt, who will also usually make a small offering of burning meat to the Horned God beforehand.
The gift hiding game has migrated to Setre and Aphelia, though waste plants from greenhouses, large mushrooms, or green cloth usually take the place of branches. The Varen who celebrate the holinight emphasize the ritual aspect of the gift-giving, with allied families assembling to present offerings to each other, often with long speeches about its worth. Huntsnight is mostly celebrated by members of the Wardens, who will meet to boast of their exploits throughout the year and gift each other new or repaired equipment.
The Adventurers' Guild in Aphelia has also developed the tradition of sponsoring pageants in which the children of guildmembers dress as monsters and adventurers and put on a mock hunt. Other businesses and guilds will donate costumes as a form of advertising. The Guild also uses the season to drum up recruitment.
The Wild Hunt holds two feasts as part of the holinight; the first after the ritual offerings with all members of the Hunt, and the second on the next night with family members after all gifts are collected. In the rest of Tevhetra, people only hold one feast.
In Aphelia, families eat together, especially extended families celebrating recent marriages, though adventuring crews emphasize celebrating together; while the local guildhall may host its own meal, crews may eat with whoever has family in town, even getting their families all together if they can. Taverns advertise their own feasts for anyone who would be alone on the night. Feasts are also family affairs in Varen territory, while the Setret, with their loose kinship ties, feast with whoever they can find, particularly their Suvet.

Observance

The ritual offerings of Huntsnight take place on the Twenty-First of the Reign of the Archer, with the familial celebrations occurring the next night. The rest of Tevhetra just holds the celebration on the Twenty-First.