The Festival of Fire and Skulls:
Every year the people of Urik set aside a week at the end of the traditional "campaign season" to celebrate the "Festival of Fire and Skulls". The week marks Hamanu's triumphant victory over the armies of the infidel queen of Yaramuke, who's name was burned away and scattered to the winds along with her city and her people. Urikites mark the week with feasting, music, dancing, and, most importantly, martial games and events. Activity in Urik's arena triples during the festival weeks and amateur combat events can be found throughout the city. Nobles and traders entertaining family and business associates will often center feasts and parties around wrestling matches or blood-sports held in their own compounds. Organized street fighting, hand-to-hand and to first blood, is also common.
The Festival of Fire and Skulls is not just a week for celebrating however, it is a holy week dedicated to the worship of Hamanu. The city is closed to the traffic of foreign caravans throughout the week, and even House Stel shuts down most of its large operations in favor participating in ceremonies honoring the King. With great pomp and circumstance the heads of Urik's noble houses parade into the city dressed in their finest military garb throughout the week. They proceed from the "Lion's Gate" to the "Temple of the Mighty King" where they present themselves to the High Priest and, upon their finest swords, renew their oaths of fealty to Hamanu. Freemen also come to the Temple, presenting tokens of military strength, whatever they can afford, daggers or hatchets of bone or obsidian, and swear loyalty to Hamanu and Urik.
The highlight of the festival happens on the final night. The event is called the "Parade of Fire and Skulls" and it symbolizes Hamanu's victory march to the infidel queen's palace in Yaramuke, mercilessly burning every building and person in his path. To commemorate Hamanu's victory His subjects march from every corner of Urik carrying torches and "offerings" to the gates of "Destiny's Kingdom". "Offerings" vary by social class: wealthy freemen pay craftsmen to create replicas of human skeletons made from straw and cloth, or sometimes wood, to burn the heretics of ancient Yaramuke in effigy. Merchants and nobles might go so far as to bring a slave, living or recently deceased, to the final night's festivities. The Priests of Hamanu empty the prisons on this night, burning the criminals who are too lame from beatings or too violent to accept a life of toil in the King's fields. "Offerings", be they crafted effigies or the real thing, are paraded through the streets on great poles, two or three slaves may carry a nobleman or merchant's sacrifice in order to hold it high, and brought to the "King's Square" where they are presented to the King, who will sometimes appear atop the outer walls of "Destiny's Kingdom" to preside over the final night's festivities. Once the approval of Hamanu, or that of the High Priest in His absence, is given the burning of offerings commences. The music and dancing of the final night mixes with the wails and screams of sacrificed slaves and criminals meeting their deaths—the combined sound echoes throughout the desert beyond Urik warning Hamanu’s enemies of His power and fury.
I'm planning to have my players' characters visit Urik for at least three days of the festival, including the final night. All the while I plan to have them hunted by a group of people looking to kill them and take something they've been charged to protect. So I'm interested to know, is this an "Urikite" festival I’ve created or does it need some fine tuning? Any observations would be most welcome.
Cheers,
Maglaurus
Very scenic. Good for scaring the living whatever out of your PCs
You don't suppose anyone would be interested in posting this idea on a website or something would you? Is anyone working on a write-up of Urik? I have my notes for Malka/Fort Courage as well, though I think they're a little removed from the cannon since, as I seem to recall, the location was a feature in one or more of the original DS adventures.
Cheers,
Maglaurus