Timing of the Festival of Lucor
by RobinSo Last month of Spring Yarthmont
Vs. Thaumont 1.=beginning Shipping season
That is a period wavering over Thaumont-Flaurmont-Yarthmont...
checking the dates of Specularum;
1 Thaumont beginning of Spring
11-15 Thaumont Gnome Caravan in Specularum
1 Yartmont Tax collectors for Nuwmont-Thaumont period
1 Klarmont beginning of Summer
That seems to be a variable but set date. The beginning of a shipping season is depending on local temperature (opening the waters overall where they trade, as many rivers lie low due the winter and begin to rise in spring-especially Thaumont), I would dont say it is the opening of the whole shipping season, as the waters south of Karameikos are warm to temperate at best, However, the rivers aren't.
It could also depend on the first produce appearing in the season which means that this dat could waver over a few weeks.
The first produce would normally be wood and mineral/ore/metal, yet could also be the produce of a specific plant like beet, cabbage, roots)
This would also be climate/weather dependant.
Checking the TM1 weather system, It seems to follow this general idea, and even enables the option of a warm and cold seasonn
I thus presume, A Cold winter and spring could thus force the Shipping Season seriously back , up to beginning Yarthmont, while a warm winter/spring would enable dates as far back as 1 Thaumont
What I could find on Thargelia, is that it is not a very friendly festival according to this),Yet if reflecting to Mystara is that the Traldar people carrying the statue(and many others) would enter the river, guiding the statue on its path into the Volaga River and then into the sea. Even this suggests not only that many people can swim, yet that the water is of acceptable temperature.
It also suggests that (if similar) the Lucor Festival does not end in the harbor itself, but in the Seagate of the harbor to the Volaga River instead. A relative short distance in cold water, yet close to the temples (albeit I think the Church of Karameikos would frown upon this Traladaran custom, yet suppressing it would cause severe resistance)and open from there to go down to the sea.
All in all I thus suspect following the given inormation, combining it with canon and RL traditions similar. That the date varies between 1 Thaumont and 14 Yarthmont depending on the season. with the average in between in the first week of Flaurmont.
Predictable Sayings (especially in soothsaying traditions of the Traladaran) like; A Late Lucor is a short year, An early Lucor is good for produce, A rough Lucor will be a rough year (waves, disturbances), A Short Lucor (when the statue sinks/topples early = great external forces, badluck, war, etc), a Long Lucor (when the statue remains upright while dissapearing on the horizon as seen from the city will predict growth, and income from afar and itself), A Sparse Lucor (reflex the low ammount of Flowers used, and could predict a variety of hardship). a blossoming Lucor (would be a boon for the nation, and predict bountiful harvests).
Bearers would be chosen among the faithful(men mostly), similar to flower throwers(female mostly) and would be an honor. accidents to these people would proficy bad luck to them that year. And for onlookers finding a part of flower in thir hair (would be similar to the RL weird assumption that when shit upon by a bird) it will bring some luck(a day or two at best, or just in the first goal of that day).
One thing completely different I found typical and interesting in this festival (following all the canon and fanon), is that it reveals how splintered outsiders may see the Traladaran Faith (many different named temples and varrying local traditions and honoring the clergy, beside 3 immortals (and later with Chardastes moving to the Traldar faith even 4), a falling of group creating their own Cult of Halav, and tensions between the rulling patriarchy, while the Church of Karameikos gives more ore less a vision of coherence between the variant Immortals. And while tensions between the faith do exist, they seem to accept eachother...albeit Thyatians (especially ruling) still try to enforce the Church of Karameikos.Seeing this difference and reliance on the followers, I think the church of Karameikos will eventually (beginning with the death of Stephan) disintegrate as it can't resist that split/broken/variable image of the Traladaran ideologies. Both faiths still oppose the Datk Triad filosophy found spread yet hidden in the land. That seems to be the only binding factor between the Churches of Traladara and Karameikos