Sigilian Holydays

Hmm.... well, I would think that Sigil would have a *lot* of small holidays, but very few major ones. There are simply too many cultures for a holiday to gain a real foothold among such disparate groups. So while the gnomes might celebrate the holy days of Garl Glittergold, and the Guild of Glassblowers might have its own special celebration, and Estevan might host an end-of-year feast to celebrate the year's profits, its unlikely that there's much cross-pollination of holidays. There are probably some dedicated party goers that try to attend every single festival.

Add to it the fact that the true ruler of Sigil, the Lady of Pain, permits no worship of her (and thus holy days in her name are unlikely, as they'd tread a little too close to veneration for comfort). I'd imagine in the old days most of the factions had their special days, but these days it would be a lot of guild holidays. The religions, or at least the bigger ones, would try to hold special events too, (these could be a good way to drum up converts actually, just go into the Hive with enough free food and you'll have people lining up).

I *doubt* that Sigilian holidays go into parades much. Can you imagine the traffic problems of having a dozen parades every day?

The day of mercy? Can someone give a good run down of that day? I'm interested. Y'know big story, long complicated words with poetic meaning. More than just a statement.

There has to be at least one day of the year where all the factions are encouraged to reverse their normal roles.

Xaositect are supposed to act perfectly logical and sensible, Guvners are supposed to act crazy as hell, Bleakers run around throwing flowers everywhere and talking about the beauty of life, and Sensates compose dark gothic nihilistic poetry.

Precisely. Hosted by the Sensates and the Xaositects--I imagine not everyone approves (most of the Guvners are way too stuffy), but great pains have been taken to make it official and accessible to everyone. It might even be on the Law Books, which gives some of the less snooty Guvners a perfectly rational excuse to go out and have a crazy-fun time.

I can't think of any reason why it would be so wide-spread and accepted among all the factions and even the Planars, but it would totally rock if it were.

I'd guess the official Guvner line is that it's to be frowned upon, but on an individual level a lot of Guvner's have discovered that, once a year, it's relieving to do something different, be a little chaotic. They're probably bad at it, though, leading to great humour among the Xaosmen.

Naturally the forces of the Upper Planes would try and counter this with festivals based on the Seven Virtues: Chastity, Courage, Abstinence, Liberality, Generosity, Diligence, Patience, Kindness, and Humility. Somehow I can't see those holidays being quite so much fun though...

I decided that I would flesh out the counterpart of Dark Week. I choose to use the Roman Catholic version of the 7 virtues. Some of the days are not as faithful as they could be, but nobody wants to celebrate 7 days of "we're going to be good people today" days.

Week of 7 Virtues / Holy Week: This holiday was started by celestials as a dirrect counterpart to the Dark Week. It was created long after Dark Week was established. Although nowhere near as popular or as well-known as Dark Week (especially since it's so much funner to sin...), Holy Week is still celebrated by many cagers in Sigil. It celebrates the 7 holy virtues which directly mirror the seven deadly sins. Festivities are held in various temples and in more respectible parts of the Hive and Cleric's Ward.

Despite many different temples participating in the festivities, no power claims to be associated with Holy Week. In fact, a fair amount of effort has gone into making sure that no powers try claiming Holy Week as their personal fesitval. Noone knows if this is because the powers-that-be are afraid of alienating people, people just don't want a name attached to the week, because nobody is quite sure how The Lady will react, or some other reason. Regardless, no god is mentioned with relationships to Holy Week.

Day of Love/Chastity: Originally a day to celebrate Chastity, not many people particularly wanted (or qualified) to celebrate it. Therefore, it was unofficially transformed into the Day of Love, where revelers enjoy spending time with their loved ones. Beings with significant others tend to “enjoy time” with one another, while singles tend to try to find a little love of their own. Marriage proposals are quite common on this day.
Day of Charity: Revelers give gifts to one another, usually minor things like flowers or a few copper pieces. This day ends with a large free community potluck.
Day of Temperance: Probably the least popular of all days, revelers are supposed to refuse all temptation, especially jink, beer, and women. Normal cutters ignore this day for the most part, but celestials and more devoted mortals will abstain from any temptation. A particular favorite of fiends, who enjoy trying to corrupt mortals who are supposed to be avoiding temptation.
Day of Diligence: Considered a break from celebrating, everyone treats this day as a normal working day.
Day of Humility: Revelers dress in their most beat up and ratty clothes and compliment one another while refusing any comment that is directed at them. Arguments have been known to start as to which of two cagers is the better hero, with each cutter insisting that the other one is far superior.
Day of Kindness: Revelers are encouraged to do particularly kind acts of charity. Although donations are not unheard of, the idea of this holiday is to donate time rather than jink. Oftentimes, a group of celestials and revelers will get together to build a community center in the Hive (the community center always seems to get burned down every couple months).
Day of Forgiveness: Final day of the festival where all revelers ask for forgiveness for any misdeeds or sins they may have committed since the last Day of Forgiveness. Similar to Yom-Kippur, except this day focuses more on asking other mortals for forgiveness as opposed to any one power. Refusing to forgive someone today is considered terribly unlucky. Afterwards, the revelers feel particularly good about themselves and return to business-as-usual.

All said, Dark Week is a great idea.

I like how the Dark Week sort of flows right along, Lust to Greed to Gluttony to Sloth to Pride to Envy and finally culminating in Wrath. It actually goes together. Holy Week makes for an interesting counter, although I kind of see it as more of a Celestial "forced cheer" kind of thing. I have a hard time seeing the Day of Diligence being popular.

Hmm.... perhaps in an effort to get up interest, some of the pantheons might work on a single massive celebration? I.e. the entire Greek Pantheon holding a holiday, rather then each individual god? With a dozen or more temples working together, this could be a much larger celebration then the usual small ones (which would still be going on). Probably on the most important holy day of the chief god of the pantheon.