yopplwasupxxx 5664 Share Posted March 16, 2020 BAROVIFEST, THE DAY OF SERFS OR THE DAY OF ALL SOULS Or, A SURVEY OF THE HOLIDAY CALLED BAROVIFEST BY OTTO THE TARCHARMAN Barovifest ‘Day of Serfs or Day of All Souls’ 6th Droba | 18th Grand Harvest --- Introduction Though Haense has had a myriad of celebrations and holidays through its extant history, none are more entrenched in bygone practice and ancient import than Barovifest, the famous festival of the common folk. On its almost mythical day do the barriers of society seemingly shatter and both nobility and peasantry alike share in the pleasantries of mirth and wine. No matter the previous station, no matter the former relationship, there can be no ill or spite on this day of goodwill, and fortune is said to come to all who treat their fellow highlander as brother and sister. From its roots as a celebration of the pagan god Haruhtrow, the divinity of drink and fortune, where all were once equal in the eyes of the decadent icon, the holiday to this day continues to beat the ethos of human equality and fraternity amongst the Haeseni people. ‘A rural celebration of Barovifest in the Haeseni town of Ayr’ Some may ask, ‘o Tarcharman, why do you write about such things?’ In truth, I promulgate this for hopes of invoking that once lost virtue carried by the Raev and Hussarians of yore- liberty and brotherhood in united revelry. The days are long gone of the brotherhoods of the likes of St Wilfriche and the Jolly Ruskans, but the spirit of impartiality can still live on through days like these. Our culture has become dependent upon our hierarchies of nobles and lords, duma members and commanders, and while there is no fault in the need of secure government, sometimes a fair reminder is needed to show we are all Haeseni, from the lowest serf to the greatest koeng. In this work, I shall detail the history of the holiday, including its predecessor celebrations, as well as all notable practices and other quarks worthy of mention. --- History of Barovifest The traditions of Barovifest burgeoned first as the pagan celebration of Haruhtrozdyg, or the Day of Haruhtrow, a god of minstrels, brevity, and alcohol. In the ancient Haeseni mythos, Haruhtrow was a popular divinity amongst the commoners due to his patronage and message of common pleasures and likeminded equality, for to him all were equal at his table of joy and mirth, all welcome to the celestial party of his making. During the classical days of the Raev, the trade cities dominated the political landscape, and while they at surface-level preached democratic morality, in reality were coordinated and maintained by strict laws of serfdom and restriction of movement, controlled in all by a paltry few trade clans of vast wealth. The societal barriers were tremendous, enforced under the law, and there came little respite for the bottom caste of society. However, there was one day which all commoners and serfs looked forward to, which broke down these walls and allowed them even a brief moment of levity in an unequal world. That day was Haruhtrozdyg, commonly known as the ‘day of peasants’ among the aristocracy, where the societal laws seemingly vanished. For one day only, the masses were allowed into the noble squares of the Lahian and Dulonian markets, where many nobles and clerics alike sponsored humongous festivities of food and merriment. Though some of the upper echelons of the Hussarian blueblood despised it, for most it came to be a focus of cultural pride and point of competition amongst the rich Raev families who vied for control, wanting mostly to draw the support of the commoners on their side. Another important though often overlooked aspect is Haruhtrozdyg’s connection with the afterlife. Even though Haruhtrow is considered an Asserandz god (see Haeseni Mythologie), and concepts and themes of death are more oftenly applied to the Nikirandz deities, the dead were considered still as equal as the living in his eyes. This comes from the more jovial and pacifist nature given to Haruhtrow, though hailing from the sub-pantheon of typical warrior gods, and it is said that even on the day of Haruhtrozdyg that he shared a drink with his Nikirandz archrival and nemesis Gorm, the Three-Eyed Crow. As Gorm heralds the beginning of the patronage of Nikul, the Moon God, so does Haruhtrow bring to an end the season of Asseran the Sun God, and together they unite in one day of merriment where both Asserandz and Nikirandz are equal in eyes of fraternal care. The symbolism doubles to the classical world of the Raev: the nobility (Asserandz as their patrons) and peasantry (favoring the Nikirandz as gods of fertility) coming together on equal footing and standing, for experiencing the joys of spirituality and the flesh. There is no record of when the first Haruhtrozdyg was held, though it had become important enough to have been sponsored and supported by the first Raevir king, Ivan Kusoraev, and his successors in the 600s AES, and noted upon by travelling merchants and missionaries who passed through the region. Most remarked for the almost bizarre practices performed by the pagan Hunslanders and Waldorvians, from the infamous wooden masks shaped in the image of comedic and almost alien animals to the throwing of berries and other foods in the square. As written by the heartlander priest Herbert Armorius in 567 AES, ‘While in their city [Lahy], they brought me before their king (sic), though during this time they did not treat him as such … to the Hunnish, on this day is a holy celebration of a trickster and alcoholic, who treats all in equal depravity. Their princes, their councillors act as though harlots do, dressed in colorful attire and ***** masks, though barely recognizeable with berried mange smear across their bodies as they ran through the streets as wild men do. The true harlots, though, were queens on this day, and every beggar was a tyrant of himself…’ The tradition continued following the foundation of the Carrion dynasty of Karl and Diedrik Ruswalda, though with the former’s conversion to Lendian Canonism in 402 AES the holiday came with less state sponsorship. No effort was made to hinder or halt the festivities, however, until Karl’s son and successor Barbov the Black, who upon retaking the throne from the pagan Nestor V in 379 AES sought to exterminate all pagan influences in the Raevir state, which he interrupted as Nzechian and included within it the popular Haruhtrozdyg. In the year 369 AES, ten years after he took the throne, Barbov issued a royal decree banning the holiday, barring the peasantry from entering the town squares and ordering the destruction of all icons of Haruhtrow throughout the Hussarian countryside. ‘Barbov the Black Affronted by the Peasantry’ While the nobility and aristocracy begrudgingly accepted Barbov’s new law, the numerous peasantry and serfs did not- when the morning came and the people were blocked from entry in the village squares by Barbov’s soldiery, riots and protests broke out almost immediately. At first, the Karovic monarch ordered his soldiers to subdue these orchestrations, though much of his army held sympathy for the common folk, and soon many of the peasant soldiers (or strelts) joined the serfs in their outcry. According to legend, it was not till Barbov and his retinue were affronted by a family of peasants in the countryside, where they bowed before him in humble loyalty and begged for the sovereign to reconsider his stalwart zealotry. For a man known for his uncompromising nature, going so far to banish his own brother in 380 AES, Barbov relented in an unnatural show of clemency, allowing the holiday to commence though under one stipulation: the pagan references of the traditions must be removed. And so, Haruhtrozdyg was redubbed as ‘Barbovidez’ (lit. Day of Barbov), later ‘Barovifest’ (lit. Barbov’s Festival), with the icons of Haruhtrow and his jolly band of minstrels replaced with portraits and imagery of Horen and the holy sons. Much of the traditions, from the pagan fruit-throwing to the Maskoe, remained to be practiced despite the strict regulations put in place by Barbov, and under the guise of Canonist rite did the pagan ethos survive. The Lendian Canonists began to refer to Barovifest as the ‘Feast of All Souls’, considering it a holy day of obligation and adding the less famous Barovimuess (lit. Barbov’s Mass) the day after. Not all Carrions were hostile to the tradition, and under Barbov’s grandson Feodor II the Fat, the day came under state funding once more. So great was the jovial and obese king’s love for the holiday, that he first increased the festivities to a week in 312 AES and later to a whole month in 309 AES, much to the ire of the military and nobility. Later kings reversed it back to a singular day, though it remained a popular holiday in the classical heyday of the Raevir state. The undead invasion of the 100s AES, which saw much of the world’s population massacred by the hands of Ibleeic cultists, took its toll upon the Raevir people, including its traditions and practices. With the fall of the once sprawling serf and peasant class, the holiday was almost seemingly vanquished overnight due to the unholy marauders, forgotten come the arrival of more mainstream Canonist and heartlander thinking. Pockets of celebrants remained in the more rural sides of the Raevir and Carnatian hinterlands, though to most it was non-extant. The traditional values of peasant equality were not lost on the more contemporary Carrions, and while the festival of Barovifest remained all but dead, the Carrion dynasty (especially under Tuvya I, commonly referred to by the serfs as ‘the Golden’) sponsored heavily fairs and other occasions for the peasantry, most often organizing it themselves in shows of good-will between the crown and the people. ‘Barovifest in Old Reza’ (Pictured in red is young Prince Marius, later Marius II, together with his then wife Princess Varoche) The first modern ‘Barovifest’ was held in quiet affair during the autumn of 263 ES, following a cultural revival spearheaded by the historian Otto Ludovar, 2nd and 4th Prince of Ulgaard, and his daughter Emma Ludovar, 3rd Princess of Ludovar, though at first it remained only a fad done by a sparse few nobles. Sponsorship of Haeseni scholasticism by the scholar-king Robert I Wordlover and rejuvenation of a Haeseni consciousness following southern tensions of the War of the Czena and the later War of Two Emperors has allowed Barovifest to once more take root in the hearts and minds of the highlanders, both young and old. --- Traditions and Practices Barovifest throughout its centuries of existence has maintained a rich and bountiful set of traditions and festivities commonly carried out in nearly every celebration of the holiday, whether from the rich extravagences of the Haeseni capital to the lowly rural village of the Haeseni highlands. Listed below, I have recorded some of the more important and iconic of these customs, as well as any other information and pieces of note. This list is not expansive, and with each Barovifest the customs and activities adapt and change according to contemporary preferences and cultural values. Food and Drink The most common drink during Barovifest is, of course, Carrion Black, the staple alcoholic beverage of the highlands, which is commonly given out freely by state-sponsored breweries and officials. A mixture of Carrion Black with Prikaz berries, known as Yopil, is also commonly consumed and is considered a favorite among the more urban Haeseni. With Barovifest commonly doubling as a harvest festival, food is plentiful with the common essentials being grain, barley, and rye, as well as fruits including Prikaz berries, apples, and Carnatian strawberries. Roasted meats are also common, with the favorite served being Koravian boar, hunted a week beforehand during the ceremonial Hauchwundarbuyr, or Great Boar Hunt. Hauchwundarbuyr, the Great Boar Hunt The Hauchwundarbuyr is not an event held during Barovifest, but rather a week before, and is seen commonly more as an affair of the aristocracy than the commoners. A more recent invention of Barovifest’s contemporary revival by Otto Ludovar, it is ceremonially held in the traditional hunting grounds near the lands of Koravia in Ruska, where the fat and numerous Koravian boar makes its home. The nobility and gentry of the kingdom commonly compete in this hunt in order to bring back either the largest boar or most numerous of kills, serving it to the peasantry and hungry folk during the day of Barovifest as tribute of the festival. Peasantry and serfs are not barred from participation per say, however the use of spear and horse is traditional during the hunt, and usually only those of social means are able to afford such. Maskoez, the Wooden Masks The Maskoez are the wooden masks commonly worn by the participants of Barovifest, carved and made in the image of comedic animals such as sheep, cows, and horses. They can also take the shape of political opponents and rivals and other historical figures, usually as a point of irony or satire. The masks are typically hand-made by the people themselves, though in recent years production and sale of Maskoez has become a more frequent sight. Crowns of Chamomile As a sign of romantic love and youthful fidelity, a flower crown made from the Haeseni native flower Chamomile are made by partners and lovers and exchanged to each other as signs of their love. Crowns are given to both male and female partners, with those given to girls typically featuring rich colors and other wild flowers such as daisies and dandelions, while the boys have crowns made of leaves such as ivy and fur needles. ‘The Peasantry Gather in the Square of Reinmar for Barovifest’ The Peasant Play A newer inclusion into the customs of Barovifest, a play is usually held in the morning during the beginning of the festivities, performed by both serfs and royalty alike. The topic of the play varies from celebration to celebration, and to have one’s work used as the performance for that year’s Barovifest is considered of high honor among Haeseni artists and playwrights. Tiberala, the Archery Contest Though its name is a newer invention, contents and competitions of archery were commonly held in the squares during the mornings, most likely from the Raevir view of archery being a sport and weapon of the peasantry and common folk. Tiberala itself derives from the famous Sir Tiberan, an archer-knight who featured heavily in the Haeseni works of Stanimar Vyronov, who is said to according to myth have won the competition over thirty times (even though, at the time, Barovifest was not held by the local population, coming from most likely an erroneous, contemporary claim made by Vyronov). Bratkontat, the Melee Another recent invention, stemming from the cultural infusion of the militaristic Pertinaxi era, the Bratkontat (lit. Test of Strength) is a weaponless melee held in the square, usually during the sametime as the Tiberala. Unlike the archery content, the melee is rewarded much more handsomely- not only are they given monetary compensation, but also the title of ‘Hauckort’ or ‘the Great Bull’, a title once given by the Marian commoners to the archtraitor Sir Rodrik the Loyal, a man reputed for his enormous strength and daring feats of combat. Harutopolta, the Battle of the Fruits At noon during the festivities, a great food toss called Harutopolta is held in the village square, where all individuals, male or females, young or old, join in throwing berries and other foods at each other is a community-wide quasi-battle of juice and happy-go-lucky levity. Fruit is the most commonly used weapon of choice, namely Prikaz berries, but also apples and southern fruits such as peaches and oranges. Pies and desserts are also thrown, as well as other foods considered ‘light’ or ‘sweet’. Hardened candies, specifically pieces of amber and honey, while not thrown are given out by older individuals to their youthful counterparts, usually as reward for targeting specific peers with berries and pies. The Great Foot Race Usually during and following right after the Harutopolta, a foot race from the square to the outskirts of the village, usually while still chucking and hurling fruits and desserts at their fellows. Though an event of usually joyous occasion, as the trade cities and urban centers in both classical Raev and contemporary Haense increased in population, the race has become dangerous- commonly, young and old are trampled by their peers in the frenzy, leading to the deaths of dozens. After the Barovifest of 292 AES, where nearly five thousand people perished following the gates being accidentally shut by a drunken guard, the ancient Raev monarch Jan II Karovic formally banned the practice. In modern Haeseni practice, villages can and do perform the traditional foot race (where risk of being trampled is extremely low), however the capital has typically performed a more formal race, with only a specific number of those competing commonly paired with betting by the well-to-do. The Great Boat Race With the Great Foot Race falling out of the favor, in recent years boat racing has become a staple of Barovifest, most likely coming from the Barbanov’s tendency to make court in the warmer Raevir riverlands of the south compared to the colder, northern reaches of Hanseti. Racing is typically done in pairs and usually on a predetermined course, though variations have occurred throughout the years. Feast of All Souls’ Eve In the evening of Barovifest, expansive tables are set up within the square of the village or city, where all celebrants of the festivities partake in a ceremonial feast of meat and Carrion Black. In the most urban of towns of the Haeseni highlands, the table is packed from edge to edge, as according to tradition not a single individual can be considered superior to the other during this day. However, it is custom to typically allow the monarch and his spouse, along with children and elderly, to sit first, following thereafter with women then men. With Barbov’s reforms, grace is said by the local cleric before the meal, where he is allowed to stand upon the table (though his head must be bent low and hands clasped together) and shout the prayer to the citizens before dinner is allowed to commence. The Drinking Competition During the feast, it is customary for the more bawdy individuals to partake in a competition of alcoholic consumption, where the person who drinks the most Carrion Black wins. Betting is a common occurrence and in more recent years it has become an event where even the nobility have taken pride in participating in. The winner receives monetary compensation and room and board within the royal court (if homeless), where they also receive the prestigious title of ‘dir Goetutur’ or ‘the Good Drunk’. Burning of the Horse Effigy Haruhtrow, though commonly portrayed as a bard or trickster, is also symbolized by the horse, a common thematic emblem invoking both confidence and fertility. Since the very first Haruhtrozdyg (and since then, every Barovifest), a wooden effigy of a horse is burned in the town or village square, usually paired with singing, dancing, and other mirthful activities. After Barbov’s reforms, the horse is said to stand for the steed of Prophet Owyn, known as Orlund, with whom Owyn rode with through Jroth to commit the final miracle of Lux Invicta. Barovimuesz, or the Mass of All Souls Following the day after Barovifest, a holy day of obligation is held among the (usually hungover) Lendian Canonists at their local parishes, where the dead and lost loved ones are prayed for by their still living family. Compared to the day before hand, Barovimuesz is a day of familial embrace among close loved ones, with families and clans retreating to their homes for prayer and quiet interaction. Those without homes and other vagabonds are commonly put up in the palace at the expense of the monarch’s coffers, where they are fed, given new clothes, and usually forgiven of debts and crimes if they show proper repentance. 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MunaZaldrizoti 5674 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Emma Ludovar smiles down from the Seven Skies, fondly recalling her revival of the Barovifest whilst downing a bottle of spiritual Carrion Black with her father. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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