- Joined
- Nov 14, 2019
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FESTIVAL OF LIGHT
Description
The Aureum Celebration, or more commonly known to off-worlders as the Festival of Light, is the planet of Onderon's largest yearly celebration excluding Life Day. Every summer, the planet comes together in the capital of Iziz to celebrate the fabled Aureum Queen. According to legend, she was a Queen of Onderon that fled to the planet's jungles to weep over the lost lover she had been forbidden to marry in her youth.
Familes come from all over the planet to build or, alternatively, purchase paper lanterns to be lit and released that night. The ceremony is beautiful and breathtaking, and it's said that if you entreat the Aureum Queen with a pure and humble heart upon releasing your lantern, her spirit will grant your deepest desire. As soon as the sun sets, celebrators gather at the center of the city, around a statue of the Aureum Queen holding the legendary Queen's Sprig, the flower that once saved her life according to the legend.
It is customary for the Queen of Onderon to light and release the first lantern of celebration, but since Queen Emryn's unfortunate passing, her daughter has assumed that responsibility and honor. The Festival of Lights is, in many ways, a romantic festival—an homage to sorrow and lost love—and to invite someone to accompany you is considered, at least among the natives, a declaration of love. The festival is an all day affair leading up to the ceremony of lights. Market stalls are cleared to make room for dancing and games. Streets are crowded with food carts and street performers, while gondolas offer scenic rides through the capital's canals. Blue flower petals are the main ornament of the day, tucked into braded hair and scattered across cobblestone streets.
Intent
To create a fun, if a little cliché, holiday for Onderon.
