The Feasts of Investiture

[the Scribes note that this post was supposed to go up at the end of November, which was the actual end of the lunar year in Cothon-Gadeed. Unfortunately, life got in the way; but the changing of the year is an important time and shouldn't go unnoted, as it is a time of feasting and important symbolic bindings ...]

The Lunar Year is over! Good luck to the new Lunar Year!

As the old year comes to a close, and the new year is sounded in by the clash of timbrels and the winding of horns, it is a time for feasting and celebrations, and for the renewal of the symbolic bonds that hold society together.

A great feast is to be held in Gadeed--the Feast of Investiture--whereat the Souffets will ceremonially reinvest the high officers of the state with their authority.

(technically, at this time they could also rescind offices from disfavored servitors, and invest the authority in new officers; and though that may have been done historically, it is not now the custom--rather, the current custom is to rescind offices at the time of a serious breach of trust or major failure, rather than to wait for this feast at the end of the year)

This is also the time for the selection of citizens to perform various offices for the city-state through the next year; many of these officers are selected from all citizens by lot, which ensures that though the Souffets are the executives of the city, they do not control all the levers of power, and must at times compromise with those selected for them by the will of fate. This too will be done at the great feasts.

Fortunately for Sesel, newly minted citizen of Gadeed, his status is too new for his name to have been entered into the lots, and so he will not be assigned any additional office beyond his iqta'; but, barring assignation before then, at the feasts of investiture next year his name may yet be drawn for the assumption of some city- or league-office. And who knows? Perhaps by then others among the barbarians will have attained citizenship for themselves.

And, as the highest officers of the land have their great feast, so all of society down to individual houses have their own, and perform their own smaller feasts of investiture. The Guilds call their members to their halls to perform again the mysteries that tell their myths and stories to themselves, so that everyone is again invested with the import of their Guild duties; and masters call their households together, and feast their servants and slaves, and reestablish the order that must exist within by again handing out the duties and "offices" of the household.

So this is a time of great feasting and celebration, from the top levels of society, all the way to the bottom rungs of the great ladder; even the Heroes and Demons above must too be feasting, in the halls of the Fortress Moon and beyond!

A traditional dish prepared in many households of the Dual-Cities is a dish of field pease slow cooked with morsels of hmelu-bacon, served alongside greens simmered in savory broth, all washed down by draughts of young wine, corked early to keep its effervescence. Though in the palaces of the mighty and the halls of the great guilds are to be found great hma roasted whole, and pickled ninenyelu, and shishu-fruits and sherbets, and all manner of delicacies, still nearly every kitchen will also provide at least a pot of humble field pease and savory greens--for good luck to the new year.

For Player-Characters

I had intended to supply another carousing table or something to go along with this feast, but I fear the moment has passed, as the new lunar year in Cothon-Gadeed began 4 December (with the sighting of the new moon, the Fortress Moon dimmed in its otherwise greenish glory).

Instead, I offer a simple way to have had your player-characters participate in the feasts:

Characters may spend up to 100 dinars (gp) per level in attending or throwing a feast, and earn an amount of experience equal to the amount of gold spent. No need to roll saving throws,  complications, or the use of any downtime action--it would be unseemly to party so hard during this auspicious time, and surely it would incur bad luck when thus entering into the new year.

Additionally, if a player describes the nature of their character's contribution, or how they went about throwing their feast--in the comments below, or in the downtime thread on our Discord channel--then that character earns additional xp equal to 10% of what was spent. For example:

Najm ibn Marwan, owner of the small sailing dhow the Saint Iskameen, will throw a small feast of investiture for his own crew, which constitutes the (very) minor Confraternity of St. Iskameen. It will be held aboard ship, of course, and while it includes the customary field pease and greens, Najm spends 500 dinars (he is of 5th level) to put on a lavish spread that includes a variety of smoked fishes, fine cheeses, olives, and dark breads, all washed down with the aforementioned sparkling wine.

As part of the feast (and his expenditure), he will ceremonially install Fa Mei as his first mate and second-in-command, providing her with a fine cloak of dark blue hmelu-wool, pinned with a silver fishhook; and then ceremonially install Alianor Drake as his bosun and third-in-command, with a similarly fine cloak of grey hmelu-wool, pinned with a red-brass fishhook. And naturally, he gives his crew the next day off for liberty in the city and its taverns.

With that (overly long) description of Najm's involvement in the feasts, he thus earns 550 xp (500 from the gold, +10% from the account)

Alas for poor Kzin-Friend (the Referee's unlucky first character), he has but 2 dinars to his name, and cannot spend them. But he is content to remain outside the city in this case, eschewing the symbolic renewal of civilization for the living tradition in the tales he is sharing with the Fremen shaman Kynes.

A Final Note on the Solar Year

Though the Lunar Year has ended, and a new one begun (it is now year Khusra-Fadhlan 3, the last year of the office of Khusra and of Fadhlan as Souffets), the Solar Year has approximately 370 more days before it ends, and the next Solar Year begins. The feasts at that time will be of quite a different character--grander even than these!--for that is the time of the selection of two new Souffets to lead the Gadeed, Mother of Cities, and the Ten Cities League.

But that is something that can surely wait. Let us enjoy this Lunar Year as it begins, and whatever fate it holds for us unfolds in the coming months.