The Long March

 With the beginning of a new lunar year, the ritual saga of Gadeed advances toward its final act. Mirroring the other two years with the Long Wake and the Long Peace, this month's lead-up to the next set of Games begins with another time of fasting and quiet penitence, the Long March. This last time of fasting is sometimes also called "The Dread of Gadeed", for it is in memoriam of a time when the fate of Gadeed seemed surely to be razed by Kzinti as Old Tsurr was before, its walls thrown down, its towers cast into ruin, its lands run with blood, and its people enslaved.

It is a time to look back on the last set of Man-Kzin Wars, wherein Gadeed found itself encircled by her Kzin enemies, and was almost finally destroyed.

Yet why is it a "march"? Because this time is also a time of anticipation for the arrival of the Klackons, whose march from the Toxic Jungles far to the east was long indeed, and whose arrival and integration with the growing city of Cothon finally ensured the defense of the united Dual-Cities against the Kzinti. With the arrival of the Klackons--the Xolda and their Attine cousins--the waves of the ocean of warrior cats were finally broken and cast back.

It is traditional during this time to fast throughout the day, and to abstain from meat in general as a way of honoring and remembering the privations of the Klackons on their march across the plains, as well as a way to remember the suffering of the populace of Gadeed at that time. There is no authority enforcing fasting or abstention, and many a barbarian pays no heed to these traditions, but for those who wish to fit in with the society of Cothon-Gadeed, it is considered ill-mannered to flout this custom.

This is also another season in which the mourning-societies are widely employed, by wealthy citizens especially, to process ritually through the cities and along the circuit of the walls with Klackon effigies, recreating the Long March itself.

Other than fasting and abstaining, this is also a time when citizens who would otherwise have little to do with Klackons now make their way into the western neighborhoods of the city to make public donations to the Klackons' shrines in an act of public thanks for their coming and their devotion to the cities. The Dual-Cities will make a public sacrifice to celebrate the Xolda at the end of the four weeks of the Long March, as part of the celebration of the games at that time, but many feel that it is only just to make their own private offerings at this time.

There are several ways for player-characters to interact with this ritual time:

Action	Result
fast and abstain from meat for the month	adventure with -1 to saves through the month; at the end of December receive a permanent +1 to hp
hire a procession of professional mourners to march the circuit of the walls	spend up to 100 xp per level; gain an equal amount of xp
make an offering at the Shrine of Xanna-Haxanna or some other Klackon hero	gain a +1 on reactions with Xolda Klackons for one month for every 100 dinars you spend on the offering; if you spend at least 250 dinars, you may also roll a free relationship cultivation check with any Xolda Klackon you know