Fallsday and Kassag

In the mountains far to the east snow is everpresent. The extra snow accumulated over winter brings the risk of dangerous unpredictable avalanches to highland settlements and the trails that connect them.

Fallsday sees pairs of the bravest members of those settlements, known as honreas, deliberately triggering avalanches. Their aim is to alleviate the danger by funneling the snow down established channels and from sun up to sun down waves cascade down the mountainsides. Honreas must have enormous trust between them, as there is much danger and little chance of rescue if they find themselves in trouble. Often siblings and relatives work together, but for romantic couples it is seen as the ultimate test of their bond and compatibility.

As well as serving their community, such duty is seen as a religious observance, and local temples to Honie and Oreas, the deities of winter, organize the volunteers and provide blessings before they set off. Fallsday itself occurs on the day before Kassag, the day when the temple celebrates the deities’ wedding, though particularly snow-heavy years may mean the artificial avalanches must also be triggered before or after the actual day. Only those who serve as honreas may be married on Kassag, and such weddings are considered especially blessed.

While the honreas work on the slopes above, everyone else remains tucked away in their homes during Fallsday. Family and friends of the Honreas spend the day in a somber mood, prepared for either celebration or grief. Regardless of the result, tradition dictates last year’s cirani, a spiced raspberry wine, is consumed that evening.

At dusk, a fire is lit in the steeple of each temple, and throughout the night honreas find their way back to them to be cared for, fed, and allowed to rest. At midday, each temple swings wide its doors and each honreas is presented with a Kassag coin. These large golden coins are uniquely stamped each year and only given to the honreas who returned to a temple on Fallsday night. Any remaining are melted into rings and presented to those who marry at the great feast that evening.

The feast of Kassag begins In the hours before dusk, ceremonies are held for those permitted to wed, then, and as the night closes in, the temples provide many barrels of freshly made cirani. Incredibly sharp and potent, the Cirani lowers inhibitions and suppresses animosity and the saying goes that “a Kassag truth is free of anger.”

Game Mechanics

Adventurers who serve as honreas receive the blessing of the winter deities. They can use the Help action to aid their Fallsday partner as a bonus action for the next week.